wandelaar

I think a piece of this song is used:

Do you happen to know of which song?

Even if it were clear, than why would you feel the need to jump on the bandwagon? For instance it's also clear that we are poisoning the earth with our overproduction of needless gadgets. Is that a reason to further speed up the process?

I briefly read a few pieces of the pdf, and found some interesting interpretations there. That's why the commentary looked interesting. Furthermore reading the Chuang tzu is all about interpretation, that is: unless you like reading fairy tales and allegories without ever wondering about the morale of the stories. You can repeat it a thousand times but it's simply nonsense that one can do away with interpretation or commentary for texts that are more than two thousand years old, from a different culture, and written in a language that hugely differs from our own. But this has been explained to you many times before...

@kakapo Would it be conceivable for you to accept that we simply don't know what the purpose of our existence is, if there even is one? In that case "free and easy wandering" would become a possibility without following any particular path or realizing any particular goal. You would live because you were born, and you would die because it was your time to die. And that would be it. You would have played your role in the cosmic play, nothing more and nothing less...

Sounds like a weird Led Zeppelin cover...

In that case I rather trust the considered opinion of the professionals. A sinologist doesn't make a name for himself by lazily and mindlessly copying the work of his predecessors but by well reasoned criticism and improvements upon the work of others past and present. That's how science works. So there is no reason to think that sinologists would deliver a "rambling, poorly-written mess" if the text itself and the presently known context allowed for a better translation. But I don't know the extend of Christopher Tricker's knowledge, it may be at the same level or beyond that of the criticized translators. And in that case his translation could conceivably be better. But as I said I haven't got the time to delve into this any deeper right now.

The book looks interesting. Not for its translation as there are already excellent English translations of the Chuang tzu, but for its commentary. Unhappily I'm very busy now, so at the moment I have no time to read your book. Maybe later...

Yes it's up to the master, but being a "master" doesn't change the fact that if he fakes faqi (and this becomes known) then the credibility of the "master" will be adversely affected. Not for the true believers for sure (who will keep believing whatever happens) and neither for the diehard skeptics (who wouldn't believe it anyway), but certainly for those with a more open but nevertheless critical mind. It's the last category of people that I am talking about here. Apparently you think that being truthful is optional for a "master". I don't agree - but that's ultimately a moral matter that cannot be decided by arguments alone.

There's at least one reason I can think of and that is that such (mis)behavior would also make honest seekers after the truth believe that there probably is no real faqi. Not all people interested in faqi are thrill seekers. Of course if there is in fact no real faqi then this wouldn't matter. So faking faqi when you can also do it for real (although less often) messes up the whole thing. It also spoils the trustworthiness of the "master" himself, because apparently he doesn't care that much about the truth so why should we believe him in other matters?

That's why I don't want it. ;-) I want just enough to satisfy myself that chi projection exists.

I wonder if it's that simple: can you then start and stop the chi projection at will by means of the visualization technique? Otherwise it could well be an effect of static electricity pure and simple... Personally I'm only interested in the question of does or doesn't the phenomenon of chi projection exist as a physically measurable process. That's an important test concerning my worldview. I'm ready to change my worldview any time that convincing reasons to do so are presented.

@Pak_Satrio I know next to nothing about esoteric Taoism, so I don't know whether Mo Pai (eastern or western) would be a good or a bad choice to follow as a lineage. All I said was that Kakapo did well to not name names as that wasn't necessary for the point he made that he didn't find the real deal in other lineages (except tummo).

I think Kakapo's position in this matter is defensible. It would indeed open a can of worms when names were given. On the other hand the information that he and his group tried to test some people from other lineages and failed to find the real deal is relevant for understanding his enthusiasm for Mo Pai. Leaving that information out would make this enthusiasm less understandable.

@kakapo I didn't expect this to happen, but I consider the above post of yours to be eminently reasonable. I hope you keep up this style of communication so we can both learn something. Personally I'm not sure the projection of Chi with physical consequences is possible, but it would be hard for me to believe that it only happens within MoPai if it does exist. For instance recently this guy was mentioned on this forum:

Ah - thank you.

What has the picture to do with the music?

The teeth look flat...

@kakapo I don't know if it's correct what you are writing about Original Dao (I was only an ordinary member), but it completely ignores my explanation of why the posts by Mo Pai enthusiasts here were often spam-like. This was typical before I left here to join Original Dao, and apparently the same self-defeating pattern is still followed today. Years have past, and nothing is learned. It's still all about the perceived injustices done to Mo Pai by its critics. The ironic thing about all this is that you are accomplishing the exact opposite of what you are after. True masters like Lao tzu didn't like being misunderstood or laughed at, but they didn't go after their critics to defeat them in endless debates either. They simply presented their view on life. And after that it's take it or leave it, and live with the consequences.

The problem I remember from before I (temporarily) moved to Original Dao was the following: One critical mentioning of Mo Pai was typically followed by loads of posts by Mo Pay enthusiasts defending Mo Pai. And that (the shear overkill of Mo Pai defenses whenever the opportunity seemed to present itself) is spamming.

Strangely the discussion has by now shifted from solving the population problem (for instance by just letting nature take its course and consequently allowing a big meteorite to hit the earth) to not solving the population problem (by deviating it from its orbit).

I'm no specialist in the field, but there is a huge Wiki article about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_impact_avoidance I'm currently reading it.

Is it this one ?: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-64411469 In general an amateur astronomer noticing something before the professionals do isn't as strange as it would seem to those unfamiliar with the subject. Astronomy is one of the very few fields of scientific research in which amateurs can still play a meaningful and important role. A role that is appreciated by professional astronomers. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_astronomy#Notable_amateur_astronomers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_astronomy#Discoveries_with_major_contributions_by_amateur_astronomers

Do you have a link, I missed this one. I like to read about the particulars before giving a comment.