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My favriote translation is Deng Ming-Dao's, but Alfred Huang's ain't bad either. Really, the only difference is each translators's spin on what they feel the I Ching is about. So in my opinon, the best thing to do is look inside and read some of the chapters and just see which one makes more sense to you or speaks to you about the things you want from the book. Cleary's translation is one of my least favriote. I think he is too literally and looses a lot of meaning. I once red a Don Quixote english translation from the 1600's and I couldn't barely understand what was being said - in english. The way they arranged their sentences, the words they used, the common sayings that weren't common anymore; it was just really hard to understand it. The I Ching was written over two thousand years ago, a literal translation has so many short hands, long lost sayings and out-of-date expextations of what the ready knows, that a mondern person would have no idea what they were reading. That is why I feel it's imperative to have an author who helps out by decifering what they feel it means. They may not be right, but that is why it is best to have multiple version to reference, in the hope you can find the middle ground or true meaning somewhere in there.

I have always been more interested in this sequence and it's reverse then I have been with King Wen's version. To me this changing of the lines makes more sense and feels more natural because it's binary counting. Whether the Yin or Yang is 0 or 1, you get this sequence and it's reverse. I feel like binary makes much more sense for the sequence of the I Ching because unlike King Wen, it has a very specific layout and subject to the whims or preference of a single person who is trying to tell the story of the fall of one empire and the rise of another.

I use two different translations when doing my readings (Alfred Huang and Deng Ming-Dao) and also use the three coins method, although my coins are three different Mardi Gras coins I got during my time living in New Orleans (two are wood and one is metal). I have done the yarrow method before. My only qualm with it, is that it takes so much longer to do. I also keep a journal of all my readings, mostly because it makes me write down my question and I feel that it's importance and significance really sink in when I have to actually write it down.

Hi guys, it's been awhile. I'm just finally settling back down after a year of traveling the world. But getting to the point. I bought a statue at the Golden Temple atop Wudang Shan. At first I thought was Guan Yu. But after looking closer, I realized he had his weapon in his left hand (I'm assuming Wudang Shan isn't selling Taiwanese criminal Guan Yus). He is also holding some sort of box - which I haven't seen Guan Yu do. So next I thought it might be Xuan Wu (Zhen Wu) because he is the patron of Wudang Shan - but he doesn't look anything like any of the pictures of Xuan Wu I have seen. There is a four character inscription in the base of the statue, and I sent it to my buddy who lives in China and he told me that even his Chinese wife cannot decipher the first two characters, but said the last two character mean "celestial ruler". So if anyone can help, it would be much appreciated.

That makes sense. You have me quite intriqued about this statue. I am going to look into it further.

Ah, thanks for clearing that up. On another read, I understand what you were saying. Guan Yu would never be depicted on Wudang with Zhenwu's weapon. I don't know if you know the answer to this Zhongyongdaoist, but why is this Guan Yu holding his weapon in his Left hand? I read that only Taiwanese gangster depict him holding his weapon in his left hand.

Thank you for the further description of what is going on in the statue. So you think it is Zhenwu and not Guan Yu?

Thanks ChiDragon. I wanted it to be Guan Yu - so I'm glad it is. And thanks for the translation of the characters. It always helps to know what things say

In my experience, when a dog doesn't like you it because something about you connects to a bad association they have in their head. I wouldn't take it personally, all it means is that you smell, look, etc. like something that dog associates as bad. Not every animal looks into your soul and judges on your deepest merits.

Not very recently discovered. And they only grow up to 9.1 inches long and don't breath fire or fly - just glide. Draco Volans (wikipedia link) Pakalert Press seems to enjoy over sensationalizing things. I enjoy many of your finds Son of Gods, but this one just didn't smell right.

I think the play toys in the water bowl has to do with hunting instinct. When cats play with things, it's very much part of their hunting instinct and dropping it in the water bowl is their way of putting it with the rest of their food to eat later. The reason for the water bowl, imo, has to do with cleaning it off. Our cats always dropped, fake or real mice into their water bowl when they are done playing with them. In terms of how they get in the bowl, I have watched my cats just drop them from their mouth into it. This might be totally different from what you cat does, but just some observations from my cats. Edit: The more I think about it, they drop the mice in their food bowl as often as the water bowl, so maybe they just don't care. They are just putting it by the rest of their food, to munch on later.

Thanks Vitalii. I appreciate it.

I don't mean to get off topic, which at this point seems to be a who's right and who's wrong competition, but I had a question about the Wudang Mountains. I'm going to be there shortly and I plan on spending a week or so in the area. I see that the entrance few is RMB140 (US$24) + RMB100 (US$16) for some sort of transport fee, so supposedly RMB240 (US$40) total to enter the mountain. My question has to do the fact that I want to go there multiple days and I was wondering if I have to pay that combined entrance fee every day that I want to go in. I am planning on staying in Wudangshan and not on the mountain, meaning I will be entering and leaving every day that I go to the mountain. Thanks for any help and I am sorry that I can not weight in on who is right or wrong... because I have no idea.

So with some further digging. I found that this article actually forgot to put in all the facts about the pyramid and it's "research." The guy conducting the dig (Osmanagic) isn't really an archeologist and has put a lot of false information out there. Here is an article which offers a different perspective on the issue. http://www.smithsoni...t-Pyramids.html The Wiki article about the Pyramids: http://en.wikipedia....Bosnian_pyramid

Good stuff. I am for anything that breaks historians out of the notion that they know it all, and history is how we have already written it down - with no room for edits. Pre-Ice Age Civilization evidence has been around for awhile and all it needs is something like this to make everyone go back and reanalyze it with a different perspective. All of the above is: IMO.

I'm going to be in Wundangshan next week. You still going to be there Vitalii?

He fought for a living, that's a fighter if you ask me. He might not have lived up to any ideals people may have for what a fighter should be, but unless that was not him in the ring, he was a fighter. It seems all one needs to do, to be a fighter, is fight.

There will always be horror stories and naysayers telling you how dangerous places are. If you listen to all of them, you might as well never leave you house. I just met a Finnish woman who said she would never go to India because of the recent gang rape stories whereas I found India to be the most peaceful, friendly and nonviolent place I had ever been. Who is right - no idea - that's up to you to decide.

I am currently traveling around Asia with my wife, who has also traveled by herself in Asia before and I would agree with suninmyeyes that it isn't a bad place for women to travel alone... except for Malaysia and Indonesia. I don't want to sound anti-muslim, but muslim countries can be harder for single woman - not impossible, just harder. We have met a fair amount of single woman travelers though.

It's not all it's cracked up to be. It's just cramped and you're not fooling anyone when two people come out of a airplane bathroom. Sex at Disney land, now that's making it the "Greatest Place On Earth."

Once you realize "the grass is greener on the other side," is ingrained into our minds. Getting stressed about your dreams - and not achieving all of them - lessens and life becomes just that much better.

This question has definitely got me thinking. When I was younger, I had lots of dreams but slowly, I've been whittling away at them. I am a large proponent of the check list point of view of life so I have always made my current dreams a priority. I hadn't though about what my dreams are in awhile (until I saw this thread). And It got me thinking about why that was. I realized that once I had gotten the big ones out of the way (have enough sex, party enough, travel enough, true friendship, true love, happy family, 'enough' financial success), they started getting trickier. I am realizing now that my dreams are all falling into the "grass is always greener on the other side" category. I think this is why I have cared less about them lately. I have begun to realize that my dreams, ambitions, goals all involve wanting what I don't currently have but at the same time, I know I like what I already have. Which creates a new strange relationship with them. Great example. My first thought to this thread post was, "I want a house, a place to paint and practice." But I know the reason I say this is because, I have been traveling the world for the last half a year, never in the same place for more than two weeks. If I had read this before I left traveling, I very well could have thought, "to travel the world and not be in the same place for more than two weeks." I know this was a thread for people to dish on their dreams, ambitions and goals so we could all compare. So I apologize for going off on the larger picture of what makes dreams, ambitions and goals... but since this is a Taoist forum, I thought it would be OK... sorry if it wasn't.

In my experience and opinion, only love, openness and understanding can get you through any troubles in a relationship. Love is what gives you the strength to want to overcome whatever is in the way, openness is what allows both people to fully understand how the other feels and understanding allows you to make the compromises and sacrifices that need to be made to get past it. Just my experience - relationships come in many forms and can't be grouped into one homogenous thing. So I'd have to know much more about yours to really know the solution... but there is one, if the love is there.

I can't speak on this subject in terms of yin and yang or other such energies, but I can say that until I found my wife, I wasn't a complete person. I didn't know it at the time, but when I found her, I realized I had been missing half of myself and with her, I became a full person. My capacity for love, compassion and cultivation have only increased since then. We are creatures meant to have mates, when you find yours, you will understand. Only the humble opinion of someone who has been in a fully committed relationship for over ten years and has yet to find anything bad about it - only good.

Wow, those animators really messed up with that one. The funny part is, I doubt many people ever noticed it until one person pointed it out.