Taoist Texts

http://www.theminimalists.com/drew/

may be;). You see i was under the impression that the OP refers to starting after 50. I pointed out that majority of people would not have the energy for that. Then the gentlemen chimed in with their stories of success about how they started well before 50. Its great but not relevant to OP.

hehe;) good for you i guess;)

yes but after 50 the body and mind are probably enfeebled past the point of no return.

“Nakhasikha Sutta” “Bhikkhus, those who depart from the human realm, those will be reborn as humans or devas can be compared to the few grains of sand that I pickup on my fingernail. Those who are reborn in the lower four realms are exceedingly many, compared to the sand on this great Earth”. {lowest four realms: niraya (hell), asura, animal, and peta realms. Of those four, only the animal realm is visible to us. They are collectively called the apayas.}

spleen and liver are the organs that transform food into blood, as such, they are subject to pressure on both ends, the digestive system and the blood circulation system. When these two organs are out of sync at the time of the menses, the blood backs up in them causing pains. Vomiting is the symptom of internal poisoning by the excess blood. The traditional remedy for that were leeches and bloodletting, nowadays women in Brazil donate blood for the same purpose. If this solution is unpractical, then i would suggest relieving the stress on these two organs from the other end, by fasting 3-4 days before the period, perhaps with laxatives.

which, when applied the magic of excel reveal a mysterious numerology of First Character Count of First 任 5 淳 3 無 3 玄 3 虛 3 儉 2 守 2 歸 2 為 2 益 2 知 2 顯 2 養 2 Second Character Count of Second 德 12 用 6 道 4 為 3 元 2 化 2 己 2 欲 2 武 2 風 2

While not exactly a keyword, but somebody who was known for his insubordination and his levitation skills took the trouble of titling the chapters. 道经 　　1. 体道 　　2. 养身 　　3. 安民 　　4. 无源 　　5. 虚用 　　6. 成象 　　7. 韬光 　　8. 易性 　　9. 运夷 　　10. 能为 　　11. 无用 　　12. 检欲 　　13. 厌耻 　　14. 赞玄 　　15. 显德 　　16. 归根 　　17. 淳风 　　18. 俗薄 　　19. 还淳 　　20. 异俗 　　21. 虚心 　　22. 益谦 　　23. 虚无 　　24. 苦恩 　　25. 象元 　　26. 重德 　　27. 巧用 　　28. 反朴 　　29. 无为 　　30. 俭武 　　31. 偃武 　　32. 圣德 　　33. 辩德 　　34. 任成 　　35. 仁德 　　36. 微明 　　37. 为政 　德经 　　38. 论德 　　39. 法本 　　40. 去用 　　41. 同异 　　42. 道化 　　43. 徧用 　　44. 立戒 　　45. 洪德 　　46. 俭欲 　　47. 鉴远 　　48. 忘知 　　49. 任德 　　50. 贵生 　　51. 养德 　　52. 归元 　　53. 益证 　　54. 修观 　　55. 玄符 　　56. 玄德 　　57. 淳风 　　58. 顺化 　　59. 守道 　　60. 居位 　　61. 谦德 　　62. 为道 　　63. 恩始 　　64. 守微 　　65. 淳德 　　66. 后己 　　67. 三宝 　　68. 配天 　　69. 玄用 　　70. 知难 　　71. 知病 　　72. 爱己 　　73. 任为 　　74. 制惑 　　75. 贪损 　　76. 戒强 　　77. 天道 　　78. 任信 　　79. 任契 　　80. 独立 　　81. 显质

A fairly well known teacher once boasted that he brings human body parts home from a morgue to study TCM. He boasted about it publicly on an open internet forum. His students ooh-ed and aah-ed in response, and asked thoughtful questions, without anyone vomiting in their mouths a little. The thing is that "western taoism" (which of course is no taoism at all) sells powers. Only evil people sell powers or buy powers. On the upside there are no powers. All they trade in is just one big evil fantasy.

Here you go:

That is certainly a valid argument, which boils down what is real daoism and what is its folk ofshoot. 1600 years after the 'daoist' Taiping above, there was another Taiping, this time around a Christian one. After reading a pamphlet he received a year before from a Protestant Christian missionary, Hong claimed that his illness was a vision to the effect that he was the younger brother of Jesus, who was sent to rid China of the "devils", including the corrupt Qing government and Confucian teachings. He felt that it was his duty to spread his interpretation of Christianity and overthrow the Qing dynasty. One of Hong's associates, Yang Xiuqing, who was formerly a firewood merchant from Guangxi, claimed to be able to act as the voice of God.[8] Issachar Jacox Roberts, an American Baptist missionary, became a teacher and adviser to Hong.[9] In 1843, Hong and his associates founded the God Worshipping Society, a heterodox Christian sect, and used it to spread their ideas and attract followers. The sect increased its power initially by suppressing groups of bandits and pirates in southern China in the late 1840s. However, over time, persecution by Qing authorities caused the movement to evolve into a guerrilla rebellion and subsequently a widespread civil war. IMHO, they both were not really Christian or Taoists, but its a matter of personal preference. Right. There are a lot of martial flavor on the surface of and around Taoism: martial arts, wrathful gods, martial magic, there was even a sect of swordsmen-alchemists at one point. But these are peripherals. 过府穿州，路见不平报人雠。腾身屋上走，暗里取人首，只说是豪气贯斗牛，谁知道行同盗寇。真修行，惟知自补咎。劝学人你把这侠客事务一笔勾。 There are those who go through provinces and cross the counties, seeing unfairness on their way they respond to peoples’ complaints. They soar up bodily and run on the rooftops, in stealth cutting of a wrongdoer’s head, and call it a heroic spirit in action, which transcends to the Pole Star and Altair. Little they know that their conduct is the same as banditry. The true cultivation is but knowing thyself and mending own faults. I advise students to take this wandering knights’ business and scratch it out by one stroke of a pen. (Liu Yi-ming)

its because he is a master of understatement. .....and the swordsmen all killed themselves in their own rooms. THE END

Hehe, check out the merry ending of this story by ZZ.

none. With aversion, disgust and sadness. And what about the sword of the common man?' asked the king (once more). (Zhuangzi) replied, 'The sword of the common man (is wielded by) those who have their hair in a tangle, with whiskers projecting out; who wear slouching caps with coarse and unornamented tassels, and have their coats cut short behind; who have staring eyes, and talk (only) about the hazards (of their game). They hit at one another before you. Above, the sword slashes through the neck; and below, it scoops out the liver and lungs. This is the sword of the common man. (The users of it) are not different from fighting cocks; any morning their lives are brought to an end; they are of no use in the affairs of the state. Your Majesty occupies the seat of the Son of Heaven, and that you should be so fond of the swordsmanship of such common men, is unworthy, as I venture to think, of your Majesty.' 《說劍 - Delight in the Sword-fight》

How does Heidegger know? There is no asian language fluency on his resume. And why is it repeated by someone who makes a living from being a cultural compradore? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wai-lim_Yip I can understand that english is lifelong torture for a chinese man who moved to an english speaking milieu at 26. But there is no need to project it on the rest of us please.

I can totally relate to this because I had a few life-changing mystical experiences too. Nothing special, like a spirit entering my body-mind, experiencing sainthood etc. Of course to me it was more real than a brick wall. People rarely become buddhas overnight. If such an experience prompted me to study and to practice, if i am making progress slowly but surely, if i know the way to get to the ultimate that i glimpsed from afar, then it is a real experience. If i am stuck, then i either don't know the way, or don't have the strength for the way. or it was an illusion.

Today, most scientists agree that all vertebrate animals — mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish — are, to varying degrees, sentient.A rich and varied collection of research has made the evidence impossible to dismiss. But this perspective wasn't always popular. Historically, for example, sea-life rarely made it into humanity's realm of concern when it came to the ability to suffer. But meticulousexperiments performed on trout a decade ago essentially have laid to rest the common view that a fish cannot feel pain. There now is also scientific support for sentience in at least some invertebrates. In research by Canadian biologist Jennifer Mather and colleagues, octopuses show curiosity, play and personality. http://www.livescience.com/49093-animals-have-feelings.html And in a study led by Robert Elwood at Queens University Belfast, prawns spent more time grooming and rubbing a pinched antenna, unless they received a follow-up application of local anesthetic. Err..what?

easy. The thing is it was not the ultimate, at all but a mere illusion. maybe a spectacular illusion, but still..

just FYI http://thedaobums.com/topic/21714-chuang-tzu-chapter-5-section-e/page-2

so..do they dart just for joy or there is a biological purpose behind darting? and does it mean that ZZ thought that fish have any other emotions? or just joy?

yes. Any guess why do they do that?

no he does not say anything like that. well, if words do have any meaning, he does not.

May be they are gods, what do we know?

How did it happen for him to have it? Did he win a lottery or something?

I am a big fan of analytics so I applaud your approach. But I feel that if you go over those 80+ chapters and identifying the unique keyword for the subject matter of of that chapter, compiled such a list and analyzed that, it would have been so much more fruitful.