A Taoist Story
I want to share a story. A story that will tell you how Taoism and Christainity are NOT the same thing. Is a story about my teacher, Bruce Kumar Frantzis.
Bruce is a big man. He does not try to look nice, or good. He is just himself. His philosophy of life seem to be:
-I come from NY, there we say, "everybody is an asshole, you need to understand of what kind".
Or at least that is one of the phrases that he repeats more often. Yet he is a Taoist master, Lineage holder, has studied with some of the greatest master in the world, and is recognised by them.
When he is not teaching he often chats amicably with the students, about his life. He expressadly asks the students not to keep up the teacher projection (when you are chatting), so that everybody is much more confortable. And he REALLY does not want to be called master.
One day he was describing a place in China, where he has been. A particularly nice place. One student said:
"Oh yes, I have been there. Unfortunately my girlfriends had just dumped me, so I was not in the right mood to enjoy it."
Bruce:"Oh, just near there, there is a place with so many girls. And girls that would be very glad to do anything necessary to make you forget your past love."
Student:"I don't go with prostitutes, I don't like it"
Bruce:"No prostitutes, just normal girls, from good family"
Student:"And why would a 'normal girl' go with the first stranger".
Bruce:"Hey, man, you are a passport!"
Student:"but then I would have to marry her, while I have no intention.
Bruce:"Oh no, you say you need to go to Beijing to do some work, and you just never come back."
Student:"But what about karma?"
Then Bruce look at the student very seriously and said:
"you think you are the only one who can lie"
Then he got up and walked away.
Comment:
I always found this story very very interesting.
It modifies the rule from "don't do to others what you don't desire for yourself." to "don't do to others what you don't accept for yourself". In doing this it frees both parties to experience life more wholly.
"there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so",
Shakespeare, Hamlet, ACT II, SCENE II.
and
"good and bad create each other",
Lao Tzu, some translation, chapter 2.
There are two things, the action, and the regret, which often leads to what most of you would call a virtuouse life. But the regret is, for a big partm cultural dependent. Thus a virtuous person here, would not be virtuouse in another country.
Taoism, like christianity believes that the true nature of people is essentially good. Yet what a Taoist would call good is different from what a Christian would call good. Have you ever been in the countryside? Seen the people who work the land. They know little about politics, grammar, litterature, is often useless to them. They are often not bad, but not good either. They are a mix of the two. They are more near, in my understanding, to the naturally good person, that I am refering too. For this reason, in my hell Cristians have a confy place too.
Pietro
Bruce is a big man. He does not try to look nice, or good. He is just himself. His philosophy of life seem to be:
-I come from NY, there we say, "everybody is an asshole, you need to understand of what kind".
Or at least that is one of the phrases that he repeats more often. Yet he is a Taoist master, Lineage holder, has studied with some of the greatest master in the world, and is recognised by them.
When he is not teaching he often chats amicably with the students, about his life. He expressadly asks the students not to keep up the teacher projection (when you are chatting), so that everybody is much more confortable. And he REALLY does not want to be called master.
One day he was describing a place in China, where he has been. A particularly nice place. One student said:
"Oh yes, I have been there. Unfortunately my girlfriends had just dumped me, so I was not in the right mood to enjoy it."
Bruce:"Oh, just near there, there is a place with so many girls. And girls that would be very glad to do anything necessary to make you forget your past love."
Student:"I don't go with prostitutes, I don't like it"
Bruce:"No prostitutes, just normal girls, from good family"
Student:"And why would a 'normal girl' go with the first stranger".
Bruce:"Hey, man, you are a passport!"
Student:"but then I would have to marry her, while I have no intention.
Bruce:"Oh no, you say you need to go to Beijing to do some work, and you just never come back."
Student:"But what about karma?"
Then Bruce look at the student very seriously and said:
"you think you are the only one who can lie"
Then he got up and walked away.
Comment:
I always found this story very very interesting.
It modifies the rule from "don't do to others what you don't desire for yourself." to "don't do to others what you don't accept for yourself". In doing this it frees both parties to experience life more wholly.
"there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so",
Shakespeare, Hamlet, ACT II, SCENE II.
and
"good and bad create each other",
Lao Tzu, some translation, chapter 2.
There are two things, the action, and the regret, which often leads to what most of you would call a virtuouse life. But the regret is, for a big partm cultural dependent. Thus a virtuous person here, would not be virtuouse in another country.
Taoism, like christianity believes that the true nature of people is essentially good. Yet what a Taoist would call good is different from what a Christian would call good. Have you ever been in the countryside? Seen the people who work the land. They know little about politics, grammar, litterature, is often useless to them. They are often not bad, but not good either. They are a mix of the two. They are more near, in my understanding, to the naturally good person, that I am refering too. For this reason, in my hell Cristians have a confy place too.
Pietro