TimBlack

Has anyone come across this great download? https://spiritual-minds.com/easternrelgions/laotzu/Hua Hu Jing.pdf

Hey all! Some years back I was a member. Beginning in 2009 life went ?? Quite brutal. Four years ago I had a traumatic brain injury. Listening to some music that fell into days be gone, it spurred my memory of Dao Bums. Not sure what my sign in or name was, so it's new! What was once the norm(?) is past. Hope to learn! Thanks!

Well, as it turns out I've been a member since 2005. I remember how to login. Whew! I forgot this place existed!

Under tao1776 I used to come here and? I underwent a traumatic brain injury. New life or a new start. I forgot Dao Bums existed. So, excuse me. I'm going to read and try to learn and practice.... Patience! TimBlack

Mdb - my granddaughter. Amazing girl. And yes.... The pathway never ends And Journeyman.......lets hang out!

The interesting thing about people living their lives these days is that everyone believes that they must plan. There is little doing as doing does arrive. Looking behind in an effort to plan today. Looking forward in an effort to design what must be done if we think that we must do something based on our idea formed through ignorance, fear and pure humanness. Following a path is not making a path. In my over thirty years of marriage I suffered and struggled to endure what was placed upon me; what was demanded of me; what was placed before me as obligation. As if dumb and demanded, placed upon a leash and led right or left, standing or sat, happy or sad. My Unicorn - Gaia Girl In several years passed, my attempt was more to follow; not create. Passing along to you my readers, and to you my Unicorn: In beauty and in honor and in tears of happiness, a shared view of Taoismbeing passed along like a comforting hug around your being. An encouraging look followed by a non-judging look. A holding of hands and thus walking the way, Taoism is viewed; 1. The main principle is the belief in the Tao. This can be difficult to explain in English, but it is essentially the path one must follow in life. It is the natural order of all things and the Tao is considered to be the universal life force or the underlying nature of all things that exist in the world. 2. The key to Taoism is that you must first accept yourself and learn to accept what is going on around you. You must accept both the good and bad parts of your life and flow with the path life sends you on. 3. The Three Jewels (or The Three Treasures) should be behind all the things that you do. Compassion, moderation, and humility will lead you to a path of courage, generosity, and leadership. Be patient and gentle. 4. You should live a natural and simple life. It is acceptable to need time to yourself to just sit and listen only to the voice in your head and not to those around you. This will allow you the time to see the real truth in the world. Eliminate anything that is unnecessary or artificial in your life. 5. The world, and everything in it, is in a constant cycle. The cycle consists of coming into your own being, maturing, and eventually, decaying and returning to the Tao. 6. Everything should follow a natural course and you should avoid any action that is not spontaneous or wu-wei. 7. Be patient and see beauty in everything around you and in yourself. 8. Practice love and restraint. “Do not regard weapons as lovely things, for to think them lovely means to delight in them, and to delight in them means to delight in the slaughter of man.” 9. Be true to yourself and you will be happy. 10. Show compassion for others and honor life. In a few weeks let us view the author of, "A Book of Five Rings" - Miyamato Musashi What say you???

You received your body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for as long as you live. How you take care of it or fail to take care of it, can make an enormous difference in the quality of your life. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time, informal school called Life. Each day, you will be presented with opportunities to learn what you need to know. The lessons presented are often completely different from those you thought as needed. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error and experimentation. You can learn as much from failure as you can from success. Maybe more. A lesson is repeated until it is learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. As you have learned, (as evidenced by a change in your attitude and ultimately in your behavior) then you can go on to the next lesson. Learning lessons does not end. There is no stage of life that does not contain some lessons. As long as you live there will be something more to learn. ?There? is no better than ?here?. When your ?there? has become a ?here? you will simply discover another ?there? that will again look better than your ?here.? Don?t be fooled by believing that the unattainable is better than what you have. Observe. Don't judge or imagine. Others are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself. When tempted to criticize others, ask yourself why you feel so strongly. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you create with those tools and resources is up to you. Remember that through desire, goal setting and unflagging effort you can have anything you want. Persistence is the key to success. The answers lie inside of you. The solutions to all of life?s problems lie within your grasp. All you need to do is ask, look, listen and trust yourself. (anon) And screw your desire to judge. Follow being human. It's enjoyable!!

Life can travel from birth until death. To quote from Chuang-Tzu; “ The true men of old did not know what it was to love life or to hate death. They did not rejoice in birth, nor strive to put off dissolution. Unconcerned they came and unconcerned they went. That was all. They did not forget whence it was they had sprung, neither did they seek to inquire their return thither. Cheerfully they accepted life, waiting patiently for their restoration (the end). This is what is called not to lead the heart astray from Tao, and not to supplement the natural by human means. Such a one may be called a true man. Such men are free in mind and calm in demeanor.” ...My life's experience as a young man began in the 1970's and drew me into learning, singing and teaching Jesus Christ. Along with the multiple quantity of churches, the members were taught complicated beliefs and were declined self growth. You heard, you listened, you sang and you prayed. You were pressured to believe that your heart was designed to listen, and to follow all that is being told to you. The mind of God, of Christ, and of the church knew the way. We, the followers, were the sheep. And surprisingly, we learned that sheep in the pastures followed their shepherds with blind devotion. Yet being human revealed more than we were being led to believe. We studied and watched. We learned and grew to enjoy our life. We folded away beyond the time of Church spirituality and began to taste, smell, and listen what we knew was universal help in life, in nature, in world and sky. We knew it was present.We listened and learned and read. Our being alive did not state or reveal that we must all be the same. It breathed outward, "Be what you are"? In the 1980's an over exposure from prolonged isocyanates used within an industrial coatings company/laboratory, made asthma began within my lungs. The lab ovens were not releasing their heated air to the outside. And the Spray Paint for applying the test panels and quality control units for computers, machines, lights and hundreds of American items eventually bothered my liver and bodily skin. In months time my cough helped pull my spine until that itself became the most difficult. With the addition of high Ibuprofen, muscle relaxant and alcohol, I completely injured my spine. Work ended. Disability came. And my body and mind pointed down the road of life much like a warrior hinting where I may be able to jump off the mountain side or shot a bullet through my head. Direction introduced me to Feldenkrais ATM. The teacher also introduced me to Taoist Inner smile and Microcosmic meditation. The pathway led towards meditation, Tao Te Ching, I Ching, Yin and Yang. In time, I was beginning to learn to abide in stillness and gradually enter the true way. Known as receiving the Tao. I am now 60 Yrs old. And although the last 15 years were very difficult, cruel and violent due through being married to a Psychopath, everything has changed. Divorce came. Not easy. She assaulted me and was arrested twice. In an effort to protect my children I did not push forward the legal restraining order and moved out with friends until the court would do so. When I came home, the home I bought, it was emptied, hurt and dirty. The last five years have been difficult and my plan to sell has not gone through until one month ago. In almost a beautiful mysterious sense, a universal gesture has just moved forward. My home will sell by 11/24. My love Gaia Girl and I plan on moving to a beautiful, original 1800 one room school, that is now a sweet six room home. In the woods. Near ponds and lakes. Our cats, chickens, and our soon arrival of a Boston Terrier will add to our beauty of life. Friends and families? Blessed joy. Very near the mountain. Chinese year of the Sheep will bless and we plan on getting married on the 1776 4th of July. I'm back to hanging at Tao Bums. And cultivating stillness...............

I'm going to wander the halls and get myself re-acquainted. Cow Tao - a little bit of the curmudgeon spirit possessed me for a season. When its happening its happening....but once out at the other side it becomes clear how great a hold it had on you. http://tao1776.blogspot.com/

I've been in and out of here for more years than I care to remember. Poor health and great pain were the teachers that led me into the world of "inner alchemy". A Simple practice led to an undetermined mind; "The art of living...is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive. Life is like music for its own sake. We are living in an eternal now, and when we listen to music we are not listening to the past, we are not listening to the future, we are listening to an expanded present. Tomorrow and plans for tomorrow can have no significance at all unless you are in full contact with the reality of the present, since it is in the present and only in the present that you live. There is no other reality than present reality, so that, even if one were to live for endless ages, to live for the future would be to miss the point. Alan Watts In hindsight, I recall the slow drift from the simple peace of being to the study (stink) of Buddhism. Now I am not criticizing Buddhism, but as it was that I came from a strong Christian fundamentalist background, I believe that a system of religiosity crept in. I am back here, returning if you will, trying to reestablish a simple Qigong practice along with finding some Taoist guidance and support. Gah!!!! http://tao1776.blogspot.com/

I hoping to enlist fellow wanderers into beginning a daily meditation practice beginning on the first new moon of 2010. Those that commit to the daily practice can choose either one or both of the proposed meditations. I am hoping that we can share/chronicle our experiences. http://compassionproject.blogspot.com/

Ah, Yen Hui, It appears to be as myraid as the sufferings of man. I think that after I learned much after having tasted pain and poverty, like many, when health and prosperity began to return so did the strength of the five mental hindrances http://www.buddhistinformation.com/five_me...s_and_their.htm]Five Mental Hindrances[/url] Since my injury, I remain partially disabled and my range of motion and flexabilty is very poor. Tai Chi helped but I did nor pursue it due to financial constraints. My best weight is 180-185 and my esculation to 210 -215 has helped mold me into a insulin dependent diabetic. Hence the difficulty with Sloth.... But the rest also remain as nipping dogs at my heel. When I was able (and willing) to maintain a daily meditation practice my world was quite different. I guess that I'm hoping for a cosmic slap in the ass....or perhaps I'm just more content whith whining. I just know that I'm spiraling into the sucking vortex of desparation....and frankly, it pissess me off!

This sounds like a good place to start. I remember "embracing the tree" and other such standing meditations and how I would feel not only increased energy but a sense of well being that I have not felt in some time. Thanks....

http://www.budsas.org/ebud/mfneng/mind0.htm]Mindfulness in plain English[/url]