Limahong

Hi Wu MJ, I like your thoughts on "little pieces" and "bigger picture". I have them associated with 'little drops of water' and 'the ocean' respectively. In this direction ('ocean' => 'droplets of water') - I can mentally picture the constitutional processes in between. But in this direction ('droplets of water' => 'ocean') - I cannot mentally account for the configurational processes in between. Some water droplets may not reach the ocean; they be trapped in icebergs and remained so for the longest time. To cut to the chase: (i) Taoism can account for Taoist "little pieces". (ii) Taoist "little pieces" may not accrue to Taoism. (iii) So we should not split hairs with Taoist "little pieces"? - LimA

Hi Marblehead, Thank you. Date of last posting is not a concern. What's more pertinent is if the originator is still around. When I do a posting, I make it a point to go back to the initiating post once in a while. Don't want to go off-tangent. But it will not make any sense to me if the originator is not present any more. - LimA

Well said Marblehead. I was just wondering if Samuel is still around, or if he has wandered away. - LimA

Hi Qibody, I have accepted the occidental component of my life, not accidentally but karmically. By embracing Taoism, 'oriental-occidental' is now an union within me; no longer a struggle. Sweet as yinny syrup but hostile as yangy battle? Teaching is noble, but please do so truthfully. Marblehead and I knew each other from previous lives. I am a researcher. - LimA

Good morning Marblehead, Thank you. You lead me on together with dawei (thank you also). Have to internalise what have just appear brfore me. I look forward to simplicity and fun ahead. - LimA

Hi Marblehead, I am up again in search of milk and cookies. It is sort of a routine since I joined TDB. But this newly acquired habit will soon be nipped in the bud as I am getting closer to a better understanding of Taoism from within, I will be less dependent on external resources, including milk and cookies. At this moment I am inclined to believe that the cultivation of the Tao starts from within oneself, Isn't what Nei Gong is all about? I have come across Nei Gong often at TDB but I kept it at arm's length. Why? I do want my mind to be programmed and coloured by words. I buy this from OldSaint - "don't really want to elaborate on what 'source' is because language always falls short when ... trying to describe nondual things". I equate OldSaint's "source" to The Tao/Taoism. And I link the later to Reality. The entities in this connection/continuum are all non-dualistic. I am now accepting myself as dualistic; and a better understanding of The Tao/Taoism will reduce this duality in me. How do I cultivate such an understanding? From first-hand experiences in wuwei living and listening to myself more with humility. When duality is reduced, there will be less struggle - converging to more peace. Thank you for "what is". - LimA

Hi Marblehead, When it comes to the Taoist ‘philosophy vs religion’debate, these are registered on this thread: Dawei - If we debate their dichotomy, then we are just seeing and thinking within our realm of local understanding... If we let them unite... we should see something more complete, Wu Ming Jen - At the inception of what we call Taoism there is no division between religious or philosophical Taoism. Mig – Just saying. Our friend is witty (brevity is the soul of wit). We can suppose he meant this – I am just saying and not debating. Debate? No way (as in wuwei). I told you - he is witty Marblehead - I'm not so much You are trying to copy Mig’s wit (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery). I am sure this is what you have in mind – I’m not so much as just saying; I bloody well mean it. Debate? What bloody debate? No! Me? I rest my case. It is past midnight at my end. I have brushed my teeth. Goodnight. - LimA

Hi Mig, Any translation from one language to another will entail some ‘lost in translation’. Not only translation into English. An English classic translated into Chinese may have its ‘origin’ rearranged. It will be great for me if I can read the Daojia and Daojiao in their original linguistic forms (i.e. Chinese). But unfortunately I cannot because I failed linguistically as a student. Did I look down on myself for having failed thus? No. When I was seven years old, how do I choose not to learn as a colonised British subject? Did I blame my parents in any way? No. Why? They had struggled to bring food to the table. Yet they lived as Taoists dutifully and secularly (without questions) as dictated by familial and filial norms. My siblings and I were brought up thus by our parents – responsibly and accountably; and we are grateful for the lineage to have descended humbly down upon us thus. No better way for us. We have every wish to pass down the Taoist baton thus - in turn responsibly and accountably in modern everyday living. We are cognizant that nothing is cast in stone. The long/short of the debate in ‘philosophy versus religion’ Taoism cannot be measured. Why? How do you debate on something that defines a person’s life (perhaps predestined by The Divine in the first instance). Can we ever understand his blood, sweat and tears for being born a Taoist and then … I had struggled until the recent past when I begin to understand that dichotomies, divisions, contradictions … are not intended by Taoism. Why? The roots of Taoism are non-dualistic. They seek harmony. I like your - ‘Just saying’; you are nicely sensitive. - LimA

Hi Leah, I recall you as the sweet lady I had communicated with recently. How have you been? How am I? Good - still very sweet. It is the first time I am stringing onto your thread. Had seen Qibody before but I am not a busybody. So I gave it a miss till now. I like your postings immediately. Love at first sight (I told you I am sweet) !!! Why? I sense humility, transparency, responsibility ,,, (for an overseas Chinese I have a very sharp nose). My bloodline has no occidental genes yet. You will be an asset to TDB. You think so too Marblehead? - LimA

Hi Marblehead, Have you wondered, and still wondering, if samuel.savage has been humbly helped per whatever he is looking for? I have started to wonder. - LimA

Hi Marblehead, Have you wondered if teamdialectics have followed up on the "various schools of Taoism, their history, why they are different to each other, and what they're like in practice today"? Are you still wondering? Excuse me I am now wandering off in search of cookies and milk. - LimA

Hi teamdialectics, Have you followed up on the Taoism leads dawei has so kindly shared with us? If so, where are you now positioned? - LimA

Hi Samuel, May I humbly asked if you have found the assistance you are looking for? If not, what are you looking for actually/exactly? If I go to the supermarket, I must know what I am looking for to make the trip there more worth the while. - LimA

Hi dawei (DW), Thank you for your leads to other beds/cradles/schools … of information on Taoism. I use words such as beds/cradles … in relation to the consummation, birth, growth … of Taoist ideas. Reading too much into the leads can be mind boggling. They are way too MUCH for me now and beyond to register as an Average Joe. My thoughts in this post pertain to that of a kid who has newly arrived at the Taoism block as anchored in this thread - "Fascinated by Taoism, slowly building discipline". Per the said thread, I have embraced these (re Marblehead): (i) “what is" = a non-dualistic entity (ii) “objective” = “what is” (iii) “subjective” = “thoughts on what is”. I agree with you on this – “It is hard to find a write-up that describes Taoism in simple, straight and yet practical terms”. My agreement is moored in daily living experiences and struggles; so far my embrace of Taoism (plus Buddhism), as philosophies, has helped me to straighten out my life reasonably well. There commonalities between the two. It was only yesterday that I have these figured out: (i) Taoism (Daojia) is not dualistic even though it is into yin/yang. It is just objective “what is”. (ii) Teachings, lineages, schools, practices … of Taoism (Daojiao) can be dualistic (depending on the directions of ‘coming/going’). (iii) Taoists (as followers of Taoism) – too can be dualistic; here the variants are even more complex as they are fastened to individual practitioners. DW - I think you are a light-hearted, simple, humble, nimble-footed … truth seeker as reflected in this your excerpt of Taoism 101: Introduction to the Tao : "The path of understanding Taoism is simply accepting yourself. Live life and discover who you are. Your nature is ever changing and is always the same. Don’t try to resolve the various contradictions in life, instead learn acceptance of your nature. Taoism teaches a person to flow with life. Discover a set of practices to aid keeping the mind, body and spirit engaged and strong. Remember practices should support your essence with the activities fitting the needs of the moment. Which means this is a shifting balance of activities relative to your needs. Take time, relax and just explore and poke around. Taoism has no plans. Taoism is based upon following your gut feelings and trusting your instincts. It’s within the pause of a breath… Taoism teaches a person to drop expectations. The more expectations you have for your life, the less you will become. A Taoist lives life without expectations, living in the here and now fully". I am of the belief that we can be fellow travellers on the same road to the Void. Thank you for your sharing. - LimA

Good morning Marblehead, Don't quote me - I am just a wandering budding Taoist. No wonder you "wonder if I am seeing reality" because you misquoted. Please just see whatever you are seeing.and keep it to yourself. Pray don't alter my current "version of it". I struggled very hard to be where I am now 'taoistically'. I don't want to be lost again. So you wonder by yourself and I wander by myself. At this moment there is no yin/yang marriage between wonder/wander, for me at least. Goodbye ex-hero. - LimA

Hi Marblehead, Then why are you 'wondering'? - LimA

Hi Marblehead, When "what is" equals "reality", then: (i) reality is non-dualistic (ii) but thoughts on reality are dualistic. Why is (ii) so? Because thoughts on reality are coloured by: (*) different situations (**) different experiences of a situation Yes/no to the above? The papaya I bought yesterday was very sweet, but a bit expensive though. You like papaya? - LimA

Hi dawei, My struggles are inversely proportionate to my understanding of Taoism. Hope to have these struggles (e.g. financial) reduced as I move in the direction of the Void. But manageable struggles are OK with me. They create the potentials to grow and be better I am slowly moving from the word 'struggles' to 'challenges'; and from 'problems' to 'situations'.. I like to take on the 'process' perspectives of schemes of things. Life is dynamic and not static. Just love this: - LimA

Gentlemen {Marblehead (MH) + dawei (DW)}: Thank you for helping me to be where I am at this point in time and space – a non-dualistic person. I had not really revealed before where I was coming from at TDB. Yet both of you brought me home to where I originally belonged. In another thread I had indicated that I was born ‘oriental’ but grew up ‘occidental’ – not a conscious choice by any measure from my family. It was circumstantial. All my life I had (till yesterday) this polarised contradiction within myself that I had to struggled with myself to stay balanced. But when I first came across Taoism, something within me stirred (commencement of a new consciousness?). One thing led to another and I thought the opportunity had come when I proposed to my professors that I wanted to do a Taoist dissertation within a business school in the West. But I was shot down by the professors academically. I did not blame them as they ‘caught no ball’. Perhaps I got myself to blame as then I was at best a pseudo budding Taoist. Yet again another thing led to another – an ethnic English research associate give me an article to read on wuwei and my struggle became more manageable henceforth. Now MH and DW have descended beautifully upon my horizon and … rainbow => moonbow. Why? MH + DW = my heroes on Daoist wisdom. A great weekend. - LimA

Hi dawei (as in David?), Thank you. Your posting is what I believe any good philosophy should be - user friendly in the context of everyday living that any Average Josephines/Joes can understand fairly well. You are my new Taoist Hero. Marblehead - move over. - LimA

Hi Marblehead, Thank you. Mr Moonbow - you have just given me a Taoist 'welcome home' embrace. Why? I have just claimed a very important part of my ethnic roots. The label of me as a "banana" (yellow on the outside, white on the inside) is forever gone, You like bananas? Fresh off the grocer shop? Or baked/fried? I am REALLY happy - I am going to buy a papaya. - LimA

Hi OldSaint, I am revisiting the old threads that I had joined in before. It will be nice to take one or two steps forward with each of these threads. But I do not wish to be drowned with too much inputs that I don't understand or find hard to digest. I still hold on to this from you: Language always falls short when your trying to describe nondual "things". But suffice it to say that IME simple techniques have shown to bring amazing results. Awareness is simple. - LimA

I was not thinking clearly on the divide in this thread. But a re-read of the above input from exorcist_1699 has light coming from the end of the Taoist tunnel for me again. I can identify with my highlighted in this excerpt from exorcist_1699: "Anyway, to me, the clear line drawn in between the so-called philosophical and religious Taoism is unnecessary, always overstated, which mainly is due to most people's lack of understanding of the Taoist formula : Jing => qi => Shen ; or more precisely speaking, their incapacity in pushing their practice from the stage of having attained qi to the stage of attaining Shen. In that case, no matter how hard you try to explain to people about why holiness or supernatural stuff inevitably arisen at some stage, your explanation falls on deaf ears. People can't understand that for the first time in human history , the appearance of Taoism enables them to grasp an ubiquitous force : qi as a medium to seal the gap between the subject and object , the physical and spiritual , thing-inside your brain and thing-outside your brain ... only if, just only if you can march forward a little , to consolidate that fluctuating qi and minds into some kind of a Big One very different from what you daily sense and reason..." Thank you exorcist_1699. - LimA

This thread pertains to: Learning about cultivation of human relationships between God & Women I like to submit this with some trepidation: Ladies cultivate better human relationships with God through tears. Yes/no? Please respond kindly. - LimA

LOST FOR WORDS! PUBLISHED 27/08/2016 BY INSPIRINGYOURSPIRIT My Dear Friends, I’m just lost for words! I have been going through one of the most challenging times of my life and honestly I’m just lost for words…… Each day, for the last few months, I have wanted to put my fingers on this keyboard and spell out my feelings, to share with you what has been going on in my life, but when i go to do so, I’m just lost for words! I cannot seem to conjure up the words that will make the sense of what my heart has been feeling, I cannot seem to express the brokenness of my heart through words alone, only tears can start to convey how I have been feeling. Sometimes only my lovely dogs can understand, they come to me when I’m crying, they feel my pain and without any judgement, they lie by my side, no words are needed only their unconditional love, which is ‘Always’ there for me. I look outside to the world that surrounds me, my family, my friends, and, sometimes I, see only me…The world continues on, I am just a blip on the landscape, a soul in transition, a source of energy that moves along with the movement of time, my life is my life, yes, people care for me but it’s my life and only I am responsible for it, only I can live it, only I can find the words to continue my way…. The world continues on, I am just a blip on the landscape, a soul in transition, a source of energy that moves along with the movement of time. My life is my life! Yes, people care for me, but it’s my life, and only I am responsible for it. Only I can live it, only I can find the words to convey how I feel, only I can feel the pain, only I ,…. Only I…….. As more tears run down my cheek, and, start to wash away my pain, only I can feel the hurt inside, only I can listen to my ego, only I,…. Only I…. Today is a new day, maybe today will bring me more joy…. Only I can make a difference, Only I can take away the pain…. Only I…. Namaste with Love Always Mark ============================================================================= Thank you Mark. All the very best. - LimA