It has been good to read so many messages on Deleuze and Buddhism.
A few people have mentioned Zen and Taoism, commenting that Zen is in
some ways a more immanent philosophy due to the fact that it passed
through China, absorbing the Taoist thought on the way.
Deleuze mentions the Tao in a number of places (e.g. ATP p.157 'Tao, a field
of immanence in which desire lacks nothing . . .) and I thought it might be
nice to follow this line of flight out of the Buddhism line of flight.
One great idea in Taoist thought is the idea of considering oneself as a
body of water - a stream for example. Forget becoming-animal!! Now you can
become-water or become-fluid! We are offered a picture of the way that water
flows - it takes the lowest routes, it flows around obsticles rather than
trying to fight them - it takes it time - it doesn't get stressed (!).
And yet, this is not a sign of weakness - the water that avoids confrontation
with the mountain and prefers the shallow valley can still waer away stones
in the river bed and will eventually wear away the mountain - it is a
different kind of war-machine.
Compare this to the way the Romans used to build roads. I live in Wales, an area of the U.K. that was never totally under the control of the Romans - the
frontier region. It is also a fairly rugged area. The Romans, in their usual
manner, built roads in perfect straight lines, even in this terrain, right
over the top of some reasonably sized mountains (Cambrian mountains). This
is the complete opposite of what the Tao is advocating - it is a head-on
battle with the terrain, rather than an attempt to use any 'pragmatics' and
pay attention to the specifics of the situation.
I mention the Romans because they, to me, seem to be the archetypal state-
war-machine, and their roads are the strongest reminder of the way they
went about things.
The Tao attacks the principles of the state-war-machine of the Romans.
Tao as Nomadology ? Think on.
The line of flight continues . . .
Thanks
John Sellars
------------------
A few people have mentioned Zen and Taoism, commenting that Zen is in
some ways a more immanent philosophy due to the fact that it passed
through China, absorbing the Taoist thought on the way.
Deleuze mentions the Tao in a number of places (e.g. ATP p.157 'Tao, a field
of immanence in which desire lacks nothing . . .) and I thought it might be
nice to follow this line of flight out of the Buddhism line of flight.
One great idea in Taoist thought is the idea of considering oneself as a
body of water - a stream for example. Forget becoming-animal!! Now you can
become-water or become-fluid! We are offered a picture of the way that water
flows - it takes the lowest routes, it flows around obsticles rather than
trying to fight them - it takes it time - it doesn't get stressed (!).
And yet, this is not a sign of weakness - the water that avoids confrontation
with the mountain and prefers the shallow valley can still waer away stones
in the river bed and will eventually wear away the mountain - it is a
different kind of war-machine.
Compare this to the way the Romans used to build roads. I live in Wales, an area of the U.K. that was never totally under the control of the Romans - the
frontier region. It is also a fairly rugged area. The Romans, in their usual
manner, built roads in perfect straight lines, even in this terrain, right
over the top of some reasonably sized mountains (Cambrian mountains). This
is the complete opposite of what the Tao is advocating - it is a head-on
battle with the terrain, rather than an attempt to use any 'pragmatics' and
pay attention to the specifics of the situation.
I mention the Romans because they, to me, seem to be the archetypal state-
war-machine, and their roads are the strongest reminder of the way they
went about things.
The Tao attacks the principles of the state-war-machine of the Romans.
Tao as Nomadology ? Think on.
The line of flight continues . . .
Thanks
John Sellars
------------------