picnic

1. life on earth is more ancient than we can say, populations have come and gone. 2. Space is not real, nor is matter, it is mind that is the root of both of these. 3. Karma means action. Karma can relate to the result of past deeds, but that is more properly known as the phalam, or fruit of action. It is a common problem that a word, difficult to translate, then causes problems in comprehension. My view is that there is only one mind, of which we share. Therefore non of the points you raise make me doubt that the mind reincarnates as environment for, and experiencing organisms of, over and over again; in fact, the evidence is all around us A big issue is how English and the sciences have not got words to cover much of the world of the mind, so we have certain translations. The true realisation comes after dropping the words, realising from the root and then re describing the world around us

I have little doubt he is for real. At the very very least he has sat for an incredibly long time, very long times even on camera. Many can challenge by scientific 'knowledge' but not by outdoing him or explaining him.

Chapter 7 Tao Te Ching That is how I see that I am infinite, deathless, have lived forever and will live forever. There is no "I" as separate form the world, there is no world and no I as separate from Tao. So I am Tao, I am infinite, immortal. I know the words of Taoists differs quite a lot from the original Tao in the Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, so.. What do you all think? I feel there will be many interpretations!

you don't get any better than Bill George Carlin has some good stuff and you may have heard of Doug Stanhope.. Stanhope is not as wise as Bill Hicks but has some brilliant stuff in his sets. such as, to paraphrase... "All these MP's clambering for office on the grounds of getting you all back in work, and you vote for them!! .... The long term goal of any society should be complete unemployment... at least in the long term.. Where are the MP's with that goal? They'd get my vote.. "

I like to translate Yin and Yang to English as verbs "Yining" and "Yanging" as they are in motion, not static. Something completely Yining, is completely not Yanging and so its potential to start yanging is high, as you say. Nothing is one or the other. Displaying an apparent all Yang is also displaying a lack of Yin, look both ways, see the complete. Whilst something is yining, something else is also yanging. As you force something, something else gives. The importance in the all embracing Tao is that Tao is both of these aspects, it is able to yin whilst it is yanging. To recognise the unity, or both halves, to spot what you feel you are missing, you often just need to negate, in words, the action of what you are doing. If you think all of the things around you are Yin, then you are missing the Yang. Waves go up and down on the ocean, up and down is a wave; if they just peaked with no trough, then they would not be waves, just a high flat sea.

That is very much not the case, I could burn my TTC, it is nothing special, just a concise pointing, the best we have, nothing perfect. I wrote my own, and have the world to look at, the book is a tiny reminder, I wont fight for it. peace

YES! I am with you No ism's for me, nothing so strict could be Tao, named it is not it, defined it is not it. It was only named, reluctantly by Lau Tzu anyway as he says else where in the TTC. When I find it it my life, I more often refer to it as "Wow", than Tao, as it is clear, striking, but not-put-into-wordable.

hmm, yes good suggestion gold. One beer or glass of wine is very relaxing once in a while.

I guess that as well as the calming nature of tea, and drinking it, the particular herbs or fragrance... you should also look at caffeine content and what you add. Say you drink a lot of tea, then if that was high caffeine and you added sugar, you would never be relaxed Even with not so strong tea, drinking a lot of it, is not going to relax So a lower caffeine level, which may take a few days adjusting to if you depend on a lift. It is highly addictive and there is a noticeable withdrawal and craving. Drink it weaker, look for the calming herbs, such as jasmine, and then the mint ones and such which add variety and go well after food. Also making tea a restful experience, take a little time to brew it, smell it, savour your time drinking it. Not just boil, tea bag, drink, and off to the next task at hand. mmmm tea

I can and do know the entire universe as it is in me Wanting to do that as a human form with human limitations is a limited view. Experiencing the inner world, which is the root of the outer world, lets you know the entire universe without leaving your door. There is bliss now, here now, there is no need to strive towards an other day, after all, now is the future people once dreamed of.

I think the wish to be immortal is a mistake and misunderstanding of what we really are. To be human, or even a higher human, forever, would be hell not heaven. Being immortal, (more so long-living) would make death more feared and life more dull. Understanding who we really are, that is we are the entire universe experiencing itself, a construct of the Tao come to enjoy itself, then we see that we are it, we come an go in a trillion forms and we love life, and death. After all, what s death but the beginning of life?

I don't know too much about him but did come across his book (link here) recently. It has some interesting thoughts, some wisdom (mainly taken from the Tao Te Ching and similar texts and adapted his way) it's interesting. One quote I do really like that is attributed to him is ... "Put every great teacher together in a room, and they'd agree about everything, put their disciples in there and they'd argue about everything.". -Bruce Lee

"When the Tao is lost, there is goodness. When goodness is lost, there is morality. When morality is lost, there is ritual. "

I am 100% veggie, but would not like to think that a poor hungry person did bad by eating meat. Or that a lion is not Tao. These rules are restrictive. It works better in reverse, that on seeing a higher truth, you withdraw from meat and killing. Not that on avoiding meat you will see a higher truth. On seeing a higher truth you treat all with love. If you order a child to love, they may question and rebel, if you love them, they will love you.

Good points, especially...

As for Simplicity, Patience and Compassion (or other similar words) I boil that down to Compassion. Patience is an aspect of compassion and living a simple life if compassionate to nature and others. So Compassion is it. And in the other trinity, I go all is Mind. So a compassionate mind. The One mind is compassionate in its very nature as it gives all there is, and more we can not know. Our greatest achievement is to live that way too, not judging, being nice, and simple - and there I have made 1 back to 3. Never ask the Tao for a straight answer.

quite! life is quite wonderful, every moment of it is magical and always becoming something new. To fear death is like the caterpillar fearing its end, only to find that it is reborn a beautiful butterfly. Also, none of us feared birth, and look what a nice surprise that was

yes goldisheavy, we agree the options 2 and 3 are common in Taoism and that is why i raised this topic. They are seeing separateness and striving for something (unity) that is already the case. I see wholeness, Isness, one(with no 2)ness. Unfortunately our language speaks of "this does that" so the whole language is raising split mind viewing simply by us using it.

1 ) Lie on your back 2 ) place soles of feet together 3 ) move your feet towards your bum so that your knees are off the ground (feel for yourself how far off they should be) 4 ) take a good book, listen to music, practice breathing, meditate, do as you wish 5 ) don't force a thing 6 ) as you stay in the position and relax, tension in muscles and tendons will slowly release and you knees will drop slightly This releases great tensions, can be emotional. Did you know it is your muscles, memory and mind stopping the position as your skeleton could easily do it? Don't over do this and always do corpse pose after to allow the stretch to rest. Don't over do it! With simply lying in this position, when reading at night, resting or whenever, you knees will drop and hips will open, you don't have to do a thing

Tao is independent of religion. Religion in any form is a restriction, an ordering. Which is why I will not say 'I am a Taoist', because as restrictive as labelling yourself is, you also have other peoples interpretation of that label. "The Tao that can be named, is not the Tao" So anyone telling you how to approach it, how to see it, is at best saying how they try to see it, as if they knew, they would know it was not possible to say

That's a good one and i think it goes with my definition. So we still have 3 distinct definitions; 1) You are (an aspect of) the immortal Tao so do and have lived forever ..and/or you do not reincarnate as any new form, having escaped the need (escaping being part of Tao is impossible). 2) You can train your spirit to live on forever, choosing a new body if you wish 3) You can train your existing body to not age, and not die

not sure about the costs but i got some interesting responses on a web search for .. defluoridation water ... water is a big one plus toothpaste, in the case of toothpaste you can get non fluoride ones and mainly don't swallow or use much, or mouth wash. I'd be interested too what you find, apparently tea has a fair bit in it too, so us people who drink a gallon of green tea a day may be sipping a bit too much of the nazi control agent than we'd wish. please tell your findings.

"the more laws, the more criminals" - that is one (adapted) quote that I like from the TTC. For all else, you write clearly, sound intelligent and i'm sure you will have a good life. I had all sorts of fun as a young adult, didn't get caught tho and these days I would say it is impossible to grow up without crossing the path of substances. Some even open useful doors, some teach you other lessons. I feel that laws are a failure, I feel you know best for yourself, you learn and in your case, you are learning and sound smart enough, so good luck in your life Moderation until peace is found, and when it is you may find such needs fall away. When your mind is strong you don't need such things. Yet at 18 you should be having lots of fun! so do, and if nothing else, be happy, stay smart, have fun and spread what you learn

i clipped the quote down but like it all. I hold to that notion.

Go spicy! Tofu, nuts, and your sources of protein will need some livening up. I find Thai food and Indian food to be wonderful. Indian foods are often intended to be vegetarian so very well balanced and flavoursome. Thai food is normally intended to have meat and fish, but a minor adaptation gives you lovely flavours and no need for animals You will soon feel very clear minded and energetic on your new diet, good move!