Arthur #schopenhauer (1788–1860) was deeply familiar with Eastern philosophy, in particular #buddhism and #hinduism . He held in high regard the Eastern approach to stress reduction by reducing one’s emotional engagement. In Schopenhauer’s books, you won’t find a call for “nirvana” and other Eastern philosophical concepts. Nonetheless, he put forward recommendations that are similar to “nirvana.” There’s no doubt that Schopenhauer deployed great efforts to draw the best ideas from Buddhism and Hinduism, and turned them into practical advice. In contrast to Buddhism and Hinduism, Schopenhauer didn’t recommend the suppression of desires. He came up with mild, soft advice that everybody can implement without giving up all his dreams and daily comforts. Schopenhauer presented his advice primarily in “The world as will and representation” (1818) and in his essay collection “Parerga and Paralipomena” (1851). Amongst other strategies, he favoured self-awareness, #prudence and foresight, keeping a margin of safety, self-reliance and risk diversification. In this context, we must ask why he focused on Buddhism and Hinduism instead of #taoism . What made him prefer the ideas from Indian philosophers to those developed by Chinese Taoists? The answer to this question is crucial to understanding what Schopenhauer stood for. His theory of the will (“life force”) is telling us that the will is driving the thoughts and actions of all living creatures, but that the will is not omnipotent. In “The world as will and representation,” Schopenhauer is describing in detail the dire influence of the will, but he is also offering hope. Human beings can adopt protective measures to stay rational and minimise the distortions caused by the will. His theory of the will contemplates a narrow width in which humans can adopt countermeasures. People are not defenceless puppets driven by the all-powerful will. That’s the essential message from the books written by Schopenhauer: despite all constraints, you can still influence events and increase your happiness. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/schopenhauers-philosophy-of-life-compared-with-taoism/