Apech

Have you found the photo? Is it online?

Can anyone tell me what Gestaltfahigkeit means? Thanks.

Well thanks for tying me in ... I think. And congrats on mentioning the euro at least I understood that bit. The eurozone is a disaster because it was an economic policy based on a) a political ideology b ) an attempt to rival the dollar as a currency of choice. The only thing that makes any sense to me economically is that wealth is based on something ... either raw materials, products from those materials or services that people/countries need. That's it ... nothing else. Everything that governments do that does not accord with this is based on their own self interest or delusions of greatness. So I think economic policy has to be based on ways of creating wealth and not on speculation, currency manipulation, quantitive easing or anything else. The Eurozone should be dismantled and each country should have its own currency which links directly to the GDP of that country. instead of waiting for Greece, then Portugal, Spain and Italy to tumble they should act now to deconstruct the whole edifice ... in as controlled and least expensive way that they can. LZ would say go back to basics in the sense of study what makes this thing (the Global Economy) work and harmonize with it.

Thanks but I've just checked and the term is Gestaltsfahige(n) (with two dots over the a). It comes together with these other terms: Verkorperung(en) and Erscheinungsbild(er) They are all used by an Egyptologist called Wolf-Brinkmann to describe the concept of the Ba. So maybe they are technical/philosophical terms.

Could you translate that for non-americans? I assume the ss is not Hitlers storm troopers. How should a Taoist view taxes anyway. You can't run a modern (or any) state without them. And I am sure in Ancient China there were plenty of bushels of rice going the way of the sage-king. Is the criticism about efficiency ... i.e. any taxes raised should be spent on things that profit the state and therefore everyone and not on wasteful ideologically based policies???

Ah. Thank you for the French lesson. I was trying to translate the expression 'enjoy' as you imperative not infinitive so I stand corrected. I didn't realise there was a sexual connotation ... ha ha! 'I love this country' ... means where you are now ... presumably France ... so you should say 'I love that country' ... if you mean Portugal. ... ... but otherwise I have to say your English is excellent ... Portugal is indeed a lovely place. Hope you enjoy (profit from) your ppf.

Done. You can set it up how you like. Just use New Topic to open a thread. Jouir.

You can't delete ... just stop using.

What I was referring to as the nanny state has nothing to do with the Great Society. In the country where I live now, Portugal the literacy rate in 1970's was about 40% because of an oppressive right wing government which lasted from 30's till a communist revolution (bloodless in the 70's). There are still many in the older generation who cannot read or write and who had to leave schooling at 10,11 and 12 years old. Lifting people out of poverty - or providing the opportunities for people to do it for themselves is not nanny-state. Nanny state is where the state decides it must rule on detailed aspects of daily life through legislation. i.e. nothing to do with real human need. There seems to be an overall thrust in the TTC which aims at government doing less. However what I am arguing is that if a Taoist administration were to come to power (unlikely I know) it would have to deal with the reality of the situation as of now. So what principles could be distilled from TTC etc. which would inform the programme of this new government? I think that a Taoist would be able to support the idea of individual liberty as defined by the ideals of western liberalism (small 'l') because I doubt if a Taoist would want to legislate about how people lived their day to day lives. i.e. not a nanny state.

I would suggest that LZ would say ... as few laws as needed for the state to function and none which are about interfering with peoples own business (i.e. no nanny state). The Tea Party is surely just a reaction to recent US government failures. I doubt if LZ would have very much to say about it. I would like to know what LZ's economic policy would be.

Deleted your last two duplicates Joe. I am sure LZ would tell the government to interfere less. That's for certain. But I am also sure that his government would not look like a modifies version of anything we have now. If it was what would be the point?

propping up the sky was a chore in olden days but that's just hot air.

@twinner How could implementing a new philosophy of government be simple? Yes Lao Tzu does seem to advocate keeping people uneducated but of course (as I was trying to say above) people are educated ... they are for the most part literate and numerate and so on. So you could not .... even suppose you woke up one morning and found yourself in charge undo what has been done. You would have to start from where we are ... to see how Taoist principles could be applied. I think just to say ... well its not going to happen so what's the point is in itself rather despairing. What the world lacks, it seems to me, are any new ideas for living and governing. In fact probably for the first time in history there is no alternative to some kind of model of democratic capitalism ... nothing that's seriously proposed that is. This is why we are always faced with Mr. A and Mr. B who look more of less the same and say almost the same things. the one who has better PR and is lucky with the chance gets in ... As the OP asked political ethics for Buddhists or Taoist have got to include embracing change and transformation. Not radical or revolutionary change (necessarily) but at least at the heart of the approach has got to be the acknowledgement that you have to work with the dynamics of the moment. ralis said something about the Tea Party having rigid ideas which do not allow any embracing of change ... if this is so ... then they can hardly be in line with Taoist principles.

Done. Its at the bottom of the now very long list. Not because you are the least but just the latest.

I would suggest that pleasure patterns set up cycles in the body ... energetic/neurological - take your pick. The reason that you repeat is that the pattern is inertic and self repeating. By repeated activity you have become subject to it rather than it being subject to you. Pleasure is associated for you with porn ... because of past activity. For someone else it could be sex addiction with a partner ... or some other kind of pleasure ... food, drugs whatever. The porn is not the problem ... the problem is the energy locked into an inertic cycle. Its very hard to just stop. I think this is only likely to be achieved by a sudden and complete change in circumstances. To remove yourself from the triggers entirely and distract yourself. But this is not a real solution. The best way to deal with it is to slowly and methodically break it down. Set some goals which extend the time you spend between ejaculations. Timetable it. If say you now last 10 days say, then target 14 days ... work out the date and give yourself that target. then a longer and longer period. Until you are lasting a long time. Then when you feel you are on top of it and not it on top of you - vow to stop entirely. That's how I would approach it. I would also look at the psychological and physiological reactions you are having. Some of these might be because you feel guilty or have a mass of stored negative feelings about what you are doing. This is part of the trap. ironically guilt or other feelings will tend to make you less likely to break the cycle. Guilt in fact is trapped will. Try to make yourself relax about the whole thing ... see it as a challenge to do with mastering your energy and freeing up your will. Just my thoughts. Good luck with it.

I'm listening. Every word. What did you say again??? Love your flower pics!

just being a smartass as ever

Yes you would have to change the view of what government is supposed to be (and do ... presumably) ... but I think the point is you would have to (or it would be best to) develop this new (TTC informed) view within the context of where we are now ... that is in western liberal democracy ... individual freedom and the rule of law ... when we have a more or less universal education system then feeding stomachs and starving heads ... treating people as straw dogs ... daily doing less (when much of society calls out for intervention) ... well it wouldn't be simple would it? I doubt that Lao Tzu would say roll everything back to feudal overlords and start from there. He would say deal with what is there now ... perhaps ...

Yep can't wait either.

shines the light of night beside my bed, so monsters hide in the shadows.

Slightly annoying web design but some useful info here LD4all