The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) regarded religion, first and foremost, as a form of consolation from adversity. People do not want to face the hard facts of life and prefer to believe that their suffering will be compensated in the afterlife. I do not agree with Nietzsche but I think that his criticism is…

Amongst the three ancient Taoists masters, Lao-Tzu was the most poetic and the most cryptic. He deserves credit for having created a system of thought that does not resemble any earlier religion or philosophy, but also deserves condemnation for his scant explanations. According to tradition, Lao-Tzu lived in the 6th century BC, but there is…

Reason is the meeting point of Eastern and Western thought, philosophy and wisdom. That’s why their best ideas resemble each other, and the worst remain cryptic to the uninitiated. The best wisdom from Buddha, Krishna, Lao-Tzu, and Jesus shows commonalities because it is all based on rationality. What makes Taoism a distinct philosophy, different from…

Unfortunately, Taoist practitioners are not fully up to speed in all areas. If Taoism was a perfect philosophy, it would have spread and conquered the world a long time ago, but that is not the case. Twenty-seven centuries after Lao-Tzu wrote or dictated the Tao Te Ching, Taoism remains a minority point of view. If…

Paganism is making a comeback in our century. I see the signs all over the place. There is growing interest in the rituals and beliefs of Ancient Rome and Greece, as well as in those of northern Paganism, whether it’s the Vikings or the Celtic tribes. I must however reject any conflation between Paganism and…

I would love to believe that, when the circumstances call for creative solutions, those will appear; and that, when the issues grow threatening, countermeasures will be developed; and that every problem will be followed by repeated attempts at sorting it out, until one eventually succeeds. Unfortunately, this is not always the case in history. It…

It is extremely easy to compare Taoism to religion. In fact, I can do it in just two sentences. In the first sentence, I’ll explain the key commonality between Taoism and religion; and in the second sentence, I will point out what keeps them apart. First, the commonality between Taoism and religion is that both…

If I said that philosophy as a whole can be summarised in a few quotes, Aristotle (384-322 BC) might turn in his grave and damn my name for eternity. Fair enough. I won’t maintain that a philosophical system can be compressed into a few quotes, but if those are well chosen, two important benefits will…

Taoism and Western culture are compatible at the margin, in areas that contest mainstream values. Why only at the margin? Because Western culture rests upon the philosophy of Aristotle (384-322 BC), which is diametrically opposed to Wu Wei and other Taoist principles. Chapter 73 of the Tao Te Ching formulates Lao-Tzu’s views on causality, which…