get high and read the tao te ching: is this okay?
March 2, 2009 3:53 PM Subscribe
I've been reading the Tao Te Ching religiously over the past few months. I've also been consistently stoned for the past few months. As a result, I've been reading the Tao Te Ching stoned a lot lately. Is this wrong?
This post was deleted for the following reason: I have to admit, it seems an awful lot like you're posting chatfilter stoned. If this is a serious moral or philosophical dilemma, maybe try to figure out how to frame it more clearly and productively and try again next week? -- cortex
I can't see how it would be wrong. (Who are you harming?)
But it might be an interesting experiment to spend more time reading it sober, just for comparison. The more different points of view you come at a text from, the more deeply you'll understand it, and there are definitely some kinds of thinking that go better with a clear head.
posted by nebulawindphone at 3:57 PM on March 2, 2009
But it might be an interesting experiment to spend more time reading it sober, just for comparison. The more different points of view you come at a text from, the more deeply you'll understand it, and there are definitely some kinds of thinking that go better with a clear head.
posted by nebulawindphone at 3:57 PM on March 2, 2009
Hehe, well the thing with most philosophical texts is that they're are already pretty hard to wrap your head around and require a bit of scholarship, so I doubt you are getting much out of it. At least from an acedemic standpoint. Is it wrong?
Well, you may have to try reading it sober to answer that question...
posted by elendil71 at 4:01 PM on March 2, 2009
Well, you may have to try reading it sober to answer that question...
posted by elendil71 at 4:01 PM on March 2, 2009
What do you mean by "wrong?" Legally? Ethically? Spiritually?
If you're going to get stoned anyway, reading is probably more productive than playing Xbox and eating pizza.
However, if your goal is understanding of the text, reading it while sober would probably serve you better.
posted by drjimmy11 at 4:06 PM on March 2, 2009
If you're going to get stoned anyway, reading is probably more productive than playing Xbox and eating pizza.
However, if your goal is understanding of the text, reading it while sober would probably serve you better.
posted by drjimmy11 at 4:06 PM on March 2, 2009
According to some historians, the Oracle of Delphi in ancient Greece was more och less intoxicated by sulpher fumes (or herb incense) when she made her divinations. Was she wrong?
(I hate to answer a question with a question...)
posted by Rabarberofficer at 4:11 PM on March 2, 2009
(I hate to answer a question with a question...)
posted by Rabarberofficer at 4:11 PM on March 2, 2009
Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner.
--Tao Te Ching
posted by sharkfu at 4:12 PM on March 2, 2009 [2 favorites]
--Tao Te Ching
posted by sharkfu at 4:12 PM on March 2, 2009 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: to answer burhanistan, yes, i am reading an english translation. but is it truly imperative that i read a text in it's original language?
posted by defmute at 4:13 PM on March 2, 2009
posted by defmute at 4:13 PM on March 2, 2009
I can't see how it would be wrong. (Who are you harming?)
Plenty of folks out there do not need someone to be "harmed" to rationalize their desire to put an action into the "wrong" column.
But for this poster, we need to know what his definition of wrong is.
posted by crewshell at 4:13 PM on March 2, 2009
Plenty of folks out there do not need someone to be "harmed" to rationalize their desire to put an action into the "wrong" column.
But for this poster, we need to know what his definition of wrong is.
posted by crewshell at 4:13 PM on March 2, 2009
Just so long as you pepper it with a few readings when your straight.
It's really much more than what the pot can show. You need to find the rest of it.
posted by Toekneesan at 4:16 PM on March 2, 2009
It's really much more than what the pot can show. You need to find the rest of it.
posted by Toekneesan at 4:16 PM on March 2, 2009
Regarding translations: The Tao te Ching is notoriously difficult to translate. Check this out: 170 different English translations, and all of them creating vastly different connotations and meanings in my mind.
As for the weed, I would wager that most Western-types (which I may well be wrong to assume you are) who read this particular book may be stoned. I can personally vouch for its excellence in both states of mind. Nthing reading it sober too.
posted by nosila at 4:21 PM on March 2, 2009
As for the weed, I would wager that most Western-types (which I may well be wrong to assume you are) who read this particular book may be stoned. I can personally vouch for its excellence in both states of mind. Nthing reading it sober too.
posted by nosila at 4:21 PM on March 2, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
Me? I like to drink scotch and read the book of Proverbs.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 3:57 PM on March 2, 2009 [4 favorites]