Buddhism and Taoism: Two Roads, Same Mountain?

Or not so much?

Jason Miller posted about a dream he had in which Padmasambhava (the 8th century tantric saint who introduced Vajrayana Buddhism to Tibet) and General Guan (the Taoist immortal) said that the Buddhist and Taoist paths were “Pretty much the same thing from where we stand, just the specifics are different and even then some are the same."

So, granted, Buddhism and Taoism employ similar means to their ends.  Meditation is key in both systems, and Vajrayana Buddhism and esoteric Taoism both employ sophisticated processes of inner alchemy to produce enlightenment or "immortality."  Some of those meditative and alchemical processes are very similar in the way that they work with breath, visualization, and inner energy channels.  And of course there has historically been a great deal of cross-fertilization between Buddhism, Hindu yoga and tantra, and Taoism, especially in the regions where Indian, Tibetan, and Chinese cultures have met and intermingled.   

Normally I am not a fan of the idea that all spiritual paths lead to the same place.  If you look at the traditions, read the texts carefully, and observe practitioners in those traditions, it is obviously not the case.  Different traditions employ different spiritual practices which have different results.  This is something I came to feel pretty strongly about when I was a Religous Studies major at Humboldt, and I really get tired of hearing the feel-good New Age sentiment that all spiritual paths are "the same."  They're not.

Buddhism and Taoism, however, especially in their esoteric forms, are more similar to each other than most other paths.  In China, most people are essentially both Buddhist and Taoist and Confucian and practice various elements of Chinese folk religion, as well.  Moreover, Taoism strongly influenced the development of the Ch'an (i.e. Zen) school of Buddhism in China, while Buddhism influenced the development of the Complete Reality school of Taoism.  And there is quite a bit of overlap between Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist yoga and qigong practices in terms of posture, breathing, and internal energy work.

That said, what about the end result of the two paths?  Buddhism has very clearly defined goals for its practitioners.  In the Theravada tradition, this goal is defined as nirvana.  The practitioner becomes an arhat, and will never again be reborn in samsara.  In the Mahayana, practitioners are encouraged to follow the way of the bodhisattva, aiming for the complete liberation of all beings, and the highest level of attainment is described as samyaksambodhi or perfect enlightenment.  But what, exactly, is the goal of Taoism?  I'm sure this goal is defined differently in the various schools of Taoism, just as there are variations in the concept of buddhahood and the path to it among the various schools of Buddhism.  At least some schools of Taoism do seem to emphasize realization of emptiness or pure, unconditioned awareness in a way that sounds a lot like the goal of Buddhism.  They are both essentially nondual spiritual traditions, after all.  But some schools of Taoism also promote the pursuit of immortality (defined in various ways), which is not a feature of Buddhism.

Ultimately, I think I am coming to the conclusion that I don't know enough about the various forms of Taoism to draw clear parallels (or perpendiculars) with Buddhism.  Does anyone out there know enough about the actual goals of Taoist practice to further my understanding?  I would greatly appreciate it.

Dating advice from Taoist priest Yun Xiang Tseng

I came across this video on a Taoist discussion forum some time ago.  Yun Xiang Tseng (known as Master Cheng to his students) is a Taoist priest in the Wudang tradition.  In this video, he makes some interesting comments on relationships.  The discussion gets a bit repetitive, and his accent might be hard for some people to understand, but I think it's worth listening.  Below is my five-point summary and commentary.  At this point I should probably say that my commentary is written from the perspective of a heterosexual man and that my notes below are intended primarily for other heterosexual men.  However, if you change the pronouns, I believe that most of these principles can apply to other kinds of relationships, as well.

1.  Don't expect a woman to think, feel, or behave the way you think she should (i.e., like you would, or like a man would).  It amazes me how often I hear guys getting frustrated because their partner is not acting 'rationally' or the way that he himself would act.  If you expect other people (in general, not just women) to act according to your own values, beliefs, and expectations, you are going to be disappointed and frustrated.

2.  Allow the other person to be herself and appreciate her as she is.  Don't be disappointed because she is not the person you wanted her to be.

3. Your inability to accept and love another is directly related to your inability to accept and love yourself.  Many problems in relationships are caused by a lack of self-esteem and self-love, which leads to insecurity and power games.

4.  You need to have a certain level of self-esteem and happiness in your life in order to have a happy, healthy, and authentically creative relationship with your partner.  Obviously, if you are depressed, stressed, anxious, or miserable, your relationship is going to have problems and it will be difficult for you and your partner to create children, a family, a business, or whatever else it is that you're trying to bring into the world together.  So, your emotional well-being is crucial.  By the way, in case you didn't know, there are things you can do to reduce stress and improve your emotional well-being.  Things like eating well, getting enough sleep, exercising, practicing qigong, meditating, and living mindfully.

5.  In his advice on attracting the right partner, Master Cheng's advice emphasizes self-cultivation, as opposed to outward seeking.  I quote:

"Healthy body give ability to house a healthy spirit, and a healthy spirit is able to manifest the glow of love, and the glow of love expand--able to attract the right kind of people.  You are not go out and look for your soulmate, your relations person, the great relations person will attracted to your glow of love and come to your life without have to try that hard.  Love always on the first sight, we always love to hear that, but love on the first sight is because you are able and capable to emit the glow of light to attract the one who is capable to be synchronized with your energy.  So don't busy searching outside, turn inside to improve the quality of your own being."

In my opinion, this is actually the most relevant (and non-obvious) point that Yun Xiang Tseng makes in his discussion.  In our culture, as men, we are being sold the message that in order to meet women, we need to go out and take a very active approach: going to clubs, "approaching," getting phone numbers, and in general, trying really hard.  This is the message of books like The Game and the entire "Seduction Community" which has a wider cultural influence, especially among young men, than many readers might suspect.  These messages appeal to men's feelings of powerlessness, frustration, inadequacy, and fear.

However, my own experience with dating and relationships has been that that kind of effort yields very little reward for the amount of effort that goes into it.  In fact, all of the good relationships I've had, the ones that have lasted a while and been satisfying while they lasted, have been brought about seemingly by synchronicity or fate, with very little effort on my part.  Taoism has always emphasized effortless action, non-action or wu wei, and it seems that the approach Yun Xiang Tseng is suggesting to finding a partner is a wu wei approach. 

Instead of actively seeking, focus on cultivating yourself.  Master Cheng emphasizes the importance of having not only a healthy spirit but a healthy body as well.  Having a healthy body, being in good shape, leads to living with more joy, more self-esteem, more self-confidence--and confidence is the single most attractive quality a man can have.  On a more esoteric level, says Master Cheng, a person who is physically, emotionally, and spiritually healthy emits a subtle energetic glow or radiance that is naturally attractive, especially to people with whom you have a natural energetic compatibility.  Once you are in this state, you don't have to go out and look for the right person.  You will naturally attract them into your life, and attraction happens naturally, effortlessly.  It is, in fact, the most natural thing in the world.

The Mad Monk, and tea for all seasons

Yesterday I went to go see an old friend who is pouring tea at Mad Monk Tea in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego.  I had heard about the shop a couple of years ago, when it was under a different name and different ownership, but never made it down to OB to check it out because you had to make an appointment, and they charged something like $35 per hour for private gongfucha/Chinese tea ceremony.  Now, it is a much more casual environment where anyone can walk in, sit down, and taste tea.  The tea room is a cool, offbeat hole-in-the-wall kind of place.  The crowd there is eclectic and  the tea selection is very good.  We (I brought my sister along) drank a 7-year Imperial (loose-leaf) pu-erh and an  Osmanthus Silver Needle "flowering" tea.  We both got pretty buzzed on the pu-erh; I could feel the cha qi opening up my meridians.  The Osmanthus Silver Needle had a nice honey/apricot flavor and was very soothing after the pu-erh.  I thought it would be a good tea to have around for the summer, so I bought two ounces.

Since I first starting learning Taoist health principles, I've really taken to the idea of varying my diet in accordance with the seasons.  We all do this naturally, to some extent.  In the summer, for example, are you more likely to crave beef stew, or a salad?  Since I've gotten into tea, I vary my tea-drinking with the seasons as well.  Pu-erh, lapsang souchong, and other black or red teas are my favorite in the winter.  This spring, I am drinking mostly Dongding oolong at home, and I have Shizuoka sencha and the Osmanthus Silver Needle for when the San Diego weather gets even warmer in the next few months.  I expect the Osmanthus Silver Needle would also be very good iced, although I usually only drink iced tea when it's really hot outside.  When fall comes--my favorite season of the year--I will probably gravitate back toward some darker teas.  There's nothing like a good cup of pu-erh on a misty autumn morning.