doc benway

No ranks in Daoism. Ranking and Daoism are antithetical. There are no living well-known Daoists, By nature, Daoists are very inconspicuous. No legitimate commercialization of Daoism. No movement that needs helping. I think the forum's been around since '04, lots of members. Only a few are consistently active.

Very nice, thanks!

Very true. And I think it is a natural tendency - what other frame of reference do we have? It's sort of like the abused child that abuses his children - certainly didn't enjoy the experience as a child but that's his frame of reference to work from.

Nice post Stig. The other aspect is mutual arising. Opposites define each other. Without ugliness, you would have no concept of beauty. Without heat, there would be no knowledge of cold. The Taiji diagram itself implies this but the black within white and white within black takes it a step further for me.

Do you really believe that you can understand God's intentions? That means that your level of awareness and intelligence are on par with God. Is that what you are telling us? If there is a purpose in the universe in the sense you describe, what makes you think that our feeble human intelligence could fathom what that would look like? Purpose and meaning are creations of human thought. They are born of desire. You can recognize purpose in the universe if you project your desires onto it. It's very simple. This is just another example of how you create God in your image.

When you feel it you will know.

Beautiful talk - thanks for that link.

I never played capoeira but I LOVE the Berimbau

Sorry to hear about it - best wishes that everything works out.

The most advanced, highest system is the one you haven't learned. Because no matter what we learn or know, there's always something better. The brain is always searching for something more. So find a system that seems to have decent credibility and begin to practice. Chances are you will change a few times but hopefully find something that works for you. Good luck

When I studied Wing Chun, our stance was more subtle. Toe in just a bit, knees isometrically pulling inward just a bit, pelvis tucked just a bit. Not too much different that a natural stance in Taijiquan. Some styles really seem to exaggerate the stance, for better or worse.

It may be unique and from the ground up but how effective is it? Idols can be very subtle. No matter what is said in the sutras, I wonder about the mindset of most practicing Buddhists as they pray. Dogma can be an idol, practice can be an idol, anything we attach significance to can be our idol.

Thought is me doing the universe and that is Yang. Receptiveness is the universe doing me and that is Yin. Perhaps some balance of these two elements is Wu Wei.

To me it is the recognition that all boundaries and divisions (between people, places, things) are artificial and a reflection of the way our particular thought process and sensory apparatus works, rather than the nature of things. It is very meaningful and profound when felt, difficult to express verbally, and interesting at best when simply understood.

I get what you are saying. Another way to look at it is that you (meaning the image created of yourself and how it relates to others) dies as you begin to wake up to the inherent inter-connectedness of everyone and everything. We are all different expressions or appendages of one living universe, better or worse is just a creation of our mind. Dao treats all things with equal lack of concern. New Flash: THERE IS NO EASTER BUNNY!

I have a bit more to say but I'll pm you so as not to belabor the point.

Some northerners do this as well - tail bone not tucked, sit back, stress the thighs. It's quite impressive how sitting back just a tiny bit can dramatically increase the work of the thighs.

I like that - thanks stan

Excellent questions.

A very rich koan and a beautifully stated thought. thanks

Sounds like what is called sacralization of the lumbar vertebrae. Involves usually only the 5th, often one side only. It is harmless and if you have it you are no more likely to have any physical spine problems than anyone else. Probably would not even be able to notice significant loss of motion. In my opinion, this would have no detrimental effects on spinal energetics or cultivation in any way. Why were XRays even taken? Are you having any back pain?

Our guys will accept a little toe out, thighs parallel, knee over toe, sit back enough to feel the tension in the thighs. They are northern. I never studied southern.

Yup - my teacher calls it the tranquil mind. Believe it or not, my view of existence is much closer to Emptiness and Dependent Origination than it is to any form of Monistic Idealism. I'll answer your question with another question - If the "stilled center" always exists, if "this relative condition of mutual arising is transcended" are we still within the realm of dependent origination or are we treading into Vedantic territory? Can mutual arising be transcended? Similarly, if this is possible "Are we then able to touch and form some sort of connection with this primordial, deathless, changeless, empty yet tangible (so the masters tell us) space beyond words?" - is this not also suggestive of something akin to Brahman? Dao?

I was anticipating a simple, "I don't know." But fortunately I got this wonderful response instead! Gracias