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From: zenith-steven@CS.YALE.EDU (Steven Ericsson Zenith)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Re: Body and Soul?
Message-ID: <1990Oct16.052758.4858@nas.nasa.gov>
Date: 19 Sep 90 04:40:16 GMT
References: <1990Sep13.000952.27231@nas.nasa.gov> <1990Sep14.002702.11511@nas.nasa.gov>
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  [Two occurences of the s-word in this article have been changed by me to
   a more innocuous "mess". I have not changed any other words in the article.
   Please keep your articles "clean" (no offensive words). - Dinesh]

In article <1990Sep14.002702.11511@nas.nasa.gov> jbarber@pravda.gatech.edu (John R. Barber) writes:
>Both Tibetan Buddhism and Taoism hold that the soul becomes associated
>with the fetus/body at the time of conception.  In this view of reincarnation,

Well ...

> [stuff about the Book of the Dead deleted]
>In _8000 Years of Wisdom: Conversations with Taoist Master Ni, Hua-Ching,
>book II_ and other books, Master Ni offers corresponding guidance for 
 [...]
>The basic scenario that both traditions suppose is: life, death, existence in 
>the spiritual realm(s), and eventual re-birth through association with a body
>at conception for those souls who must be reborn, in a repetitive cycle until 
>it is transcended or the soul becomes "anchored" at some point within it.  

It should be pointed out that this teaching is counter to the more
usual teachings of Taoism. The Hua Teh Ching as presented by Ni is an
old Chinese spoof which makes out that Lao Tzu taught the Buddha all
he knew. The history of Taoism and Buddhism is fraught with politics -
as with most human endevour. If the above teaching corresponds to the
Taoist teaching of Ni then it manifests a strong Buddhist influence.

The "pure"(sic) Taoist teaching(again sic) does not teach
reincarnation. As a rough outline: All returns to the one. When you
die, that's it Zap!  Goodbye. You are gone - you become dead meat,
manure, ash, and a good job too ha! ha! However, there are practices
which enable the spirit to grow strong such that though the body may
die, you (your spiritual body) do not perish - this is the concept of
immortality found in most unfettered forms of Taoist teaching. So, no
reincarnation, rather an immortality which too returns to the one.

And incidently - "the soul" is just another politic.  Birth is a
perfect oneness - forget this entering business! Unguarded perfect
oneness becomes chaotic "mess" scattered on the path of life - build
your "mess" in neat piles, and build 'em high!  That is the teaching of
tao.

*Taoism* is a trademark of Lao Tzu & Co. Beware imitations :-)

-- 
Steven Ericsson Zenith              *            email: zenith@cs.yale.edu
Fax: (203) 466 2768                 |            voice: (203) 432 1278
"The tower should warn the people not to believe in it." - P.D.Ouspensky
Yale University Dept of Computer Science 51 Prospect St New Haven CT 06520 USA