Taoism vs Buddhism: 4 Differences That Actually Matter — Transcript

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1. 0:02[music]
2. 0:13>> If we take a look
3. 0:14from a distance, Taoism and Buddhism can
4. 0:18look like the same [music] gentle path.
5. 0:21Both speak softly about letting go. They
6. 0:24both teach a kind of [music] peace that
7. 0:27the modern world seems to have
8. 0:29forgotten.
9. 0:30Both were born in [music] the ancient
10. 0:32East long ago, and both have guided
11. 0:35millions of people toward a calmer way
12. 0:37of living. So, it is easy to assume
13. 0:39[music]
14. 0:40they are simply two names for the same
15. 0:42wisdom.
16. 0:43But the moment you look closely, you
17. 0:45find that these two paths, which begin
18. 0:47so near to one another, are slowly
19. 0:50walking toward very different places.
20. 0:52And understanding how they differ can
21. 0:55help you see which one truly [music]
22. 0:57speaks to you.
23. 0:58This video is a gentle guide to the four
24. 1:01[music] differences between Taoism and
25. 1:04Buddhism that actually matter.
26. 1:06And to what each one might offer your
27. 1:08life.
28. 1:10The first difference is where each path
29. 1:12begins. Buddhism begins with a single
30. 1:15honest observation about life, that it
31. 1:17holds suffering within [music] it.
32. 1:19The Buddha looked at human existence and
33. 1:22saw that even in our happiest moments,
34. 1:24something aches.
35. 1:26We grow ill. We grow old. We lose the
36. 1:29people and the things [music] we love.
37. 1:31We finally get what we wanted, only to
38. 1:34find it does [music] not satisfy us for
39. 1:36long. From this one observation grew the
40. 1:38whole of his teaching.
41. 1:40Buddhism, at its heart, is an answer to
42. 1:43a single [music] question. How can a
43. 1:45person become free from suffering?
44. 1:48Taoism begins [music] somewhere very
45. 1:51different. It begins by looking outward
46. 1:54at nature itself.
47. 1:57The Taoists watched the rivers [music]
48. 1:59flow and the seasons turn.
49. 2:02They watched the grass bend low in the
50. 2:04wind and rise again unharmed. [music]
51. 2:07And they noticed that nature never
52. 2:10strains and never hurries, and yet
53. 2:13somehow everything [music] is
54. 2:15accomplished.
55. 2:16So, they asked their own question, a
56. 2:18different one. How can a person live in
57. 2:20harmony with this natural way of things,
58. 2:22the way they called [music] the Tao?
59. 2:24So, before either path takes a single
60. 2:27step, the two are already facing in
61. 2:29different directions. [music]
62. 2:31Buddhism turns toward the ache of life
63. 2:34and how to be released from it. Taoism
64. 2:36turns toward the harmony of nature and
65. 2:39[music] how to move along with it. If
66. 2:41the sense that something in life is
67. 2:42always slightly wrong is what brought
68. 2:45you here, Buddhism may speak to you most
69. 2:47directly.
70. 2:48If instead you feel out [music] of step
71. 2:51with the natural rhythm of the world,
72. 2:53and you long to flow with life rather
73. 2:56than fight it, then Taoism may be
74. 2:58calling your name.
75. 3:00The second difference is where each
76. 3:02[music] path is heading.
77. 3:04This difference in where they begin
78. 3:06leads them toward very different
79. 3:08destinations.
80. 3:10Buddhism, in its older and classic
81. 3:12[music] form, points beyond this world.
82. 3:15The Buddha taught that we are caught in
83. 3:17a [music] long cycle of birth, death,
84. 3:19and rebirth, turning round and round
85. 3:22[music] life after life, and that this
86. 3:24endless turning is bound up with
87. 3:26suffering.
88. 3:27The final goal he pointed toward [music]
89. 3:29is a release from that cycle altogether,
90. 3:32a state he called
91. 3:34>> [music]
92. 3:34>> nirvana,
93. 3:35a kind of freedom that lies beyond
94. 3:37ordinary existence. The deepest aim of
95. 3:41the Buddhist path [music] reaches past
96. 3:42this single life toward something far
97. 3:44greater than it. Taoism points in almost
98. 3:47the opposite [music] direction. Its gaze
99. 3:49stays here, in this world, in this life,
100. 3:52in this very body.
101. 3:54The Daoist holds [music] no dream of
102. 3:56escaping the world.
103. 3:58His dream is to belong [music] to it
104. 4:00more completely.
105. 4:02To the Daoist, this world is home, and
106. 4:04the rivers [music] and the mountains and
107. 4:06the changing seasons are the truest
108. 4:08teachers we will ever have.
109. 4:10>> [music]
110. 4:10>> The goal is to live this one life well,
111. 4:14in harmony with nature, fully present,
112. 4:17fully awake to the simple world standing
113. 4:20in front [music] of us. So, one path
114. 4:22lifts your eyes towards something beyond
115. 4:24this world, [music] while the other
116. 4:26settles them gently back onto the world
117. 4:28you are already standing in.
118. 4:30If you sense [music]
119. 4:31that this life is part of something far
120. 4:34larger, and you feel drawn toward a
121. 4:36freedom that reaches past [music] it,
122. 4:39then the Buddhist vision may move you
123. 4:40deeply.
124. 4:42If you feel instead that this world,
125. 4:45just as it is, is already enough,
126. 4:48and that peace [music] is found by
127. 4:50sinking deeper into it, rather than
128. 4:52rising above it,
129. 4:54then the Daoist vision may feel like
130. 4:56coming home. The third difference is how
131. 4:58[music] each path asks you to walk it,
132. 5:01and this is the difference you can feel
133. 5:03most easily in daily life.
134. 5:05Buddhism offers a clear and well-marked
135. 5:07[music] road.
136. 5:09The Buddha laid out a path with definite
137. 5:11steps, often known as the Eightfold
138. 5:13Path. [music]
139. 5:13It covers how we see the world, how we
140. 5:15speak, how we act, how we earn our
141. 5:17living, and how we train our attention.
142. 5:20There are practices [music] to follow,
143. 5:22such as sitting in meditation patiently
144. 5:24each day. There are gentle guidelines
145. 5:27for living [music] honestly and treating
146. 5:29others with kindness. Buddhism hands you
147. 5:31a method, a clear structure you can
148. 5:34return to again and again, and it asks
149. 5:36for steady effort and discipline as you
150. 5:38follow it.
151. 5:39Daoism [music] offers something that can
152. 5:41feel almost like the reverse. It's most
153. 5:44famous idea is wu wei, which means
154. 5:47something [music] close to effortless
155. 5:48action, or the art of not forcing
156. 5:51things. Rather than handing you more
157. 5:53steps to climb, [music] Taoism asks you
158. 5:55to let go.
159. 5:57It asks you to stop straining, to gently
160. 6:00unlearn the habits that [music] pull you
161. 6:02out of harmony, and to return to a
162. 6:04simple and natural way of being, the way
163. 6:06water finds [music] its path down a
164. 6:08mountain without ever once reading a
165. 6:10map.
166. 6:11Where Buddhism gives you a careful
167. 6:13method to practice, Taoism gives you
168. 6:15permission [music] to stop forcing and
169. 6:17to trust the natural flow of things.
170. 6:21This is often the difference people feel
171. 6:22in their bones.
172. 6:24Some of us find our peace inside [music]
173. 6:26structure, in a clear practice we can
174. 6:28commit to, in knowing exactly what to do
175. 6:31when we [music] wake each morning. If
176. 6:33that sounds like you, then the
177. 6:34disciplined path of Buddhism may suit
178. 6:37your nature beautifully.
179. 6:39Others of us feel weighed down by
180. 6:41systems [music] and steps, and we find
181. 6:43our peace only when we are finally
182. 6:45allowed to loosen our grip and let life
183. 6:47unfold at its own pace. If that sounds
184. 6:50more like you, then the soft and [music]
185. 6:52unforced spirit of Taoism may fit you
186. 6:54far better.
187. 6:56The fourth difference sits very close to
188. 6:58the heart of both traditions, and it is
189. 7:00about desire, the wanting that drives so
190. 7:03much of everything we do.
191. 7:06Buddhism teaches that craving is the
192. 7:08very root of our suffering. We want
193. 7:11things to be other than they are.
194. 7:13We grasp at pleasures, we cling [music]
195. 7:15to people, and we chase after outcomes,
196. 7:18and because everything in life keeps
197. 7:20changing, [music]
198. 7:21this constant grasping leaves us in pain
199. 7:25again and again. [music]
200. 7:27So, the Buddhist path works patiently to
201. 7:29let craving fall away,
202. 7:30>> [music]
203. 7:30>> to loosen our grip on wanting itself,
204. 7:33until the fire of desire slowly cools,
205. 7:35[music] and the suffering it once caused
206. 7:38begins to settle along with it.
207. 7:41Alongside this, Buddhism teaches that
208. 7:43the self we cling to [music] so tightly
209. 7:46is not nearly as solid as it feels,
210. 7:49and that seeing through it is part of
211. 7:51becoming [music] truly free.
212. 7:53Taoism takes a softer view of desire. It
213. 7:56does not ask you to put the fire out
214. 7:58entirely. Instead,
215. 8:00>> [music]
216. 8:00>> it asks you to learn the difference
217. 8:02between two kinds of wanting.
218. 8:05There is natural desire, the simple wish
219. 8:08for food when you are hungry, for rest
220. 8:10when you are tired, for the warmth of
221. 8:12the people you love, and the Taoists saw
222. 8:15nothing wrong with any of this.
223. 8:18And then there is artificial desire, the
224. 8:20endless [music] hunger for more money,
225. 8:23more status, and more things than you
226. 8:24could ever truly use, piled onto you
227. 8:27year after [music] year by the world
228. 8:29around you.
229. 8:30Taoism asks you to keep what is natural
230. 8:33and release
231. 8:34>> [music]
232. 8:34>> what is artificial,
233. 8:36returning to a plain and simple state
234. 8:38the Taoists treasured, like a block of
235. 8:40wood before anyone [music] has carved
236. 8:42it. The aim is an uncluttered heart,
237. 8:45rather than an empty one. So, Buddhism
238. 8:48works to release craving at its very
239. 8:51root, while Taoism works to clear away
240. 8:54the artificial wanting and return you to
241. 8:57what is simple and natural. [music]
242. 8:59If you feel that desire itself is the
243. 9:01chain binding you, and you long to be
244. 9:04free of its pull completely, then the
245. 9:06Buddhist understanding may ring true for
246. 9:09you.
247. 9:10If you feel instead that your trouble
248. 9:12lies in wanting too much of the wrong
249. 9:15things, rather than in wanting it all,
250. 9:18then the Taoist path of returning to
251. 9:20simplicity may be exactly what you have
252. 9:23been looking for.
253. 9:25My grandfather Daiki never treated these
254. 9:27two paths as a wall he had to stand on
255. 9:29only one side of. In his small house in
256. 9:32Nagoya, he kept a worn copy of the Tao
257. 9:35Te Ching on the same low shelf as a
258. 9:38small wooden Buddha, and he saw no
259. 9:41contradiction in this at all.
260. 9:43He once told me the two were like two
261. 9:45rivers that had flowed into the same
262. 9:48valley long ago and mingled their
263. 9:50waters, which is closer to the truth
264. 9:52than many people realize. The still
265. 9:54sitting practice he returned to every
266. 9:57single morning came from the Buddhist
267. 10:00side of that shelf.
268. 10:01The easy unforced way he moved through
269. 10:04his days, never rushing, bending like
270. 10:07grass in the wind whenever life pushed
271. 10:09against him, came from the Daoist side.
272. 10:11He took the part of each that helped him
273. 10:13live well, and he let the rest of it be.
274. 10:16And perhaps that is the gentlest way to
275. 10:19hold everything we have talked about
276. 10:21today.
277. 10:23These four differences are real, and
278. 10:25they matter. And seeing them clearly can
279. 10:27help you understand your own heart.
280. 10:30But they were never meant to be walls
281. 10:31that force you to choose one path
282. 10:33forever and turn your back on the other.
283. 10:37You are allowed to feel drawn to the
284. 10:38steady discipline of one and the natural
285. 10:41ease of the other.
286. 10:42You are allowed to take the stillness
287. 10:45that Buddhism offers and the flow that
288. 10:47Daoism offers, and to let them mingle
289. 10:50their waters within your own life.
290. 10:52So, as you sit with these two ancient
291. 10:54paths, the real question turns out to be
292. 10:57a soft one.
293. 10:58It is not about deciding which path is
294. 11:00correct, since both have guided millions
295. 11:03of people toward genuine peace.
296. 11:06It is about noticing which one speaks to
297. 11:08where you are standing right now in this
298. 11:11season of your life. The two paths began
299. 11:13so near to one another back at the start
300. 11:16of this video, and then walked toward
301. 11:18very different places.
302. 11:20And yet, inside a single human life
303. 11:24lived with care and attention,
304. 11:27they can slowly meet again.
305. 11:30Thank you for watching.