Post
by apophenia » Sat Aug 06, 2011 5:03 am
I unlearnt the bigoted opinions of the privileged male patriarchy in Hinduism who, innocently enough, I believed when they wrote that my branch of Hinduism was "mere superstition" and the most corrupt and degenerate form of Hindu worship, that true Hinduism leads to moksa, but my faith only leads to siddhis (occult powers, black magic). Bastards literally stole three decades of my life. I know it's irrational, but upon realizing that something precious has been unjustly taken from you, you want nothing more than to get it back with a vengeance. Bastards!
Not strictly this week, but very recently, I have unlearnt my belief in the power of unlearning. As a Taoist, it is said that, "Every day in pursuit of learning, something is picked up; every day in pursuit of the Tao, something is dropped." A couple weeks back, I was arguing with a liberal Christian, and he told me that his belief in God was not primarily based on the bible (presumably alluding to an infilling of the Holy Spirit). I had to wonder, would he even have an idea of that God were it not for the bible? I had to conclude no. He was simply connecting his internal experiences and sensations up with his pre-existing ideas and beliefs about the world, derived more or less directly from the bible and Christian tradition. And I had to ask myself, are my ideas and experiences of this world, interpreted in light of Taoist writings and theory, are these any less a matter of me applying preconceived interpretations of my experience onto my experience? I think not. But that's as far as I've gotten in contemplating these matters, aside from some jerk asking me, "What kind of Taoist calls themselves a Taoist?" and noting another person making an argument that Taoists shouldn't self-identify (which he hinged upon an interpretation of chapter 1 of the Tao Te Ching; if that's all he's basing it on, I don't agree with his interpretation).
As long as I'm on a soap box, I might as well take the opportunity to badmouth some people. I've been a solitary Taoist most of my life, so when I found out there were usenet newsgroups devoted to Taoism, I was excited. It didn't take long to realize though, that the typical poster's idea of what it means to be a Taoist is to say silly things, act inscrutable, and refuse to give direct answers to simple questions. Maybe I'm wrong, but this isn't what Taoism is about to me (I'm reminded of Laozi's admonishment to "empty hearts and fill bellies" -- these Taoists don't appear interested in any but themselves). Well, if that's Taoism, I don't want it. Such people strike me as nothing more than poseurs, but I could be wrong. (It's possible to extract from Chuang-tse's playful and often baffling aphorisms the idea that being playful and baffling is what being a Taoist sage is about; I could see someone taking that message away, while at the same time realizing it ignores the relevant scholarship which informs Chuang-tse's arguments -- but then, Taoism's core message seems to advise eschewing learning and study, so perhaps people are "set up" to miss the larger context).
Anyway. I'm done ranting. That was probably more my Hindu side ranting through my Taoist side, but that's okay.
