Simple_Jack

Now as to De specifically, I'm going to post more excerpts from Nan Huai Chins The Story of Chinese Taoism: "After the text of the Lao Tzu was changed to be called The Tao Te Ching by the rulers of the Tang Dynasty, later generations would always link Lao Tzu together with ethics (tao te.) However, in reality, the tao (way) and te (virtue) were originally separated. The "tao" is the substance while the "te" is the function." "The original text was burned during the Ch'in Dynasty, and therefore later the order of the chapters could not be determined....However the division of the substance and the function were very clear and so we should understand that the focus of Lao Tzu's political thought involves the concept of "virtue." He employs the term "Way" as the central philosophy for internal self-cultivation, and the term "virtue" as the emphasis for external handling of political and social affairs. Moreover, the meaning of "virtue" in ancient times also embodied the idea of "attaining," equivalent to effects and attainments in modern terms." "Lao Tzu said: "High virtue is non-virtuous, therefore it has virtue. Low virtue never frees itself from being virtuous, therefore it has no virtue." This refers to the highest virtue, that is, even if one performs a virtuous deed of the highest order yet he does not consider gain and loss of such action. This is equivalent to to the "non-action" and "not non-action" related to the concept of Tao as discussed by Lao Tzu." "Political schemes were not only rebuked within the thought of Lao Tzu, but it should also be emphasized that he also did not advocate returning to the political rule of primitive society. The "small states with sparse populations" mentioned by Lao Tzu relate to the separately ruled states established by feudal lords, one form of local-rule. He advocated political reunification of the entire nation. For example Lao Tzu said, "Heaven attained oneness and became clear, earth attained oneness and became quiet, and the barons and princes attained oneness and became sovereign rulers for the world." "Of course using the "attained oneness" employed here is not sufficient to explain that the focus of Lao Tzu's thought was necessarily on unification. His usage of "oneness" here includes the idea of cultivation. Therefore, Lao Tzu said: "Humility is the root from which greatness springs, the high must be constructed on the foundation of the low. That is why barons and princes call themselves 'The Solitary One,' 'The Little One,' and 'The Worthless One' Do they not realize thier dependence on the lowly? Truly excessive honor means no honor. It is not desirable to shine like jade and resound like stone chimes." From this we can see the full expression of his political thought of transformation through virtue and unification....Lao Tzu's advocacy of "requiting injustice with kindness" is a traditional spirit that has pervaded throughout Chinese cultural history." To post other stuff talking about what the sage should embody according to Lao-Tzu: "That is, Heaven and earth nourish the myriad things and people, but they do so without any selfish aims or preconditions. The myriad things derive life from them as well as meet their ends, a completely natural phenomenon. Heaven earth give life without any resentment over the toil, and take no credit for their deeds. Therefore, people should emulate the great spirit of unselfishness, benevolence, and compassion embodied by Heaven and earth. This is an ethical standard, the realm of the metaphysical Tao and the natural law of the physical world." "When Lao Tzu spoke of "non-action," he was referring to the very essence of Heaven and the Tao. "Not non-action" refers to the fact that although the substance of the Tao is "non-action," yet it still possesses the functions and effects of living things going on without end. Therefore, there are theories of the "mutual production of existence and non-existence" and "emergence from movement" for the functions of the substance of Tao. His proposing of "non-action" and "not non-action" for Heaven and the Tao also explains that people should emulate Heaven and earth, act when it is appropriate, stop at the proper time, and realize the standard of true-selflessness and impartiality.This is the firmness of Heaven." "However, Lao Tzu also brought forth the principle of the true sage, that is, the true sage should emulate the nourishing of the myriad things in the world and be spontaneous like Heaven and earth without aims or conditions. Lao Tzu felt it was wrong to think that Heaven and earth were predisposed with benevolence, as was maintained by many of his contemporaries. He stated that Heaven and earth gave birth to the myriad things without any discrimination, treating equally the myriad things and straw dogs." "Lao Tzu felt that the true sage should also maintain such equality and selflessness in saving and aiding the world, being deviod of any aims or conditions. Lao Tzu said: "Heaven and earth are not benevolent, It treats the myriad things as straw dogs. The sage is not benevolent, and he treats all people as straw dogs." Those of later generations employed these lines to satirize the sage as well as Heaven and earth, [but they simply did not understand Lao Tzu and the conditions he was writing about.]" "The Great Man spoken of in the Book of Changes is equivalent to the true sage mentioned by Lao Tzu. "Harmonize his virtue with Heaven and earth" is very similar to the idea that of Heaven and Earth, "The myriad things depend on it and it denies nothing to anyone. It does its work but makes no claim for itself." Is not "Harmonizes his brightness with the sun and moon" The same meaning as "Heaven and earth are not benevolent, it treats the myriad things as straw dogs?" The sun and moon illuminate Heaven and earth without discriminating the pure and the impure, but show equal compassion to the highest level of purity and to the filthiest cesspool. The remaining "Harmonizes his sequence with the four seasons, and harmonizes his good and bad fortunes with ghosts and spirits" Can be explained the same way."

I'm going to post an excerpt that explains the ching/chi/shen from different perspectives. Pay attention to the "philosophical" perspective. Here's the excerpt from Nan Huai Chins The Story of Chinese Taoism: "To summarize, the ching, ch'i and shen brought forth by the Taoist School are, from the scientific point of view, the spiritual functions of the eyes, ears and mind in terms of the physical and mental lives of people. The manifestation and application of spirit (shen) is then the function of one's vision, the manifestation and application of ch'i is then the function of one's sense of hearing, and the manifestation and application of ching are then the active thoughts of the mind and the inherent activities of the body." "If we approach this from the point of view of the physical functions of the unity of Heaven and man, shen, ching and ch'i are then the functions of light, heat and power. From a philosophical perspective, the shen mentioned by the Taoist School is close to the "nature" spoken of in Buddhism, and the ching of the Taoist School is close to the "mind" in Buddhism. We therefore see the line "the essence (ching) of the mind is perfected" in the T'ang Dynasty translation of the Surangama Sutra;" "The ch'i spoken of by the Taoist School is close to the breathing discussed in Buddhism, the function of postnatal life. If we draw from phenomena of the physical world for purposes of illustration, shen is comparable to the light energy bestowed upon the myriad things by the sun as it gives energy to all life on earth. Ch'i is comparable to the vapors issued forth from the light energy of the sun radiating on the earth. Ching is then comparable to the combined physical effects produced by the sun bestowing light energy on the myriad things in the world. However, it should be noted that I have employed illustrations because there is no way of explaining the conditions of ching, ch'i and shen in detail, and illustrations are merely analogies, and not the essence of the original. Now going by what was posted above and by what the chapter looks like it is describing (to me)....It seems it is talking about the "nature of existence." Going by the above and what this means to me; it is talking about co-dependent arising that is inherently "empty" of an independent, unchanging or absolute existence. Hence, the "spirit" or "nature" is: "...ever present; the gateway to all mysteries...the primordial mother of the ten thousand things. It is ever present and eternal."

To add to what other people have been posting... Here's one site that deals talks of the symptoms and how to treat it: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/01/02/pcos.aspx He recommends progesterone cream in the article about PCOS, so this article explains more on how it could help: http://www.mercola.com/article/progesterone/cream.htm There might be more articles on that site dealing with ovarian cysts. You might want to look through that site.

Lolz...holy fuck, you guys are funny. Anyways to add to what I typed earlier about "no-mind" in Zen: "No-Mind" is also described as when there isn't a sense of a "self" when interacting with people, phenomena, objects, whatever. In other words it could mean that there isn't the self-centerdness of an identification with a "self" carrying out actions or when interacting with the environment. The closest article I could find describing this is this: "The term no-heart [no-mind] (wu-shin) comes from a Taoist background and was also used by the Buddhists. Chan [Zen] translates it as "no deliberate mind of one's own" or "no mind of one's own," and, in a Buddhist context, as "the non-being of the mind." As he explain in his discussion of the Neo-Taoism of Wang Pi (d. 249) and Kuo Hsiang (d. 312), the Taoist sage rises beyond all distinctions and contradictions while remaining in the midst of human affairs. 'In dealing with things he has 'no deliberate mind of his own' (wu-shin) but responds to them spontaneously without any discrimination....The Buddhist Chi-tsang (d. 623) writes that it means 'that one should not have an deliberate mind toward the myriad things." http://zennist.typepad.com/zenfiles/2010/11/no-mind-in-zen.html Not the best description, but it's the gist of it. Also the Taoists did talk of this concept also. I know that Lao_tzu talked of this sort of thing. Also the 6th Patriarch Hui-Neng also spoke out when people thought that "no-mind" meant having no thoughts or trying to suppress thoughts and clinging to immediate awareness. He said: "The pure clean mind of Dharmakaya (from moment to moment) is the correct path." In other words it's like what the Diamond Sutra says: "You must let your mind be born without dwelling." Basically it is the approach taken by both Dzogchen and Mahamudra, when they talk about niether affirming or rejecting thoughts, but letting them be born without attachment or letting thoughts self-liberate naturally.

I would just say "Chinese." Both Chinese Taoists and Buddhists did brush art.

Majushri Crossing the Sea

Bodhidharma

Guan Yin (Avalokitesvara)

"Ancient Monastery"

Buddhist Art called "Inquiring the Way"

Vajrapani

Immortal/Dharma protector Lu Dong Bin.

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It depends who you ask, I guess. I've read explanations of "no-mind" as "seeing through thought as it occurs," or seeing through the midst of discrimination of subject and object, even while making discriminations. Historically there were Zen masters who spoke out against "Dead Tree Zen" or the mistaken application of "silent illumination." In other words trying to exclusively hold onto immediate awareness. As for modern day practitioners and this thing on "no-mind," most of the time they're just misinterpreting what this means in Zen.

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:EDIT: This poem called Reading a Zen Scripture: "We must know that all appearances are not what they appear to be; And if we dwell in remainderless nirvana, then there still is remainder. Forget words at the words, and you comprehend all at once; Talk of dreams in a dream is double layers of vacuity. Can you seek fruit along with flowers in the sky? How do you look for fish in a mirage? If controlling movement is meditation, meditation moves; Not meditating, not moving, this is suchness as is." Is actually by Po Chu-i, NOT Wang Wei.

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