this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2025
815 points (99.2% liked)

Comic Strips

13801 readers
2385 users here now

Comic Strips is a community for those who love comic stories.

The rules are simple:

Web of links

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 43 points 2 days ago (3 children)

There's a parable about this Taoist Master who's seen standing by a mountain view.

They ask the Master: are you meditating? And the Master says no, I'm just standing here.

They ask the Master: are you contemplating nature? And the Master says no, I'm just standing here.

They ask the Master: are you waiting for something? And the Master says no, I'm just standing here.

Sometimes it's okay to just stand there.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It's nice to sometimes let the world pass by instead of always trying to keep up

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

It'll still be there when you get done chilling.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

"And thus, the students were enlightened"

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yes, okay, but I think that in this parable this master was, in the way that we would understand it, mediating. But in saying this trying to make a deeper point about how mediation is "just standing" (or sitting, or whatever) and not striving for a particular goal. The same principle is commonly expressed in zen and other related branches of Buddhism which absorbed some ideas from Taoism. That said it is totally 100% okay to just stand there, or to play video games or relax on the weekend. But I don't think it's quite the same as the master in this story was doing.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

Yeah, what I like about those stories is that they're open-ended enough that you can interpret them in various ways. What you're saying is definitely a valid interpretation.