good sources for learning eastern philosophy

U

ubermich

amnesiac . . .
Registered Senior Member
would anyone care to share specific books, papers, sites, or other sources that have really helped them to understand certain eastern philosophies, religions, or lifestyles?

i realize im being incredibly vague, but i would like you eastern philosophy hacks out there to go wild--or for that matter, anyone from the dabbling dilettante to the wise and wizened master. anyone who has been particularly taken with a certain text or source is encouraged to post.

i recently came to the conclusion that it would be good to learn about the asian lifestyle, the history, the story behind my culture. i realize that that's somewhat of a western conception: the idea of an asia which is necessarily separated in distinct ways from "the West" by cultural nuances, spiritual beliefs, and even methods of cognition. but i will ascribe to that falsity if it gets me to my endgoal of escaping this American vortex of irreconciliable contradiction and disgusting hypocrisy; the ends not the means are prime.

*sighs*

its fucking twisted how an asian-american must turn to the world which has destroyed that of his ancestors' in order to learn about that from whence he came.

regardless, id greatly appreciate it if you could help me out. thanks.
 
Originally posted by ubermich
its fucking twisted how an asian-american must turn to the world which has destroyed that of his ancestors' in order to learn about that from whence he came.
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Off topic a little, Ubermich. But this idea... I don't know if you'd like to discuss this here or start a new thread about it, but there are a couple of interesting thoughts here and I wouldn't mind hearing how you arrived at this conclusion.
 
"would anyone care to share"

Here are some links, I hope they help.
happy.gif


Buddism

Zen Buddhism

Taoism

Hinduism

Confucianism

I Ching

BuddhaNet

Taoism Information Page

Zen Buddhism WWW Virtual Library

Glossary of Terms in Eastern Philosophy

EpistemeLinks - Eastern Philosophy
 
thanks for the sources, evilpoet.

i wouldnt mind discussing it marquis, but i really dont feel like organizing a coherent thesis for it. if you have a particular thought, feel free to im me or start a thread.
 
Most of the Eastern Philosophy as discussed in forum (an many other forums also) stands out to be based on books and articles written by many people who only tried to understand the real philosophy of east. Neither they have understood it properly neither their Gurus, so in turn what you get is just another mud pot which can not even stand the logic of a high school boy. In turn it would be ideal if you are to understand it from within, and for there are ways.

And the funniest part of eastern philosophy is that many thing are supposed to be done prior to asking questions about it, the “things” are supposed to be felt by self, by practicing it, and understanding it from individuals perspective.

The self is the best guru for eastern philosophy but still you require some on to introduce you to the raw philosophy of east. And more over the east has so many flavours to offer that you gets confused. To make it simple, there is a bad (as per the texts) way to reach it, there is a good (as per the text) to reach it! And in each there are so many methods and practices to follow. Both has its own good and bad sides. Now you might think what is the bad side of a ‘good practice’. Yes there are !

In the ‘good practice’ they ask you to stop eating meat, stop smoking, stop chewing tobacco, stop drinking alcohol, stop mating with your girls, stop going to the temple, stop reading ‘those old text books’, stop thinking that you are quite an ordinary soul. What you miss, is your life, specifically if you are young. To counter act when your body ask for things like the company of a girl, they have exercise which makes you forget completely about your sexual organs and their desires, and the damage is un-repairable!

And after traveling a lot in many paths and doing things which only few people might have done, I would best recommend you to just go back to those sunny days where in you have cigarettes, bikes, drinks, rock music, and lots and lots of girls…that way life remains so simple and has better explanation to things happening around.

Yet another thought is, why to push it so hard when there is an easy way !

I think more than eastern philosophy if we are to understand life better than what we can do today, that worth a try, than going after those ‘old wrong text books’.

If the desire still persists, then do ask, with the version, I mean first say whether you want a book / info on ‘good practice’ or the ‘bad one’.

I can surely extend some of my experience and contact people information for those greedy ones !
:)
 
Hey there. I just want to post on how I came about studying eastern philosophy. The things I read years ago in Buddhism books or Tao Te Ching books were always inspiring of course, even if I didn't really understand them. I am 19 now, and the past couple of years or year and a half, I found myself automatically doing the things that Buddhism talks about in order to find peace within yourself. I studied western philosophy looking for answers and enlightenment, and sometimes came to enlightenment but still no peace. However, every time I would read eastern philosophy, I would get that great sense of peace. It has helped me to come back to peace of mind which I had been searching for for so long, and even before I started to really get into eastern philosophy, I was following that lifestyle! So, I could also identify with a great deal of what works like the Dhammapada and other Zen Buddhism or Tao Te Ching books were talking about.
In the ‘good practice’ they ask you to stop eating meat, stop smoking, stop chewing tobacco, stop drinking alcohol, stop mating with your girls, stop going to the temple, stop reading ‘those old text books’, stop thinking that you are quite an ordinary soul. What you miss, is your life, specifically if you are young. To counter act when your body ask for things like the company of a girl, they have exercise which makes you forget completely about your sexual organs and their desires, and the damage is un-repairable!
Click to expand...


Exactly...so, I think the biggest thing in order to follow eastern philosophy is not to pound into your head the rules over and over, but to be able to see it within yourself in some way, or see the need for it, so that you know what you're doing and why you're doing it and can follow it with great faith. For me it's really about scraping away all the un-needed BS that I have piled onto my life (such as delusional perspectives and thoughts), cutting off desire just so that I won't have any more suffering through attachment (which I had started doing already), and improving self-control. I really love eastern philosophy in that it emphasizes nature, and how nature works as a system - everything comes and goes again, by itself, regardless of how you try to manipulate it.
 
Guru

“There is nothing greater than guru,
nothing greater than guru,
nothing greater than guru,
nothing greater than guru.
Shiva is the instructor.
Shiva is the instructor.
Shiva is the instructor.
Shiva is the instructor." - Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati, V, 63.

http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/gthursby/tantra/siddha.htm

For an ordinary person these words will sound crazy and confusing as one might think why to praise the Guru this much, and why these many times and is it necessary at all ?

For a person in search of the truth paths are many, and time is very limited. In this busy world when people find it difficult to read a full paragraph the answers are expected in a straightforward manner, so does my explanation.

Why Guru ?

There is no information which you can think as your’s, which stand true for all others too. So who owns the information ? Time ? God ? Soul ? Self ? or the collective sense ? If this collective sense of our good will, stands as an observer to all the events and information, is there a way to reach it ? Simple way would be, to become part of it, but still being alive. Yes there are ways, and only a Guru (divine teacher) can show you the path. He himself is a leaner and is ready to learn from you too. But his wisdom has reached that level of understanding that he feels his duty to propagate the idea of reaching the truth to those sincere seekers and “lucky souls”.

Who ?

The one who has reached the truth. one who understands that the information which he is sharing is not his, but the ‘collective sense’ itself. The one who do not feel proud for reaching that stage, but one who guards the info from falling in to the wrong hands, one who is 'one with the universe', one who believes in nature and natural way of happening, one who is happy for being who he is, one who is in love, one who is as crazy as you can think one can become, one who is so beautiful to spend time with, one who is very short tempered as his expectations from you is very high etc etc.

I wrote “lucky solus” above, because if you are lucky enough to find one such Guru there is no doubt that you will reach your destination.

Learning what ?

If you are to find a Guru and believe in him then what he practices becomes your path. So there comes the enormous variety of paths as available in Eastern Philosophy. Some times the Guru will be in a position to teach different ways to reach the truth, then it is up to you to decide on the path by evaluating the method of practice and deciding your self which suits you best based on nishta (conditions), acharan (practice), sadhana (time and duration of practice) etc.

Any short cuts ?

Yes there are. Like a sound wave affecting our thinking pattern, the sound and music of our own breath can reduce the distance between the seeker and the truth. But in that itself so many methods, again it becomes difficult to identify !! But the truth and the God can never be hidden so does the information about HAMSA yoga. There are plenty of web sites about HAMSA yoga (which you yourself can find with Google) and the true practice of the same is the fastest and safest method. And more over an investment of time and desire in to HAMSA yoga is an investment to eternity.

The story ends like this,

To stand up in your own feet first you require some ones help, and some people do it themselves also, so does the practice of truth, better get a good helping hand and save time, or practice for few births and learn it yourself.

There is nothing greater than guru, - because he (as God) who allowed me ‘to be’
nothing greater than guru, - because he (as my parents) gave me a body
nothing greater than guru, - because he (as my consciousness) help me find Guru
nothing greater than guru.- because he (as me) practice with belief

:)
 
hey u guys should try to read the original language edition

for instance~~¡¶Ò×¾_¡·was translated to "1 Ching"
wasn't that too funny?
 
My brain is permanently magnetized with bliss
because of a three-month gong I did under
Master Chunyi Lin who teaches Spring Forest Qigong (just do
a google search) and
who heals hundreds of people of life-threatening
conditions. Also I healed my mom of a serious case of
smoker's legs.

For philosophy, after my training I've spent two
years doing intensive research on ALL
meditation-yoga-shaman philosophies.

I highly recommend Master Nan, Huai-Chin.

Start with Tao and Longevity: Mind-Body Transformations.

Then his two Working Towards and Realizing Enlightenment.

His books are by far the most complete and detailed information
I've found -- after reading probably 300 books on the subject.

My personal practice got to the end of his first book or
what he calls, "the limits of worldliness."

His books on Enlightenmnet are extremely overwhelming
and interdisciplinary.

I would guess that it might take two years just to
be comfortable with the material on a psychological level.

Master Nan, Huai-Chin is still almost totally unknown in the West,
precisely because he's so hardcore. But, if you do a web search,
you find out he's being doing secret high-level statecraft
negotiations as well.

Also please read my internet papers, found by
a google search under my name, Drew Hempel.

In particular, "The Actual Matrix Plan," and "The Rotten Root."
and "Epicenters of Justice"

thanks, drew
 
drew,

Are you familiar with Soaring Crane Qigong or read "Qigong:
essence of the healing dance" by Garri Garripoli? If so, any
thoughts? :)
 
Chunyi Lin who teaches Spring Forest Qigong
sat in full-lotus for over one-month
straight in a cave with little to no food or water.

He sits in full-lotus 4 hours a day.

There are dozens of qigong books but most
of the writers are not qigong masters.

Effie P. Chow is a good teacher, in S.F. and
has a book, the Miracle Healing of Qigong

Chunyi Lin has a book, "Born a Healer."

Also I recommend Chinese Master Nan, Huai-chin's books:
"Tao and Longevity," "Working Toward Enlightenment," and
"Realizing Enlightenment."

Finally "Opening the Dragon Gate: Making of a Modern Taoist
Wizard" is good.

The academic Journal of Chinese Philosophy is
highly recommended to get a good critique of all
these populist books -- to maintain balance.

drew hempel
 
your two refs. were new to me and
very informative. There's a local
teacher of the crane style qigong but
I didn't know it's the "official" qigong
recognized by the government.
I'll see if there's
a public copy of Garri Garripoli's book
since I'm sure it has some very cool
tidbits.

drew
 
Go out and buy a copy of the Dhammapada. Once you've read it over about 30 times, then decide where to look for yourself.
 
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