topaz

the commentary was good up the point the writer started explaining the strawberry. whenever someone says "Step outside and place yourself in communion with nature" I become skeptical. How do you do that in the middle of a city where most of us are? This writer may not understand the tao.

I know of another aspect of this. say you are in a neighborhood or country where there people feel that all newcomers or foreigners owe the locals money. Or consider the thief or street mugger. They look at you, your clothes, watch etc to gauge how much money you have. It does not matter how much passivity you manifest or how much in tune with your surroundings you are, they want to gouge that value out of you. In some foreign countries your only value to the locals is in how much money you give them. They will antagonize you in order to get this money. The mugger will mug you in any case, tao or not.

Is this strawberry story from one of the ancient texts, which one please? This person is a manipulator and predator obviously mentally ill. But this sort of behavior is nurtured in perverse environments which most work and bureaucratic situations in the modern world are. My response would have been to immediately go to the superior officer and demand he be fired, but as I said, in perverse environments we call normal that may not be possible. But that may be why Lao Tse's solution was to leave civilization entirely for the wilderness beyond the great wall. Some of what you say intrigues me enough to think you may know what you are talking about. If you respond I hope you will avoid the temptation of thinking you are any sort of guru or teacher, a disease that has made this forum almost unusable.

lovely theory, straight out of a book

"If you can empty your own boat Crossing the river of the world, No one will oppose you, No one will seek to harm you. .... Since he judges no one No one judges him. Such is the perfect man: His boat is empty.” http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/945216-the-way-of-chuang-tzu-shambhala-library

doesn't work

Try this one then. If someone does not appreciate your --ahem-- advice, try not responding to him anymore.

The wind also does not have to watch its daily budget so it does not run its credit cards up. The wind does not have to contend with badly trained dogs who attack it, nor with cops looking for bribes.

Nice theory but does not work in practice. The fighter will also not see a master but only an enemy. The enemy may be really only a projection of the fighter's delusions but the fighter will still try to legitimize his existence by destroying the illusory enemy. This is the allegorical role many of us are forced to play for each other in life. I would prefer not to suffer while others make their mistakes, making the dubious assumption, as I am, that physical life should be prolonged because it has a mission which should be accomplished.

What I said was also a joke.

I don't think I have heard a more idiotic statement in a long time. Are you saying even if they are in the act of trying to kill me, I should accept it and die? How about showing compassion by hacking back repaying the loan of energy to the universe by sending a wayward soul back?

Where did you read that? I don't remember that line from the Analects.

I am following the path of taoism, so maybe you can do me the favor of not responding to my threads since we are not on the same path.

For example-- there are predators who simply like to pick on other people for whatever reason. They will express antagonistic behavior in various ways, sometimes by ridicule sometimes by overt aggression or criticism. How can wuwei be applied here? If we try to listen to know which way the river flows, our own fear or short-sighted anger may confuse us. Our path will be opposed to that of the antagonist who will deliberately put himself or herself in our path to create a fight. It does not always work to ignore an enemy. To vacate the situation is to allow immature or malicious people to dictate our course in life, and sometimes leaving the scene is just not possible. Passages I remember from Sun Tzu: If you know yourself but not your enemy you will win half the time, and if you know your enemy but not yourself you will win half the time, but if you know yourself and your enemy you will win 100% of the time. Another passage is that a battle is won before it ever begins, which means, I think that the best intelligence will win.

Reading books is what I enjoy. Maybe it's time for you to turn off your computer and go do something you enjoy.