AussieTrees

Hi Nungali, my brother in law planted a bought shallot clump,it settled into his garden very well,multiplying with new stalks,he has had growing now for many years harvesting as he chooses.

I don't like fishing anymore,lost the patience for it. This is happy for the fish,that like to swim. i don't like cooking anymore,lost the patience for it. so we eat less. patience takes patience,what the take a slow walk from your back door to any usual destination then can you slower again next time count the flowers did you see the yellow ones if you missed them need to slow up years ago when still a young boy,we had rats living under our avery sometimes these rats would overpopulated and sometimes kill and eat the birds so we learned patience,we would get a piece of old cheese and place it about three or four inches just outside the rat hole then we would get a chair sit on it and watch the rat hole,sitting watching holding a slug gun,being as quiet as possible for as long as it tookfor a rat to show it's interest in the cheese,we did this a least once a day for many days in a row dispatching many rats using cheese and patience very rarely we would get no show,these were the longest hours of entertainment for a young boy

Hi thelearner, they say that coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen,did it work well for your garden?

a. Chapter 1: Xiao Yao You (Wandering Beyond) The title of the first chapter of the Zhuangzi has also been translated as “Free and Easy Wandering” and “Going Rambling Without a Destination.” Both of these reflect the sense of the Daoist who is in spontaneous accord with the natural world, and who has retreated from the anxieties and dangers of social life, in order to live a healthy and peaceful natural life. In modern Mandarin, the word xiaoyao has thus come to mean “free, at ease, leisurely, spontaneous.” It conveys the impression of people who have given up the hustle and bustle of worldly existence and have retired to live a leisurely life outside the city, perhaps in the natural setting of the mountains. But this everyday expression is lacking a deeper significance that is expressed in the classical Chinese phrase: the sense of distance, or going beyond. As with all Zhuangzi’s images, this is to be understood metaphorically. The second word, ‘yao,’ means ‘distance’ or ‘beyond,’ and here implies going beyond the boundaries of familiarity. We ordinarily confine ourselves within our social roles, expectations, and values, and with our everyday understandings of things. But this, according to Zhuangzi, is inadequate for a deeper appreciation of the natures of things, and for a more successful mode of interacting with them. We need at the very least to undo preconceptions that prevent us from seeing things and events in new ways; we need to see how we can structure and restructure the boundaries of things. But we can only do so when we ourselves have ‘wandered beyond’ the boundaries of the familiar. It is only by freeing our imaginations to reconceive ourselves, and our worlds, and the things with which we interact, that we may begin to understand the deeper tendencies of the natural transformations by which we are all affected, and of which we are all constituted. By loosening the bonds of our fixed preconceptions, we bring ourselves closer to an attunement to the potent and productive natural way (dao) of things. Paying close attention to the textual associations, we see that wandering is associated with the word wu, ordinarily translated ‘nothing,’ or ‘without.’ Related associations include: wuyou (no ‘something’) and wuwei (no interference). Roger Ames and David Hall have commented extensively on these wu expressions. Most importantly, they are not to be understood as simple negations, but have a much more complex function. The significance of all of these expressions must be traced back to the wu of Laozi: a type of negation that does not simply negate, but places us in a new kind of relation to ‘things’—a phenomenological waiting that allows them to manifest, one that acknowledges the space that is the possibility of their coming to presence, one that appreciates the emptiness that is the condition of the possibility of their capacity to function, to be useful (as the hollow inside a house makes it useful for living). The behavior of one who wanders beyond becomes wuwei: sensitive and responsive without fixed preconceptions, without artifice, responding spontaneously in accordance with the unfolding of the inter-developing factors of the environment of which one is an inseparable part. But it is not just the crossing of horizontal boundaries that is at stake. There is also the vertical distance that is important: one rises to a height from which formerly important distinctions lose what appeared to be their crucial significance. Thus arises the distinction between the great and the small, or the Vast (da) and the petty (xiao). Of this distinction Zhuangzi says that the petty cannot come up to the Vast: petty understanding that remains confined and defined by its limitations cannot match Vast understanding, the expansive understanding that wanders beyond. Now, while it is true that the Vast loses sight of distinctions noticed by the petty, it does not follow that they are thereby equalized, as Guo Xiang suggests. For the Vast still embraces the petty in virtue of its very vastness. The petty, precisely in virtue of its smallness, is not able to reciprocate. Now, the Vast that goes beyond our everyday distinctions also thereby appears to be useless. A soaring imagination may be wild and wonderful, but it is extremely impractical and often altogether useless. Indeed, Huizi, Zhuangzi’s friend and philosophical foil, chides him for this very reason. But Zhuangzi expresses disappointment in him: for his inability to sense the use of this kind of uselessness is a kind of blindness of the spirit. The useless has use, only not as seen on the ordinary level of practical affairs. It has a use in the cultivation and nurturing of the ‘shen‘ (spirit), in protecting the ancestral and preserving one’s life, so that one can last out one’s natural years and live a flourishing life. Now, this notion of a flourishing life is not to be confused with a ‘successful’ life: Zhuangzi is not impressed by worldly success. A flourishing life may indeed look quite unappealing from a traditional point of view. One may give up social ambition and retire in relative poverty to tend to one’s shen and cultivate one’s xing (nature, or life potency). To summarize: When we wander beyond, we leave behind everything we find familiar, and explore the world in all its unfamiliarity. We drop the tools that we have been taught to use to tame the environment, and we allow it to teach us without words. We imitate its spontaneous behavior and we learn to respond immediately without fixed articulations. http://www.iep.utm.edu/zhuangzi/#H3

As with any competition there is often a winner and a loser,just competing makes it real,making both winners.

From the tears of samsara and never ending machinations,even then the young Buddha awakes telling of a path with all might such path is both easy and hard to find wrong turns and thorn brambles exist then stop searching and you have found it The path belongs to the Tao the path of life in the company of Krishna Jesus and Buddha then in such company what else matters

Quote "This is how he attends inappropriately: 'Was I in the past? Was I not in the past? What was I in the past? How was I in the past? Having been what, what was I in the past? Shall I be in the future? Shall I not be in the future? What shall I be in the future? How shall I be in the future? Having been what, what shall I be in the future?' Or else he is inwardly perplexed about the immediate present: 'Am I? Am I not? What am I? How am I? Where has this being come from? Where is it bound?'And what are the ideas fit for attention that he does attend to? "He attends appropriately, This is stress... This is the origination of stress... This is the cessation of stress... This is the way leading to the cessation of stress. As he attends appropriately in this way, three fetters are abandoned in him: identity-view, doubt, and grasping at precepts & practices. These are called the fermentations to be abandoned by seeing.

"Dad are they a group of monks doing good works" "No son that is a gang of skin heads readying themselves for mischievous."

The episode of extended crying has downward spiral dive to the depths and bottom when no matter there is only one direction that remains. lack of control is often the experience the sobs just keep pouring,stopping is difficult. tip if you want to stop crying,then at the basin wash your face with cool water for as long as needed then slowly towel dry.

http://www.taoism.net/ttc/chapters/chap08.htm Tao Te Ching Translation, Interpretation and Notes by Derek Lin Chapter 8 The highest goodness resembles water Water greatly benefits myriad things without contention It stays in places that people dislike Therefore it is similar to the Tao Dwelling at the right place Heart with great depth Giving with great kindness Words with great integrity Governing with great administration Handling with great capability Moving with great timing Because it does not contend It is therefore beyond reproach Interpretation Water is the most fitting metaphor for the Tao and the nature of sages who follow the Tao. Water nourishes plants and slakes the thirst of animals. Water also assumes the lowest position it can no matter where it happens to be. These observations reveal to us characteristics of both the Tao and the sages. Water flows to the lowest place not because it intentionally does so, but because it follows its own nature. The sages, like water, also place themselves lower, not because they contrive to do so, but because it is their nature to be humble. Sages have depth of character. Like a deep body of water, sages are tranquil and composed. A pool of water is not only the surface but also everything below it. Likewise, there is more to a sage than meets the eyes. It may take a while for people to realize this, but the more they get to know the sage, the more they discover. Water provides its benefits and moves on, without waiting for any benefits in return. Sages benefit others in the exact same way. They give only to give, not because they want recognition or payback. When they provide teachings, assistance or guidance, they do so with no conditions, no strings attached, and no expectations. Water reflects its surroundings. It does not try to hide or change anything in its reflections. When sages speak, it is with this same sense of integrity and sincerity. People come to trust the sage, because they realize the sage will give them the truth when no one else will. Water administers to everything equally. Water plays no favorites. It slakes the thirst of the kind person just as it does the unkind person. Taking a cue from this, sages also do not pick and choose the recipients of the benefits they provide. Their impartial administration is conducted without bias and judgment. Water is versatile. It conforms to the shape of any container to do its work. Following this, the sages also cultivate flexibility and adaptability in themselves. Because the world is constantly changing, they also make constant adjustments to handle new challenges. Water moves in accordance with Heaven. Whether it takes the form of rain, snow, or hail, water follows the timing of natural events. The sages are the same way. They live each day following the natural flow of events, and take appropriate actions at the appropriate time. Most importantly, water does not contend. It gives itself to everything without complaints or protests. Like water, sages do not engage in petty squabbles, because their only wish is to be of service. They are at peace with everyone, and that makes them beyond reproach. Notes Quick summary of this chapter - Tao cultivators observe water in order to emulate the following characteristics: Natural humility. Depth of character. Giving without expectations. Sincerity and integrity. Equal administration. Versatility and adaptability. Natural timing. Non-contention.

Welcome Dayna.

Hi Marblehead, yeah a hit is ok to cry sometimes it is ok not to cry

Ladies cultivate better human relationships with God through tears. one trick anyone can learn when you are at the point of crying,try tickling the roof of your mouth with the tip of your tongue and for those few seconds to pass then you can stop yourself from crying

reading many different websites to the late hours,pondering so many great questions,there is a vague recollection this was a quote from a long forgotten author,apologies.

Hi living, What a great question. As a simple old man,pondering such questions,clarity is not reborn,so maybe every that still lacks clarity. well maybe as rain is muddy by the journey to the ocean,it is reborn and receives clarity upon entering as one open sea.