Daeluin

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HEAVEN-and-Earth is not sentimental; It treats all things as straw-dogs. The Sage is not sentimental; He treats all his people as straw-dogs. Between Heaven and Earth, There seems to be a Bellows: It is empty, and yet it is inexhaustible; The more it works, the more comes out of it. No amount of words can fathom it: Better look for it within you.

Also the I Ching is basically binary yin/yang. The reason for 6 lines is pretty interesting... we have a pair of 3-line symbols. Three can represent yin, yang, and chi. In my theorizing based on taoist cosmology, this dynamic of 3 is in operation before there is a spacial dimension. I assume it begins with absolute nothing, and becomes something. Along with the myriad implications of everything in-between: the conceptual nothing that is no longer absolute nothing, the something that is all but absolute something, and so on. Zhuangzi writes about this in chapter 2 (tl Brook Ziporyn). I'm not sure if many read this as a description of taoist cosmology, but I do: Following this principle of something arising from nothing, the 2 polarities divide to become 4, and we arise at spacial dimension, in my opinion. This 4 can be studied in the taoist ideas of the polarity between wood and metal, expansion and condensing, on one axis, and water and fire, flowing and clarifying. And of course the center (earth, balancing) remains, this ever-present in-between of everything where the pathway to Tao forever exists. This 5th, and all the dynamics within, can be studied in 5 phase (element) theory. Here there is a mode of operation pre-existing the division of self and other, whereby there are separate phases of existence, but all flowing in harmony - when change springs forth it is instant, with no resistance to transformation, similar to how light instantly changes when passing through objects. But as we get to 6, we have a polarization of the 3, and the dynamic turns to inside and outside - separation of self and other, and we arrive at the manifestation of physical reality, mass, gravity. The realm of existence we operate on is between this dynamic of 6 (what is physically manifest) and 5 (what is spiritually manifest). And what we call life arises from this merger. So the I Ching's six lines contain much poignancy. They can be read to interpret this dynamic of yin/yang change and transformation within these 6 "dimensions", and they also contain the 5, the 4, the 3, the 2, and the 1. Anyway, most of this is just a unique and personal theorizing on top of taoist cosmology, so please take it with a grain of salt!

It's just about recognizing cycles. The moon is a great teacher - learn to tune into the stages of its cycle. Beginnings, endings, saving, spending, times of pressure, and the way they all spiral, ever returning. After that it isn't much of a leap to recognize the other gravities in cyclical motion around us. But we don't need to project meanings upon them - all that is just knowledge. Feeling the shifts of slow subtle motion and momentum of myriad gravities, and remaining ever balanced, this is what allows us to expand our awareness and stability beyond the edges of our solar system. This post is related to this as well. I imagine there are many ways to align with planetary motion, but I really enjoyed reading that. But in our rapid day-to-day lives, these cycles are also in operation, in myriad layers and time-frames. By studying cycles in nature, we come to recognize them in our modern lives. Often certain stages within the cycle will dominate over others - either due to personal patterns, or societal patterns. The I Ching clearly shows us the patterns of change within cycles, and how to ever remain in balance within change. If your mind is so inclined, this is a great resource at our disposal. In Taomeow's interview it is recommended to study the I Ching even before the Tao Te Ching.

Good luck on your searching! Sometimes I find being lost is its own reward...

Welcome!

Welcome, Bud!

This is why true sages can be hard to find. edit: reminds me of this.

Whatever happens is right. From an western astrological perspective, the cycles of the planets can be used to study the slow moving evolution of trends in society. Neptune, for example, is associated with spirituality, idealism, mysticism, music, anything intangible. From '98 through '11 it was in Aquarius, and the Music trended towards electronic, which the web of psyches became connected and equalized with the widespread adoption of the internet. Now with Neptune in Pisces, things like yoga and beer are trending, and I keep hearing about people's parents and grandparents asking about spirituality for the first time. The next ten years should be interesting as the collective psyche synch's up with this subtle spiritual awareness shift. Uranus, the planet of change, invention, technology, equalizing, spent '03 - '10 in pisces where it shook up our spiritual awareness, brought a dose of one'ness to the table, before jumping into Aries for a fresh new start and focus deeply on changing ourselves on the inside. Technology has become more personal, with the smartphone and tablets really taking off, making it easier for us to integrate technology into our every day lives and self-identities - along with facebook and the like. Pluto, the planet of depth, obsession, life and death, paradigm altering change, intensity, has for the first time since the American Revolution entered Capricorn, where we see more grounded and pragmatic changes to the foundations of governments, and deep looks into what is and isn't working. What happens when Pluto takes this energy into Aquarius, 2023 -2043 (ruled by Uranus, all that intensity and change and depth), and then Pisces, 2044 -2068? What of Neptune entering Aries and paving the way for a new spiritual beginning in 2026? Meanwhile Uranus continues from the new beginning we create right now. The point is all of these generational planets have been passing through their end-cycle phases. The beginning is about self understanding. The end is about vision, connecting, equalizing, sharing, connection to the heavens, where there is no separation between self and other. Technology will continue to be influenced by these long phases of growth in collective consciousness of our planet. Certainly it is possible. Personally it is difficult to spend time with technology without spending an equal amount of time emptying, but I imagine others are able to maintain their emptiness while in the midst of all manner of affairs. Maybe all this social media and personal device interaction means people will have a lot of difficulty taking those steps to really tune into who they are as individuals. On the other hand maybe the next 50 years will show an increasingly collective enlightenment, nurtured by this technology. Hard to even imagine what that would look like or if it is possible. As the cycles of time unfold, we will continue to develop internally and externally in new and changing ways. Part of Taoism is learning to recognize the influences cycles of change have on us, so we may dissolve them. There is no need to study astrology and understand it - it is more about learning to feel the pull and the way the pull changes, so we may remain ever balanced, even as we observe those flowing with the pulls being led to create and change in new ways.

Well, it appears my sincere attempt to offer more information and resources for studying taoism and yin and yang is unwelcome. I will happily do as you ask in you personal message and stop posting in your threads.

Telepathic communication and highly honed intuitions that can access universal knowledge.... I dunno... personally I'd prefer a society which takes advantage of this natural technology already built into ourselves. Modern computer technology just seems to mimic natural technology, and distract the masses from learning to access their higher capabilities. All in time.

I've met people who operate in these realms. And I've experienced enough qi gong to understand how higher-level energy work can subtly influence the world around us. It all sounds a bit new agey to those unfamiliar with the idea of there even being energy or spirit. A lot of spiritually minded people are unbalanced and sometimes out of touch with reality. But it's all pretty logical... just higher vibrational energy that can only be felt and seen when the heart and mind are calm enough, etc. Just like learning to walk, before long we'll be raising our children into cultivating this awareness. But the bottom line is simple. All that is important is for us to trust ourselves and be the best we can be. And when we radiate trust outwards to others, it helps them feel safe to be their best too.

First, I don't know much about kundalini. From what I've learned studying taoist principles, balance is paramount. If things are getting imbalanced, it is time to do some work to integrate the imbalanced energies with the rest of yourself. When there is too much sexual, lower vibrational energy, it is time to do some physical work and get the excess integrated and sublimated. When there is too much high vibrational energy, it needs to get grounded deeper into the body, to help sublimate the physical and avoid being scattered. The concept of the microcosmic orbit shows the importance of cycling energy - what we bring up, we also bring back down. The goal may be to increase the overall vibration, but we also want to avoid a separation of the high vibration from the low vibration. In taoist theory, the three types of energy, jing, qi, and shen, turn into emptiness/virtue/void when they are combined in their purest, un-manifested states. Do the kundalini practices have exercises for assisting in whole body integration? Does stillness help? There is also the concept of turning around the light of the mind, and resting the mind on the breath, cultivating calmness and emptiness. We want the higher vibrational state to be relaxed, not frantic. Sometimes spirituality is associated with "fire" - and in 5-phase theory and bagua, fire represents illumination and clarity. When fire is still, it causes a clarification - think of glass, or a steady flashlight. But when fire is wild, it is all consuming and unpredictable. Again, I don't have any direct experience with kundalini (though this overactivity is a subject that seems to come up a lot). Just thought I'd share what I was feeling... I hope it doesn't cause offense, and I hope you are able to find your answers!

Fair enough about my post being closed to change. What I'm trying to point out is that many of your responses are quite long winded and not very concise. I don't find your arguments to be held together very tightly, and your posts appear to use the circularity and relativity of yin and yang to say whatever you want. So I'm not really sure what you're after here, is all. You seem to like this duality concept a lot. And your name is "TaoMaster", though I don't see you discuss from many Daoist frameworks other than yin and yang. You seem to be asking for direction to get deeper. Again - the yijing, or "I Ching", the chinese book of changes, is a great way to study yin and yang. Yes, it is a little complex, and very subtle. Taoism is about reading between the lines. The taiji symbol is not a symbol of 2 entities, it is a symbol of 3 - yin, yang, and chi. Chi is ever present within polarity. Yin is forever contained within yang and yang forever contained within yin. What is undoubtedly yang from one perspective is undoubtedly yin from another perspective; there are no absolutes. Have you studied the Tao Te Ching? The opening lines declare that what can be discussed is not the Tao, precisely because words are absolutes, and the tao exists between and before what we perceive as absolute. Beyond the 3, come 4 - two yangs, two yins, yin below yang, yang below yin - and then 5 and 6, unfolding in their unique dimensional ways to give us space, heaven (spirit), earth (physical mass), and the 10,000 things arising from these as the principle of duality (the arising of chi between any two forces) is applied. It is all quite complex. But even still, the dynamic of 8 is fairly simple. 8 primal forces of change. Heaven, Wind, Water, Mountain, Earth, Thunder, Fire, Lake. Each of these come from the 8 possible combinations of 3 lines of yin or yang. Look it up on wikipedia and study it. Learn to identify these forces in operation everywhere you look. We're talking primal forces, like gravity, like sunlight, like passive and active forces of movement, like boundaries, like solvents. All described in simple terms of yin and yang. By the time you get to the 64 hexagrams (six lines of yin and yang) in the Book of Changes (yijing), it is getting very complex, and incredibly profound and subtle. One can study the yijing for lifetimes. Here's the thing - this is all beyond my ability to explain to you. The information is out there, and requires studying, on your own, in depth. This is all basic stuff, and many here have long since studied it. Many of the reasons you find others challenging your posts exist in these basic studies - but your posting style suggests you have no interest or need to do any studying. I recommend The Book of Changes and the Unchanging Truth, by Ni Hua Ching. It is a study of the I Ching, but has a very long and extensive, but simple and thorough primer on Taoist Cosmology - everything I wrote about above and more. Maybe you're just toying around with us. You act like you are a master of the Tao, and if so you would already know this stuff, so perhaps you have highly veiled motives here. But you seem to be genuinely curious about it, hence my recommendations. Discussions are great but foundation work is paramount.

Are they truly incompatible, or are we simply blind to the overlap, and think what we do not see must be separate from what we do see? Zhuangzi says when the understanding consciousness comes to rest in what it does not know, it has reached its utmost. When we are always declaring what is known, how can we avoid separating it from what is not?

Hexagram 36 describes a configuration of yin and yang during which there is a concealment of illumination. This is symbolized by the trigram earth over the trigram fire, expressed in changing lines of yin and yang. Lines are read from the bottom to the top, where the bottom represents what is low, what is inside, what is beginning, while the top represents what is external, what is high, what is ending. The yijing is simple math, and yet explains incredibly complex relationships, such as the detailed process of the evaporation of water, social relationships, refinement, egoism, you name it, in terms of yin and yang. Hexagram 36, earth over fire, shows the clarity and illumination represented by fire, being smothered by the heavy and indiscriminate weight of earth. The dynamic of change being described is one where illumination is either being concealed or darkened. The lesson is that sometimes one's illumination needs to be concealed in order for one to develop. on the flip side, this hexagram also describes what happens when illumination is not concealed. When illumination refuses to withdraw at the appropriate time, instead it works hard to cover the illumination of others. When illumination is concealed, one is learning to recognize the subtle signals in life telling us when the timing is not right for us to shine. Should we ignore these signals, we walk a road of conflict, always trying to shine when others are trying to shine, always focused on shining brighter ourselves rather than being serenaded by the light of others in their time. When we listen to the signals, and voluntarily withdraw our light, we learn self-discipline and timing, and we learn to maintain our clarity on the inside even when it cannot be expressed or shown externally. Line six is the top line of the trigram earth, and the fire below is hidden to it. This line represents a situation where one dances over the light of others without even realizing it. This line represents blatant shining of ones light amid myriad signals that it is not time to shine. The yijing is a fantastic way to study yin and yang, and to get deeper into the spirit of taoism. Your posting ignores what others say, and each new post you offer simply appears as an attempt to outshine what everyone else is saying. That's all fine, your threads make a great living demonstration of the relativity and circularity of yin and yang. And it's fine if you don't care to study the classics - just find your own way to stop preaching and return to being a student of life. Replying to my post with more fluff does nothing except ease the pressure inside your heart. But you need to find a way to nurture that pressure and make it into something that can remain a harmonious part of yourself.

hexagram 36, line 6 comes to mind seriously... all this talk of yin and yang - study the yijing.

Zhuangzi, Chapter one, translation by Brook Ziporyn. This is the concept of "Walking Two Roads," found in chapter two as well: This concept allows one to flow harmoniously with what is external, even while maintaining a vastly separate scope of operation on the inside. The principles found in the Dao De Jing describe how to just just that. In my opinion, the tao is right there in front of us, waiting for us to listen to what it is teaching. When we flow like water, following the paths of least resistance, the tao leads us into circumstances which will challenge our egos and help us to empty. By learning to synchronize with this path of least resistance, we become harmonious within the operation of the external realm. Then as we cultivate our inner realm, we are able to maintain our connection to the external realm, even as our inner scope changes and we put miles and miles of air beneath us, we remain dependent upon what is low to keep us up high. Our foundation is upon what is low, and if we do not take care to maintain it how will we not avoid damage? Many try to hide in absolute isolation, but the changing external world has many ways of catching up. Simpler to cultivate a flowing invisibility that ever merges and slips past, yielding to remain whole. Thus we are able to chariot upon what is true to both Heaven and Earth, merging with the ebbs and flows of the ten thousand things, dependent only upon the operation of the dance itself, until mysteriously slipping through to what is beyond both Heaven and Earth. Those who focus on the infinite are well to be reminded it ever includes and depends upon the mundane.

All my life's a circle; But I can't tell you why; Season's spinning round again; The years keep rollin' by.

It isn't just about doing nothing... it's about creating harmony. It isn't about doing nothing and being lazy... it's about working hard, internally rather than externally. Critical people tend to be ambitious and look down at people who fail at reaching lofty ambitions. However, these same people go home while the humble night workers clean their office. The critics tend to all but ignore the cleaners, who are pretty invisible to them - they aren't called lazy, because they do their work sincerely. It isn't about doing nothing, it's about blending in and being invisible, so that the world has nothing to prevent the lofty goals of the inner work. When I target a bank to rob, that bank might well defeat me. But when I set my sights on 100 banks to rob, one simple bank is less likely to become an unsurmountable obstacle. (Disclaimer - don't rob banks please. Respect what the Man has built and learn to read between the lines.) The goals of alchemy are set on the infinite, and because of this, there is never any reaping of what is sown. One's foundation is upon what is low, and that is where one's intention remains. Even as one is filled with the strength of ten thousand dragons with the refined celestial energy of countless nebulas, one pays no heed, continuing to walk forward step by step, remaining ever humble and flowing in a harmonious dance amidst the mundane unfolding of every day life. People look, and see something useless, and pay it no heed. Thus the Sage holds most dear compassion, frugality, and not daring to be ahead of anything else. No, this doesn't happen overnight. We shouldn't avoid responsibilities facing us, and if others are dependent upon us there is no reason to let them down hard - but perhaps they would be better served by another who can better meed their needs. We should simply learn to follow the path of least resistance. Learn to identify if we are in a situation which is so contrived that it requires unnecessary energy to keep it from falling to dust. Is this situation serving us? If not why continue to support it? If others find value in it, we do not judge them, we simply wait for the tao to invite us to move on to what is next on our path, flowing with humility and emptiness until no contrivances remain.

In addition to the great advice already given - and I especially like what Aetherous said, I have one fun recommendation for you both. Circle walking. Circle walking is great for two people to practice together, especially as you both are experiencing this issue. Circle walking was recently recommended as a good way to avoid unwanted attention, and it makes sense. Walking the circle helps address the way our every days lives create a largely linear give and take relationship between what is inside and what is outside by slowly reshaping our energy to flow more circularly within our bodies. When the energy is flowing more circularly, like it should, it slips past unwanted attention rather than sticking to it. From the comments in that thread, it sounds as though spirits have trouble accessing or penetrating through this type of vortex. It is also said walking the circle leads one to invisibility, and leads one to find the tao. Here's a thread with beginner circle walking advice/instructions. Circle walking with a partner or a group amplifies the effect. Plenty of resources on the web and these forums. In general, I'd recommend honing a strong intention to change the paradigm the problems have been operating under, but without focusing on fighting these external forces directly. There's a polarity here, and opposing polarities maintains them. But you do want to acknowledge the inner polarity that caused this dynamic to happen, as related to your present or past life karma - face it, identify it, trace it back to it's origins early in your life when it was full of subtlety and dissolve it and move on. Don't cling to it, do your work and move on from it. Don't focus on those external forces over much - focus on increasing your light and being whole and healthy - those external forces will get bored and attract new targets. We have everything we need inside ourselves to be whole - we don't need to rely on opposition or connection to external forces to be whole. Good luck!

The tao is self-balancing. Where is all this work that needs to be done? I do not see it. Come Christmas that bush will no longer be an issue, and will have been dealt with by non-doing. Humans see work that needs to be done because they create in the first place. We build stuff so that it needs maintaining, and can barely keep up. Why not adapt to live with nature better, so that it is all taken care of? If we deign to alter nature, why not alter it so there are human edible trees and bushes growing in the wild, where-ever one may walk, and in cultivated harmonious ecosystems that take care of the needs for pesticides and watering? Then nothing needs to be done except explore this paradise and be spiritual. Or we could simply cultivate an ability to see from the perception of completeness where-ever we may be, and thus settle in comfortably anywhere we go, without needing to adjust things. Perhaps others think us useless and leave us along, like Zhuangzi's useless tree that grows to such a rich age, but are we truly useless? We radiate wholeness in all directions, and others are healed by our very presence, even as they think it was their own work. Good enough for me.

That could also be interpreted as protecting the system from changes such as this.

Lines cannot be used to describe what is between the lines. People can try, to a degree, but will find the lines are always interfering with what happens between the lines this way. To truly understand what lies between the lines requires being between the lines yourself.

I agree with that somewhat. But I've also honed in on a sense that we are born with what we need to achieve our destinies. Many of us waste much of our energy before discovering our destinies. I think it is possible for us to extend our lives through martial arts, but what is happening here is the borrowing of external energy to replenish what we have depleted internally. So though it may be considered "extending", it is also taking from something else. Many believe this distinction irrelevant, as there appears to be plenty. I believe the balance to be very fine. If we are able to utilize what is borrowed to give back more than we take, then this is truly beautiful.