XPost: alt.philosophy.taoism, alt.buddha.short.fat.guy, alt.philosophy.zen   
   From: wudao@wuji.net   
      
   Tang wrote:   
   > dagnabit wrote:   
   >   
   >> no need. if everything proceeds as it must,   
   >> then thinking of it is simply superfluous.   
   >   
   >That is the Stoic position. Everything happens by   
   >fate, and the Stoic sage has no opinion, i. e., no   
   >opinion on what happens. What happens happens   
   >from its own side, and needs no interference from   
   >us, not even our thinking on it. Stoic sagehood   
   >simply lets what happens happen without slapping   
   >anything superfluous on it, in effect treats what   
   >happens as if it did not happen, not by blocking it   
   >out, for that would be interference, but by simply   
   >letting it happen, period. The underlying flow of   
   >what happens gets to be the only thing that   
   >happens, the only star, and all the extras are shed.   
   >The Stoic sage simply surrenders to what happens   
   >in its bare appearance, at the surface level in its   
   >rawness, stops there, and refrains from weaving   
   >any story to make it livable, not to mention   
   >intelligible.   
      
   I can see how a thread of Taoism is in that rendition   
   of what you say the Stoic position is.   
      
   When an ox just happens to be in front of Ting,   
   his knife just happens to know where to go,   
   like the ma, in jingle bells, going to grandma's.   
      
   How you paint Stoicism might be extremely wu-wei.   
   It's perfectly ziran for you to sew dew.   
      
   When Wheelwright Pian carves a wheel, the chips fly.   
   They happen to happen as a result of his technique/Tao.   
   The wheel doesn't just form itself, in such a tale.   
   It's more like the three bears and goldie hawn.   
   She was just right. Perfect. For the part.   
      
   The differences between a laugh in and a good cry   
   might be so insignificant as to be the same as   
   a bad joke when it lands on its face in the mud and   
   egg settles into one's beer, when it doesn't float.   
      
   I've never really tried egg in my beer.   
   So, I hope no one gets that impression.   
   Wouldn't want that. Nope. Nope.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)