rideforever

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Tao leads and we follow, therefore it is masculine and we are feminine .... the soul reflects the light of the One. When people talk of nature perhaps they see the joy of the natural world on Earth, the wonderful creation that comes from the balance of masculine and feminine forces, the little birds in the trees, the Sun at dawn and the Moon at night, how beautiful .... in appreciating these things they wish to feel the origin of it all. In the same way becoming one with the vital force chi is the beginning of returning to the origin. Underneath it all is not matter but a sort of spirit - intelligence ..... which is how I understand Tao. It is neither God the actor, nor the creation, but the spirit of it all that precedes it.

Anyone who calls himself Lucifer is not in a good place. Perhaps it begins as a joke .... but the road down is made with many small wrong steps. Sorry, I should be more friendly. Welcome.

That's 18 years of work. Do you know who you are ? Do you have a stable identity beyond the mind ?

So, what is your personal experience of life as you walk down the street then after all these practices ? What has been the change, benefit ?

Are you thoughts interesting ?

The OP has some good ideas, however it will not be easy to find them. If you can find a teacher who before you start can confirm your state, and knows his own. You would find one teacher in a thousand who can do this. In terms of the 3 statement signs of verification, as far as I can make out : 1. This is simply absorption in any state through any practice; you go deep and the world is distant. 2. Experiencing "light" inside the head is a sign of energy cultivation is that area which produces a number of phenomena, one is a subtle sound/ vibration can be heard which is "Om" (Om is an approximation of the sound); the second type of phenomena is the feeling of a light (meaning your head feels lit up, as you sit in meditation you can see the light glowing from this part of the body although it is ethereal). I am sure there are other phenomena as well. 3. I don't know what 3 means, but certainly if you work with the body during meditation then many things of this ilk can happen, also the breathing can become quite strange and appear to stop. But I am not certain that this is what the author means. Which is all very nice however these are circumstantial effects; and the true verification is that you have awakened at the mid-eyebrow point. Meaning you are present without object, and you have a stable permanent identity inhabitint this area.

Well I am not sure I could follow instructions like that personally. But let me ask you what concrete results have happened to you. As you walk around town what is changed ? Thanks.

In my opinion the answers are almost always not answers. We are a big mess.

Very nice very interesting very exotic ... but maybe it's just more ape shit. Today I was just watching J. Krishnamurti similarly smirking whilst slagging off mankind. And then .... ? You have an answer ? If not shut up. At least have that much .... humanity.

Any solutions coming Mr N ?

If you do not resist yourself then you will act, that is non-action, ultimately.

If we spend too much time worrying about which translation ... are we really interested in reading it ? The earlier link to the TTC audiobook is by Giafu Feng, he is Chinese, it is a good translation, and his translation is readily available as a pdf or in book form.

Thanks for that. I think this is more interesting than it might seem. Balance is good, at a level, it causes things to flow harmoniously .... but at a level. Ultimately you either want the light or you don't, light isn't light and dark .... light is light .... light is knowledge. We can be concerned with the mechanics of the universe, completing the circle, and understanding above and below, and it is important. But it is a knowledge of this plane .... perhaps there is a devotion to truth that takes us beyond here, a hope a surrender to the light a light with no opposite that is of a different ilk. The plane of polarities. Or transcendence. But .... my approach is practical and experimental, not knowing the truth I try them all .... and then I will see. The Emerald Tablets of Thoth might be a crock .... but crock or not it might be true.

A stitch in time saves nine, not two. Existence allows things to die if they go the wrong way, or they refuse the truth. But the judgement of such things is far beyond us, existence decides. Real risk is required for real life-joy.

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Translation : the inferior man thinks ... if I do some good it won't be enough to make a name for me, so why bother; and if I do a little harm it is not enough to destroy me, so why resist. Thus he begins along the road downwards until there is no road back. Very true.

- There is no initiation, there is only self-initiation through stubborn work. - Only exceptional efforts count. - Progress is made through small concrete steps.

m

Qigong is very good at the beginning and the middle, because it is easier to learn and results are fast. From the middle to the end, taichi is good, it is more difficult to learn but it is like art. ... generally speaking ...

You can try gently listening to this version of the Tao Te Ching, I have added some gentle music to it. Begin with gentle listening, then move to the breathing. Don't worry if you leave the words behind. Don't worry if you leave this world behind. https://app.box.com/s/v16glzioqzqrnmn271ctht6gf9mfmg2k Perhaps Qigong would be helpful for you, as working with the body grounds the mind. After qigong practice, you can sit quietly. There is a man called Lomakayu who is a very sincere teacher, sit with him, he has many videos in his playlist, sitting outside in a stone circle, He is a good companion. He is not of any tradition, but is whole. Forgiveness Practice I have also found this to be very good, it is from Theravada. There are also many other not so good teachers on youtube.

In my opinion the fundamental practice of Taoism is sitting meditation similar to Zen, but without the tension of Zen. Becoming one with the breathing, merging with the breathing, at the dantien. You are inside the dantien, meaning that as you sit you are not inside your forehead but inhabit your lower belly. Resting as the belly. Patiently dissolving, resting down from the belly. Later, once more present in the belly, more calm, then merging down into the Earth. On the exhale descending down through the bottom of the bucket (dantien). And merging with the ground of being. The chi vital force flows upwards from the ground of being, into the dantien and then upwards into creation, then on exhalation back down; this is the rhythm of breathing. In this practice, firstly we become one with the vital force chi, becoming one with the breathing. Later we flow down into the source, returning. Descending to the absolute ground. It is also important to have period of just sitting just being non action. Meditate 5 minutes non action and then 5 minutes with gentle guidance as above, and repeat and so on. The 2nd practice and different practice is the Secret of the Golden Flower, which is at the mid-eyebrow point. Beginning with concentration there but later surrendering flowing merging as the presence there. The truth is inside you, that must always come first before anyone else's ideas.

Perhaps your question is something like why does a stockbroker who cheats succeed ? Well does he succeed ? There was that film with Leonardo di Caprio .... those people money-rich though they might have been were not in a good state internally. If you ... have good work to do, no matter the nature or the difficulty or the "level" .... then when you sit down to eat you will feel good. You have earned your food and sleep well. Today you were a good and noble member of this existence. The contrast of good and bad is required for learning. Real suffering is required for real hope. A parent doesn't help the children too much because it harms them, they must learn or there will be more pain later. For their own safety they must learn, and the hard way is normally the way. To engage in life and engage in this kind of learning indicates that this being has developed enough intelligence to begin. Others drift through life untouched, they are below the threshold to begin and nothing is ventured. It is no good turning to God too early, you wont have the stamina persistence desperation or understanding to stay. Someone not ready can get ready by getting stuck into the experiences of life. Many people who we are taught by this society that they are winning ... are just a total mess inside, like the celebrities hanging themselves in closets and so on. Existence has its own rules and if you wish to be close to existence it will be with you always. It will guide you teach you nourish you. Would you like to take these lessons ? Tomorrow the Sun will rise and there are lessons, small and big, obvious and hidden, but there is a great joy to being a student. To know the road, to love your teacher, to succeed, to fail, but continue. We can be happy to be taught, life is so wonderful, please another lesson. And when you have learnt enough then you participate in teaching or higher levels. Then your competence that you have made within yourself becomes of service. And it is the same if you are a husband and your competence shelters your family. Have you done something evil ? Perhaps yes, perhaps looking back you see that you were terrified or confused or indulging in justifications. Perhaps existence also taught you the error of your ways. Life is alive. Existence is scattering seeds in many places, like right here. It is learning as well, everything is learning everything is growing. Everything is a hazard. Existence does not know why it is here, but like us he lives and learns, gives and receives. Existence needs you, needs your help for this project of light. But ... if it helps you too much how can you grow, how can you help ? One day we have to look ourselves in the mirror and say, I wish to be. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Hmm. In your original question you talk quite generally about situations, like a stockbrocker doing trading, and so on. You talk of the externals of the act and person but not about what is happening to him personally, where he is with his heart. This makes me think that you do not have much experience with life and so imagine it from a distance. If you are a parent ... how is it with your child ? The child has an opportunity to be good, you would encourage that, but he might choose bad. He is alive after all, so there are choices. Both ends must be open or nothing can live. The child in certain circumstances might go bad, choose badly, and become a person that help and light cannot reach. Then he is lost and suffers until death. When existence relieves him and its over. I have heard that some individuals by their choices suffer far beyond death. I don't know who you are, but I expect that if you are more in touch with life, you see fear and pain in the eyes of a person, and so on, and that you yourself make more spontaneous decisions and explore your own sides through taking risks .... that the question of evil will come home to you, and be less theoretical.