Apech
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Everything posted by Apech
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Tao of chemistry A periodic table A Chair in Science.
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I have no real problem with what has been said above by effilang and others - in fact beautifully put for the main part. However I wonder if one problem is the term meditation which encompasses all sorts of practices which are quite diverse in nature. Some of the practices are helpful and some are not. There are mental practices and energy practices, visualizations and so on which are really just techniques and not (IMO) strictly mediation at all. I think if someone has had bad experiences in practice then it is likely that they have mis-defined the goal and the process to themselves. Trying too hard is a classic problem - mediation progress is measured in years and not weeks or even months (although I know some things can be achieved and it depends on your spiritual maturity when you start). It is best I think to start by just examining what is going on in your mind and being - with a kind of detached interest. Following the breath is a good way to gently develop inner concentration and it is important to relax of course. If you want to attempt anything more complicated then I would suggest try to find an experienced teacher with whom you feel you have good rapport (watch out for charlatans of whom there are many) and read round the subjects that interest you to get a good conceptual understanding. Practice with out expectations, enjoy it, observe with interest and do not rush. Just my thoughts. John
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Welcome Terresa - enjoy your stay at TTBs.
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There was a study in India (where there is a very high population density and widespread poverty) where in a certain village instead of delivering programmes like mass birth control and charity food handouts they just delivered two things. Proper public health like clean water and sanitation + a medical center and education to a reasonably high level. The result was that infant mortality plummeted and the families in the village started to have fewer children, individual prosperity increased and people started to live settled happy lives. Some of children became teachers and doctors etc. which added to the community in other ways. This is a kind of intervention but is very different from laissez faire capitalism. Not sure what point I am making here but your OP made me think of this because sometimes non-intervention can look like intervention. Health and education allow people to make their own decisions, act responsibly and need less government/nanny state. Just some thoughts Cheers John
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Enjoy your vids. I don't want to contradict Mal but I did think you were talking a bit fast - not too bad cos I could follow it but maybe slow it down a little if you do another. Also liked the t shirt.
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Being forgiving denotes a generosity of spirit ...you are for - 'giving', in other words you make a choice to give energy to heal the situation rather than perpetuate the blame. There was a famous case in England of the mother of a boy killed in a racist attack who publicly forgave the attacker(s). She would have been justified in hating them because the attack was cruel and senseless but she chose to forgive ... it is a conscious choice and a noble one. It was very moving to see it. Forgiveness heals the wounds of the past and as someone said it is not the same as 'forget' - in fact it is about not forgetting. Back to Satan and serpent ... The serpent Satan is said to have offered the knowledge of good and evil to Adam + Eve ... he is said to have 'tempted' them. I have seen this interpreted as being about duality. Good and evil are a duality and the 'tempting' is about entering into the time process. In ancient symbolism 'time' is shown as a segmented snake, each vertebrae representing a moment in time and the snake being like the stream of time. But also that time is just a kind serialization of the eternal (which is sometimes shown as the Ororberus or 'serpent with tail in mouth') ... in Egypt this was called 'mehen' meaning 'coiled' or sometimes the 'great world encircling serpent'. The 'fall' of Adam and Eve then is simply that their minds became fragmented into the 'parts' or elements of experience - they began to see the world as comprising separate objects in space rather than a continuum, the snake is a symbol for that continuum ... and specifically in that fragmented state. Our job, if you like, is to realize that the snake is continuous and part of that process is to realign the scattered energy (hence the symbolism of the snake which is wound round a staff - or sometimes two snakes). To do that we need to forgive the snake/Satan for having lured us into the mess we find ourselves. My thoughts. John
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Dark energy also ... and yes although the understanding of physicists may change the process they are studying i.e. Nature does not change.
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Since I have nothing intelligent to say today (it being excessively hot) I am posting a picture of my marrows (I feel I know you all well enough now for this ): I'm not saying they are the largest in world but nothing to be ashamed of ... and my carrots all sweet and tasty. Cheers John
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Hi, Just back from broadband free outback to find this thread still mouldering on. I was caught by that ziran = smell of roast dog thing ... but then it seemed to get lost in pro/anti buddhist stuff (yawn) and other things. Hot dog anyone?
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Size isn't everything ... or so I like to believe. What makes TTBs a special place is the discussions and debate. This place is not a sterile place of dogma. But I think that too often all you get is pages and pages of bitching and point scoring. These threads are long but are painful to read. And they usually go nowhere or rather to the same place. The Taoist threads are often peaceful where they start with a quote from Taoist Philosophy - I think this is just a sign of how powerful/true those words are. Most debate is about whether the translation is right or perhaps can it be read another way. I have learned a tremendous amount from this - especially from people who know the Chinese (I don't). As regards the dharma - is it not the case that Taoism and Buddhism rubbed up against each other for centuries in China and learned from each other. Do we expect one of these two to suddenly prove that it has somehow won the debate and consigned the other to the dustbin of history? It ain't going to happen. Not on here or anywhere. Any serious Buddhist wills for all sentient beings to find happiness and enlightenment. While they would doubtless see the dharma as special and maybe 'perfect' they certainly would not be against anyone finding these things in another way. This means that attacking other systems in a way that makes it less likely that the people involved find happiness and enlightenment is a complete no-no. Or so I believe. Taoists similarly have no interest in ramming their ideas down other peoples throats - as this would be very un-Taoist - though seeming strong would actually be weak and so on.
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Could be Spanish too... Maybe its the castanets Or gypsy guitar.
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Adept, Don't leave on the basis of this. I like to read your posts and hope you will stay. Other people are free to express themselves and we don't have to agree on anything/everything. I don't like personal attacks but ideas are free and I think we just have to accept our differences. Also I don't think Buddhism or Dharma rests on what anyone says on here ... Anyway hope you reconsider. John
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Marblehead, Stig and Riyue, Thank you all so much! This is excellent stuff. I wouldn't quite say its clear to me now but its definitely getting clearer. I remember when I was 17/18 reading this section of Lao Tzu (25) and being hit by how perfect and profound it was. I didn't really understand it of course but that feeling was there. (Maybe a belief? ha ha).
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by waxing them all... that's every bikini line it's Brazilian.
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This is kind of what I getting at above. Why do you prefer that translation? Does the original mention tzujan? I can't work it out from Riyue's link. I could say I prefer: Man follows Earth. Earth follows heaven. Heaven follows the Tao. Tao follows what is natural. Feng and English 'What is natural' is not the same as Nature. So what did Lao Tzu mean by this? In fact I am willing to bet that in anyone's definition of Nature there are all sorts of ideas and assumptions which amount to beliefs. When a scientist looks through a telescope at the distant galaxies he 'believes' he can understand them - if he thought that he couldn't then he wouldn't even look. I know we have had this discussion before so that's it for now ...
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I know where you are coming from but I am not sure that just what we can prove is enough and the rest is not all about comfort. For me for instance 'rebirth' (rather than reincarnation) is and always has been, since I first ever heard about it obviously true ... or at the very least far more likely to be true than not. I would never ask someone to prove it ... even if they did I wouldn't be very interested. After all you can't actually prove to em that the Tao is anything other than the ravings of some old Chinese guy ... can you? As usual the problem with the whole belief thing is what has been done to us by organized religion. e.g. this is so and don't question it ... just believe it ... if you don't God will come down and spike your gonads with a kebab skewer, roast them and eat them for supper ... ok that was a bit specific but you get the idea. I think there are many things that we naturally accept because they feel right and quite often this means they are right ... BUT if we ever get true wisdom then we will see them again properly.
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Daoist Sitting in Oblivion vs Xstian Apophatic Prayer
Apech replied to Stigweard's topic in General Discussion
I wonder what person actually means when used in this context. -
Daoist Sitting in Oblivion vs Xstian Apophatic Prayer
Apech replied to Stigweard's topic in General Discussion
Apophatic is such a great word ... I'm going to start dropping it in everyday conversations just for the hell of it. Defining things by what they aren't ... or rather God by what he isn't ... well to me that's all you can do with the Absolute anyway. Even a Buddhist Lama once said to me that since the ultimate is ineffable then if one person says its God and the other says its the Dharmakaya they may both be right. I think in terms of practice we start from the point of view of existential subjectivity - which means the processes are similar no matter what path we are on or what beliefs we might have. Contemplation and meditation are not denominational as procedures and even something like prayer if it is an appeal to whatever is greater than us may be the same or similar also. Obviously there is a stark difference between theist systems and belief in impersonal power (Way or whatever) because the theists see God= the ultimate as a person. On the other hand what does a 'person' mean at that level anyway ... only naive views would suggest God as a person has a long white beard and looks like Santa Claus. Indeed if the Absolute subsumes all possible functions and modes of being then certainly this must include the idea/function of being a person. All positive statements begin to fall away and hence you are left with saying what it is not. e.g it is not a person but it is not not a person and so on. We all have our preferences in this respect borne out of our experience and what we have come to hold true. Most of us have some baggage about god as a person because of authoritarian religion which tries to speak for that person in telling us what to do, what to think and what to feel. Obviously this is crap because if god or the absolute is real then it is real and we don't need holy fathers to interpret for us. Best I think to be as open as possible until we really know. My thoughts anyway. -
wise mice wait for dawn... but not foolish night rodents they rat out early.
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Is it the NFL player idea that attracts you or something else?
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Welcome to TTBs. Hope you enjoy your time here. Cheers John
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Welcome back - I hope you enjoyed your short break