Eastern religion and philosophy

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What are your thoughts about the Eastern religions and philosophies? Which ones do you like the most and why? What would readings would you recommend for a person trying to get perspective on the Eastern religions and philosophies? What readings would you recommend for a person trying to get a perspective though the Eastern philosophies and religions?

Did you know that ooM is Woo spelled backward and upside down?

ruveyn

Taoism is pretty cool. I haven't read too much of eastern philosophy compared to western philosophy. My mind is too hyper to enjoy that style I think.

Yeah, I think I'm probably too hyper myself, but I do think I might be able to pick some things out that may have some value.

I was on the phone with my friend Miles, and we got on the subject of Religion. I'm a Catholic by birth, but I hold many beliefs and superstitions that Miles thought were "Eastern".

Examples:

1. The ups and downs of life (I call it the arc of life) are not just human, but a test from the divine to make sure you keep focus on what truly matters and prepare you for the afterlife.

2. True happiness is found in simplicity. If you keep life simple, and focus on things such as meditation, those close to you, helping others, and your vocation, you'll find much more peace and happiness than if you were focusing on getting a new big-screen TV or Sports Car.

3. Self Reflection is a form of Meditation. Knowing where you've been, your trials and tribulations, your highs and lows, and your triumphs and mistakes, you can grow to be a better person, and closer to the divine

Just a few examples. I'm not sure if these are my own crazy ideas or if they are similar to any religion's belief.

If you really want a good overview of actual Eastern philosophy and not just new-agey-woo, start with the Analects of Confucius, the Bagavad Gita, the Tao te Ching, and the Lotus or Diamond Sutra. If you're interested in Zen, the compilation Zen Flesh, Zen Bones is good.

Note that these texts cover some very, very different and often contradictory and competing philosophies.

Right, so Confucianism through the Analects. The Bhagavad Gita for Hinduism. The Tao Te Ching for Taoism. And the Sutras are Buddhist, right?

Ok, so I am on the right track. I own the Bhagavad Gita(I need to re-read it so I can distinguish better between the interpreter's notes, and the actual text as I wasn't good at distinguishing the two in the first read though). I checked out the Tao Te Ching. I didn't get those Sutras for Buddhism, but I did check out a book by Paul Carus called " Buddhism and It's Christian Critics", and a book by Nagarjuna called Mūlamadhyamaka-kārikā or "The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way". I also checked out the Penguin Classic compilation of Upanishads. So, it seems as if I am on the right track. I dismissed Confucius, but I am rethinking that matter a bit. My big concern is that Confucius seems more like a straight-up conservative than an evolutionary conservative, and I don't value the latter, but I do value the former somewhat.

Also, do you recommend Zen much? I am less interested in meditation and things like that and attempting more to strip away whatever philosophical nuggets I can find in these books.

"Westernize" gives me 114 000 results on Google while "Easternize" gives me 1360.

I like a lot of what is written about zen.

It mostly reminds me of cognitive therapy which has done wonders for me in the past.

"I am not ashamed to confess that I am ignorant of what I do not know."

- Marcus Tullius Cicero

Eastern thought has never really been an interest to me, so I don't know so much about it to say anything much in regards to it.

You should check out "The Autobiography of a Yogi" by Parmanhansa Yogananda.
It gives a great advice on meditation, the spiritual quest, and an overview of hinduism, with a dash of christianity.

Yeah, check out the Autobiography of a Yogi.

Read any book by Alan Watts and / or find some of his audio for download.

I would be surprised if you can't find the sutras on the web somewhere. Nagarjuna is probably a good place to start; he's counted as one of the founders of Mahayana buddhism, one of the main branches, but afaIk was still fairly faithful to the theravada roots. If you want to go back to the roots of buddhism, though, you should probably look for theravada sources.

Zen is a branch of mahayana buddhism. While it is still very buddhist - still talks of reincarnatioin, has a strong emphasis on meditation, etc - it has a unique flavor all its own and you might look it up just for that.


Confucius sort of grows on you. I started out leaning towards liking taoism and dismissing confucianism as just another agent of social control, but I ended up thinking the opposite. Confucius, essentially, describes what it is to be civilized and live a beautiful life. I'd definitely recommend the analects vs. some of the latter students of confucianism that re-interpreted things to fit their own cultural ideas. Again, you can probably find at least the best known of the analects online, if not the full accounting.

Another important read is The Art of War by Sun Tzu. It is about war, but it's not a stretch at all to apply it to philosophy - sort of on a level with Machiavelli's The Prince.

Thinking about Eastern stuff, this story I just read seemed to apply:



Chuang Tzu put it this way:

Consciousness wandered North to the land of Dark Waters and climbed the Unnoticeable Slope, where he met the Speechless Non-Doer. "I have three questions for you," Consciousness said, "First, what thoughts and efforts will lead us to understanding the Tao? Second, where must we go and what must we do to find peace in the Tao? Third, from what point must we start and which road must we follow in order to reach the Tao? Speechless Non-Doer gave him no answer.

Consciousness traveled South to the land of the Bright Ocean and climbed the mountain of Certainty, where he met the Impulsive Speech-Maker. He asked him the same three questions. "Here are the answers," Impulsive Speech-Maker replied. But as soon as he started to speak, he became confused and forgot what he was talking about.

Consciousness returned to the Palace and asked the Yellow Emperor, who told him, "To have no thought and put forth no effort is the first step towards understanding the Tao. To go nowhere and do nothing is the first step towards finding peace in the Tao. To start from no point and follow no road is the first step towards reaching the Tao."

ooM is Woo spelled backward and upside down.

ruveyn