If a man's food were poisoned by some evil minded group of people, perhaps repeatedly, causing uncomfortable bacterial infections in his stomach, how would he deal with this as a Confucian, Buddhist or Taoist? I'm Catholic, and as a Catholic, I would unite the suffering with the redemptive act of Christ on the Cross.
Jesus was also a vinegar taster, having said "I thirst", was offered bitter wine which could never quench, an allegory on what is valuable. The wine of this world always turns bitter over time and ultimately does not quench the thirst. So his position is not that the world is suffering, nor is it that the world is good, but that the world is not valuable for what it has to offer, i.e., transience.
i think only the taoist would drink vinegar as a cure . indeed ? first thing when i arose this morning i took a slug off of the vinegar bottle . yesterday everyone i encountered was crazy to the point of bitter and it made me feel so bad in its sum . today , they are ok like they don't even remember .
I know I would, and if that didn't work, onto Oil of Oregano and colloidal silver. And of course once we Know the way of the Tao like the back of our hand then we are surely lost on the path.
the old-time hay makers drink deeply from a jug of vinegar and water - itsa hot time and the dust , oh the dusty day . vinegar : a vaporous cool snort is good for the lungs . the breath is life , justly so , the winds of earth and sky can speak .
From the above reading, It seems that, The Tao is: Created and Uncreated, Temporary and Infinite, Suffering and Joy, Death and Life, Many and One, Impure and Pure, Vinegar and Wine. And it seems that loving one leads to loving the other. However, loving the corrupted wine (vinegar), Does not seem to be the same as, Loving the corruption of the wine, Because corruption is not a something, Rather it is a subtraction from a something.
quite a difference between subtraction and a transition for this so called corruption has merely brought the wine through it's full cycle to what it was chemically intent on being given the proper conditions, sort of like a caterpillar to a butterfly. The Wine is merely a passing phase, something to be gotten over, experienced and moved on from, but we love the wine as well even though we know it's nothing but Immature Vinegar.
"Immature Vinegar?" It's mature to be corrupt? So your saying its mature to be dead? According to Laotzu and Wu Wei's essay: There is enjoyment in pursuing created things. However, even though the beauty of created things have beauty, Created things are not pure beauty, They can only dimly reflect, The source of its beauty. The young man was taught by the elder, To always seek the source of beauty, Above any beautiful creature. So even though, Loving a beautiful woman leads us to love beauty, And loving beauty leads us to love a beautiful woman, There is still a hierarchal relationship between the two, And so this relationship is not simply equal or "transitional."
Well in a sense yes as it's the end of a natural cycle. I'm also saying that perhaps it's the observer who's corrupt if he see's the Wine as being the great end all of mashed grapes. :cheers2: And generally don't care for 3rd party perspectives on the Tao much (In the sense that thinking there could be an authoritative perspective on it, but general discussion of each's own unique view is cool.) so Wu Wei's essay on his perspectives of what The Tao is mean little for me, each has their own as many looking through a multifaceted prism, not one is "correct" in their observation yet nor are they flawed in their perspective, it is simply their perspective of what the prism shows them, yet no perspective changes what that Prism is.
"Wei Wu Wei," Is an expression used in Taoism to mean, "doing without doing." According to Laotzu, Created things (e.g. wine, Laotzu himself) indirectly reveal without directly revealing higher things. However, these temporary and corruptible (and hence corruption) things aren't to be loved as an end, Which sounds similar to Buddhism's Nirvana. Without trying, I think, You indirectly corrected me about my use of the words "wei wu" without directly correcting me. Your post indirectly lead me to a higher authority than both of us (the rules of language). Which sounds similar to Confucianism. However, I would agree that following rules, Can be overruled by conscience. Certainly, there are at least two different perspectives on Taoism, However, materialism seems to be better advertised.
Even though materialism is more readily visible, The mystical seems to directly lead people to persistence without as much visibility. Perhaps because the visible can distract our view of the mystical, As well as indirectly lead us see the mystical. It seems this mystery is a common good for multiple religions.
In Catholicism, According to St. Augustine, vinegar is symbolic of the corrupt Jews. Jesus drank the vinegar, but not the wine (mixed with honey and myrrh) on the cross. God took the form of a man (who were unjust, and cursed with death for not following God.) Vinegar was given on a reed of hyssop. Hyssop is symbolic of a thorough purification of the heart. Wormwood is bitter, like vinegar, It is symbolic of a curse, calamity, or injustice, However, It is turned into wine by macerating it in fluid, And is also used as stomach medicine, and a cure for "intestinal worms." The Church is symbolically called, "The Body of Christ" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinth_Wormwood) (http://222.newadvent.org/fathers/1701119.htm) (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01060b.htm)
