Talk:Taoist diet
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re: move to wikisource... I believe the recipes belong in there. Or in wikicook :). The rest of the article should probably stay here. Radiant! 10:56, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)
How about renaming this article to Taoist Diet? Would anyone mind? Ajnewbold 15:42, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)
Whatever anybody does, it can't stay at "Taoist Food" - it needs to go to something like "Taoist food" or "Taoist diet". --VivaEmilyDavies 21:46, 31 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Since there didn't seem to be any opposition, I've renamed this article to Taoist diet (from Taoist Food) and also did a bit of cleanup on the article itself. The three recipes that were included have been moved to the Wikibooks Cookbook (links to them have been left in this article), and some of the main text was reworded to ensure neutrality. --Ajnewbold 05:10, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)
- I've done some more rewording. Taoism is a vast study with many schools that often have disagreed with each other. The article seemed to present a modern, New Age take on diet that didn't necessarily reflect the many different historical Taoist attitudes accurately. Many Taoists were vegetarians, many were (and are) not. Many drank alchohol and tea, many did not. To say that one diet or another is "ideal" is like saying there is an ideal Presbyterian diet and rather misses the point. Fire Star 16:35, 28 July 2005 (UTC)
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- Good point, and nice work. Thanks for making the article better! Ajnewbold 21:21, 28 July 2005 (UTC)
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[edit] Context?
I find this article strange. What exactly is Taoist diet? Which sources are used to define it? If that's not clear, it's impossible to agree on what food should be in included. Fire Star put some of the complexities well, but until they're cleared up I don't know what this article should be. Greenman 21:03, 29 July 2005 (UTC)
I have added some links to a more detailed Taoist Diet sheet and discussion forum which may be of interest. The original article seems to have been summarized from our website which I don't mind but it would have been nice to have received a mention. www.seahorsearts.co.uk --Chuangzu 09:52, 28 February 2006 (UTC)
--68.113.44.22 12:17, 22 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] No offense to anyone, but this page amounts to New Age garbage
What should a Taoist eat? I can think of one answer supported by Taoist texts -- "You eat what you eat." Taoism's main premise is that we should strive to behave in a manner aligned with the natural flow of the universe, much like water naturally flows downhill and takes the shape of it's vessel. The true Taoist removes all thought from action, and just is. For someone who doesn't study Tao, the answer might take the shape of "you eat what the universe wants you to eat," but the universe, like gravity, doesn't exactly put thought into how it pushes and pulls us. We merely must go with the flow. For this reason you also can't say "you eat what feels right" because the point is to operate on a level free from the ego, and thus thoughts/desires/etc. Thus "you eat what you eat" is probably what's most in the spirit of the teachings. The universe should naturally push you to eat what you're supposed to (like every other behavior), and there's no indication that this would be the same for every person.
The question of "What I should eat" is probably something that everyone should come to on their own after deep meditation. M00
--Just wanted to add that a central tenet of Taoism is Everything in Moderation. I think that as long as you don't overindulge, virtually everything's okay. I, as a Taoist, don't eat much meat because of the treatment of farm animals which, in my opinion, goes against the natural and is unnecessarily painful for the animals. However, this is a personal opinion and if it would make another Taoist uncomfortable, then he or she should not follow me. Also worth noting: I am a philosophical Taoist, not a religious one, so the religious among us may have different diet requirements.
The user above me expresses everything else I was thinking exactly, so I second him or her.
Namaste!
I disagree. No offence meant to anyone but the above comments sound like New Age Gobbledegook. Taoism is more about 'You are what you eat', if it was the Universe constantly governing people's diets why are so many in the Western nations so obese and eating such unnatural foods? No amount of deep meditation is going to help you if you're addicted to Junk foods, you need the advice of someone who knows what they are talking about and let's face it Traditional Chinese Medicine has a history going back thousands of years, something the Western Scientific tradition can only dream about. 'Everything in moderation' is just a vague statement, would you eat Rat Poison in moderation? I doubt it.
Taoism is not about 'do whatever you like', that is a child's interpretation. Taoism is an ancient philosophy with texts going back to the time of the Yellow Emperor and it's based on Nature and Traditional Chinese Medicine, it's nothing whatsoever to do with Yoga or other New Age philosophies. And whoever made that statement about Chi being a 'metaphysical concept' is basically living at the bottom of a well. Taoists don't eat cold or raw foods because this is what is recommended by Chinese Medicine practitioners as cold energy weakens the spleen.
--Chuangzu 23:01, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] COLD DRINKS?
What is meant by cold drinks??? Do you mean to say that Taoist don't chill their water? What health benifit does room temperature water offer?
Cold foods and drinks weaken the spleen which in Traditonal Chinese Medicine is considered to be the internal organ most closely linked to digestion along with the stomach (Earth element). The body has to heat things to assimilate them so imbibing cold drinks costs energy and is inefficient. Humans have become adapted to cooking now for over ten thousand years unlike the other animals who cannot build fires. Over consumption of cold fluids is likely to produce Yin type illnesses. --Chuangzu 22:53, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] New Sections
I added a couple of sections with references. I'd like to furhter improve the article with further scholarly references. This might take a while though. Zeus1234 19:15, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Weasel Words
Added weasel words to the Diet section for the overuse of "some critics". Name them! FoiledAgain 04:07, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
