Philosophy…a state of mind, a way of life
Quite a bit has been written on the subject of eastern philosophy. Expositions regarding Taoism, Buddhism, and Hindu seem to be the most popular. The Dali Lama, Dr.Depok Chropra, Dr.Andrew Weil and Nancy Wilson Ross to name a few have helped introduce Eastern Philosophy to the United States.
Often interpretations vary as well as their English translation. During the past few decades we have witnessed an increase in published work as well as documentaries and self-help programs primarily regarding Taoism and Buddhism. Most of us must rely on the knowledge of the author as well as the accuracy of the English translation to properly grasp the meaning of the philosophy. Which, given the complexity of eastern thought and language is difficult at best.
Academic expositions and self-help guides seem to be the two most popular vehicles for introducing eastern philosophy to the United States. The former primarily for intellectual studies and history while the later is more homogenized or ‘user-friendly. I have found that nether academic expositions or self-help guides truly reach the great depth of eastern philosophical thought. True ancient philosophy from the east whether it is Ko Shinto, Tao, Buddha or Hindu is a way of life, with no known beginning or end.
Within the scientific community there must be a beginning and an end result, or conclusion. Research is compiled, reviewed, and edited for which a treatise is written on the subject being researched. An essay or exposition on eastern philosophy is often written under the same guidelines. Not understood as a way of life, rather as a research project.
In much the same way self-help guides utilizing aspects of eastern philosophy to introduce us to meditation exercises, nutrition, proper family dynamics, physical exercise, etc. also fail to introduce eastern philosophy as a way of life. Therefore, rather than responding to life through the wisdom of a philosophy we prefer to react to life through the words of an authors interpretation of a given philosophy. Any interpretation of eastern philosophy taken literally is not the true philosophy.
A literal translation of a philosophical exposition remains the words of the author, while an intuition and inspiration based translation becomes the words of the reader. It becomes a personal interpretation to grasp as an aspect of yourself, your truth, your way of being.