>> My deep suspicion
>> is that many/most of the hangups being expressed here about "spirituality"
>> derive from the near entrapment of Western perspectives within an assumption
>> that there are such things as transcendent things, causes, reasons, etc.
>> For a deep cultural contrast you might consider the ancient Chinese phil-
>> osophical tradition. I recommend starting with David Hall and Bruce Ames,
>> Thinking Through Confucius. My perception of socalled "spiritual"
>> ecofeminism is that it is seeking to recreate a spirituality of immanence
>> within the Western context (or "create" if you think we never had one).
>
>hi phil-im happy to see your perspective here...im wondering if you can
>clarify something. i totally agree that the type of spirituality
>westerners are looking to adopt/recreate focuses on "immanence"- the idea
>that the sacred/god(ess)/spirit is inherent WITHIN all things rather than
>some removed entity in the sky(transcendent)........what im hoping you
>can give insight on is how eastern traditions, esp buddhism, addresses
>the sacred. im tripped up by the superficial bit ive read and have a
>problem going deeper..the big problem i see is the idea that what humans
>should look toward is an eventual "transcending" of our bodies and the
>physical world (seemingly regarded as inferior- thus reincarnation as
>"lower" animals)..i feel like im reading the wrong concepts into it
>though, because at the same time i hear this celebration of the immanence
>of the spirit in nature and oneself etc....
>
>the concept of "self" also trips me up cuz it seems to suggest this sort
>of individualism at the expense of holism. how do you interpret the
>philosophies in these contexts??
>
>-anne dashiell
Anne,
i haven't been keeping up well w/the spirtuality debate, but i will try to
answer some of your questions. Taoists and traditional Chinese philosophy
realized that there was an original energy of the universe. This is Tao.
Tao cannot be truly comprehended, and it contains all existence and
non-existence. From Tao, all things arise. Thus, everything is one. In
every being, there is Tao. In Nature, life flows with Tao...doing what
comes naturally. That is why Taoist monks/priests and Ch'an Buddhists were
so fascinated with animals. They did not need to learn our Taoism, they
inherently 'knew' how to flow with Tao. If you look at the martial arts,
esp Shaolin kung-fu, many styles are modeled and named after animals.
i have only been studying Taoism and Buddhism for 1 1/2-2 yrs, so check out
some of these sources for more info: _Chronicles of Tao_ by Deng Ming Dao,
_Tao: The Subtle Universal Law_ by Hua-Ching Ni. i can't think of any
Buddhist references right now, but will look around. Also, _Deep Ecology_
has a some good stuff in it. Wait! Gary Snyder, Zen Buddhist and
poet...check his books out.
All Good Medicine,
Eric
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**_____________________________________________________________________________
"...We learned to be patient observers like the owl. We learned cleverness
from the crow, and courage from the jay, who will attack an owl ten times
its size to drive it off its territory. But above all of them ranked the
chickadee because of its indomitable spirit."
--Tom Brown, Jr., _The Tracker_
"To realize that you do not understand is a virtue;
Not to realize that you do not understand is a defect."
--Lao Tzu, _Tao Te Ching_
"If i can't dance, i don't want to be part of your revolution"
--Emma Goldman
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Eric Dee /o)\
F&M #401 \(o/
P.O. Box 3220
Lancaster, PA 17604-3220
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