Daeluin

Opening the Dragon Gate (tl Cleary), ch 10:

Liu Yiming, Cultivating the Tao, (tl. Pregadio), Ch 3:

And yes, the richer life becomes, the more sensitive one is - sensitive to more refined energies and all their harmonies and clashes, and the more difficult it is to face the world with equanimity. But I do not believe hiding from the world is the answer - perhaps hiding within the world, at the very heart....

Giving up the ego is not giving up on life. As my ego dissolves I find myself returning to innocence, open, humble, everything I face is full of life and so am I. The goal isn't to give up this richness of life - it is to enter completely into it, and to maintain it with equanimity, ever retaining finding balance amidst the ups and downs. At least, this is my perspective.

Trust yourself. The answers are within.

Awakening to the Tao, Liu Yiming, Thomas Cleary: This is not a title, it is a state. Like enlightenment. Once one becomes the valley spirit and slips beyond the mysterious barrier, one goes beyond the illusion and connects to what is real. From http://neijiaquan.co.uk/Taoism.htm The Wikipedia page has a great deal of info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhenren

Read the Tao Te Ching. Feel the chapters. Be introspective. Re-Read it. Move your body slowly. Listen to what your body tells you. Explore different speeds. How does moving fast compare with moving slow? How fast? How slow? How long do you explore before reaching a conclusion? What happens when you do it longer? What happens when you stand still for 10 minutes? What happens when you stand still after exercising? Start to interact with yourself on a deeper level. Try changing little things about your life and listen to hear how those tiny ripples grow over time. Qi is what changes and transforms when Yin and Yang interact. Yin and Yang are simply polarity. As a human we have many polarities. One perspective is of Spirit and Body united as one. As we are formed, these two rub against each other and manifest as vapors and fluids which circulate through the body. The same can be seen in the wind an the rain, the oceans, aquifers, thunder and lightning, the way they all embrace the land as it changes in different ways. Qi flows in cycles, and spirals. The Winter is cold, water is frozen; Summer is hot, water melts, evaporates, dissipates to all corners. These changes are gradual, cyclical. The moon's light and tidal pulls. Follow these cycles, observe to see how you act differently at different times. Simplify your life to enable feeling these things more powerfully. Complicated living deafens our awareness of powerful forces. Rest hands over bellybutton - perhaps just under. Breathe and feel your hands rise and fall. Do this every day to increase your awareness of Qi, to deepen your breath, to increase balance. Examine your life. Do you force things to happen when obstacles arise? Do you give in under pressures? How can you hold your ground without sacrificing harmony? Learn to be firm inside and supple outside. When attacked, learn to yield, letting the attack slip past, remaining whole. When opposing something, we become that which maintains it. Power struggles are often struggles because neither side wants to lose. It is easy to forget that no one needs to lose. It is easy to attach to extremes. The center is subtle and elusive. Spend time in nature. Be natural, naturally. Come to know yourself fully before thinking you are able to know others. What is simple is powerful. Learn to let go. Return to yourself.

Perhaps in some way De is the Yang, active manifestation of Tao. When we control its use or allow it to wane, this is inferior de. But when we wrap this active power in emptiness, it is returned to Yin. Non-doing protects it until this yin and yang merge and one returns. To the OP, studying is important. It is a tool. But knowledge is limitless - our lives have limits. Knowledge can disguise what our heart knows. Knowledge can empower the human mind to dominate the mind of tao. Knowledge can judge, but cannot live. Use knowledge to eventually transcend knowledge. Never forget the heart. Cultivate intuition along with knowledge. Use both to find your way.

Everything is immortal Everything can be traced back to one origin Everything will transform and change Life and Death do not sever something from this origin Becoming a true person is simply stepping into embodied awareness of this.

In the classics this is usually called a real human, and is reachable by any number of methods, including taoist.

Nor would the people of a city positioned under an erupting volcano. Without expectation we face our environment and do our best. Then we die, come back, and do it again. Wailing against injustice hardly makes things better. Zhuangzi advises we not struggle against getting our hand cut off. It is just a hand. What point in attaching to it? We always have our center. There will be many who manifest their ambitions using force. To oppose something maintains it. To change something, drain the polarity. This is can be done by going another way. The taoist way is ever subtle and invisible, slipping between the cracks, yielding to the violent battling forces and remaining whole and at peace, even in the midst of war. There are many people with many destinies. Some may find tao. Some may be faced with other things to do on their path to greater balance. It is important for us to trust our heart to lead the way - our own unique way.

Polarization is a common theme in the unfolding of tao into the ten thousand. At the birth of each new layer or dimension is the polarization of the previous layer. In Eva Wong's translation of The Teachings of Immortals Chung and Lu, a commentary on the Ling Bao Bi Fa: This is a system to describe any unfolding of the primordial into a complex dynamic of the interaction of yin and yang, five phases, 6 energies, and so on. It is very subtle and complicated, but follows definite principles. We have Change. Anything can divide into yin or yang. And we have the root, the origin, the center, that which lies between any polarization. Something polarizes into yin and yang, but between that yin and yang, where they meet each other and rub against each other, we have a third - that which is between. This is Qi. So our yin and yang have a third, Qi, and this is the three part relationship described above as yin interacts with yang. Simultaneously we have the polarization of yin and yang into the four forces, or the four directions. Lesser yang, Greater yang, Lesser yin, Greater yin. And in between them the Center. These are the five elements. Simultaneously we have the polarization of the 3 into 6. Which ALSO is described by the six trigrams that are not all yang or all yin. These are the six qi's. And in between each of these lines are again the five elements, AND from another perspective their unified center, the seventh. The 4 forces polarize to become 8, which are ALSO the 8 trigrams.... and you get the idea. This is where taoism's study of nature is VERY simple, but complex beyond intellectualization. The He Tu and Luo Shu diagrams each depict a different arrangement of the 8 trigrams, and the key to understanding the operation of these arrangements perhaps comes from how the 8 trigrams can manifest from different roots and in different contexts. The four forces can be used to understand cycles, the beginning, culmination, return, and completion. But often, especially on our planet, there is no complete cycle - we are constantly in motion. Draw a circle on a piece of paper, as perfectly as you can. It isn't a circle, it is a spiral. The beginning and ending occurred at different moments in time and space - you are moving, and where the ending met the beginning is not where the beginning actually began. This is an important concept in studying change - the awareness of the spiralling nature of everything. ############################################## In the 8 trigrams we have 8 elemental forces. Each of these forces represent a type of transformation in progress. There is a beginning, a middle, and an end, over time. The beginning is usually subordinate, the middle in a position of integrity, and the end is retiring. The truth lies at the heart, and the birth and death are not the truth, but important in shaping the truth. Ch'ien, Heaven, all yang ☰, represents potential energy, firmness, strength. But remember this potential is untouched and pure until it changes through the invitation by the space yin offers it. Together the two embrace and change each other. When yin enters at the bottom of two yangs, we call this wind, sun ☴. Wind is yin in nature, allowing itself to be lead how the differences in temperature direct, without using force, yet with the potential to un-root the two yangs above it. As gentle as wind may be, it may also penetrate to the deepest depths, should circumstances draw upon it so. In the pre-heaven arrangement wind follows upon heaven, stirring up the heavenly energy and circulating it to all corners. The first yin is receptive and docile, and yet the power, firmness and latent potential energy of the two yang lines find it difficult to resist this invitation to dissipate and achieve equilibrium with their surroundings. When this yang finds itself stirred around to all corners by the yin, we have k'an, water ☵. Here we have the true yang in the center, being transported by yin at the beginning and end. The word "k'an" means pit, as one might fall into, and here yang has fallen into this pit and here it gathers. Water gathers at the lowest point and slowly builds, ever flowing to the lowest point, ever held up by the yin below, ever kept separate by the yin above. Water signifies wisdom and desire and represents the jing. Even as this true yang is drawn into one pit, so too it may be drawn into another, hence the dynamic of desire and ambition, and the nature of reproduction, where the true yang desires to find a home in the body of another. When this gathered yang stills we call it mountain, ken ☶. The two yins are kept still by the firmness of the yang above. Even though the top yang is weak and retiring, it allows the true yin inside to find stillness. If the top line is weak and the yin does not want to be still and receptive, the seal is incomplete. In the heart of stillness we have earth, k'un, the receptive, all yin ☷. Here we have true receptivity, as in space or time, which invite and receive the yang energies. But in the pre-heaven arrangement, our true yin at the heart contains a remnant of true yang hidden inside. Perhaps this may be seen in the substance of a planet or body. Earth is receptive to Heaven and allows creation to manifest upon its surface unconditionally. When stillness culminates yang arises at the bottom and we have chen, thunder ☳. Here we have the growth of wood in it's yang, active stage, where yang is forceful and unimpeded by the receptivity of the two yin lines above. These two yin lines receive the powerful impact of the burst of force below them and are aroused into activity, and our still earth begins to move. When active below and active above, what is true in the center burns, radiating in all directions. The nature of the burn depends on the contents of the true yin at the heart of fire ☲. This fire is also called li, which means separation, and signifies how the true yang it once contained as ch'ien was sucked into the pi of k'an and replaced by the true yin of k'un. Fire represents illumination and clarity, and in the body is the heart and shen. When fire is used to heat the water, qi arises following the dynamics of the six forces, and the true yang trapped within the water and the true yin trapped within the fire can be extracted and refined and circulated in internal alchemy. When firm internally and receptive on the surface, we have tui, lake, or swamp ☱. Here we have internal potential and the invitation to joyously spend it externally. This is the dynamic of instant gratification and delayed gratification. When one's potential expresses forcefully what has been gathered is quickly spent. However when one's potential is conserved and the invitation is met with equanimity and receptivity, we transition from the dynamic of doing into that of non-doing, whereby the yin flexibly merges and yields in answer to the external forces in the world and the yang remains firm and preserved internally. Over time the yin settles and stills and transforms back into yang, returning us to the Heavenly trigram and completing the pre-heaven arrangement. This pre-heaven arrangement describes the ebb and flow of yin and yang, where these forces operate in harmony with each other. The yang and yin interact but ultimately return back to their primal states. In the post-heaven arrangement however these forces mate with each other based on the operation of fire and water and the interaction of mass and light. We still operate with yin and yang, but the true yin and yang have been captured and sealed within the dynamic of k'an and li, and will not return to their primordial states unless coaxed to follow the pre-heaven transformations. The post-heaven dynamics describe how things evolve and transform in ever more complex structures, which is why they are used heavily in feng shui, divination, and martial arts. ############################################## These are merely my own incomplete musings on the taoist cosmology and the eight trigrams. There are many descriptions of them to be found and undoubtedly I've left out some important bits or left confusing residue from an incomplete understanding. Ultimately I believe one needs to feel these forces internally, not mentally. It is very important to understand the 8 trigrams, as they are the foundation of the 64 hexagrams. While there are different ways to perceive the six lines of the hexagrams, a simple way is one trigram on the inside which meets another trigram on the outside. Like the heavenly energy of the earth in the form of magma pushing forth and held within by the crust of the earth, represented by the mountain. Should the seal represented by the mountain prove an inadequate match to the pressure of the strong yang force below, the force is no longer contained and bursts out from the mountain top. Wind under Mountain represents the cleansing and repair of something internal, and Wind under Earth represents invitation to rise up into openness. Wind under Water is able to push the Water up, as a Well, while Wind over Water dissipates the water. Each dynamic is unique and should not be dismissed as one entity - each line should be investigated to understand how important each role is to the over all change. If the second line in Wind under Water is weak, the lining of the well will be compromised and the Wind unable to create the pressure that brings the water to the surface (iirc). Each yin line represents stillness under influence to move. Each yang line represents firmness that is under pressure to move. So when reading into a given situation, one examines the components involved and is able to identify key factors, where if a yang line is weak and can become stronger, one would achieve the dynamic of that hexagram, but if that yang line is so conditioned and no longer has the energy to remain firm, it begins to operate more in a yin role, and achieves the type of change represented by that hexagram. If one is able to read deeply into the hexagrams, one can identify how things operate and see how they might tend to change over time, and their potential for alternate courses of change, should certain key components become reinforced. The hexagrams represent a beautiful and profound way of exploring the interactions of complex forces amidst myriad layers of unfolding changes, but the 8 primal forces are at their heart. The more deeply one understands the 8 trigrams, 4 forces, and 5 phases, the more profound the 64 hexagrams become. Studying the 64 hexagrams is an endless pursuit; the possibilities and number of layers are infinite. Studying the 8 trigrams is much simpler. What is simple is powerful.

Trust them to do what is best for them. If they come asking for advice, ask them what their heart tells them is best. Suggest they follow what serves them, and stop following what doesn't. Trust them to do what is best for them. If they come asking about morales, ask them to trust the action their heart advises and don't look back. Trust them to do what is best for them. If they come asking if they should tell someone, suggest to them to trust others to do what is right for them without judgement, allowing them to return their focus to what is internal. The tao balances all without intervention. The best we can do is to radiate trust to all things. Same as 3. It is easy for judgment (metal phase) to result in action that further complicates an issue. Even when something is noticeably imbalanced, trusting that process to do what it needs will allow it to come to completion faster. If it truly lacks balance, this will become evident, and our trust helps it to explore this without expectation. Often external expectation is what creates and maintains imbalances in the first place. So long as these expectations remain they provide a means for maintaining the imbalanced cycles and avoid facing the truth. If people are open to changing, pointing that intention to their heart helps them claim their own responsibility rather than depending on that of another. If people are closed, offering suggestions will only clash with their defences without penetrating to the root unless force is used. If force is used by an external agent, what happens when that external agent is not present to maintain the discipline? Trusting helps to dissolve walls and creates harmony and openness. Trusting unconditionally in all directions nurtures even that which we are not aware of. Trust is love and compassion without expectation.

I would prefer to say a "natural person," or a "realized person" or a "master," before saying "taoist." Taoist is just a label, sorta like saying what road you took to get where you are now. But if one is deeply Taoist, one sheds all labels and takes the present as the destination, leaving the way up to the tao. In discussion one might use a label to help others understand. The tao is beyond words, but words can be used to guide.

To add to this, I think it is important to maintain the practice long enough to completely deal with encapsulated energies. Other methods might target them directly, like hunting down and facing a wild animal, tracking it back to the original traumatic experience that became the root of subsequence cycles of encapsulation. In this method one is able to clear the encapsulation if when the root is uncovered, one is prepared to match the intensity and precision that created it. Similar to facing down a tiger. When doing martial arts and energy work practices that naturally dissolve, circulate and transform energies, the encapsulations will lose power but won't go away until the root is dissolved. If the cultivation work stops the pattern re-emerges. But after long enough, certain transformations might cause the root to dissolve, and are likely to manifest as greater emotional challenges blocking one's continued practice. These can be difficult as one might not understand where these emotional pressures are arising from, but all one needs to do (I think) is to maintain sincerity and equanimity on one's path, no matter how difficult it might be. Ba Zi is so fascinating, especially in how slight changes result in completely different paradigms of flow. In classical Ba Zi for instance, Metal born in a Water month likes to see Fire. Metal would naturally begin to freeze the Water unless Fire is used. If the Water is "Hurting Officer", normally you wouldn't want the Officer (Fire) present, but here it is important, and there are different possibilities for this structure depending on what other elements are present. Wood born in Fire, likes to see Water to help regain balance. I've noticed excess water might result in imbalanced water issues, requiring one to regulate the water before applying the fire. Without integrating Fire, the Water might be too "heavy", but without regulating the Water, the Fire will be overwhelmed. I imagine there are many possible scenarios! I also find it interesting how Water contains Oxygen and Fire feeds on Oxygen, and how the breath is so important in both philosophies. It is simple to look at it like this, but I think it is all very connected. The water may represent wisdom and intelligence, but is controlled by earth, representing sincerity. Greater sincerity results in a more stable foundation for the water, which settles and becomes more clear. Muddy water is not clear. In classical Ba Zi Water that is Void is said to be empty, and signifies greater intelligence. So there seems to be a connection between the clarity of the water and the depth of it's wisdom, as a crystal ball. And fire represents illumination and clarity, and is controlled by water. I wonder if the fire is what actually perceives and interprets the wisdom of the water. And again, the clarity of the water is an important factor, and it too influences the stability of the fire. A wildfire, or fire with irregular influences will change unpredictably and scatter to where-ever it is led. But contained and still fire illuminates with regularity, and greater structure engenders potential application of increased pressure - this is how diamonds are created.

Oh certainly one can learn to move like lightning, turn invisible, manifest heat, lay on hands... who knows how much is possible. Any of this comes from deeply sincere cultivation work that surrenders the ego and walks back towards the tao. Should one aim for powers instead of tao, one changes a selfless pursuit into a selfish one. The Tao Te Ching speaks of three treasures, frugality, compassion, and not daring to be ahead of anything else. This is very important, as this is the mechanism of cultivation. As we cultivate, we transform. If, at some point in our transformation we place value upon what we cultivate, erosion begins. What is built up becomes assailed. If one avoids self-valuing and avoids becoming trapped by external-valuing, one is free to keep cultivating. If one falls into these side-paths, it may be difficult to maintain one's position or power. If one becomes powerful and takes the world by force, even as a healer who may heal anyone of anything.... one threatens to shake the world, arousing more than can be given answer to; one may become the origin of a powerful cycle of change lasting centuries. When one yearns for extremes, how will one find the center?

Interesting, thanks!

Oooh, thanks for this! In particular 37, 46 and 47 resonate with me. So it is important to clearly understand one's goal and how to achieve it. But on the way there is the danger of studying from too many sources and never reaching the root. Leading to: Basically to gain "definite views" on how to cultivate the root of tao, one needs to consult one who has found the root. Otherwise even if one is superior and able to make good progress, at some point one may reach a point where going further is confusing, or one might think they have gone all the way when they haven't. How can such a one continue towards the root without a guiding nudge from a master? Perhaps some have gone all the way in a past life, and it comes naturally. Likely very rare, and those who have gone very far in a previous incarnation may feel themselves able to go it solo for a while. After all one becomes a master on one's own, not by the hand of another. And one may indeed forge a trail where there is none, but it may take time one does not have, while the guidance of a master might be simple. Lui Yiming himself studied with one master until he thought he understood, and tried to do the rest of the work on his own... but realized he was still missing something, and needed to seek out another master to connect the last dots and complete his work. Real emptiness is not empty. This is Zhuangzi's walking two roads. And the second part of TTC 5. :wub:

no one is a taoist every one is a taoist we are all what we are we are all changing how we change depends on where we place our sincerity and intention

After a long fast I switched to a raw food diet, avoiding all cooked foods, refined foods, sweeteners, etc. Lettuce had such an amazing sweetness. Previously, ingesting an average amount of sweeteners blinded me to this perception. The five flavors had dulled my tastes. How can we hope to return to and perceive our mysterious center if we dull our perception by feeding our appetites? The clearest I've ever been is when I spent just a week doing nothing but work and training. At night I would feel drawn to watching tv, socializing, coming up with something to do to occupy my time. Instead I went on 3 hour walks and tried to think of nothing. That weekend in class my qi transformed in ways I had never felt. Just a week!

Also, discussion itself is an exchange of energy. We share something, and if someone dismisses it but we are still attached to getting validation from it, we feel as though we have lost something. Thus is the way of expectation, and leads naturally to a dynamic of always being right, or correcting others when they are wrong, to avoid losing. The Tao Te Jing advices to submit early and move on, rather than becoming more deeply invested in an exchange like this, which can only have a winner or loser. Best to share what you have to share and release it, let it go. It'll be what it'll be. No need to worry about how others receive it, especially in the context of an internet forum. If you become attacked because of what you say, simply yield and let the attack slip past, and remain whole. Next time perhaps word things to avoid absolutes that others might get caught up by. And those who get caught up by absolutes can work on learning to let go. The objective nature of taoist classics can appear rather absolute, and when wielded as doctrines of righteousness might have an tendency to engender competitive discussions.

Great topic. Yes, this is the human condition, or simply a way the tao can flow. From one comes 10,000, and if some of those 10,000 decide to return to the one, their methods follow the path they were created from. So if a fox and a frog decide to return to tao, and then get together and compare notes, they will find they have very different experiences. When fox and frog come together, their discussion opens as a new cycle. It begins with growth (wood), the door is opened, and as communication engenders some level of presumed clarity (fire), judgment (metal) enters the scene to separate right from wrong, cool the fire and return the cycle to the origin (though often it evolves into a tangent before complete). Especially in modern society and our scientific and technical advances, judgement of right and wrong is very dominant. It is so easy for us to project judgement of what may feel right or wrong for ourselves onto what should be right or wrong for others. Zhuangzi says nothing external can understand our own internal scope, and we can't understand what we see from the outside the same as is experienced internally by that entity. Certainly we can try, and use culture to bind our similarities tightly enough to share commonalities, but the principle still remains. Thus Zhuanzi advises we take what is right as what is right in front of us and so release the bindings of knowing right and wrong. However, returning to the tao is complicated. The classical texts are subtle and complicated. The practices take decades of daily practice to manifest transformations, and frequently these practices emphasize purity and use isolation to protect this purity, which itself can easily become a metal dynamic of separation unless one learns how to preserve one's internal scope while harmoniously adapting to the needs of the external environment. Externally harmonious and flexible, internally firm and pure, is what Zhuangzi refers to as Walking Two Paths. Also practices of returning to tao feature some sort of martial arts, or qi gong, which allows one to cultivate a healthy body and replenish one's ming, but still requires one to harmonize the five elements within - when the elements are not harmonized, this large amount of extra energy will express itself externally, often as though under pressure. Martial arts can be very powerful, and requires great discipline to work through the challenges - the entire dynamic revolves around the principle of fighting, and fighting is polarity. Hopefully one is taught to dissolve the polarity within, to relax, even as one harness the strength of the relaxed heart-mind to overcome the challenges. Naturally these are all my perspectives, unique to my own experience. Whatever methods one is led to, they require significant and deeply sincere dedication of practice. Before one reaches the root, one will likely experience many transformations, and might attempt at understanding them, perhaps in discussion. But before one reaches the root, one is not there yet, as though one is on a moving train attempting to discuss the scenery with people looking out of different windows. Perhaps sometimes things will be similar through the different windows, but often it will be different, and different people will catch different things. Maintaining the conversation in harmony may depend on avoiding all judgements of right or wrong. So when discussing the way to the root, how can those who have not found it understand it? And how can what is not understood be discussed? And yet the modern landscape makes it easy for us to be drawn to the discussion of understanding, and easy to project what we've experienced as right for ourselves as the only "right" for others as well. At its core, taoist texts are rather objective and metal oriented themselves - many believe they were intended to be supplemented with oral and energetic transmission, and only used by masters as a tool for teaching, presumably freeing the student from the burden of understanding what cannot be understood.

In learning Chinese Astrology, I've noticed many methods used by one school are contradicted by another school's teachings. In attempting to learn "which is right", I've learned instead: they're different applications, neither right nor wrong, each of which must be studied, used, and experienced deeply before one gains an understanding of why one particular technique is valuable. Thus, if one only studies different teachings, one only touches the surface. In order to truly learn, one must get to the root by working with a method over a long period of time. It seems this applies to tai ji as well. In my experience, absorbing knowledge is not a bad thing, and comparing two sources allows examination of the essence between them. But getting to the root happens by merging the body with the mind, not by controlling the body with the mind. Exploring different teachings from books or from different masters can sometimes become confusing, with multiple transmissions vying for intention. If one is getting stuck and stagnant with one teaching, it is wise to change something. But frequently people get stuck due because they don't maintain sincerity long enough. When a tree falls in your yard, you can hire lots of people to tell you different ways of dealing with it, each with a logical plan, but it won't move by itself.

368

oh... wow, nice guess!