Harmonious Emptiness

It looks to me like Shen Dao is saying "when you have high rank, people will do what you say no matter what because they are obliged to you, so get high rank and you can manipulate people regardless of your personal development." Lao Tzu is saying "when you have virtue, people will follow you and thus you don't need to manipulate people into doing what you want them to, nor will you have to deal with the consequences of being a manipulative person (such as loosing the freedom afforded by living with sincerity and compassion)." They both have to do with having people act as you wish, but Lao Tzu wants people to act in harmony with their spirit and each other, whereas Shen Dao wants people to do what he wants them to regardless of the consequences.

borderline overdosing on vitamin C speeds tissue regrowth immensely. The body can only use about 500mg a day and too much might cause an upset stomach eventually, but for short periods of time like when trying to heal, you could do 400-500 per day divided by three doses. It doesn't sound like tore anything, but it might help still..

It's like a lot of things in the Lao Tzu that say not to cling to the externals, since achieving the internal harmony will be the true achievement and the other things (wisdom, worthiness, advantage, expertise) will develop on their own, and these things are only the true forms when arising from an internal harmony. If they are created without that internal harmony, then they are nothing to be admired since they don't include the great achievement of a sagely mind and heart, an achievement which transcends the others, and also pales them in comparison.

These ideas are pretty basic to Taoism, and Lao Tzu could have been influenced by people as far back as 2696–2598 BCE when the Yellow Emperor was being instructed on Taoism by Ch'i Po. Lao Tzu was also said to be the "keeper of the imperial library" so he would have had plenty to read by 550 BC I'm sure...

Yes, and I am certainly guilty of sharing what little I know; however, I find that it helps me to learn what little I know a bit better by forcing myself to (continue to) work on what I suggest to others. The trouble is if I suggest something to others that I don't do myself.. then I have to answer to the same expectation plus the shame of having tried to teach something I can't live up to. I try to use that experience as the guideline.

Hey, yeah, please do! Cleary's translation is probably more readable than the one on that link, and it's always good to have more angles. I'm assuming the transfer can all be done digitally...

Woohoo! link that shows cleary translated as Yin Convergence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huangdi_Yinfujing The Yin Fu Ching! http://www.sacred-texts.com/tao/ttx/ttx03.htm TaoBum link where I found this: http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/11345-yin-convergence-classic/ This is different than Nei Kung book 2, btw.

Hmmm. I looked around to see what other books have been written by the Yellow Emperor but nothing by that name. Actually, chapter 5 of the the book I mentioned is called "The Great Treatise on the Interaction of Yin and Yang" and it's a lot longer than the other chapters. It also talks a lot about interactions of Yin and Yang (hence title) and so might be referenced a lot when talking about these interactions (as Liu I Ming does quite a bit). Convergence means two things coming together, so I'm not sure what else Yin would be converging/interacting with other than Yang (though it discusses Yin within the yin interactions too), so maybe it could be called the "Treatise on Yin and Yang convergence" as well. This chapter is the beginning of book 2 of The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine and the other chapters in book 2 discuss yin and yang convergences. I think that would be the one he's talking about. I don't think The Yellow Emperor would gets more in depth on these convergences than Ch'i Po does.

"The Yin Convergence" sounds familiar. Was that mentioned in "Vitality, Energy, Spirit (Cleary)" or Awakening To The Tao? It might be different translation of "Chapter 6: Treatise on the Parting and Meeting of Yin and Yang" from The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine. Do you have a quotation? I'll see if it's in there (the chapter is 2 pages). The book I have is "The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine; trans. with intro by Ilza Veith" In chapter 2 of the translated part, the Yellow Emperor (please allow me to correct myself) is given some prescriptions for each of the seasons by Taoist master Ch'i Po... Part of the lengthy introduction is here: http://books.google.com/books?id=qIfTD68k53gC&pg=PR5&dq=The+Yellow+Emperor%27s+Classic+of+Internal+Medicine+by+Ken+Rose+and+Ilza+Veith&hl=en&ei=H-sUTuGnF8qGsgLTqdXUDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Yellow%20Emperor%27s%20Classic%20of%20Internal%20Medicine%20by%20Ken%20Rose%20and%20Ilza%20Veith&f=false

I've been practicing Qi Gong and sitting meditation without a personal guide and it seems to me that a lot of what I read about different meditation practices are experiences that I can relate to in things that just happened to me while practicing. Sweet energy going circulating around in my head, similarly moving through my body with the intent and focus. I understand the breath to be more than just ordinary breath and maintain this awareness. I feel less fatigue while more grounded stability from practicing, and I've found that even if I'm drained I can still bring some Qi into my body for a short burst of energy if I feel the need to. I've also practiced Emptiness meditation and found a vast clarity from all thoughts and worries (during the meditation at least). So, at this point, what is the "Shen"? It doesn't have as much description that is relative to my exact understanding. I can understand the sense of Clarity which seems to be related to shen, but I don't see how that clarity moves through the body exactly. Some more help on this would be much appreciated. Finding a qualified teacher would be great, but I can't afford that right now. Also, all these texts and manuals were written for something so they must be useful without a teacher if you have a good amount of background information which I think I do have a pretty good amount of. Looking forward to these responses !

my gut on this is that he saw so many people trying to cultivate the way by external means thinking that they could breathe their way in, while not cultivating the virtue that they needed in order to be accepted once they got there. Check recent topic "what is Shen-spirit?" Some interesting ideas came about concerning Shen cultivation which resonated for me with Liu I Ming's writing. I see it the same as how Native Americans will not share some sacred dreams with anyone but their mentor because in doing so will lose the power they gained by it. This seems to be one of those things that reaches other areas of life as well. like above, it's good to remember that keeping our power secret can make it more powerful, while displaying it often ends in us losing it, whether to jealous competitors, or perhaps higher powers which decide we are not fit to carry them. Maybe you wrote this before reading the bit about the Yellow Emperors prescription for summer.. but read that again (in the original manual too. chapter 2 I think). Now, I can't speak for the masters, but enjoying life is NECESSARY no matter what path is cultivated. The difference between most people's enjoyment of life and that of the Immortals is the reason they enjoy it. Part of Taoist development is to be conscious of WHY we feel or act the way we do, and if it's for bad reasons then do it for the right reasons, or recognize their worthlessness and let them go. Again, check the Yellow Emperor's prescription -- enjoy life! (.. especially during Spring and Summer )

While we're at it, I'll add this BBC documentary about how modern psychology shapes and manipulates our world and cultures. Very interesting analysis of social manipulation. Century of the Self (part 1 of 4)

So, you mean it comes into the body at birth and leaves at death, but it is capable of wondrous things when you are able to intentionally move with it in and out of the body? This would be the YANGSHEN developed by combining cultivated yang with the yinshen as sort of a propulsive mechanism? This sounds a bit like astral travel, and also how some shamans go into the spirit world to bring someone's spirit back -- two different things maybe? both of which I have no experience of (nor great ambitions to).

Well, Liu I Ming speaks of cultivating the "real body" and "spiritual embryo" but he does warn against trying to do so by cultivating sexual energy. This may have been something that he was seeing a lot in his day, of people ingesting all sorts of aphrodesiacs and trying to increase sexual energy in order to create the "real body" or "spiritual embryo." One thing to consider is that Liu I Ming's writing is very influenced by Buddhism, and Buddhism tends to be a lot more anti-passions rather than transmuting passions into spirit and using their energy for other purposes. One difficulty with following Liu I Ming's teaching is that he does not write down to entire methodology for cultivating the "real body." He does write about how to nurture the spirit however, without trying to stir up sexual energy, and that (if I were to try sum it up in brief) is by stillness, concentration, and the Taoist virtues of nurturing the spirit rather than being distracted by fame, profit, doubt, desires, and emotions of anger, joy, and fear. This can be done even on a busy street when we learn to "see with ears, hear with the nose, smell with the hands, and hear with the nose." What does that mean? focus internally rather than getting caught up in the senses. I used to do this every morning when I had to walk through the financial district on the way to work. It was busy as could be, but rather than get distracted, I would just look at the ground and let my ears guide me, let my body smell the wrong ways, and my eyes only sense the environment. Aside from opening up the sense of hearing, smell, and intuition, this allowed me to keep the internal focus that contains spirit inside the body rather than having it cool off from inattention. This method is quite different from vipassana which would suggest to be aware of every thing we come in contact with, but it allows for a deeper awareness and concentration that allows cultivation in these settings. In fact, when I don't have such a hectic environment, I'm less driven to internal focus when walking around. When you continue to "heat the fire" like this, focusing internally, spirit is stable and so it can grow. Passions, desires, fears, worries, lusts, disgusts, all "cool the flame" and dissipate that spirit. It's important, like my tag says, to be able to focus on the moment and abandon would-be intruding desires. When I feel uncertain in some situation and it threatens to "cool my flame" I just abandon all other attention and do what I'm doing in totality. This results in me being totally aware of my environment and anything that might have led to subtle avoidance of my feelings. Anything that causes me to abandon my attention will be recognized, like maybe some dude in the corner who I realize was watching me -- now I notice him and not avoid his gaze but engage the discomfort and deal with the situation (like just noticing the guy who then stops watching me and creating awkwardness). Practicing like this, I think, is great preparation for higher cultivation because it gives experience holding on to "the flame" which many people at higher levels are want to do in daily life. In addition to this, I remember to follow the Yellow Emperors advice for behavior in the summer, to walk around like everything is beautiful and perfect outside. See that the rainy day is actually beautiful, the dark and windy day strengthens and provides alternation to the climate, the birds, trees, sun, smells, everything is beautiful and a wonder of nature. This is part of how to develop a stronger health for the following seasons, and it brightens the mind, and thus the spirit. I understand that you're pretty wary of false teachers, and I would guess they're probably all over the place in India where spiritual knowledge is common-place. It's the same with things like Voodoo or Santeria -- if you're looking for it, every person that comes up to you will say "oh, you're in great danger, I will perform a ceremony for you" so it's really important if you want to get to the beauty of the matter to know and expect this type of thing to happen, but I know you've already become well aware of all the detours. (btw, I've never practiced these religions.. just borrowing the example, though I do know the true practice of them is VERY different than even most natives to the region believe it to be.. )

Directly asking for recognition from The Tao Bums = an automatic 100 points on the NOOB scale. Congratulations Perhaps you were not looking for this. If not.. you still never answered any questions, so hopefully you've answered your own...

I think this was a good one but not answered. What area are you cultivating in? Philosophical? Meditation? Chi Kung? Most of your answers so far, to be perfectly honest, have been as short and non-descript as possible. Rather than saying something like "All of the above", describe what you mean, go into detail rather than using ready-made words that say everything in two words. Can you get into details with this stuff using some descriptions and images? Because using these throw away two word answers is like using cake mix + 1 egg to bake a cake -- you might have put it in the oven but it doesn't show how well you can bake a cake. It just shows that you know how to make a ready-made cake. Tasty as it may be, it's hardly your cake, and hardly evidence of much accomplishment (since you're not just looking for reassurance. And yes, this response is proof of callousness rather than wisdom, but you seemed to request it this way ).

If someone pushes the boundaries, making a joke out of it, is helpful to have in your arsenal since it pushes back but doesn't invite/demand dischord. Sometimes people push boundaries very subtly, like you said; it helps to ask for more information. Responses like "so..." or "and..." will clarify and sometimes force them out of hiding so that you are able to deal with the situation for what it really is, without pre-emtive or unnecessary confrontation.

What is it that you want to learn from the questions? You said you wanted them to humble you, and that you wanted to grow. Are you feeling overconfidence and want someone to humble you by showing how little you know (since we all know relatively nothing that could be explained, and it's an error to believe otherwise)? Are you looking for someone to tell you how far along you are by the content of your response?

so your saying that you miss opportunities, and then don't feel shitty enough about it to do something; that you would be driven to act if you allowed a "pity party" to drive you to action. Make a list every day of what you have to accomplish, a list bigger than you could actually do in 24 hours, and then be motivated to accomplish all of those things

I'm thinking the shen from jing and chi is also part of Te-virtue and that this is how shen is cultivated by some people even without chi cultivation (though jing cultivation may be necessary).

It's that small but vocal minority of people who have something to gain from competition rather than contribution to the cooperation. Either way they have to work. I think even if the highest politicians were honest, their word is not louder than big business and the underworld that they all have to abide by. So how do you change the humanity of powerful mafia leaders of every colour? If technology could do that we'd be A1, mate

Yes, if we can sustain awareness that we are really living "on borrowed time" we'd surely "suffer life in vain" a lot less. The Buddhist swastika symbolizes this to me the most; unfortunately I would cause a lot of negative emotions in other people if I walked around with one.

exactly This could be a really long, fairly trivial, topic. But, the vast majority of animals only care about their own herd and would quickly kill off all competitors. Humans do this as well, but most of us realize the consequence being perpetual war and instability rather than perpetual tolerance and relative stability and cooperation. We might only care about our families, but we also have a bit of a "dog mentality" that we like to get along, combined with a developed control over our survival impulses. On the whole....

I heard somewhere that 2012 will be the end of the age of Pisces and the beginning of the age of Aquarius (yes, like the song...). Any information on the truth/implications of this?

not entirely sure (through our technological disconnect) what u r saying.