(04-06-2012 12:01 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  

(04-06-2012 11:06 AM)JRsec Wrote:  The old Chinese three part curse is very applicable. 1. May you live in interesting times. (Normal is never interesting.) 2. May every desire of your heart come true. (People seldom desire what is best for them.) and 3. May those in authority take notice of you. (It never ends well.)

A man after my own heart. I'm into eastern philosophies...

Aristotle, Taoism, and Christianity are a very interesting mix to contrast and compare and perhaps the best bridge for a western mind to enter into Eastern philosophies. It's where we've been and who we've come from, how we've misapplied it, where they have been and who they have come from, and how they have misapplied it, and perhaps our best way not to repeat the mistakes of the past together.

Without over spiritualizing it we must master our three components: mind, body, and spirit. But, master it in an Eastern understanding of the term, harmony. Aristotle teaches balance between them for strength and integrity in its truest sense. Christianity, before the church age, implied a harmony in moral terms. It was man through church who made it acetic, or libertine, in practice and always disciplined one more than the other while abusing the more subtle aspects of discipline. And, it is the Taoist who understands human failure and the suffering it brings and seeks harmony (or what we might term as the peace of healing) in the unity of the three. There is indeed quite a bit to be learned here. JR