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Isn't The Tao Bums Ironic?

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By means of the message that "cannot be described"?

 

Useful, perhaps, but ironic in its existence?

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You might say that, but I don't think the site is here to send a message, people won't find it unless they're looking.

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I don't see any irony. The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao, true, but within it, as Lao Tzu also said, there is image and essence. There are countless processes and interactions which can be understood, and myriad arts and practices based on that understanding that can be talked about, passed on, refined and so on.

 

It's like how it is better to ride a bicycle than to talk about riding one, but how you can talk about which bicycle to buy, which accessories to add, which cycle paths are the most scenic, shared experiences . . .

 

Richard

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The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao...

 

Read on..

 

无名天地之始,有名万物之母

wu ming tian di zhi shi, you ming wan wu zhi mu

nameless, the genesis of heaven and earth; named, the mother of ten thousand things

 

此两者,同出而异名,同为之玄

ci liang zhe, tong chu er yi ming, tong wei zhi xuan

The two [named and unnamed], concurrently arise but have differed names, both are called profound

 

It is ironic and it isn't. Paradox is at the heart of Dao.

 

To talk or not talk. To be confused or to understand. These are both Dao. There is nothing un-Dao about Taobums, nor is there anything Dao about it. Buddhists often deride Daoists for their binary philosophy of Yin and Yang, though originally, they share the same foundation.

 

You are correct, the Dao that can be described isn't the eternal Dao.. BUT the Dao that can be described is ALSO the eternal Dao.

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