r/taoism

Book recommendations on how to last longer in bed?

I have seen Daoist books on sexual-related matters. Perhaps it's relevant to the topic of Daoism.

I want to last 5hr straight masturbating, or with partner, without ejaculation for Men. I did it before but my success rate is low.

Is there Chinese Medicine/Qigong/Daoist/Yoga/ books that covers (even partly) the topic of lasting long without ejaculation/busting/? Having methods to implement. Maybe taking into account the prana/Qi/Shen/ energy. Thanks!

Hey everyone. I would like to hear some advice about your experiences on the subject of authenticity and following a vocation that resonates with your nature, since I am in a dilemma and would like to evaluate my future:

So, since I was little I've been interested in arts. Drawing and creating stories and comic books has been my passion, it's something I've always done. I have always had a very clear dream in mind: writing a series of comic books about a story I've been developing since I was 13. Now I'm 24, and through a series of life choices based on money and not 'dying out of hunger' I've been following a very different path to my natural interests since I was 18, trying to follow a career in Business and International Relations. I live in a developing country that is somewhat conservative so it's normal that my parents want me to be another thing or want me to take a job in whatever field there is even though I feel it's not my time and it's not my interests, intuitively.

During these years I've been following that path, I have felt very confused, I've felt a lot of fear, and especially a lot of stress and anxiety I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety and Depression and have been treated for it but it has not been very effective.

I feel like I've been lying to myself, trying so hard to be someone, I don't flow with people as well as I used to, and I feel like I don't belong there, I was suffering from a lot of insomnia and every single time I took a new job, I found myself self-sabotaging, the thing is, I wasn't able to stop it. I was trying many ways of controlling my mind and my thoughts but it ended up being worse, until last year.

Last year I found out about Stoicism and started reading more about it. As I started letting my thoughts and feelings pass instead of controlling them, my anxiety and self-harming thoughts started diminishing. I went deep into studying Stoicism and following but ended up realizing it's not my thing since it doesn't delve into the purpose of Authenticity and Purpose in Life as an individual, then I found out about Taoism this year and started reading about it (DDJ) and following whatever teachings I found useful and it's made wonders mentally speaking by just letting myself go with the flow, feel whatever I need to feel, think whatever I need to think and start developing my intuition.

Through that process of letting things pass and accommodate themselves, I ended up falling again into the question of purpose, combined with a set of experiences I've been experiencing since last years, like a friend involved in arts telling me that she liked my drawings and she's never seen something like this before, or some of my friends interested in buying my art and others telling me they enjoy reading my handmade comic books and made me think I'm just not that 'wrong' after all, and maybe pursue a career in arts. Also, I've been doing some amazing artwork by using the principle of Wu Wei, and following the path of Wu Wei has brought me here. I know about many ways in which I can impulse my career in arts, curiously the contrary to following the 'established path' by society and my parents.

Either for a one off or we could make it a regular thing. If there are a large number of people we could have break out groups. We could have a structure where we have discussion points and have some freestyle conversations too. Could be a good way to connect. I would be available this Saturday any time or after 1700 GMT all next week for the first one.

Is it the zen style zazen or is it something else in taoism?

I hope this finds you all well!

What is your favourite origin story of how the study or observance of Dao began?

Is there a call to return to that state or just continue to harmonize with what see can see and observe around us?

Thank you all in advance and thanks for making this is a bright and vibrant little corner of the Interweb!

Recently made a post about ADHD masking, and others experiences. After reading the Tao of Pooh, I've wanted to approach life more with Taoism. Was curious if anyone else here who also deals with ADHD could share their experiences of being a Taoist with ADHD.

The subconscious attempt to manipulate someone's thoughts. There is always a subconscious attempt going on in my mind, whenever I am having any kind of social interaction, in which I'm trying to manipulate their thoughts. I'm essentially trying to guide their thoughts. There are worries such as "he's gonna think I'm stupid or racist or poor or something else", or there are feelings of accomplishment, that "he must be thinking I'm so (something admirable)".

And the idea of not having that kind of burden going on parallelly whenever I'm interacting with someone is so relaxing that it is refreshing. The idea of just being, and not trying to be.

I believe in both Buddhism and Daoism, but I can't decide which is true or which religion to practice.

Is the Dao real? Should I really flow with it? Or should I only believe in the Triple Gem of Buddha Dharma?

I'm sorry if i don't make sense. Thank you. 🙏

No one ever mentions David Hinton’s translations, but he has a real knack for translating poetry. Consider this passage from Chuang Tzu ch. 1:

 “A bird called Two-Moon also lives there — its back like Exalt Mountain, its wings like clouds hung clear across the sky. Whirling up vast gale storms, it traces ram’s-horn spirals ninety thousand miles high, cutting through cloud and mist until its back lifts the blue heavens. Then it turns south and sets out for Southern Darkness.”

From The Four Chinese Classics: Tao Te Ching, Analects, Chuang Tzu, Mencius. Hinton (like Arthur Waley) also translates Chinese poetry, and of course the Tao Te Ching and the Chuang Tzu contain more than a little poetry.

I haven’t really looked into him beyond a few videos but he strikes me as a scammer. No offense to anyone who is a fan.

I see some folks speak highly of him and his qigong. Gemini claimed him as a credible source in a convo I had recently so I remain skeptical but intrigued. Curious what y’all’s opinions are.

I am unsure how to word this in a way others will understand but here I go. I am 19, in the UK and I have been intensely interested in Taoism since I was ~13. I visited a Tao temple relatively close by around that age and felt as if Taoism found me.

I have tried to be closer to it, on and off, since, whether it is in my attitude towards nature, others, material belongings etc. However, I often find I forget to be mindful of the Tao for long periods, sometimes several months. It always comes back to me, but comes and goes.

Am I wrong for doing this? Should I be more mindful and conscious of trying to implement Taoism and its teachings into my everyday life? Or am I going about this all wrong?

I think the answer is Yes.

I’m reading a methodical account of the differences between various forms (sects) of Hinduism and Buddhism. One of the great disagreements concerns whether:

(a) there is one unchanging substance that underlies all reality, such that change is merely at the level of appearance, not substance;

(b) whether all things continuously change such that there is no unchanging substance in the cosmos; or

(c) it’s possible to have it both ways, and claim that the unchanging substance is real but change is also real.

Let’s take a specific example: whether the self is real or illusory. The Buddha asserted option (b), and argued that there is no self because the individual person is continuously changing. To say that the self changes, according to the Buddha, is to say that there is no self.

Those who disagree with the Buddha’s reasoning prefer option (c). They want to have it both ways. They maintain that the self changes but also abides. The self changes but has permanence.

I think (though I remain open to persuasion on this point) that Taoism holds to option (a). The Tao is the unchanging ‘substance’ underlying all reality. Change is therefore unreal, a matter of mere appearance.

Each individual person or thing is a manifestation of the Tao. But the individual emerges from the Tao—the undifferentiated, the ‘uncarved block’—then passes through its sequence of life changes, and then ‘returns’: i.e., returns to merge once again with the Tao.

Chuang Tzu characterizes this as ‘the transformation of things’ and illustrates it with numerous examples. For instance, in chapter 6:

 “Suddenly Master Lai grew ill. Gasping and wheezing, he lay at the point of death. His wife and children gathered round in a circle and began to cry. 

 “Master Li, who had come to ask how he was, said, ‘Shoo! Get back! Don't disturb the process of change!’ 

 “Then he leaned against the doorway and talked to Master Lai. ‘How marvelous the Creator is! What is he going to make of you next? Where is he going to send you? Will he make you into a rat's liver? Will he make you into a bug's arm?’

 “Master Lai said, ‘A child, obeying his father and mother, goes wherever he is told, east or west, south or north. And the yin and yang—how much more are they to a man than father or mother! Now that they have brought me to the verge of death, if I should refuse to obey them, how perverse I would be! What fault is it of theirs? 

 “‘The Great Clod burdens me with form, labors me with life, eases me in old age, and rests me in death. So if I think well of my life, for the same reason I must think well of my death. 

 “‘When a skilled smith is casting metal, if the metal should leap up and say, “I insist upon being made into a Mo-yeh!” he would surely regard it as very inauspicious metal indeed. Now, having had the audacity to take on human form once, if I should say, “I don't want to be anything but a man! Nothing but a man!”, the Creator would surely regard me as a most inauspicious sort of person. 

 “‘So now I think of heaven and earth as a great furnace, and the Creator as a skilled smith. Where could he send me that would not be all right? I will go off to sleep peacefully, and then with a start I will wake up.’"

—presumably, he will wake up as something other than a man.

Chuang Tzu seems to believe that Master Lai’s manifestation as a human being is a kind of cosmic accident. ‘He’ could just as easily have been manifest as a rat’s liver or a bug’s arm—and maybe he will be a thing such as those with the next spin of the cosmic wheel.

The Tao remains constant. It is the unchanging substance underlying the ten thousand things in their momentary manifestations.

Which brings me to the title of this post. Taoism is pantheist, or perhaps panentheist. The distinction is murky to me, but Wikipedia distinguishes pantheneism from pantheism as follows:

 “In panentheism, the universal spirit is present everywhere, which at the same time ‘transcends’ all things created. While pantheism asserts that ‘all is God’, panentheism claims that God is greater than the universe.”

I think Taoism is thus a form of pantheism. All is Tao. The ten thousand things are specific, transitory manifestations of Tao.

Or maybe Taoism is a form of panentheism. I take that to mean that the Tao is more than the cosmos—when you subtract heaven, earth, and the ten thousand things from the Tao, there is a remainder—something more is left over. But I don’t think that’s stated unequivocally in the Tao Te Ching or the Chuang Tzu, so I’ll opt for Taoism as pantheism.

Incidentally, this means there is no self. The underlying substance—the Tao—is real. All the transitory manifestations, including you and me, ultimately prove to be unreal. We are all part of the swirling ‘transformation of things,’ now manifest in human form, but next time—who knows?

But I’m interested in your thoughts on the topic. My conclusion is merely provisional: my studies continue and I remain open to other interpretations of the core Taoist texts.

I like how it describes and simplifies wu wei and the part about Busy Backsons (at first I thought he was against jogging).

I'm not sure about the attack on Owl and science though. 'The Now of Pooh' talks about how the world is going to pieces because of our obsession with consumerism. The book came out in 1982 but i imagine he is referring to climate change and the resource crisis but how do we know about these things? Could it be science?

I know Taoism lends itself towards primitivism but surely science and academia still has its place in the Tao.

The other day, I was driving along thinking, and all the little things that cause me anxiety were swirling around in my head. So, I did what I normally do, I tried to let the thoughts pass like I was meditating, and it wasn't necessarily working as quickly as I felt like it should. Then, out of nowhere, I had the thought "let go of letting go" and like that I was smiling.

Just a fun little moment, I was wondering if anybody else gets them?

"A. Maslov. About Taoism"

"It's either that he doesn't understand or doesn't tell (the whole story)"

It's funny how, from an interview, this commentator unknowingly picks up two fundamental principles behind Taoist thought.

What are some things you do like a baby?

Chapters (x and z) of the tao de ching suggest that the sage is often as a baby, either before it can smile or erect like a baby's penis, without thought of sex. "Suppleness" is also hinted at.

Are there things in your life you approach in a baby-like manner? In what ways are you in your infancy?