zerostao

the birds said "the hell with it" ? there is nothing like a really pissed off bird. if the pissed off bird is a sparrow or finch it may seem comical, if its a bluejay maybe exercise a little caution. an owl or hawk, stay the hell out of their way. i put some seed out in the winter, but now they are on their own in my backyard. i like it when the cranes are around. plenty of woodpeckers and kingfishers. of course the crows, i dont think i wanna see a bunch of pissed off crows either. not sure i ever have seen a pissed off crow?

http://now.msn.com/finals-week-funny-photos-will-make-you-feel-better-about-your-week#scpshrjwfbs

"lets it keep it real" did you read the OP? "Are we talking about a religion where only a handful (1% of 1% of 1%) make it to the top?" i dont even understand this question? i have trouble with the word religion to begin with. and the OP also points out this word > religion "religion ( if you prefer to view it as one" making it to the top? what is that? i dont even understand that type of thinking. make it to the top? then what? i am talking about recognizing the appearance of reality "Seems like I'd have an easier time getting an audience with the pope (singular, but he's real and I know where he lives) then an immortal. And its not like Taoist monasteries are packed w/ 200 year old monks." "if there is no such person close by, there are other ways to judge . Although spiritual achievements of our practice can be sensed in many aspects of our life , a gradual growing , detaching Mind from the daily one is the main feature we should pay attention to ;" edit , to add the bold to exorcist 1699 posting

excellent post exorcist 1699, very spot on exactly correct ime on this forum when someone posts about true Taoism, the philosphocial taoists who do not grasp reality, fumble over themself grasping at straws that make sense to them " those spiritual ones are always difficult to evaluate. " these also can be tested and should be tested. i challenge western science to examine this more closely, but at their present level of science understanding, it must be too big a challenge for them.

thanks dawei, i wasnt aware of how older the Goudian bamboo slips were. i am not any Tao Te Ching scholar. it is still hard for me to imagine that Lao Tzu didnt play with some type of taiji like forms. and how do we really know the exact origins of Taoist Arts. i wont say that i think Lao Tzu was purely some atheist philosopher and that he didnt have anything to do with chi kungs and meditation etc. i think that such a view is likely far away from reality.

its an old old game. i am surprised there is not a term for elitist-cide As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness. - - Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas - -

kindest regards

ok , maybe never mention it by name.. chapter 10 has taichi written all over it so does chapter 15 16,

iron lotus is tao123 and a couple of georgia players i havnt seen the dvd but i imagine it is a good place to start. and if you can get some of his jow, i would do that too edit>>he calls it VP or iron palm? iron palm , right?

yeah i give props to matthew for putting it out for folks to see and he did say that ricky asked him to. the second video had a playlist with familiar faces, one wing chun, then tao123, and the rest were all bgz. 2 from lao xie, cool cool alot of kentucky flavor on that playlist and this thread, and our favorite hawaiin

some interesting posts by ya'll philosophical taoists any pioneering will have its growing pains. one little thing here; "Taijichuan was not mentioned in the Tao Te Ching." maybe i read a different translation? coz the one i read , it mention it

"I can't recall ever seeing a bobcat in the wild" if you come up my way sometime in winter, they are to be seen. i have noticed many of them do not possess a sense of humor.

i posted this on ttb about 4 years ago. scott is also a student of ricky. just consider how unpredictable glass is and how scott is able to sense the vibration thru the glass.

"on a path" which we are all on our own unique path. sree is on a path and would like an altar, its good idea. even if i am initiated into a clan, we have no strict doctrine or dogma. we could have an altar or not, presently i dont have. i am thinking that after those pics by mountain dragon with fancy bird, newtaoist may want a taoist temple now to surround his altar hahaha Tao cannot be contained and it has no opposite, sometimes(often?) indifference seems to be an ideal.

gonna go somewhat off topic but imo it is on topic becoz more blowback is surely coming our way and its no wonder. http://dirtywars.org/the-film what goes around comes back around , in one form or another edit> do we have any idea of how many countries we the US dropped bombs in today?

stosh, i agree about the emptiness and the manifest. this philosophy work that you like is called the Tao Te ching. so in your view why is Te even mentioned ?

i call it balance edit> maybe add a set of scales to the altar

" But the western mind objects to separation because of an emotional need for oneness. I hope this doesn't trip up our discussion. " http://thetaobums.com/topic/18839-unity/

stosh, we are often on the same page. and i feel the same about rene. i joined in this thread becoz sree is new to me, and his postings interested me. i used to post some in the ddj section here. and on various philosophy as you know. i still kinda like bradley's appearance and reality but it may be too metaphysical for ya'll. plato was metaphysical too, and so on. even nietzsche, altho many overlook the obvious.

i used wordsworth, goethe, and van gogh for illustrative purposes only as an altar to nature from a western philosophy pov. i went with poets and an artist, an artist you guys dont fully appreciate, but its ok. i am not against alcohol and enjoy sipping on my immortal wine from time to time, but i digress. as far as finding Tao, it remains the mystery of mysteries. it is also paradox, so how do you philosophers take on paradox? i am thinking there is going to be a divide on Te as well. my brand of Taoism is very basic, i get alot of mileage out of wu wei and ziran and common sense. are we sticking with Lao Tzu only? becoz my Tao is more than Lao Tzu edit> i am a spiritual taoist, so maybe, i am disqualified from the start

rene that is a very good post you cut right to the chase i was going to slow play on this thread but you just went ahead and said it when van gogh looked deep into nature he found himself in reflection the subjective and the objective merged into unity it would be good if sree does come up with an altar and hopefully there he can gain appreciation of the subtle and sublime and transform into a reflective person who looks beyond the surface(seen) of anything and into its depths(unseen)

nope van gogh stays. he ascended to the very top of the art world. and he could look deep into nature and see things no one else could and expressed it thru his art. if you look for someone who is flawless, you will never find them.

spirit

mpg, not sure if sree does any internal cultivation per chi kung or meditation? would be curious to know. for me a nature altar can be found out in nature, yesterday i spent my time out in the fair sunshine in the blugrass region all these flowers and trees in bloom , it was glorious, and i didnt think of philosophy much. outdoors is a great cathedral with a high ceiling the choir of song birds soothed my soul the playful clouds just there for aesthetics but if i had to be confined indoors and wanted to construct an altar that reflected philosophy of nature i would go with wordsworth, the high priest of briitish nature poetry, and place prelude on the mantle i would go with goethe, another romantic(nature) poet, and place a copy of faust (kaufman tr) there for balance becoz what goethe saw in the nature of nature and he fully embraced, when wordswoth saw that same nature it terrified him. both of them had a direct experience with the spirit of nature and i know sree isnt big on spirits, but sometimes it takes the experience of such things to open one to the possibilities,,,, and i would add van gogh , maybe wheatfield with crows or whatever the name is or maybe the self portrait with the swirls of turbulence that surrounded van gogh and how this shows that van gogh viewed nature perhaps very subjectively to be able to see unseen forces