Wayfarer64

The Confucians would disagree most whole-heartedly with yr contemptuous assessment of what a man who walks the Tao is... And do not expect much respect from us here until you can control that hot-headedness a bit.

The word for the day is-Happy Trails!"... well two words anyway!-enjoy yr sojourn here!

You are being very rude in this retort. I am not a sage in the first place. & I meant to be of help. You reply in anger. I hope yr insurance policies are paid up... you will have yr ass handed to you if you address anyone in such a manner in person...yr hubris is astounding and likely to get ya into serious trouble. I do not "give more credit" to tradition and culture than to what you may call "the Tao"... a missusage of the word actually-it can not be so named.... It may be of some small help to you to realize that every culture and tradition has its place within the Tao as well...Respecting others' ways is not demeaning to ones' own person if done with honest humility. Not to worry Grass-hopper...Being hopped up on grass means little to most here... Also, the arrogant slob fool of a Grand Master you speak of could not care less what yr views are on the subject of his heritage and teachings, but he would still kick yr ass for the sheer rudeness of the delivery... I for one find several herbs encluding hemp quite useful for relaxing.

I am sure that you have concidered this well if not fully. Some masters may just smack ya down -if not shown the respect that they expect...My sifu expects a students' bow when I meet him- Be it on the street or where ever... This is done on one knee with a fist in hand offering of humility as ones' head is lowered in deference... I do it for traditions' sake as well as an honest show of respect. Concider that when in Rome one does as Romans do- at one time that would have encluded pinching unescorted girls' rumps ... the point is - Travel exposes us to different cultures like a fire on a mountain exposes the lay of the land... So, being yrself counts most, but offending folks on their home turf is not wise. Humility is a very important Taoist precept, hubris is to be mocked. So please don't go too far in yr efforts to expose the fallacies ( for you) - of some behaviors you may not "cotten to"... I do wish you well on yr trip, it will - I am sure - be an eye opener...

Thank you Creation!- (what a fine phrase too... a Taoist prayer of thanx in itself)... Bringing us back to the reality of reality... the study of LIFE is what is Important to Taoists. Ideas are wonderously fine to hold, mold, bring into ones' fold and be told (or sold)....But intellectualizing and SUPPOSING gets old for me... I will get ( onto/into)...The Road to Reality ASAP...(another fine phrase!)...& the French & Taylor book also... But this is sort of off topic- & It was so easy to just be carried away into a much more fruitful topic!-

What joyous rapture this refreshes! Sat. AM TV was what kids waited for 50 years ago... Sky King, The Lone Ranger & Tonto- Cartoons were FUNNY! Daffy Duck had a speach impediment and was not a ninja! The PC crowd has swept the dubious mind sets of yesteryear away away... It may even be looked down upon to stuff ones' horse these days...

I'm sure I've used the phrase "stupid chair" - when trying to put one of those folding deck chairs together... Was this wrong of me? -was I actually relating to my own stupidity and "mirroring" this morbid lack of self- worth onto the poor defenseless chair?- Should inanimate objects be used as recepticles for our own frustrations? All such profundities are worthy of discourse no doubt, but where does it lead us?- I look for happy trails...

It may just be a learning curve thing!

I've heard physisists generally agree that the only constant IS change...

Is it not obvious that I wrote what I did just to get a rise out of the Buddhists who have intruded so rudely ?- I meant to offend and show dis-respect and a will to challange you guys as if you are an invading army. This thread has a purpose - that of challanging the Buddhist hijacking of this site...My agenda is to show yr weaknesses by pissing you off and letting yr anger display the lack of calm that I read in the on-going attempts to change this site to suit yr needs. My experiences stand- I do not take most Buddhists seriously- they act badly. The few I know well are as hypocritical as any hate-filled born-again Christian I've debated with over the years... I mean to be as dis-agreeable as possible -within the limits of discourse here. You are behaving like enemies and will be treated as such by me... We have had many Buddhists who behave well and with respect for the nature of each thread -without pushing their Buddhism in an unwarranted fashion... I will toss any verbal bomb I can think of in yr general direction as long as this attempt to hijack this site continues. I had more to say about conduct in general- but I've had enough for now- Stay awake out there -

Please let us not forget the Yi Jing. It is still the greatest link to sublime wisdom I have yet to find...It is inter-active, supportive and a bonifide kick to the third eye for anyone!- love to all- Pat

That is probably because these philosophies LOVE the idea of LIFE and groove to the notion of re-absorbtion... Why wouldn't one wish to remain in the dance of life? There's milk & cookies!

Is anyone here associated with or knowledgible about Greatlight Magazine or its related web site? http://taosculture.org/english/three_primary_areas.php#03

Hey I hope thats what we are all here for - to ask and question- offer our own perspectives and share as fellow seekers - usually it is that way... This thread is a manifestation of a problem that needed to be addressed. For me, the ignore function is a fine tool to buffer the inconsiderate... those who do not concider how they dis-affect or intrude on others, but only wish to propagate their agendas... We have had several here- as itterated above - all of this will pass & I trust that we all will have grown some in the process. The support for/from each-other is real here for many and it is a great blessing. That Buddhists can't seem to get that together on the web is a very serious problem - for them...The forced dogma issue seems to be needeing a good hard look from neophytes, proponants and scholars alike. I say any belief is spurious at best...

Sure -I've sought out & spoken with Buddhist monks In NYC, Madison Wisc., Paris, Princeton NJ, Krung Thep (Bangkok), Chang Mai -(up the Makong from Bangkok), Taiwan, Pagan- (when it was still Burma) and San Fransisco. I have searched the Buddhist path as I walked the world. I have written here how my encounter with the Dalai Lama gave me a glimpse of compassionate wisdom that will always be a large part of my being and seeking. I am not casting aspersions on Buddhism for its own sake - but to jar the simple-mindedness of some Buddhist proponants who have insistantly put the rude in intrude around here of late...I do not suffer fools.- Maybe thats the New Yorker in me! Joy is the most rational of states. What's the deal?

Go shill yr dogma elsewhere - I've read and met enough Robed Buddhists to know it is not the WAY for me- I find it lacking in its' options and childish in its precepts. Why would you even care if that supposed "ignorance " exists? I do not get the sense that you wish to help anyone-only convince others of the correctness of yr ideas at this time... I put very little value in any insight that is not arrived at thru experience - be it in meditation, a shared bed or swimming a swollen river.... Crossing the great water as we say... dangers and suffering are just imposed notions we can accept or deny, -up to a point of course - and that is also why violence has a place in our shared reality.... I know I am a spirit having a human experience. I know this thru living through several out of body experiences and long long hours of meditaion and martial arts practices. That i arrived at a place of bliss or awakening without Buddhism may up-set yr apple cart of notions about the world around you. That is a good thing - it may even lead to your own satori.... Everything is needed to create the balance that is harmony -to those who are in their own Tao - true to their own being and walking the path that they are at their best walking...Nothing is good nor bad... it just is... I can be there often enough to know I am on the right path for me- yr insistance that I read the ideas you espouse is obnoxious in the extreme... I think I shall add you to my ignore list for now, that way I can filter-out yr insistant BS... stay well- Pat

"Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box. Religion is the smile on a dog." What I Am--Edie Brickell & New Bohemians...

All times are great to be alive- romantisizing any one of them -serves what purpose?

To make points I use hyperboli (spellin)... so what? I use terms that I use because they work for me. I have nothing to prove or axe to grind other than a resentment for the hubris of you Buddhists and yr holier than thou attitudes. I have read thru the Koran twice the Bible twice and uncounted other spiritual and religious texts over the past 45 years. Most of it is non-sense. I have read many buddhist sutras in English translation. They are grand and meaningful to me. The BS religiosity that grew out of them is childish and escapist. I do not place the sutras in that catagory, only the religiosity expressed by some of you guys here. It is antagonistic and not condusive to anything but rancor. That you are so foolish as to insult ANYONE here shows how little you understand about Taoists. Hubris is not acceptable behavior to Taoists. That you choose to insult me is just a reflection of yr ignorance of the world around you and yr place in it. That you would say that I am in my mothers' basement is to the point. My mother died years ago. She never had a basement. I have been around the world 4 times visited 36 countries and 42 of these USA States. I have seen much suffering and have done what I could to alleviate it. I said IN MY world there is no suffering - because I do not see this stuff as suffering so much as opportunity to change and make things better- not escape into a meditative caccoon of self-imposed exile...I meditate to become a more intrinsic part of this world and find a more useful place in it. Seek how to live this life -it is all you really have -and in that Taoist philosophy may be of some help to you- but i doubt it - its that capasity thing- if you can imagine it being so it is so only for you - in yr mind - no where else...Taoism gets beyond that in ways you could perhaps one day fathom- who knows? Even spoiled rich kids get to be Buddhas in this world!

Far knight 4 5 1 Fair night for five, one or two Who counts the moon too?

I bet he chewed it over in his mind as he chewed his apple!!

BAH! There is ALWAYS meaning and wonder and satisfaction and there is no suffering in my world, (that I do not create myself). If it is such that one burns ones' fingers - the trick is "not minding " the burn...The mind - the I you speak of has a universal componant as well as the indevidual componant. To realize that the I is just a part of the ONE and All is enough to quell all suffering, which is only a self imposed state of reflection anyway... Buddhism is a rather complete cave-in to escapism... Taoists accept the I as their responsibility, not as a disparaged entity to be rid of. The awareness of transcendant unity with the one and all quells the escapist tendencies that are sought by some. If you see what you describe as very sad... it is only your perception that is sad... My own perception of the awful "Maya" Buddhism fears and loathes is that it is only the 10,000 things manifesting the dance of glorious life. I have no fear of life. I accept its harshness and softness its heat and its cold and know it is ALL good as the manifestation of being that offers EVERYTHING and rejects nothing...

I agree a planned abortion is a murder. But the reality is that some few of these unwanted pregnancies could not be prevented through choice- The sexual act was forced or the child/woman was not emotionally/mentally equipt to have made an other but...the poor choice of unprotected sex... Consiquences can be changed in these modern times thru acts of kindness or violence, these can even be one in the same. I concidered supporting the abortions that I did - acts of kindness to the pregnant women involved. To some i was supporting murder. It is the same thing. Just different view points challange the meaning of it...