rene

beautiful skydog. tks for sharing. warm regards

What was the preposterous part? That when faced with simplicity - everyone read into it their own complexities? I like the part about the contest between Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism - where they all 'won' by keeping to the source - rather than their "own" fixed direction. warm regards

(-:

You thought Wu Ming was reflecting wisdom?? The point of the story is how the monks incorrectly thought so, too. Guess that makes you a good monk! (-: warm regards ( @shanlung: lol )

Maybe. (-: The Cucumber Sage

NotVoid - Aye, but now we have the problem of how do we reach this state? ~ It's only a problem if you decide that it is. As mr. Marblehead mentioned, just doing nothing isn't going to help us out in any practical way. Lao Tzu seems to speak of the sage, but how does one get to that state? ~ If you seek to become a sage, you've already closed the door on your own face. Is this truly within reach, or just an ideal imagined up in some fanciful writings? ~ It's already in the open hand; few get past grasping for it. I don't have any answers, just throwing out the question. ~ For having no answers, your questions are plenty long-staged. warm regards

When one can do that, wisdom isn't needed. warm regards

道法自然 is a clear statement by laozi: ** Yes, and that aspect governs all, imo. Nice to see you here. warm regards

Excellent - Flo it is, and thanks! Too funny on the wordplays p.s...i edited out my questions ^ while you were replying - so not to derail your OP further. It's kind of a hard one to answer (for me) but maybe some reincarnaters can play along. (-: warm regards

oh okay. hmmm... I'm already on my last dance here as a human so maybe I'll need to sit this one out. (-:

Well... I don't subscribe to the theory of reincarnation, but if I did - I'd want to come back as a microbe, that way there'd be no burden of concepts or fanciful ideas about not already being part of the natural system of 'you live, you die' - which sounds like a pretty good deal to me. (-: warm regards

Thanks for clarifying! I don't follow your posts so I didn't know that 'making suggestions' was something you liked to do. No wonder they felt you would be so good at the job! Good call on their part - and good job you on those bots! warm regards p.s... hi from the koots

Again, ChiForce, you've missed the entire point and purpose of the OP. It wasn't to discuss what you want to discuss. I guess you can't hear me from there. Oh well. (-: warm regards

Yes, that's right. I read the original post - and Floflolil proposed a hypothetical situation, and then asked what we thought our choices might be in that hypothetical situation... and they were some pretty good questions. ChiForce didn't understand the post at all, not realizing what it was. Sweep up the broken egg shells, move along. *** BauguaKicksAss - congrats on becoming a new Moderator! First day on the job and you already have 'suggestions' for someone? BestOfLuckToYou! (-:

What makes you think that "thinking and analyzing" is part of the philosophical path?

the truth is a pathless land 無道 wu dao no fixed path

So are you saying that clariceedward the OP here is the same person as 'lindsy' and 'wanda' in those links?

There is another little thing they have in common... Both streams spring from the same source - the nature of Tao. Once that common headwater is found, it's fun to then turn and watch the different ideas converge...then separate...then converge again. Not always fun, however, watching boatmen argue theirs is the one true stream. Especially since neither stream is ever separate from the source - and they both flow from, and back to, the same ocean. But that's just the view from here. (-: warm regards

dang, thetaoiseasy, that was a good post. :sniff: oh well. (-: edit: Yay! lol

awww... sure you can, sree. Just put your mind to it. (-;

Hi Clarice, welcome and glad you finally joined! Others will have to address your questions about 'energy healing' - but since you mentioned a change in diet was somewhat helpful, kindly allow me to share something I really think would be of benefit to you. About 10 years ago - I was well on the path you describe... and my next step was to be the dreaded 'purple pill' (Nexium). Not wanting to start on meds, if possible, I asked in a forum, like this one, for advice - and was told what to try. I tried it and the change was immediate. Like the next day. ~ Snap ~ Life changed, and no problems since. Remember what your tummy felt like when you were a kid? You didn't even know it was there, lol. It's like that for me now and has been ever since. I wish I still had the book - I'd type it in for you verbatim. It's the diet/foods section found in Daniel Reid's book called "Tao of Health, Sex and Longevity" and the basics are: 1) Don't eat protein/meat in the same meal with starches. The reason is: in the stomach, the digestive juices naturally released to digest meat, and the digestive juices naturally released to digest starches, cancel each other out (acid + alkaline = inert neutral) and so the food just sits there longer than its supposed to and ferments. And backs up. Burp burn. 2) Eat fruit all by itself. The reason is, fruit digests fast, goes through the system fast. Worst thing you could do is have fruit or juice right after a meal. The food in your system ahead of the fruit slows it down, and it sits and ferments. Again, burp burn. There's only a few more rules, but those two changes are the biggies, and the difference is like night and day. If you want to visit more about this, feel free to private message (PM) me - soon as you figure out how to do that. We were all new here once. (-: warm regards, rene

Kajenx, hello and welcome. I find no offense in your words... and I doubt you've offended anyone, other than those who may feel the need to always protect their own ideas about these things, so no worries. (-: I understand what you are asking. To answer, it might be easiest to start from an earlier point. Back in the 60's & 70's... the counter-culture (we hippies ) stumbled on the ideas of Laozi and, like you, it resonated. Big time. Also starting about then, and moving well into the 80's & 90's, martial arts became a big thing... until 'all things Asian' (rather, non-western ideas) were enjoyed, along with other counter-culture writings and "Tao of _____" books ($$$) which multiplied like rabbits. The ideas held by 'Philosophical Taoists' are frequently sourced from those times. Marblehead may have something to add here. More recently, there has been a surge (or resurgence) in the West to learn more about the other aspects of Taoism, including the religious practice of, and the alchemical/mystical practice of; so, like before, there has been an increase in available writings ($$$) and teachers ($$$) and methods ($$$) which may or may not be similar to what was, and is, available in China. Add into this the Buddhist influence (into 'Taoism' in both East and West), the natural cultural differences & meanings when writings are changed from 'characters' to 'words', and suddenly you have the formula for a bucket-full of disagreements, between people with a very wide range of ideas. Those disagreements start with "Who gets to call themselves "Taoists" and continue through "Which method of cultivation will bring Tao closer" and sadly, frequently, ending with "You suck and I don't because I'm more spiritual than you.". Which means - there is no single answer to your question. How one blends the philosophy with cultivation practice can vary greatly between individuals... and depends greatly on where on the path their individual understandings are. At the beginning of the journey, they seem to not be compatible, as you've observed. So much so - that some rigid-minded cultivators attempt to 're-interpret' the philosophy to support their thnkings. And - some rigid-minded philosophical-taoists use the words of Laozi as an excuse, to do or not do this or that. Both ends of that extreme have totally missed the point, imo, but those are things that each person discovers (or not) over time. warm regards Edit to add: Regarding your question of "When I read the Tao te Ching, it was like I was reading an outline of everything I’d come to understand on my own up to that point. So if it truly is the Zen of Zen Buddhism, then why the rituals?" That is the core of your question, and each person's answer would be most interesting to read! - but it would be an answer from that person's perspective only... although my hunch is there are some answers that would be identical to others'. And rather revealing. lol

Opinions vary.

Your voice has been missed here. Dream true, friend.

hiya flolofil, i just tried it too - same thing. I checked it out a few weeks ago and got in okay...nobody was in there though. maybe with the new changings the limit numbers need to be reset. or...maybe they have it closed up for now, for technical reasons. you thinking about setting up a chat meet-up time? might be fun and most def interesting. lol warm regards