Samuel

There's always next time... Round and round the life wheel goes, where it stops who knows?

smooth skin, warm to touch, Sapphire eyes, clear as pure water, Scarlet pillow lips

Happy New Year!

I think my pwnage points are so negative i'm acutally self pwning. I agree, someone testing your ideas is great, especially if it can make you look at in a new light, perhaps to even say "Wait a sec, perhaps it'd be better a different way..." I remembered something about this in the TTC so I had a scout through my copy, (Derek Lin translation). I think these bits are relevant. 31 (part of it, not all) The military is a tool of misfortune, Not the tool of honourable gentlemen, When using it out of necessity, Calm detachment should be above all, Victorious but without glory, Those who glorify, Are delighting in the killing, Those who delight in killing, Cannot achieve their ambitions upon the world. 68 (perhaps more relevant) The great generals are not warlike The great warriors do not get angry Those who are good at defeating enemies do not engage them Those who are good at managing people lower themselves It is called the virtue of non-contention It is called the power of managing people It is called being harmonious with Heaven The ultimate principle of the ancients Since I don't have control of an army (don't know about you though, ), I'd apply these two passages to personal life. The first suggests that people who like butting heads and seeing their "opponent" shamed/belittled/whatever are "delighting in the killing". The second, I'd say, points out that those who can win arguments, don't have arguments, but prefer not to contend. Over all I'd say the message of the TTC on this is "you can disagree, but there's no need to be destructive about it, just agree to disagree, practice 'calm detachment'". What do you think? On another note, thanks for bringing it up, you remind me that in my life I am too quick to say "you're wrong! ner ner ner ;P". It can be something I practise, meditate on this week. Much love folks, sorry 'bout the long post. XD

Sorry to jack the thread but could you provide some links or more info? This sounds interesting.

I don't think I would change anything. Currently I'm who I am because of all the bits and pieces that have already happened. Right at the beginning (for me anyway), if a certain sperm hadn't bumped into a particular egg, who would I be? Even further, if my parent's were formed from different gametes, they wouldn't be who they are and I certainly wouldn't. I could have ended up one of those people who hadn't discovered Taoism. But then would I have been searching for it in the first place? hmm?

Thunder and lightning, Listen as I hammer drums, To make my own storm

I think that's the difference between humans and fish. Fish don't have to think about it. They just do. Or any creature, other than us. I think we have to be the only things on the planet that are up to our eyeballs in something that we've managed to loose. Our (the human race) relation ship with Tao seems to be as though a fish, in water, asks "How do I get back into the water?!". Does that make sense? I don't think I can explain myself very well. Happy Swimming.

Maybe you're hungry? Where do you mean exactly, "it's all the way to the right of my left rib cage" confused me a bit. And when you say rumbling, what do you mean?

Red dawn breaks anew, Paints all orange, trees, grass, clouds, And the morning dew

As on a bird's tail, Feathers fan out to hide the, Still veiled mystery

"Nothing equals what?" Cry of mathematician, confused by numbers!

My grandfather used to smoke too, 40 cigarettes a day (a ridiculous number I know), until he woke up one day and coughed so much that he blacked out. He quit, funnily enough. Going back to the OP's question, I can't help with the chinese medicine side of things, but generally, smoking= not good for you. Ignoring the carcinogenic chemical composition of cigarette tar, and the presence of carbon monoxide (CO reduces the ability of the body to release oxygen to its cells12) in the smoke, tar enters the lungs at around 580-700 degrees C3 and then cools until body temperature (circa 36 degrees C). The heat and toxicity of the tar is enough to kill cilia (tiny hair like projections that beat in unison to move mucous) on cells in the trachea, these cilia help keep the lungs free from dust and bacteria, loosing them increases chances of lung infections. The presence of the tar is also an irritant to the alveoli and causes the stimulation of macrophages, white blood cells (leucocytes), that eat irritant particles. They also secrete chemicals that digest elastin and collagen4, two compounds that give alveoli elasticity, without it they loose their capacity to expand and contract, reducing lung capacity and causing emphysema. But of course, tis totally up to the OP. People will do as people wanna do, and that's they way it should be, so long as they're not harming anyone else.

Dip bucket in well, Disturb crystal clear surface, To bring new ideas,

Evolutionists: We're all descendent from the same microscopic blob! Woo! Chemists: We're all slightly different proportions of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen with a few other bits thrown in! It always amuses me how much people ignore humanity's base similarities. Especially since we're all just glorified apes anyway

Thank you Breathe in a new day, Feel life fill you to the brim, Greet worries, smiling!

Stillness breathing in, Pure white of the snow filled fields, Sparkling at sun rise,

Predictions or no predictions, I think I'll see what it's like when it gets here! I can only make predictions on one thing; what I'm going to be doing in the next few minutes. And funnily enough, they're not always correct! XD

Aside from a Taichichuan teacher I know, and an aikido teacher, the most people i know are status obsessed westerners.

This worries me too. I've never met another Daoist in person, (it's probably the area I live in or the circles I hang in), and amongst people my age (I'm nineteen), thinking about philosophy or religion or spirituality is considered "boring/square/geeky". It's heartbreaking that my generation seems doomed to callousness, so much so that even small things like giving up a seat on a bus to an elderly lady or gentlemen is a social oddity not a norm. As an aside, the current obsession with social networking sites alarms me. It's just my opinion, but I think they're crippling social skills and the obsession with other people's lives is odd, almost as though people are watching soaps or sitcoms. I admit, I use Facebook, but when I need to. It's just like any other tool to me, use it when I need it. I don't carry a hammer round with me and check on it forty billion times an hour. Just leave it at home and use it when I need to. It's madness I tell you!

Sorry to resurrect this most ancient forum post from it's rest, but: Does anyone have any more information on Dr Stepehen T. Chang? I've been doing a lot of research on Internal Alchemy, Qigong, Daoyin, Nei Dan, all that stuff, and as a result I've revisited a book belonging to my father, called: The Complete System of Chinese Self Healing, written by Dr Chang. In it, (I'm barely into the second chapter), he talks about a lot of ideas that I've never really come across before. They are: The Eight Pillars of Taoism, The Tao of Revitalization (Yang Sheng Shu) and Meridian Meditation (or Trip-Around-the-World Meditation). I cannot find references to these things on the internet unless they are from his books. Anyone else heard of these things? Any one else have links or resources where I can research more? EDIT: His website: http://www.thegreattao.com/ Help me out so that the forum post can go back to rest!

I too think this is a good idea, since the majority of my interest lies in Philosophical Daoism.

Mouth puckered, closed shut, Not to let out monkey mind, He knows, doesn't speak.