T_Clark

This is a Monty Python routine. Really, it is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDB5gbtaEQ

As I noted in a response to @"Possibility", it is my understanding this is a Confucian view which Lao Tzu was specifically reacting against.

This is really thoughtful. I've bookmarked your link and I'll take a look. This is what I love most about the internet - people generously sharing inf...

It is my understanding that's what Confucius thinks, not Lao Tzu. I think rejecting that view is what this verse is about. Natural - wu wei. Conventio...

I can't tell if we're disagreeing or not. I don't think I understand the difference between interpretation and the structure of the TTC. Is "ToE" theo...

Let's try this out - there is a fundamental and unavoidable conflict between intellect and wu wei. I don't know if I believe that or not. I don't see ...

If you mean what I think you mean when you say "things in themselves," I think we are talking about different issues. To me, the nature of "things in ...

This is not how I see it. There is a natural, sincere, spontaneous way of behaving in accordance with our inner natures, wu wei. When we lose that cap...

It seemed to me that McFadden's article and your explication were both based on the idea that we need some sort of special explanation for consciousne...

I think the question of whether one person perceives red the same way another one does exposes a vast, monstrous, unfathomable oversimplification of h...

I think you and I are on the same page.

I found the article very unconvincing, but it is at least a source to back up your ideas and give them some credibility. I must admit, it don't get th...

I keep getting so far behind. Did you notice I responded to one of your posts twice? Is te self-conscious? I haven't figured that out for myself. I am...

Maybe you've mentioned this before - do you follow any meditative practice? It seems like it might be a fruitful direction for you.

Others, including @"Jack Cummins", have noted that, in my search for the meaning of "mysticism" I left something out. I talked about non-rational ways...

I think the mechanisms for consciousness presented in this post are highly unlikely. To tell the truth, I don't understand what the descriptions mean....

I think it's the other way around - when the natural relationships among family members break down, then you get filial piety. Filial piety is seen as...

In the OP I tried to make it clear that this would be an open-ended discussion about mysticism. I had my own agenda, which worked out better than I ex...

My natural intellectual instinct is to simplify, boil down, condense. That can lead me to toss out some of the subtleties and nuances. But I do recogn...

People don't choose not to talk about the ineffable. The ineffable cannot be talked about. As Lao Tzu says - The Tao that can be spoken is not the ete...

I'll take a look. Thanks.

I draw the line between what is real and what is not at magic, the occult, the supernatural. That isn't exactly the same as the line between philosoph...

I always fall back on my favorite platitude - There is only one world. We're all describing the same thing. Your question seems like the silly old "do...

Everyone has a different way of seeing the world. That's why there are so many voices here on the forum.

Yes. Thanks.

It's available at my library. I'll take a look. Thanks. There is an image I use when I am contemplating the world, reality, the Tao. It's a cloud, lit...

I always say that there's only one world, we're all human, so when we find similarities between the ideas of people writing centuries, millennia, and ...

I think if you look over my posts, you might classify me as a pragmatist. What works. Meat and potatoes. I am an engineer for a reason. I came to Taoi...

Yes, the Tao is the unity, but the Tao and the 10,000 things are the same. That's the mystery. As I wrote, this is a good example of the TTC's ambigui...

We'll leave this for now. I'm not sure where I stand. As I've said elsewhere, to me, it is humanity that creates the 10,000 things by naming them. I'v...

As I wrote previously, knowledge seems to be connected to desire. I guess striving for knowledge is like striving for success, acclaim, or power. I th...

Yes, I used misleading language. Action, wu wei, including what we might call moral behavior, can come directly from the Tao. I'm not sure exactly how...

I am way behind on my responses to you. I'll catch up.

Well, that's one problem. This is from Derek Lin's translation of Verse 1. Thus, constantly free of desire One observes its wonders Constantly filled ...

I'm an engineer with a strong background in science and math. I was a strong materialist in my youth. I still believe strongly in what science can do ...

I would be interested in the essay. If you post it, I'll take a look. I think you're right. I've been struggling in this thread to find a way to addre...

I think I'm honest. And, as you should know by now, I will never remain quiet.

As Lao Tzu wrote - The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name.

Is this the same as Cthulhu?

I think you're right. See my response to @"Tom Storm" a few posts up. I've decided that "mysticism" is not a useful word. It carries too much baggage....

I really love this. If you look, you'll find that I've used the same quote in a bunch of other threads. It says everything I want to say about reality...

Yes. My understanding is that you're right. I was talking about philosophical Taoism. I don't know much about religious Taoism. What I've heard makes ...

This reminds me of arguments about what it means to have faith in something. Materialists/realists speak as if it's self-evident that faith is not a v...

By the way - I've been meaning to ask you what that thing is in your icon picture. I looked a the larger version on your page. It looks like maybe it ...

Yes. This is why I try to make sure mysticism is kept separate from the occult, magic.

Mystery means lots of things. In what way is it confused with mystical? I can't really speak to this. I don't think I've ever had what I would call a ...

As I've noted several times so far in this thread, I emphasize the mundaneness of Taoism because I don't want it to be mistaken for the occult. I say ...

I place a strong emphasis on the fact that the Tao and associated phenomena are not magical or mysterious. They are as real as a box of rocks. As real...

This is a really good summary.

Your description of Wittgenstein's mysticism looks compatible with the definitions I laid out. It's true - when you get down to it, it's all about the...