Pandit Tree

Should pitch a permanent tent here, son! You should find good company with hardyg and cowtao!

I thought your time is to take us to 'the other side'. However, it seems you pick and choose whom to be 'compassionate' to! Your time seems to be to pontificate to the easier 'audience'. The "Ai Wei" speaks for itself but the "Jing" sure is missing from the "Xin" Sure explains the need for those macho men for your site! Namo whatever, alright!

I will not go into the is it/is it not whatever that one may want to make of Charles Luk's translation. Old Charles translated works from the Chinese and he did many a fine translation. I want to talk about Luk as a person. He was a devote Buddhist, spent a lot of his life doing translations from mostly Buddhist works for which he got paid very poorly (ripped off!). When he retired from his regular work, he spent all his time doing research and translation. He would do that first thing in the morning he got up, work all the way till noon when he would go for a short lunch break. He would then return to continue his work all the way till supper time... He always had time for people. He always helped people. He led a disciplined and frugal life. Was he Taoist? He was a great human being and worthy of great admiration though he would be too humble to want that.

<<< Want real Daoism? ... in the words of Master Zheng Man Qing when talking about Taiji Quan, "Invest in loss". >>> I am not sure if Zheng actually said that - much of his stuff in the USA came from his followers. But if one dares ask - why did Zheng demonstrate the circus stunt of 'being able to hold back "force" in the form of a big person or a line of people'? He liked doing that to non-Asians and the 'feat' is nothing but a cheap piece of fraud designed to dupe ignorant public. The 'feat' usually to show "qi" has absolutely nothing to do with that or Taiji. That was, and is the kind of "Dao" that is 'Daoism' to those who want to see their "Daoism". Peace

You see post about Journey but you don't see post about thuggish lookin' doods selling 'toughness' and 'meanness'... Still 'bout that "does anyone know" I would like to take your test - Journey to the West is a satire which includes depicting Buddhism as 'opiate of the masses', monk as a dumbo easy to lose focus of his religion, easy to dupe when he is busy being pious, etc. You have to read the book not talk about the video series as any "value". Buddhism or Taoism is neither strong nor weak or "without application". They are dependent on the people that practise them, the clergy as well as the lay folks. Any old swindler can put on the robes and fool the public. Any 'devotee' can genuinely or self-deceptively recite the sutras until Buddha or Laozi returns. In fact you can teach a parrot to recite "Namo Amituofo" until its kingdom comes but that does not make it a Buddhist! Similarly, eating vegetables does not make one a Buddhist - you can be a vegetarian of the mouth but not of the heart. You can take on Buddhist or Taoist name but that is just a name. You can write a few articles, expound the profundity of the gospels, 'interpret' any old scripture or the Yijing - all intellectual poseurs do that! Ultimately it is the individual who has to do his own work and for himself - and he would probably do a better job making a fool of himself than some bigger fool make that for him! Often 'being' something is just purely decorative, an outer image with nothing to do with actual substance. You can buy the robes and buy the titles but that has nothing to do with the heart. You can babble on about any religion but the actual practice is quite something else altogether. We can always find people who can recite sutras forward and backward, quote from texts, interpret the Yijing etc etc but you can almost always find poseurs among them. We can find same in the martial arts - mere mortals posing as tough gorillas to influence followers to be just like them. All in the name of being better human beings, no doubt... Selling emotional crutches does not help anyone any more than talking the part - acting like some kind of pseudo religious nut with need to save the world, intellectual conman going on and on about the 'depth' of their 'expertise'... 'one-inch' punch of Wing Chun - what does any of these do for the mere individual? Sweet nothing! As for "When the west presents statues and architecture, and daily lifestyle in he mannerisms of Daoism of China, and vice verse, then one can say Daoism has anchored itself in the west.", the Buddha had his mission flourish under a tree. There are forest monastery without roofs all over Asia. There are Taoists who still live in caves... The exact opposite may happen when all the external trappings become the belief - all nice buildings with no faith in the hearts of the admirers of statues and architecture. We can leave out the "mannerisms of Daoism of China" or of anywhere else - where is the Buddhism and Taoism in the first place be they Chinese, "Western" or Brooklyn?

You drink Guinness! Even Macallan! You must be alright! I drink overdraft Guinness. Expensive and comes in small cans! Celtic School of Western Taosim then? From Boston? Your chief Taoist rabbi must be Iain Paisley then! Him with the Shamrock Ruyi sceptre! Can't relax here, I've got to work hard to keep up with your over 1,300 posts!

Your "Tao" is about being racist to the Indians and the Irish then?!!! You should tell your parents pig farming used to be a worthy occupation!

Yeah, may know what you mean. There were also the underground fighters, the revolutionaries, the village defenders, the defenders of the common folks, the promoters of Chinese culture, the promoters of physical culture, the lovers of art... Ma Yongzhen's name immediately comes to mind. The young man whose skill was used by merchants to keep order among labourers and who ended up a defender of them. Generals He Long "of Wudang" and Xu Shiyou "of Shaolin" - may be "commies" to some but were honourable disciples of their masters and deeply respected by the common folks and martial arts community for their great skills used to served their cause. Gu Liuxin of Taiji was an underground fighter, did dangerous work throughout China, even taught Taiji to Ho Chi Minh. Zhao Daoxin of Yiquan was also an underground fighter during the War against Japan and the Civil War. He Yuanjia went round China to collect good martial arts people to form the Jingwu to train students to be ready for war. Highly-skilled masters volunteered for that and other training academies. Many, many others offered service, some lost their lives... all with legendary ability and inspiring character. Bounties were placed on the heads of these people. Skill. devotion to their cause, bravery won them the respect for history. There certainly were no 'eye candy', nice robes, belt colours... there were great risks to life which could even extend to their relatives... As for 'test' there actually is none. There is nothing to prove. The old masters say if one does not know where he is at with his skill, he does not himself - he knows nothing. Shame in some quarters this has deteriorated into ranks, titles - Shifu this/that, master, grandmaster... hollow challenges, petty feuds between schools, circus tricks and stunts, mindless showing off, brags...

"To understand the world we need to go beyond names..." But for you - I am talking Mickey Laoshu "There is taking the P*ss under Heaven!"

So, Lin. taking on a Chinese name instead of using Leroy "Nasty Boy" MacBeth or Chico "Hitman" Sanchez, Junior III, won't do the trick then? I would retain a martial arts 'hall of fame' mugshot of comics straight out of wrestlers' ads for training club's list of teachers. Macho image, beefy fists, hairy, wide-between-the-eyes, mean-lookin' doods look better than those "eastern promise" of wimp, frail, limp-looking "sick men aof Asia" that is Kung Fu masters of the East! Look at the likes of Yip Man, Lee Shing, Moy Yat, Chan Wah Kiu etc of Wing Chun before their Westernised students came up with their revised images of oversized ice-cream cone, top-heavy, beefy fisted, bound-footed, 3rd-rate low budget Kung Fu movie stunted men mugshots. Looking at the pictures East and West, just who would want to learn from who? Who would want to go to DDJ study classes with those sickly types from the East? Who would believe true skill comes in deceptive product design? Who wouldn't be happy squashed flat in an aircraft seat sitting next to those hunks in them mugshots? Who wouldn't sell their daughters to do cheerleading for those failed football stars? No prize for guessing! We should retain the positive aspects of Western Daoism or Western Buddhism, definitely. Historically, the Chinese were alright with their posters of door gods stuck onto their gates, scaring the living daylight out of little kids. Now they have lost that tradition of publicity and promotion and it is up to us in the West to bring back the essence of instilling fear, worshipping toughness and meaness, and art of projecting power into their lives. Herego scum ego as they say in them no-go areas of Brooklyn! Take a look at your martial arts site mugshots - except for that nerdy lookin' smiler on top, the rest look like alternative lifts and jacks for the heavier replacement parts for heavy trucks! That is, when on other days they do not go and smash up people and property when they collect debts for their loan sharks or do their hits for some Columbian cartels, see Chico in the last mugshot. He be the stand-in for Tarantino's answer to Johnny Woo's death-by-tofu-fist-killer! Hollywood scripts be the DDJ and 'chicken soup' for the backward East! Never in the history of world Daoism or Buddhism or real martial arts have so few done so much for so many! Praise be, Bro! I'll leave out those bits about going' to China to collect certification and blessings and all that! I won't bother, no sireeee! China should come to its knees when it sees those pictures of vertical aircraft-carriers on tiny feet! Pray! O Master Po! Give me the insight from the Garden of Zen and Cellar of Hidden Wisdom so that I may journey to the West to get copy of Triple Kata with the rest of my crew! Amituofo! Peace be, peace be...

Everything is empty!

Not always so though. "Westernisation" often means you pay the first big bucks for the "master" to generate more stuff for which you have to pay still bigger bucks: the updates, the sequels, the prequels, redux, still deeper secrets, seminars, workshops, books, DVDs... and, of course, that fengshuied T-Shirt. Somewhere you become doubtful and you switch to another "master" and you discover he is every bit the same as the last. All claim to have direct link to and sole agency for some masters in the East. Reincarnation certificates prove that. You are a slave to such masters. Alternatively, you can get it piece by piece and for 20 years. Along the way, you discover the "master" is a charlatan and you switch to another "master". You find him every bit the same as the last. And the last. At age 102 you discover that either "Western" or "Eastern" they are all (almost always) the same. You are a slave to either kinds of masters. One way out would be to work on oneself. Somehow. Laozi or the Buddha didn't rely on books. You might not get anywhere. But is there anywhere to get to. You find more often than not the experts the book writers need more guidance than yourself. (Alan Watts did a great mileage in enlightened words. His spirituality was such than he drank himself to nirvana! Chogyam Trumpa was of the same spiritual mould. He had to be carried in totally pissed to give his sermons. Some say it is not the messenger and all that. But what did the spiritual stuff do for the last person who preached it?) There is no master and there is no slave. There is only work on the mind to do on our own. But if one insists on being a donkey - there will always be someone who will ride you. Now, hand over your subscription for my next pile of "learned" words ("my papers") - I need the money for my next trip to China! I need the cred even though I can't speak the lingo and no one there wants to speak to me even if I do (that's why I resent and blame them!) Once your check's cleared my blessings will come in the post! Meanwhile, stay eager for that clip of me in China riding the white tiger and chasing the dragon... Watch me in that sea of Daoist priests I can't communicate with. (Well, I am of the "Western" brand which is label for those who hardly know any Daoism but still want to be some kind of self-invented "Daoist") Don't I look the part, though? Video is $49.99

"...presuming that you live up to that philosophy, " I don't live up to any philosophy. I just live. "but since I myself live up to that philosophy" If you want me to say you are a good boy, here you are: Good Boy!