I Like Taoist and Zen Philosophy

I have been reading about many ideas in Eastern philosophy and spirituality, and it has changed my inner world for me.  I am becoming aware of how I misperceive the outer world, particularly how the ego fools us into believing we...

I always feel that it is somewhat futile to articulate in words things which should be lived and experienced. But I feel so alive and enriched with what I have been feeling lately that I cannot help myself.
I am realising more and more...

Zengetsu, a Chinese master of the T'ang dynasty, wrote the following advice for his pupils:
 

Living in the world yet not forming attachments to the dust of the world is the way of a true Zen student.

When witnessing the...

Life isn't a journey per say. It's like a dance, where the point of the dance is not to reach to one place on the floor to another. It's about enjoying the dance while it lasts. Same thing with music, the point isn't to wait for 4...

“When we start expecting things to stay the same we fill our wagons with suffering.”
 
Once we feel secure in our general understanding, to challenge that understanding is a step toward the unknown; a step away from our sense of...

Gandhi once said: If you don't find God in the next person you meet, it is a waste of time looking for him further. My thoughts are that in any tradition, we all represent or are a manifestation of God without being God.  Something...

A few years ago I came across Morihei Ueshiba's classic work "The Art of Peace" online. Ueshiba is the founder of Aikido, probably the most peaceful of the martial arts. His thoughts on peace are divided into 114 short passages. You can...

This is a story I shared in another forum, originally, but in the hope that some of you may appreciate it, I will repost it here. I was just getting my haircut about a month ago, and while sitting in the chair felt really stressed...

It seems a simple question at first glance. Most would simply reply to the question by stating their name.  But if that's who you are, then who were you before that name was given to you?  Or, if you prefer, what were you?  The most...

In my pursuit of further understanding and reduction of suffering I have studied and practiced mindfulness as much as possible on my own over the past year. The Buddha advocated that one should establish mindfulness in one's day-to-day...

About two months ago, my 60 year old friend pestered me to visit a Taoist temple because according to him "you need it on your journey to self-discovery hun!" Okay, the "hun" did it! I hate being called "hun", so just to make him stop...

The master Bankei’s talks were attended not only by Zen students but by persons of all ranks and sects. He never quoted sutras nor indulged in scholastic dissertations. Instead his words were spoken directly from his heart to the...

EP Sangha member anya1212 commented on my story “The Blossom Pales in Comparison” with:Is our questioning affected by our past experiences and beliefs. Do we question without reasoning or analyzing the immediate situation. Does this...

In all honesty, the majority of my thinking space is cluttered with daydreams, inanities, flights of fancy into the future and reinterpretations of the past. This is my internal reality most of the time. And most of the time I navigate...

Recently I have been reading a lot of Sufi poetry. I find Sufism elegant and beautiful, and also very aligned with the essentials of Eastern thought. There is a unique kind of joy that comes from finding the parallel truths of different...

If I had to summarize what I've learned from Taoist and Buddhist philosophy it's been a deeper understanding of how to let go and connect with life. It's a kind of yin and yang approach to everything. In the Tao te Ching the advice is...

“Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching (The Book of the Way) is the classic manual on the art of living. In 81 short, poetic chapters, the book looks at the basic predicament of being alive and teaches how to work for the good with the effortless...

I am a recent student of Eastern Spirituality and would like to share a quote with you:
"How to be at peace now?  By making peace with the present moment.  The present moment is the field on which the game of life...