

I would like to add my support for a misc.taoism discussion group.
I applaud the enthusiam shown by the person posting <79899@cup.portal.com> 
"Thyagi@cup.portal.com" (I read in alt.magick), but I differ
with him/her in believing that at least some minimal parameters 
should be agreed upon.



But if we don't limit it to *something*, the discussion degenerates into
a big amorphous glob. 

Other questions Thyagi proposes are:


It seems to me that these questions more properly fall into the
category of "general metaphysics". I would prefer any misc.taoism
to deal more closely with topics and works more closely associated
with at least "semi-orthodox" Taoism: with established classic works 
definitely included and works like Mantak Chia's argued about! 

I think "neo-Taoism" should be excluded or get its own group (what I
mean by this is "Humpty-Dumpty Taoism", in which Taoism means whatever 
a poster says it means.) This "alt.taoism" could also be a refuge 
for debates about what "Taoism *REALLY* means" or speculations on sexual
alchemy, etc..

e.g. (from Thyagi again):

Kent gloomily predicts (quoting from Thyagi's article):


I think that discussions of this nature are not completely out of
place. What's happening is that that the term "Taoism" is becoming
completely polluted and trivialized like the words "magic", "Alchemy", 
"Zen," etc., by writers appropriating the word to mean whatever they 
want. This is seen by the spate of new age books entitled "The
Tao of" this, that, and everything else. (With respect to some exceptions
like the books by Jou, Tsung-Hwa.)

Any other comments/ideas? I look forward to seeing them. On balance,
I say let misc.taoism rip and let the chips fall where they may. If
it just gets filled up with college freshmen asking about the
Tao of Sex then it will have been a failure and people will post to
these groups just as they do now.

-- 