Daeluin

Yeah blueprints follow the Heavenly principle, and to be of any worth need to manifest their yang into yin. Personally this framework is much simpler to me than most, and when following it in real life has application everywhere. Just takes some practice at phase discernment.

We all have our attachments and important things. Giving it all up all at once is extreme. I find I only need to surrender some things to understand the principle and feel the invitation of the tao. By getting better at navigating the tao in little ways, I begin to understand how much potential I hold back by "giving a shit" and controlling the rest of my reality, which is not reality at all. Clinging to illusion is fine, its a choice. But I think our difference in belief hinges around where the limits are perceived.

Basic math is absolute. Tao is about reading between the lines. People want to see things in black and white, and get way stressed out when stuff isn't presented in black and white terms: yin yang negative positive heavy light earth heaven Earth in terms of tao tends to represent things that attach to self and other. Our bodies are Earthly on an Earthly planet. As opposed to the working of Heaven which operate more like light, changing without attachment when invited to. Our minds and spirits are Heavenly. Between Heaven and Earth things have properties of both Heaven and Earth. Our minds can act like light, or compose and fixate on attachments of understanding. Our bodies and organs, muscles, tendons, bones have physical mass, but are also merged with processes of flow and change. bad good detrimental benign backward forward Then we have Change. Direction forward in time. Evaluation of what something was before and after change. This is an interesting exploration on the merging of dimensional polarities. One might think we're just bad at math and that we lump polarities of one dimension with polarities of another dimension, and thus we lump bad, heavy, negative and detrimental all into the same boat. And it does add up, in some ways: In general, when something changes in our life and results in a "bad" feeling, we tend to feel depressed, heavy, sinking, more attachment oriented energies. Conversely, when something changes and results in a "good" feeling, we tend to feel lighter, less attached, more expansive energies. Earthly polarity is self-other related, and mathematically is oriented to oppositional forces that tend to clash with one another, right angles, squares. Mass forms new mass when it shatters against other mass under pressure. The Heavenly side of this polarity is more harmony related, but - in the principle - without preference for keeping its shape, and is oriented towards non-oppositional angles like triangles and circles. As we experience more "good" changes, we to follow the principle of Heaven more. As we experience more "bad" changes we follow the principle of Earth more. Life is the harmonious balance between the principles of Heaven and Earth. War, slaughter and genocide take things strongly in the direction of Earthly principle, and in the end we our left with a lot more mass without life. Yes, simply taking things to the extreme Heavenly direction would result in no identity or ability to self-change. This what happens when we lose our Earthly body and die, becoming trapped by karma without being able to change it until we reincarnate. Depending on how balanced the subtle energies are when we lose our form, that is. It needs balance. Balance of Heaven and Earth, Yang and Yin. Balance of the Five Phases. Too much Earth and we create stagnation and kill life. The Earthly principle is about attachment, and thus has trouble adapting to change. But with out change and adaptation we cling to patterns that bring security and expect them to persist unchanging... but of course they never do. Too much Heaven and we don't overcome challenges and can't survive within the Earthly side of things, and also die. The Heavenly principle easily flows with change, but on it's own is just an ideal in the imagination, without being grounded and manifested INTO life. The ideal of "make love, not war" is great, but follows the Heavenly principle. To manifest it into reality requires a lot of hard work. The Balance of the Five Phases can really help with this. Water (jing) is Earthly when Compared with Fire (shen), which is Heavenly. Water desires to create and fire follows its lead. Metal (po) is Earthly when Compared with Wood (hun), which is Heavenly. Metal sense, withdraws, constricts, controls, stiffens, while wood grows, expands, arouses, vibrates. In a holistic system, the phase of Earth holds them all together, not letting the denser phases get too rigid to support life, and not letting the looser phases scatter beyond being able to support life. Earth holds water up, gives metal a place to contract while still maintaining a dynamic relationship, gives Wood a place to plant roots, and gives fire the ability to manifest ideas into physicality. But in terms of Humanity and Virtue, the phase of Earth represents Sincerity, Integrity, that which holds all else in balance, the intention to keep things balanced. Truth. Here Liu Yiming describes the controlling cycle of the Five Phases in terms of Yin (Earthly Principle) Expressions (desire, impatience, bias, anger, duplicity) and Yang (Heavenly Principle) Expressions (wisdom, courtesy, unbiased justice, kindness, truthful). The Yin Expressions in the controlling cycle lead to separation, while the Yang Expressions lead to unity. In terms of War and Peace, a lot of solutions are very serious and scientific minded about it, which is the Metal phase. Metal tends towards negativity all on it's own, though black and white proclamations of right and wrong, oversensitivity which leads to bias and reaction, and placing rules and regulations around situations such that they become so constricted there is only built up pressure. Metal has an important role in arriving at Peace, but more from setting frameworks that support freedom of expression and change. The USA "Declaration of Independence" is such an example of the use of Metal to support non-negativity, but without understanding the principle of Metal, now this grand Declaration has had many additional restrictions welded onto it. As the Metal phase is inherently denser, it follows the Earthly principle more than the Heavenly principle. As we've (hopefully) seen, the Earthly principle is inherently related to negativity in the sense of removing nourishment of life over the course of change.

What is built up can only be brought down. What is hoarded can only be robbed. We flow like water, so we may forever be humble and not coming from a perspective of what we have or do not have. Our hearts are open and nurturing, but not attached to a mutual return. What is given is given, let it go. By practicing non-attachment, we always have the choice to change our circumstance if we find ourselves becoming drained by others. It is when expect validation and mutual return of what we give to others that we end up staying in the situation that is draining us, ever asking to be nurtured by those who drain us. There are many who value what others give without giving in return, no matter what their words say. The way to handle them lies in equanimity. Bodhisattvas are interesting. Their very purpose is to give endlessly of their own cultivation to heal and uplift others. In one sense their gift might cause a spiritual atrophy, and in another sense it serves to show others the way. This is the nature of all healing. We need to heal ourselves, but sometimes don't know how. Healers can help show us the way, be we need to recognize that it is our own patterns that damage the natural state of our good health. Some people like having someone to look up to, so they don't have to fully listen to their own hearts and do their own work. Bodhisattvas stand in this role of disseminating compassion and healing and become a visible focal point for others to attach. Being such a focal point is also the wrapping of one's self in a spiritual net, and one does not find freedom from reincarnation in this way. Ultimately the path of the way is similar to the Bodhisattva, but the Sage does not become a focal point for others to attach to. Their work is invisible, but greatly healing never the less. Benevolence is paired with Righteousness, Wood and Metal. When Benevolence does not rest upon Righteousness, it is not balanced. When balanced they act in concert as one. Righteousness follows the directive of Social Harmony and is not biased, while Benevolence follows the directive of Righteousness, and thus is kind without fixation on sentiment. Thus it become free to be ruthlessly benevolent when the situation calls for it. An overgrown plot of land full of invasive species may need to be eradicated so that one may plant native species and cultivate a more healthy ecosystem in it's place. From the perspective of the weeds, they are sovereign and it is inhumane and ruthless and dis-compassionate to eradicate them. A teenager who is raised with abundance grows accustomed to a lifestyle of ease and luxury without hard work, is overwhelmed and shocked when the stock market crashes and suddenly they have nothing and need to work for a meager living. One culture nurtures the land in peace, but another power hungry culture expands their boundaries and invades a new continent, murdering the peace loving culture because they are in the way. A massive volcano erupts filling the planet's atmosphere with ash and killing most forms of life. Over time things rebuild. The Web of Life is inherently attached to the members of the ecosystems which support it, between Heaven and Earth. And yet things between Heaven and Earth operate on many different scales. Various different scopes with their own Web of Life exist. What is in the harmonious flow of one scope may appear destructive in another scope. What appears to have been alive and evolving for eons in one scope may appear as a mere seed in another scope. So when things seem unnecessarily destructive from the perspective within one Scope, how can one judge that from the perspective of another Scope? Even when things appear to be in harmony from one perspective, is it not possible that things are causing great disharmony in a different dimensional sense? From what perspective can we judge the truth in order to make the correct decisions? From every death comes new life. From every change comes transformation. The Sage recognizes the laws of Heaven and Earth and flows within the constructs and frameworks of the various scopes, through the practice of wu wei. Achieving ultimate oneness the Sage is able to create a field of utter harmony which slips between all things. Those who want the Sage to be or do something specific might call the idea of the Sage uncaring or even sometimes violent, but the Sage is merely wielding the power of harmony appropriate for maintaining oneness with the tao, and is not likely to be noticed performing violent actions in any case. The implications of this are subtle and profound, vague and indistinct.

What do you want from your interaction with this person? Are you desiring anything you can't get? Are you giving more energy than is healthy? Do you want some sort of external validation from this person because you look up to them? What is preventing you from getting that validation from yourself? Figure out if this is a drain on you, and figure out if this pattern is serving you or not. Try to identify other similar patterns in your life, and see if you can trace them back to tiny little things from your childhood. Often patterns repeat and are born as seeds when we are very young. When we are able to dissolve patterns that have been with us our whole lives without really serving us, we become clearer. As far as crushes go... I had a crush on someone in my class for 6 years. It was so intense I couldn't even speak properly with this person, and in the end I finally realized I idealized them to the point where I didn't even know the real person at all, but was projecting what I wanted to see in them so strongly that it was incredibly removed from reality and completely unattainable. In the end I realized this was a pattern of desiring co-dependency I inherited from energetic conditioning in my family as a child.

Sun is opposing my natal mars, and I feel like I've had 3 cups of coffee, but haven't been drinking coffee at all. Yesterday I woke at 4am, and this morning finally went to bed at 4am. In addition to how the cycles of the moon and sun affect us, so do the cycles of the planets, their affect on where the planets were when we were born, and the various energetic ripplings as they cross paths with each other. I don't really follow the charts and movements of the planetary bodies so much any more, but when the sun activates my mars it is pretty unmistakable for me. It's interesting how these changes in energetic influence have an effect on our sleep cycles, should we let them. I've generally been a light sleeper, and I'm curious to start exploring a less circadian patterns in general, so that I can take more advantage of natural changes in energy and be ruled less by the cycle of sunlight. It seems that things with slower rhythms inhale during the daytime and exhale at night. I'm curious to explore the interaction of the stars and energies of the breath of earth-life a little more directly. Naturally such a change will require more time spent cultivating on my part.

Without motive or ambition, things follow their momentum, and the tao is impartial, and the Sage follows wu wei. Following their momentum and the laws of Heaven and Earth, two planets crash upon one another, myriad deaths, myriad transformations, and Heaven and Earth might be considered ruthless. The Sage follows wu wei, and responds to the environment using destruction when necessary, deciding not by the mind, but by remaining in connection with the tao. Edit: The straw dog is a metaphor for our attachment to the illusory world. We are all straw dogs, pretending to be real when we ignore our deeper real selves. We cling to sentiment and illusion and rail at the ruthlessness of nature rather than plunging to the depths of reality and seeing beyond the temporal.

Mmmmm, some teachings I received last year came to mind and seem appropriate for sharing here. Basically the idea I received is that if we do a qi gong cleanse and push negative energy into the earth, we are essentially feeding this energy to a pattern/being that will take it for us. If we build a habit of doing this over a long period of time, we build a relationship between this give and take. Then, if we stop feeding the energy to that source, it will continue wanting more, and - depending on the power of the relationship - might start taking our energy when we don't give it. This extends to healers who remove negative energy from others and send it away somewhere. They may get very good at this and do decades of practice. But if they stop, the powerful eater of the negative energy still wants its regular source of food. It may have a strong enough bond with the person to drain them and cause serious health issues. Beyond the layer of "evil spirits", this can be seen simply as cycles of give and take. Beyond give and take, this can be seen simply in the power of cycles. If we have a deeply patterned cycle, and change it, it is going to be difficult to break free of the habit. It is going to take work to overcome the addiction to the habit, and the energy that habit was consuming needs to be re-appropriated. The energy may be encapsulated inside our field like a cancerous being, rather than flowing with and nourishing our field. It is up to us to fully do the work to face up to the history of the pattern, right back to the seed of its conception, so we may dissolve and cleanse it completely. It is like tracking and facing down a wild beast, and the power of the beast is proportional to the power of the pattern. One must face it with an equal power to clear it away, without letting it slip between the cracks. In terms of give and take, many people have severe give and take dynamics with their parents, entrenched over the decades. These are not easy things to heal, and take consistent change and strength to be unwaveringly equanimous in a situation where often you are the only person willing to change. I imagine this also applies to any other relationships of give and take where one side of the relationship has demands of your energy, including patterns of sending energy into the earth or other destinations. Beyond the idea of there being a "evil entity" taking our power, it could simply be our habit of deliberately sending energy into the earth for so many years that it is hard to stop. Even if we happen to stop the conscious and deliberate motions we are accustomed to, we might continue the energetic pattern subconsciously. That said, I believe spirits are largely energy patterns of varying complexity and size. For example, the ebb and flow of the collective energy of a forest over many years may develop in the form of an spiritual pattern... as the forest changes that pattern changes as well, but if the forest is simply cut down this pattern of refined energy is going to radically change. Or, if someone does qi gong near the forest an consumes a large amount of the energy, this person is directly interacting with the forest spirit pattern. If the relationship of give and take continues over time, the person shouldn't simply expect they can make and extreme change without suffering some form of withdrawal, which is happening on both sides. Spirit, as I understand it, doesn't function with intent in the same way we do. A spiritual pattern flows based on the shape of its pattern. If something happens to alter the shape of that pattern, it changes shape, as with the changes of a forest over time. But I don't think the pattern changes of it's own volition, like we do. This understanding is mostly based on studying principles, teachings I've received, intuition, and my experience with the subtlety of changing patterns in my own life. I imagine there is much more to the full picture and can't wait for it to unfold. For these reasons I've been working more on refining my energy myself, rather than dumping negative energy in exchange for clean energy. This has to do with our sincerity, our outlook on life, our desire to come into our own power and radiate it out, rather than playing the game of give and take until we die. Refining is also the process of harmonizing the five "elements", or phases of energy in the body into one. This is done by guiding the energy to circulate within the body as a sealed whole, by slowly working on dissolving the blockages in the body, increasing qi flow, grounding all of the energy inside the body, then harmonizing it until it naturally settles into its own flow again. When the meridians all kick in on their own flow because everything is refined it is a beautiful feeling. It was also easy for me to lose this again by not diligently keeping up with the refining process. Once we are able to consistently refine our own energy I imagine we are able to deal with negative energies in our environment and refine them as well.

I've been told there are many layers of opening the 3rd eye. How do you know your latest attainment is all there is, rather than seeing yet another layer of reality? Edit: sorry stimpy, my question should have been directed to Tibetan_Ice

Hey, if monkeys can do it... I imagine raccoons would like being equal to heaven as well.

Being at the top of the food chain it's so easy to look down on everything else. We can do whatever we want and little is able to stop us. And yet it is the myriad life forms on this planet whose lives support our own, and we don't even acknowledge this gift. By not daring to be ahead of anything else, I allow freedom for other life forms to grow and change, until one day they too may stand by my side and share their unique perspective with me. Take what is necessary, but don't waste life. If we really have interest in creating easy flowing lives of abundance, we should apply our intelligence towards merging with nature, not exploiting it. By nurturing ecosystems we strengthen them. Imagine a society living in trees taller than mountains, that will live thousands of years because they are supported by rich and healthy multidimensional ecosystems. Nurturing ecosystems of this kind requires delayed gratification, but is hardly impossible. Righteous, scientific minded, linear, procedural exploitation of nature is the expression of the Metal phase. It isn't balanced, it isn't sustainable. The metal phase is valuable and important, but needs to be balanced with the other phases. The modern food industry - and modern culture's oblivious dependence on it - is one of the deepest ways we are separated from how life really works, and the notion of why all life is sacred.These words of mine simply aren't within the scope of comprehension of many of you, and I'm not interested in changing that. Follow where ever your heart is as you will.

16 pages in, may as well add my own humble thoughts. Which starts with a simplified understanding of taoist cosmology. This is simplified and from my own perspective, so please be gentle: ----------------------------- From absolute nothingness, something is born, and we have duality. And yet duality can only exist by that which holds it together, and so we have a 3rd in between. Precluding spacial existence, we have change within duality, yet no space and no form. Duality itself polarizes and becomes 4, and spacial dimension is conceived of, perhaps. Naturally this duality has a center as well, the 5th. Think on a caltrop: A 3 pointed object is flat. Any depth to it implies a 4th direction. The interesting thing about this object is the harmony. None of the points are in opposition to each other, but form a harmonious relationship. Thus we have our two polarities in this conceptual framework, united as one by the center. Here we have the five phases, and as the principle of yin and yang applies to them, they change and transform without attaching to their present states. This principle can be seen in light, which splits in a prism into different shapes and colors, and transforms as it passes through other objects instantly. Then comes six, and to my mind a fundamental crystallization occurs. We define attachment. Separation between inside and outside, self and other. I doubt I would be able to explain this rationally to scientific minds, so please explore on your own. To my mind, this is seen in the six directions of energy, the six types of qi between heaven and earth as described in the Zhuangzi and this chapter. The six pointed star, which is box-like and involves 3 directly opposing polarities connected at the center - a very rigid shape. In taoist numerology, 6 is the yin of water, the number of hexagram lines, etc. And so on, until 10,000 things. But in my basic understanding of this, I like to think this principle of 5 follows the more spiritual, Heavenly aspect of creation, and the principle of 6 follows the more physical mass aspect of creation. Really I suspect spirit also has some level of self-other, but in relation to mass I think these principles can be used to understand the fundamental difference between Heaven and Earth. ------------------------------ So in the TTC, we have these notions of Heaven and Earth being impartial, Earth following Heaven and Man following Earth and Heaven, etc. When I think on these chapters from the lens of the above principles, it seem pretty simple for me to understand. Heaven is not (as) attached to change or choice of change and simply adapts and transforms based on the given situation. Earth contains the principles by which Heaven works, but also works in terms of attachment. Even still matter impacts matter and change unfolds, gravities draw in, compress, and the five phases create the myriad elements of the periodic table. In between Heaven and Earth, life is born. Spirit and Body mix, Heaven and Earth merge. We are one of many manifestations of this, whereby Heaven is able to gain perspective of Self and Other and enact deliberate change due to the framework, attached nature and perspective of Earth. And there-in lies the key. The tao lies between, in the balance between. Just as life is created in the between, when we explore what is between our self and the other with, we slip into the Mysterious Boundary. When we use our ability to control our environment based on principles of the 6, we are like a rock smashing against other rocks, breaking up and creating ripples of cause and effect. The more we make attachments in our lives, the more we become more Earth-like and less Heaven-like, forming rigid views of life with no flexibility. The more we flow and follow our bliss, just wanting to have fun but ignoring the practicalities of grounding, economic responsibilities, thoughts on our future in mortal bodies, etc, the more Heaven-like we become. Thus the Sage remains impartial, avoids causing ripples or attachments, dissolves polarities and so slips between the boundaries of the existence and interplay of Heaven and Earth. A bellows works in one direction. It breathes in outside air, but doesn't exhale in the same direction. I exhales internally, and fans the flames, which radiate out. In inner alchemy, one turns the focus of mind around and sends it inward to the lower tan tien. The energy goes in and becomes compressed. When it is full it radiates out as light. Just like our example of the bellows. The air (qi) goes in one direction, and the light is the accomplishment. This is the principle of Superior Te vs Inferior Te. When we work like the bellows, our light manifests and our power is expressed naturally. When we use our power externally instead of internally, we become exhausted. ------------------------- In any case, this is only how I view things. Thus far it helps me with understanding taoist principles, but no doubt I'm off track in at least a few ways. These are only unrefined principles and constructs, not polished truths. I realize they are probably a bit of a leap from the conventional understandings. I don't mean to confuse anyone, I just wanted to share what helps me. To me, looking at it from this perspective, it all just lines up and the different ways this chapter is translated don't seem to matter much after that.

I recall reading an account one person had with an immortal, who left this person with a little statue. Some time later, the person, who was traveling by motorcycle in another country (taiwan?), happened to be staying the night in an old abandoned temple of sorts. Candles started flickering and a dark ominous feeling crept over the person, who scrambled to find the little statue he always kept with him. Right after touching it the immortal's voice was in his head quite clearly and told him to get out of there immediately. I believe I stumbled upon this account from a link in someone's PPF here. That said, my intuition tells me human negativity is among the worst we are likely to encounter. There are many types of negative human patterns which trap us all, and they are often tied to our karmic creations. We need to learn how to untangle ourselves - part of our responsibility, not something to reject as an external influence (which will only come back again and again as long as we keep projecting it out there instead of accepting it). Learning to shine our brightest and become grounded and whole, accepting responsibility for our own situation, to me sounds like a good way to deal with negativity.

To talk little is natural: Fierce winds do not blow all morning; a downpour of rain does not last all day. Who does this? Heaven and earth. But these are exaggerated, forced effects, and that is why they cannot be sustained. If heaven and earth cannot sustain a forced action, how much less is man able to do? Those who follow the Way become one with the Way. Those who follow goodness Become one with goodness. Those who stray from the Way and goodness become one with failure. If you conform to the Way its powers flow through you. Your actions become those of nature, your ways those of heaven. Open yourself to the Tao and trust your natural responses… Then everything will fall into place. When humans ignore their straw dog nature, venture from the void, and use force to control their environments, not only is it temporary, it is destructive and binding. Weapons are ominous tools. They are abhorred by all creatures. Anyone who follows the Way shuns them. In peaceful times, the noble ruler honors the left side. At war, he honors the right side. Weapons are ominous tools. They are not the noble ruler's tools. He only uses them when he can't avoid it. Peace and quiet are preferred. Victory should not be praised. Those who praise victory relish manslaughter. Those who relish manslaughter Cannot reach their goals in the world. At times of joy, the left side is honored. At times of grief, the right side is honored. At battle, the second in command stands to the left, And the commander in chief to the right. This means they stand as in funerals. When many people are killed They should be mourned and lamented. Those who are victorious in war Should follow the rites of funerals.

What I understand from this is: Life is sacred, and so is the exchange of life, which creates new life. The more we show respect for our food, the better we accept its life into our body and allow its life to continue on with our own, transformed but not rejected. However, the tao te jing advises us to dare not to put ourselves ahead of anything else. Rather it advises we nurture the power that does not act on its own, allowing this power to merge with the change around us in complete harmony and surrender, even as in complete harmony we slip between the cracks in the dance of the exchange of life. It is a subtle balance, taking life to sustain our own. Who are we to judge what life form is to transform and when? Even at higher levels involving sustenance from higher energies, this same principle applies. And yet we all follow our present momentum in this time and this place. Within our momentum we hopefully learn to listen to our hearts, waken to our higher path, and gradually adjust our momentum to align with this path. Along the way, we nourish ourselves with what it is right and possible for us to nourish ourselves with in that moment. Taking life for our own sustenance is one thing. But when we presume to take the lives of others for external sustenance based on external judgments, that goes against the flow of nature. Rather than surrendering to the way of the tao we are taking the tao to be our own and believing we can do better. In the end everything is tao, and these experiments of human sovereignty over nature will hopefully serve to teach us our lesson. When Native Americans over hunted a particular species they learned hard lessons when their primary food source became scarce. Ultimately these lessons lead to a culture which deeply respected the web of life and sovereignty of tao. Our society seems uninterested in hearing these messages, and perhaps we will only notice when they get louder. If in the end we are destroyed because we never listened, it is still tao. Edit: The above is a fundamental principle of Taoism, from the tao te jing. The essence I get is that a Taoist Shaman following the heart of these principles would not be inclined to put human values above the shared values of all living things. That said, the term "Taoist" is widely used. The taoist religion has idolized the achieved practitioners of tao and worships them in temples and on altars. Emperors employed taoists as well. A taoist in the employ of an emperor might be expected to read the stars and make decisions for war strategy, to train the emperor to absorb sexual energy from his harem, or make sacrifices to the gods. Any of these practices may contain the essence and application of certain taoist understandings, but do they follow the heart of taoist principles or are they side ways?

In another context, the piano has a steeper learning curve than the guitar. Just as is it more difficult to find harmony and dissolve conflict within a city. That was one reason I attempted to avoid leaving the city, I didn't just want to be caving to pressure. But as soon as I made the decision to stay, I got another message to leave. Maybe I'll be back. At some point I think I have karma to deal with in SF.

The mountain city where I live seems to be pretty spiritually aware. Lots of people are drawn here for spiritual work, and are then sent back off to other places. Sometimes they come back and merge into deeper layers. Right now I've been living in the land pretty much right in the city, and am getting the message to move about 10 miles away. I think we play the guitar because in the context of our current situation playing the guitar makes us feel better. Or maybe the piano. I like living in the city because I can mostly avoid driving. The past 5 months of only needing to get in the car once or twice a week has resulted in a nice feeling of groundedness. Being in the heart the city so much, I feel I've connected to an energetic hub of sorts, and I get the idea that I'm now being sent off to a spoke where I will still be connected to the hub, but helping more to support the web of connections the hub is a part of. Simply existing in the city, I am a part of the dynamic changes within the city, but from a regional context the city is very unbalanced and top-heavy. By flowing out of the city perhaps I can help bring greater grounding to the city. In any case, I don't feel I am moving because I like one place and dislike another place, more because in the context of my current development this change is more beneficial, at least to myself, and perhaps also to the energetic flow of the land. These two places aren't separate, they are connected to all places. By allowing myself to listen to how the changes in my life are connected to the changes all around me, I am able to let myself flow to where I might be able to do the best work, or so I hope.

Are you interested in sharing any more on this? When I circle walk, I find linear thought patterns dissolve and a general sense of energy that may have been leaking due to linear conditioning being guided to flow more cyclically within my body. When I think of grounding I tend to think of rooting to the earth and keeping the higher vibrational energies from getting too top-heavy and leaking out. But perhaps grounding can also be viewed in the sense of grounding one's energies inside one's self. Perhaps inviting and nourishing the circular flow of meridians and overall energy patterns can help one heal ungroundedness... though I suppose if the circular patterns are only in the head and not the full body, still need to incorporate the lower body as well. After a nice bit of circle walking I feel wonderfully transformed. Find it easy to adapt to changing circumstances in my life. Naturally respond to my environment without strain.

In five element (five phases) theory, Red is Fire and Green is Wood. Not sure if these apply to ancient or modern taoist shamanism. My guess is the herbs were specific to their energetic affect on the body, much in the way of the "chinese medicinal herbs" we know today. I don't know about hallucinogens, but my guess is not. There is a taoist shaman who posts here. Some interesting info about his take on taoist shamanism is here.

In the beginning of this thread I presented alternate translations of "xing" precisely to dissolve the argument that xing should be translated in only one way. Thereafter I argued that it should stand on it's own, and largely I have presented it untranslated. The later conversation of "naturalness" has little to do with "xing" itself - it has to do with harmony. The essence of this teaching, as I understand the principle described, is to dissolve the polarity between two fundamental aspects of our human selves. These fundamental aspects inside ourselves can be found projected into nearly every aspect of our modern lives. While I do not know if the specific terms "xing" and "ming" can accurately be applied to modern society's practice of exploiting it's environment, to me the principle of what harmonizing "xing" and "ming" refers to lies at the very heart of this. Personally I have taken much value from understanding how to dissolve the imprinting of fundamental cultural values which go against the principles of the tao. These cultural values are deeply ingrained in the members of society from early ages, and often even those who study the tao do not recognize the very blatant ways they have been conditioned to go against the tao. Thus I find the subject of understanding how human mentality exploits the resources of earth incredibly relevant to the principles of understanding how to unify "xing" and "ming". Perhaps my understanding of these terms does go against the traditional explanations. However I do not think my grasp of the fundamental principle is "inaccurate". Perhaps it is simply changed. Cling to tradition however you like, but a fundamental aspect of tao is "change", and when taoist principles are embraced by a different culture, in a different time, one should hardly be surprised to see new flowers in bloom. From my understanding, right and wrong are subjective. Is there something wrong with a one culture attempting to learn from the principles handled down from a different culture's tradition? The very nature of the "tao that cannot be spoken" is that if one speaks on it, it is not accurate. Truth may only be discerned without words. Indeed this too has been brought to light in this 'sea of words.' I hear you projecting doom and offering nothing constructive in return. If we are failing to understand things here, perhaps you can share your guidance, which I have come to respect from your other posts. Otherwise the only message I get from you is to shut up and go away, because nothing I speak of can help anyone. Edit: Didn't mean to grab your ankle, Walker, but you did invite it. I am sorry for reacting to what I felt to be a presumptive and judgmental post. But I do agree: words are a trap. I've tried to use them to help, but perhaps I only strengthen the mental fortress. Indeed I may better serve myself and others without words.

Thank you. I'll need to mull over some of the subtlety here, but I like this. As an astrologer I believe the conception and first breath match the patterns of the incarnating spirit. However I agree that this doesn't mean that spirit fully enters the body. Perhaps the host isn't ready or there are obligations elsewhere, or both. I've heard others speak of identifying two past lives with some level of confidence, and yet those lives overlapped through time. The laws of spirit don't seem to attach to self and other quite the same way we do. Also I recall from the Wang Liping biography how past events can be recalled if one resonates with how their energy imprinted into the land at those past times. Not to mention the akashic records.

When we listen to our audience and speak to them relative to how they express themselves, we tend to have a better time getting heard by them. When they make comments that don't seem to affect the way we communicate, they tend to walk away because no one likes the feeling of being preached at. A taoist dares not to put themselves above anything else, and in this way is always making their cup bigger, so that it never overflow. I just wanted to help... let you know there's a bit spilling on the floor.

I find it interesting that most of us can't access memories from before age 2-4 years old. I would merely guess this is related to conditioning our minds to think in terms of words. But even then I find it odd we wouldn't remember pictures or feelings. Perhaps we do, but simply are too caught up in our word-minds to be able to interpret this. In any case I haven't traveled back that far yet. What you say makes a deal of sense. However, I have a suspicion that when one's mind is highly refined and in a stabilized pre-celestial state, it needs no trappings of language with which to communicate from. It has crystal clear awareness and for itself that is all it needs. When it encounters another mind, it naturally slips between the cracks of that mind, just by proximity. I think of it like refined energy not being blocked by structured energy. In any case, all the tools for communication may be found within the mind it encounters and needs to communicate with. There is an example of this here. Perhaps literary works were also written in the same fashion. I like the notion that the Lao Zi was actually a recorded as a Q&A session. Perhaps he merely flowed with the needs of his environment... the way WaySun Liao imagines it works to this understanding. Even when others threaten him, Lao Zi is unminding, and the spells recoil back upon the casters.... possibly because Lao Zi is so one with everything and full of emptiness that the only bit of matching structured energy the spells could find to target was the casters themselves. My point about not shaving is more that in my culture it is very common for people to treat you differently if you act differently. For some of us we don't care. For others it cultivates an environment of going along with the flow regardless of whether or not you have to lie to yourself to do so.

Your cup is overflowing.