Daeluin

What is more important, truth or love? If I think something is more important than something else, isn't that already a little righteous? The whole truth is little different from the unconditional unity of love. In discrimination of the parts within the whole, we've already lost the whole truth to focus on parts of it; in desire for happiness we've already lost our grasp on peace. When I accept all as it is, peace becomes my happiness as I navigate the center. The reality of truth seems far beyond any partial cognition of truth. Perhaps... simply be true.

溫養 - incubate - nourishing warmly to encourage the growth of something small and vulnerable, such as a bird sitting on an egg. I'm guessing 沐浴 is what I've seen translated elsewhere as bathing.

What I'm speaking of is at the root of the teachers and schools you speak of. What is long and challenging is no obstacle. Not being ahead of anything else under heaven is one of lao zi's three treasures. It is not a path of exclusivity, but one of unity. The operation in this is both specific and broad. The true treasure of heaven is found within what many abandon. This is deep and profound. Mercy can be born in harm, harm can come from mercy - they may both lead to unity or away from unity. Presumption to know which is right for another also presumes to abandon that which, when nurtured, allows that treasure to shine through in ever more diverse and mysterious manifestation. Myriad manifestations and de becomes rich upon the planet once again and the dao ever more within reach.

Because of how the dao works, being on the inside may also consist of being anywhere at the right time and place to hear what one needs. This is related to the operation of de. Harm may be found in mercy, and mercy may be found in harm, yet without quality of de application of either lacks appropriate timing.

Why do you say "school" ... As this thread shows, it is our attachment to right and wrong that creates conflict. This school does this. No that is not this school, this school only like this. Attachment to names leads away. And yet the importance of a teacher is considered vital. Why? In Liu Yiming's xiuzhen houbian tl by Fabrizio Pregadio in Cultivating the Tao: It is awakened within, by doing the work of inner transformation. This is one's own responsibility. And yet traveling with a blindfold and no map, how is one to know where the phases of transformation begin and end? A slight mistake is like stepping off a cliff. The words murmured in a whisper by one who knows the way appear just when they are needed. This is how the principle is revealed - the words themselves matter less than the timing of what they reveal. The dogma of schools help to preserve the superficial mappings, yet the transmission of the timing is what is important about having a teacher. Teachers come in many flavours and schools, but it is not their words that cause one to awaken.

When practicing taiji quan, at first one's human mentality is controlling how one's body moves. Do this, shape like this, next move this way... and so on. If the mind becomes distracted one may easily lose one's place and forget what comes next and panic. In time, after one has practiced many times, the form becomes second nature. One's human mentality no longer needs to think about what to do next, and thus one's human mentality fades and stops getting in the way of one's true mind from merging with the flow of one's body. The mind still controls the body, but needs no thought. The point of practice is to make something second nature. One does not practice a handful of times, but practices until it requires no thought, until it becomes effortless. This is the principle of kung fu - the direct correlation between work and skill. First one does the work, then skill emerges. Small work for small skill, great work for great skill. The journey of 1,000 miles begins with the first step. Thinking about the destination distracts from the work, takes away from merging one's true mind with one's body, and leads one away from the method to accomplish one's goal. Forget about desires and focus on doing the work, taking the steps. Distance isn't traveled with a measuring tape, but by step after step. Skill isn't made by comparing self to other, but by being full present. The words may be spoken forever and one moves not a single step forward. Is the principle not clear?

Just like with the leg, it is when the focus is able to root more deeply that it becomes strong/stable enough to support the new external stress. In my example, it took a couple years of inner cultivation while I pretty much ignored the external. Healing the root of the imbalance will take time. If you need to meet a deadline, you could simply immerse yourself in your work, practicing over and over again for different audiences (corn fields, family, pets, friends), and as it becomes second nature, refining happens naturally.

Oh I used to have very bad stage fright whenever giving a report in front of a class, even as a senior in high school. Terrified. And yet I was able to perform in band concerts just fine. A few years ago I started taking a class on taiji quan. In the beginning, we'd only know a few moves of the long form and after we were done we'd sit down and watch the rest of the class while they finished. By the end only a few people would be left, while by that point most of the class was sitting and watching them. Well, as the months flew by, more and more people ended up watching me, until I was one of the small group that knew the whole form, who were watched almost the whole time. At first I was a little nervous, and I could feel the attention and it bothered me. But I also noticed something interesting - the more I connected to being in the moment, being one with the flow of qi, the less I cared about being watched. I was still aware, but instead of being focused outward, I was focused inward, feeling the changes, being one with the flow. The external didn't matter, mistakes didn't matter, all that mattered was the navigation of being deeply rooted in the beautiful changes unfolding within. It is a similar feeling to standing on one leg and trying to stay balanced. There is a tendency to focus one's attention on the leg that is up in the air, but this ends up raising one's center of gravity and makes it harder to find balance. By forgetting about the lifted leg and letting it be light, and instead focusing one's attention on the leg that is actually holding one's weight, one sinks one's center of gravity more deeply into that leg and it becomes easier to stay balanced without wobbling. When one part moves, all parts move. So... to remain centered - balanced - as one part goes rises, something else sinks. We can play with this by lifting a leg and trying to feel our awareness become lighter in the lifted leg and heavier in the rooted leg. Find the flow linking all the sweet-spots of balance. In band I thought it was the group dynamic that helped me avoid stage fright at concerts, and certainly that helped, but I think it was mainly that when I was performing all that really mattered to me was being in the moment with the music I was creating. I also had trouble talking to people... pretty much anyone. I would have trouble composing my thoughts and was constantly second guessing what the right thing to say was, generally being so focused on what others thought of me and trying to adapt to their needs and calculate what they needed to hear, that I couldn't really be myself. Over time I discovered that it was this over-eagerness to be something for others that prevented me from being myself. And it was taiji that showed me what it felt like to actually be inside of myself. Once I had experienced the feelings of deep natural breathing and relaxed centeredness, I also started noticing I was able to converse with people more naturally. It took some conscious work to break free of the old energetic habits, but I became able to express myself spontaneously from my own inner being without second guessing or needing to think about what to say. But of course it is also important to read one's audience and make adjustments on the fly, but that comes with practice. First one needs to know one's self. I recall Abraham Lincoln being known for giving speeches to the corn fields. It all seems related to practicing one's inner truth until it is natural. The actor who becomes the character wins more praise than the actor performing for the audience. It is generally easy to tell someone about something we are intimately familiar with and truly excited to share, because it comes from within.

In chinese medicine the heart is considered the sovereign, while the pericardium is considered the guardian of the heart; the heart protector. In many stories of life, it is common for what is true to be hidden and protected by what is false. It is not so at first, but may easily become so. What is precious and vulnerable becomes protected and guarded by the proper measures. The sovereign has its palace, the palace walls and guards, and the many ministers and policy makers and assistants in the governship of a large country. The sovereign is still the heart of decisions that are made, but in a complicated ecosystem the orchestration and effective application of governship become woven into a many layered tapestry designed to effectively deal with every possible outcome and harmonize any possible conflict. All of these orchestrations allow the sovereign the freedom necessary to lead a rich and healthy life. And yet, just as an overly available sovereign might be vulnerable and exposed, and an overly taxed sovereign might be have a hard time maintaining their health, and overly protected sovereign may easily lose touch with one's kingdom, and thus the inner truth is separate from the outer body. In such a situation, where the inside is separated from the outside, the inside remains, yet the outside does not reach it, and yet still the outside is regulated by the existing regulations which are policed and judged based upon rigid parameters. These parameters meet with many challenges as the weight of the changing world rests upon their measure, and yet who is there able to truly and objectively decide the appropriate interpretation in application of their use upon ever changing circumstances? Who except the inner heart of the realm could ever truly know the proper course? Thus when the true sovereign at the heart is hidden and unreachable, the changes are managed by the ministers and other wielders of power - power that is no longer checked by the sovereign. Thus these changers make change based upon what they deem appropriate, even without being aware of the whole, and thus the momentum of the country is steered by inherent bias. Both the ego that comes from rules that do not connect to the center, in the role of the pericardium (heart protector), and the true sovereign (heart) are associated with the phase of fire. Fire and Water are the nozzles of creation, and together they have proclivity to merge profound vitality with divine inspiration, leading to the manifestation of the diverse realms within which we breathe. Hidden within Fire and Water are the original true yin and true yang. There are many layers of the expression of Fire and Water, but it is the deepest, most central layers of Fire and Water within any whole which connect to the original root. Thus the importance of the central Fire gains its gift of divine inspiration and ability to correctly govern the whole, from its relationship to central Water, for between them is dao. The many layers of Water may be seen in the many shapes and forms within the land - the central Water to which the sovereign is bound is the life-force of the land itself. The land and the king are one. When usurpers rule and do not connect to the heart, how are they prepared to nurture the life-force upon which the entire kingdom depends? The fire that does not listen for the proper measure is wild and may easily and quickly damage the life force. In alchemy it is said to control mercury with lead. Mercury represents the easily wandering, curious and spontaneous clever nature of the mind. Lead represents the essence of life and existence which is profound in its vitality and apt to carry and become weighed down. When lead and mercury rest upon each other, what is heavy becomes lighter, purer, while what is spontaneous and flighty, when faced with its own true essence of life comes to nurture and govern the wholeness of its soul. Fire, Water, Mind, Body, Mercury, Lead - all of these symbols share a proclivity to rise up or sink down. Within the momentum of creation, the light emanates out to rest upon the heavy of something external, even as the heavy draws in something external to unite with. In this way that which has been created merge with other creations and there is ever new creation. In this way too, there is the cycle of death and life. To nurture a lasting whole, simply turn around creation, for what one seeks already exists within. When what was rising and what was sinking meet each other instead of something external, what seems to have been lost has now been found.

In dissolving the labyrinth of one's own creation, it is helpful to see the walls. In reading the destination of one's momentum, it is helpful to recall the steps one walked. When lost, simply look for the heart, and tread sincerely the path of balance.

There is the saying where sincerity is, the way is open. Sincerity comes from the shaping of intent. This is related to the earth phase of the five phases, and is related to one's center. Thus it is easy to see how we may use intention to open the door into returning to the central way, where we may find the dao. But one may be sincere in many ways, may shape one's intent in many ways. In doing so in ways that do not revolve around the center that lies within, this intent may be something external. When intention is placed upon something external, it develops an external momentum as well. The magnitude of the sincerity of this intent determines how much weight that momentum has, determines its intensity. The way is open in the direction that sincerity is placed, and thus it is shaped. When one encounters the boundary of another's intense shaping, one is pushed aside unless one's own intent is able to block it, and then we might have conflict. This is counter to the idea that in energy healing work, the more primordial, refined and universal one's energy is, the more it may be utilized by one's patient as if it were their own. Shaping of intent may be hard and piercing, or soft and unpenetratable - are there limits to that which may be shaped? Extreme momentums depend upon fuel however, and as such are limited. Thus any way might be opened with sincerity, yet only the central way is eternal. External ways may make waves, yet inevitable meet with conflict, while what is firm within and soft without may slip through the external world in peaceful harmony, undeniably present yet mysteriously ungraspable.

Confidence and fear are qualities related to water, while the nature of expression is related to fire and the nature of curiosity is related to earth. To stabilize one's own mind, regulate it with the breath of deep abdominal breathing - one does this beginning with one's own attentiveness, and this is earth controlling water to control fire. The wandering mind can be equated to wood, wood gives birth to the fire of the expression of thoughts within the mind, which in turn give birth to the earth of wandering attention. When speaking in public, one is given the attention of one's audience, and with it one stands within this attention and all of its qualities. This earth of attention controls one's water of confidence, stability and wisdom; one's foundation. This earth of attention can be loose and unstable, or firm and stolid. In public speaking, if the attention one finds one's self suddenly immersed in becomes too much, it may easily overcome one's ability to stand firm and confidently. Thus it is best for one to center one's self in one's own attention and regulate one's own breathing, taking back control over one's water of confidence and building a proper foundation. Thus grounded and nurtured, on is able to effectively control one's own wandering nature and the expression of one's speech. The key is sincerity and grounding that overcomes the awareness of the sudden increase of attention given by others. The attention - earth - of others easily gives birth to metal, the sensitivity to the attention, the need to process and assimilate what one has stepped into. It can easily become overwhelming to fully digest and can block the transformation of metal into water, creating stagnation and freezing one's flow. If instead one is able to absorb the attention without discrimination, unconditionally, one may take this gift of attention as fuel to one's confidence as it transforms from metal into water, so that one may focus not upon what one is receiving, but upon how to shape that which one wishes to share. This may seem complex, but it is just part of the cycle of all things, and is found within every breath. We may not always be able to fully discern how to navigate this in greatest of flow, and thinking about it in detail may not be helpful either. Instead if one is able to do some exercising that will help regulate one's energy cycles and can break up and process blockages. Doing this before one faces external challenges might help navigate those challenges.

Yang and Yin, Heaven and Earth Light and Matter, Light and Heavy Their duality conveys a deeper unity. Is it dark, or can we just not see it? dao de jing 14, Jonathan Star Eyes look but cannot see it Ears listen but cannot hear it Hands grasp but cannot touch it Beyond the senses lies the great Unity -- invisible, inaudible, intangible What rises up appears bright What settles down appears dark Yet there is neither darkness nor light just an unbroken dance of shadows From nothingness to fullness and back again to nothingness This formless form This imageless image cannot be grasped by mind or might Try to face it In what place will you stand? Try to follow it To what place will you go? Know That which is beyond all beginnings and you will know everything here and now Know everything in this moment and you will know the Eternal Tao ---- In qigong, when I embrace the light/yang/heaven, it isn't sunshine. And yet it feels similar. The extremes of matter and light are just that, extremes. Between them, within their unified states, is where things become subtle. Just like the diversity of life on this planet. In the subtle, there are new layers of yin and yang, perhaps like those we feel in qigong. Between them, in the unity precluded of those dualities, there are yet new layers, even more subtle. The deeper it goes, the more mysterious, the more hidden, the more all encompassing and unified. For the inner contains the seed of the outer. In terms of angels and immortals, are they not simply beings that exist within the subtler layers? Do we not hear of all manner of spiritual beings among us? Do we not even hear of angles who have embodied? It is said there is a heavy layer of our soul and a light layer - upon death they separate, and within the subtle there are earthly ghosts and spiritual ghosts. And yet, if these pieces of soul could be merged to a greater degree, then upon death perhaps there would be less separation, and a unified embodiment of that soul would exist as a more subtle being within a more unified layer of reality. To me it all follows the same pattern, and resonates within reason. But don't let my words paint your beliefs for you. Even mine change over time, as the subtleties pervade... :)

Thank you. My question stemmed from hearing about something in Wang Liping's seminar meditation sessions. As one gets uncomfortable, one is allowed to move the upper body, but is not to move one's legs, even after they fall asleep. I suppose different methods can work for different schools. I had an experience which resonates more with what you are describing here. During a particularly empty period in cultivation, it was as though my emptiness was guarding against contamination of the fullness of yin. Then in class one day we were doing some standing meditation during which it felt like my emptiness/fullness were coming into a completion. The energy of yin was full, yet as nothing, and the stillness with which I rested upon it permeated throughout my whole. As we transitioned from standing into taijiquan, I moved from this place, and the entire form was an exploration of stillness within movement that is beyond my ability to convey in words. Nothing blocked, nothing forced. After this my meridians seemed to have opened up into a continuous flow of qi which continued for months day and night. Edit: Perhaps it is unusual to experience predominately yin cultivation in qigong practices, I don't know. Of course it was the standing in stillness where yin culminated and perhaps I entered the gate... and then the taijiquan was very trance-like. In bazi I lack wood and fire, and in early cultivation stages I tend to be more yin. After experimenting with caffeine my qigong experience changed considerably; there was a more natural balance of yang with the yin, and the yin did not naturally come to completion.

Is kun turning to fu related to when a body part falls asleep and then begins tingling?

Interesting find. I wonder if it has something to do with Sean's changes in the code to make "Like" become "Thank you".

Oh, another full moon thread. I was under the impression the ways of dao preclude the conceptual, and therefor all ism's, including the ism of dao. Of course quite literally there is no doubt my impressions - all of them - are incorrect and will give others infinite foundations from which to reflect perspectives, few of which have the probability of making any attempt at merging the parts into the whole. All lineages come from the same root. The ways back are as varied as the dao. In harmony, we see acceleration of unification. In the proclamation of righteousness we see division within unity. The nature of right and wrong, such delicious paradox..... brings the following scene to light.... here we have mysterious forces at play, where one ancient being, still exploring the purpose, or perhaps possibility, of his birth-given powers, creates a gateway to elemental-darkness and gifts it to his beloved, a mortal monarch of a species named tiste. In response, one of his kin appears to bestow a gift a light, and as allegiances within the mortal kingdom polarize, the skin of some turns black, of others white. As momentum unfolds, those of the dark do very little, seemingly content in exploration of receptivity, while those of the light use the brilliance of their perspective to righteously proclaim all else unworthy, birthing a blinding crusade upon the dark, and every shadow cast between.... and yet, is everything as clear to the light as it seems? 'Do you know, then, Mother Dark's mind?' The First Son's laugh was bitter, and then he said, 'She has her Consort. Is this not plain enough? But then a kinswoman of yours, Azathanai, flung a burning brand into the haystack. Andii [dark] and now Liosan [light] - we are a people divided, and I cannot but believe that was your Azathanai's intent, to see us weakened. And I must wonder, why?' 'Look to Draconus for an answer to that, First Son.' 'Draconus? Why him?' 'He has brought Dark to the Tiste.' 'The Terondai on the Citadel's floor? No. The Azathanai named T'riss had already done her damage by then.' 'The Gate, which I suppose we must now call Kurald Galain, is an iteration of control,' Caladan replied, 'over a force that was and remains pervasive, existing as it does in opposition to Chaos.' 'To Chaos? Not Light?' 'Light, if you would consider this, is an absolution of Chaos. In its purity it finds order, with substance and hue. This is how Chaos seeks, in its own fashion, its own obliteration.' 'I do not understand you, Caladan. You speak of these elemental forces as if they possessed will.' 'No, only proclivity. Name any force and, with sufficient contemplation, you will discern that it cannot exist alone. Other forces act upon it, make demands of it, and even alter the edges of its own nature. This is Creation's dialogue, but even then, what seems but opposition, of two forces set against one another, is in truth a multitude of interactions, of voices. Perhaps dialogue is the wrong word. Think more of a tumult, a cacophony. Each force seeks to impose its own rhythm upon all of Creation, and what results may well seem disordered, but I assure you, First Son, this chorus makes music. For those willing or able to hear.' Fall of Light, Steven Erikson Does not this music have many flavours, many appropriate timings, and is not its tapestry woven upon the entirety of the fabric of dao? How does the ascendancy of the solo cultivator relate to the collective ascendancy of an entire species achieving a critical mass, and what is the merit of weighing them upon the same scale?

Tao Te Ching: Chapter 67 translated by Timothy Freke (1999) People say that my talk of Tao is all well and good, but it doesn't relate to anything! But this is precisely what makes it so important. Tao doesn't 'relate' to anything, because Tao 'is' everything! I have three qualities that I treasure and hold close: Love, simplicity, and daring not to put myself before others. From love comes courage. From simplicity comes generosity. From daring not to be first, comes leadership. People today want to be courageous, but not because of love. They want to be generous, but not through simplicity. They want to lead, but not with humility. This is hopeless. In conflict it is love that wins. Love is the strongest protection. If you have love, it is as if Heaven itself were keeping you safe. A good guide doesn't insist. A good employer doesn't push people around. A good competitor isn't angry, and if they win they aren't vindictive. Natural Goodness doesn't struggle, it brings out the best in people. In ancient times this was called 'Heaven's Way.'

dao de jing zhuangzi yi jing less is more. be sure to investigate principle thoroughly, but also beware carrying yourself away from the mystery. where sincerity is, the way is open.

listen to the back Interesting how the ears - which are kinda shaped like kidneys - are somewhat close to the top of the spine, while the kidneys are on lower down. They say the ears are related to the moon and to k'an (water), which is the element of the kidneys. The water phase represents our source of original vital essence, and we continually draw upon it until it becomes depleted, in our forward moving acceleration. We are so fueled by the adrenaline that pulls upon this source that we seem to forget we can also return. Interesting how water is related to the emotions of confidence and fear. How fear often triggers adrenaline and keeps us running, keeps us alive, keeps the spine flexed, tense. On the other hand, true confidence comes from the ability to be deeply relaxed in any situation, able to remain in connection with the deepest layers of ourselves, the valley spirit that never dies, without drawing it away from itself.

Here? Cycling... round and round... And yet sometimes those cyclings shoot off as wide arcs, speeding out beyond where any others can reach, and suddenly, alone, unreachable. Then cycling back into the fray, and, sometimes, able to keep it all as one, cycling alone yet right in the thick of things, whole and united, undivided... often, for me, it takes being willing to return within, and over time I find my way cycles in convergence with others... until I forget to remain within and create some trauma that pushes it all away again. we each have our own balance to find that often requires surrendering the desires of the usurper within. beauty and richness some with being able to converge upon greater harmony as we rest upon all that is - it takes unconditional acceptance. traumas get imprinted deep within, carried along until they get stirred up by something able to penetrate those depths. they get stirred up and often triggered by extreme behavior similar to what caused them, and yet... gentleness can reach those depths too. gentleness, sincere, consistent, practiced every day, over many days, begins to reach our core. in this way we can learn to reach within to that trauma and with gentle, loving acceptance, let it be free. it takes deep inner strength to hold the connection, and our challenge is to do so gently, without intensity, but with most unwavering intent. blessings and sincerity

To me dao is everywhere, just out of sight. I can look in its direction anywhere I go, it can never be lost. It is right there, yet in its mysteriousness and subtlety it is ever out of reach. We emerged from it, yet how do we return to it? Like and inhale and an exhale, all things come to completion. Yet they say the universe is still expanding - not from one place but from everywhere, simultaneously. Perhaps the other side of this universal breath will at some point unfold to return. But where did it come from? Where is it going? They says the concept of hundun is somewhat like a primordial soup preceding the creation of the universe, where the energies pour out into expression and creation. From this central realm perhaps it then unfolds into the interstellar medium and into nebulae and so on. Along the way things become more and more separated, even as they become more unique. Many extremes are explored where there is little change or exchange for long periods of time. Sometime there are collisions, explosions, implosions - more extremes. We have our massive starts that end their life as a supernova emitting massive amounts of light and outward waves and then becoming black holes to suck it all back in again. And we have our smaller star cycles that do something of an in between, becoming dense internally and creating nebulae externally. All is a dance of balance. When one extreme culminates the seed of the other extreme is born and grows, back and forth. We come from the center, how do we return to that center? It must take much refinement and harmonization of these energies to create these conditions. Many might think we are only talking about atoms and matter and mass here. But spirit is vital to this equation and follows these principles as well, on the lighter end of things. And then there is the manifest, and the mysterious, the obvious and the subtle. The dao is hidden within the mysterious, so if we only study the manifestations, we do not return to it. And if we only return to the dao alone, we abandon the manifestations. Ever desireless, one can see the mystery. Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations. From our perspective here on earth, we can easily learn to see into either side. How did this come to be? Life. Along with our heavy and light, we have that balanced place that is in between. This is qi. It is energy. It exists everywhere and is like the friction between all things as they change, something like a glue connecting things to the center. Nothing can go too far to one extreme without dying and transforming into the other. Life is what happens when there is enough balance between enough of the extremes. Ballance between heavy and light, hot and cold, wet and dry, stable and unstable, movement and stillness, light and dark, etc, etc. At first it is very delicate, but over time, as long as the conditions are stable, it grows. As conditions change, it changes. When these conditions are found on a large, receptive body, it grows to cover that body. Over the aeons, all of these life forms that emerge over the changes come to interact with each other, press upon each other, vie for the resources that sustains their life and continued growth. That's the thing though... there isn't enough for them all to grow indefinitely - they become each others checks and balances, allowing each to find ways to slowly attempt to overcome each other. In old growth forests these checks and balances are so established and refined that a refined energy emerges. This is where the medicinal plants that are more sensitive to conditions emerge, like ginseng. Then, in this environment, the qi that is between things has become increasingly refined to the point where a new foundation is formed for even more subtle life to emerge. The energetic flow within the forest, and between the forests, through the mountains and valleys becomes established and stabilized, allowing energy centers to build and grow, connecting deeply to within the earth, connecting to far off lands, recycling, refining, communicating. Each new layer of refinement that emerges is constrained to this environment and its cycles. The more it tries to grow in a linear way, the more it is shaped by and forced to adapt to the circularity of its container, which leads to increased refinement, which leads to increased diversity and potential for even more refinement. The finer things become, the finer the energy becomes and the more we begin to merge the manifest back into the mystery, allowing the mystery to nurture the manifest in deeper ways, unfolding into more refined and balanced life that merges deeper with the mystery. The more this pattern continues, the more it connects the universe back to the central realms, and to dao. It is said that thousands of years and decades ago these central realms were within reach. That the energy was so potent that sickness was hard to find. That qi today isn't what it used to be. And so on. What happened? With the increasing refinement, the human species emerges. It is able to become a predator like no other predator. Previously a predator would only kill for food, not for sport, would take the sick and already dying, not the healthiest and strongest. Would only live in the moment, taking as they needed. Previously predators who reached the top of the food chain still had other checks and balances to prevent their total domination of the food chain. The human species was able to learn to do these things. The stronger it became, the more it learned to buffer itself from living in the moment. Preservation of food meant it could stay healthy and full of energy longer and with greater certainty, but also allowed it to kill more than it needed to, whenever it wanted to. Building of fences, roofs, walls, floors, allowed it to protect itself from checks and balances from other predators, giving yet more certainty to survival. Agriculture allowed it to cut down the forest and wall off its own large section of earth to grow food according to it's own desires and for its own consumption, completely removing it from the natural cycle of the food chain. This continued to snowball as the human species refined its tools and ability to destroy nature and use those resources to further its race against other humans for power. At first this wasn't noticeable, but today it should be easily noted by everyone. We have covered the earth with fields for growing artificially altered crops, have turned large portions of the earth into desert where qi cannot flow like it does in the forests. We have turned much of the ocean into a giant repository for trash and sewage, have mined much of the earth's precious crystals and minerals responsible for energy refinement, turned trees into sheets to encode countless words to be read by minds that scare away the spiritual energy that likes stillness, have sensationalized violence and sexuality in ways that may be encoded into us over and over again, continuously rebroadcasting these energetic messages that encourage the lustful consumption of resources within and without in the name of winning the battle to get ahead of one's neighbors. It's a dog eat dog world, even though an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. Well blind we are, and our habituated momentum has charted a course for extreme stagnation and separation of energy. And of course this is fine, and perfectly natural. But can we see how we have left behind the refined and highly harmonized place that once, not too long ago, allowed our planetary energies to connect back so deeply into the mysterious? Today, even if one steps out of the way of all that, can one live a human life that does not contribute to this continue momentum in some way? Can one cultivate one's own refined energy in such a way that is not immediately exploited by the greed of society? How does one heal others without simply enabling some people to succeed over others in the rat race that continues to feed upon nature? How does one encourage discussion of these matters without contributing to the mentalization of spiritual energy that is chased away when there is not mental openness and stillness? The discussions tend to be endless and lead more toward fighting against the worst offenders. Fighting can create checks and balances, but opposition creates a polarization that maintains the current paradigm when it is evenly matched, but often simply entrenches the stronger side of an imbalanced equation, arming it and giving it further protection from future attacks. How does one be a part of the system without feeding it? How does one participate in the manifestations without losing connection to the mysterious? I think the universe can return to itself through places that support the potential of high refinement, like here on earth. I see how immortal daoists have used the potential here to return their soul to the central realms, but they abandon their shells and ultimately disconnect, abandoning their potential to nurture that connection that so few are able to make. Walking in ziran for eternity, rooted in dao, ever flowing in harmonious dance between heaven and earth, perhaps in time humanity too might come to return to dao. So perhaps the answer to all of this is rooted in de (power/virtue): The overall concept here is related to the separation of heavy and light. It is natural for one to sink and the other to rise, leading to separation. When we bring the awareness of the light down to the heavy, they return to each other. Over time they heal one another and become more pure. In this purity, there is naturally external influence that invites others to follow one's example, without saying a word.

Thank you for the replies. I'm a fan of Steven Erikson's writing. Think Tolkien crossed with Martin. Reading through his latest, Fall of Light, I discover he explores this theme quite thoroughly. The concepts of the cosmological expansion of source into dark and light and shadow are explored through the unfolding of an industrial society. The setting is one of fantasy, and yet the implications run deep into all-encompassing profundity, particularly as related to the intentional shapings of civilizations that mark a choice to diverge from the pre-existing paradigms of Nature. Here's a seed from the book: In my mulling upon the five phase relationships, it took some time to comprehend the nature of fire-to-earth-to-metal. From one perspective each of these are laid out as part of the circle, each creating the next. From another earth is held as the center within the four directions. I came to understand how the whole cycle is simply a rise and fall, expansion and return. Here our central earth never changes, for our fire simply marks the peak of the expansion. However, when fire becomes its own creation, it does not return to its original center, rather, it creates a new center. We can see this as the spark of life within the container of any living entity at the inception of its life. The so-called "ego" is created when this spark presumes to do more than serve its internal role in maintaining the circulation around its own center and projects that fire externally. It is one thing for us to project fire externally, from our individual centers. It is quite another to create a new external fire, which now creates yet a new center, one that serves to separate human nature from the rest of nature. Chop wood, carry water.... and yet what does this fire-wood feed? This thread arose from what might have been curiosity related to the morals surrounding cultivation work. Cultivation work is said to improve health and, before too long, generate heat from within. If we are going to presume to do something, and we need to generate heat to survive cold weather, I ponder at the difference between creating an external fire, and cultivating one's internal fire. Personally I am rather drawn to the idea and potential for leaving behind the need to fan the flames of humanity's decision to separate from its original home.

Haha... so I was asked to make this thread by copying over a post I made here, as is. Guess I missed the as-is part. To me they are both the same. Anyway, here is the original: To me dao is everywhere, just out of sight. I can look in its direction anywhere I go, it can never be lost. I think from birth I've recognized that the rest of society doesn't get it.... that the trajectory of this 15,000 year stretch of human momentum has left behind the refined cycles of balance that connect to dao. The life on this planet had grown so refined, so refined and harmonious as to be ripe with manifestations of the mysterious, the point where our species comes around and has some say in the matter. Only instead of continuing to flow with the harmony and refinement and allowing the natural potential to continue to unfold, we get in the way. This is fine for a while, until eventually we got in the way so much that we broke the natural systems of refinement and the whole thing is changed in a way that required large lengths of time to fully recover from. Only in the mean time the seed has been planted and the self-serving-decisions-at-the-expence-of-others continues on and on, and over time little things break here and there, and the refinement becomes coarse in some places, stagnant or dead in some places, sick in others. This momentum continues, and while the conditions are still ripe for allowing the mystery to unfold into manifestation and connecting manifestation back into the mystery, while the dao is still right there, we've come to often exploit this potential while we still follow the momentum of self-serving behavior. So there are many ways of cultivating that can heal, both internally and externally, but often I sense it is easy to fall into the timing of that other momentum of self-serving behavior. So much is simply timing that leads to synchronicity. What is it synchronizing with, and does this momentum lead to dao, or does it support exploiting the refined environment we were born to? ZhuangZi has an interesting exploration of this with Robber Zhi, who kills people, eats them, steals, and in general hacks away at the established kingdom of humanity. And yet from his perspective, the kingdom of humanity is doing the same to the surrounding web of life, so what he leads is virtuous. ZhuangZi calls both sides perverted, and generally asks why we participate in these games of scope and leverage rather than simply resting upon one's own natural flow between heaven and earth. Perhaps it is OK to start with the deliberate cultivation, but one still needs to avoid the traps of deliberate cultivation that aligns with self-serving momentum. There are so many ways the established human momentum drains the balanced refinement of our environment. Just look at our food sources and waste practices. Most of us who are on the internet are contributing more to this than not, whether they cultivate or not. Though it seems like rene just uses a phone, haha! In any case, there are too many questions to really answer them all correctly, not when doing so means being a lot more mental than is healthy either! Spirit likes stillness, not thinking. So all just back to simply resting on the harmonious flow between heaven and earth. If we trust the dao and flow with it in our intention, we will find the way.

Expanded and refined here.