Harmonious Emptiness
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Everything posted by Harmonious Emptiness
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lol. here we go, business as usual at TTB
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That must be a more modern way to write it? I'm sure I've seen it used in Classical texts without the mouth character. Thanks for the correction.
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You can also add horse(馬, ma) to the end of just about any sentence to turn it into a question. ni hao: hello ni hao ma: how are you? na shi hao: that is good na shi hao ma: is that good? Not sure what the grammatical rule is with it, but it's very common. Of course, of course, the horse character is just borrowed to signify the sound and doesn't make any actual horse references.
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Spirals, Sacred Geometry and Intelligent Design.
Harmonious Emptiness replied to adept's topic in General Discussion
You should probably sit down for this.... -
Qigong and qigong teachers
Harmonious Emptiness replied to BaguaKicksAss's topic in Daoist Discussion
I like the points of qualification. I'm not sure about the "must benefit 10 million people" aspect though. Seems like a high number for chi gong practitioners, which are not so numerous, nor experimental with new styles. Maybe he meant "must be able to benefit 10 million people." -
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Since I did mention energy, I should add, that you want to be master of your own energy without controlling it, like if Lao Tzu was emperor (actually the nation is considered synonymous with the body in the inner meanings of the Dao De Jing). You want to be master of it so that you can keep it happy and harmonious but you want it to be free and self sufficient, you want the people to start their own enterprises while you keep to the side and help them get started a little bit maybe if necessary. http://terebess.hu/english/tao/yutang.html (anyhow, the Dao De Jing helped me a lot in early stages of meditation..)
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Chuang Tzu - Words, ritual and questions related to "Taoism"
Harmonious Emptiness replied to Rara's topic in Zhuangzi
My thoughts on this: The idea of selfless-ness is as Taoist as it is Buddhist. These stages serve the self too much. Don't depart from the Ancestor, don't depart from the Pure, don't depart from the True. Sure, but to then take up these ideas of being a this, that, or the other will only send someone plummeting down from wherever they were. Looking down, saying "now I'm all the way up here," or "look at all the little people down there," is the same as looking down from a tight-wire on the first attempt. It's dangerous. It confuses people. Gives them vertigo (and green egos - inside joke for French speakers). -
can't help you with Buddhist jhanas, but from what you've said, it sounds to me like your energy meridians finally reached a state of relaxation and the natural medicines in the body started to circulate, resulting in the euphoric feeling and nourished mind-state. My suggestion - keep meditating, look at the feeling sort of like food - you don't eat and then think all day about the food in your stomach - you just let it do it's work. Continue to practice and let the feeling bring about "inner smile" and carry that with you in your daily practice (walking around, being being, etc.). You could look at those stages like a day too - beginning of the day, end of the day, whatever - it's Tuesday!
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Chuang Tzu - Words, ritual and questions related to "Taoism"
Harmonious Emptiness replied to Rara's topic in Zhuangzi
He does say "who does not depart from..." which sort of suggests that we are all a there a little bit, but that we don't live there 24/7. Who knows who walks among us... beings of light, ancestral spirits... I don't think it's necessary to look so much at ranking and all of that. When you guard De and dance to the beat of Dao, who knows what wheel we are helping turn. We just humbly do our thing and allow the Heavenly Ones, Holy Ones, Perfected Ones, and Sages do their thing.- 38 replies
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Chuang Tzu - Words, ritual and questions related to "Taoism"
Harmonious Emptiness replied to Rara's topic in Zhuangzi
Because we're only Ladies and Gentlemen at best. "MANY ARE THE MEN in the world who apply themselves to doctrines and policies, and each believes he has something that cannot be improved upon. What in ancient times was called the "art of the Way' - where does it exist? I say, there is no place it does not exist. But, you ask, where does holiness descend from, where does enlightenment emerge from? The sage gives them birth, the king completes them, and all have their source in the One. He who does not depart from the Ancestor is called the Heavenly Man; he who does not depart from the Pure is called the Holy Man; he who does not depart from the True is called the Perfect Man. To make Heaven his source, Virtue his root, and the Way his gate, revealing himself through change and transformation - one who does this is called a Sage. To make benevolence his standard of kindness, righteousness his model of reason, ritual his guide to conduct, and music his source of harmony, serene in mercy and benevolence - one who does this is called a gentleman." - opening of last chapter, 33, of Chuang Tzu.- 38 replies
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http://elitedaily.com/dating/sex/why-id-get-so-many-chicks-if-i-were-a-man/
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Green dragon horse dog appearance in my shirt on the floor, the day after it was worn on lunar New-Year's day of the Wood (green) Horse. It looks sort of like a crocodile, but the smile is like that of a dog. Dogs and horses are both domesticated animals. It's green so it looks like a dragon. If you take a dog and give it dragon qualities you get a horse! So happy Wood Horse Year, says the dragon dog!
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Classical Daoism; is there really such a thing?
Harmonious Emptiness replied to BaguaKicksAss's topic in Daoist Discussion
A little more wisdom from the early lines of the I Ching: Water over Heaven, Xu, "Waiting" 需：有孚，光亨，貞吉。利涉大川 Xu intimates that, with the sincerity which is declared in it, there will be brilliant success. With firmness there will be good fortune; and it will be advantageous to cross the great stream. 需，須也；險在前也。剛健而不陷，其義不困窮矣。需有孚，光亨，貞吉。位乎天位，以正中也。利涉大川，往有功也 Xu denotes waiting. (The figure) shows peril in front; but notwithstanding the firmness and strength (indicated by the inner trigram), its subject does not allow himself to be involved (in the dangerous defile); - it is right he should not be straitened or reduced to extremity. When it is said that, 'with the sincerity declared in Xu, there will be brilliant success, and with firmness there will be good fortune,' this is shown by the position (of the fifth line) in the place assigned by Heaven, and its being the correct position for it, and in the centre. 'It will be advantageous to go through the great stream;' - that is, going forward will be followed by meritorious achievement. .... 需于郊，不犯難行也。利用恆，无咎；未失常也 'He is waiting in the (distant) border:' - he makes no movement to encounter rashly the difficulties (of the situation). 'It will be advantageous for him constantly to maintain (the purpose thus shown), in which case there will be no error:' - he will not fail to pursue that regular course. So you can see, that this is the kind of counsel that existed in writing before the Lao Tzu. This same sort of wisdom was then expressed ingeniously by Lao Tzu in a way that was also multi-dimensional, and made to speak differently to the reader depending on their current external and internal landscapes. -
Classical Daoism; is there really such a thing?
Harmonious Emptiness replied to BaguaKicksAss's topic in Daoist Discussion
The later date for the lines attributed to King Wen and the Duke of Zhao is late (early) 9th century BCE (see Edward L. Shaughnessy). -
Classical Daoism; is there really such a thing?
Harmonious Emptiness replied to BaguaKicksAss's topic in Daoist Discussion
Wikipedia says: Traditionally, the I Ching and its hexagrams were thought to pre-date recorded history,[2] and based on traditional Chinese accounts, its origins trace back to the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE.[3] Modern scholarship suggests that the earliest layers of the text may date from the end of the 2nd millennium BCE, but place doubts on the mythological aspects in the traditional accounts.[4] Some consider the I Ching the oldest extant book of divination, dating from 1,000 BCE and before.[5]The oldest manuscript that has been found, albeit incomplete, dates back to the Warring States period (475–221 BCE). -
Classical Daoism; is there really such a thing?
Harmonious Emptiness replied to BaguaKicksAss's topic in Daoist Discussion
Confucius had no interest in the I Ching? And what do you base this on exactly? You should probably know that the I Ching is also a source of wisdom, not only a tool for divination and is studied deeply for this reason. -
Classical Daoism; is there really such a thing?
Harmonious Emptiness replied to BaguaKicksAss's topic in Daoist Discussion
Well, Sun Tzu also meditated on the Changes, which were at the base of his theory. Note that the hexagram of Earth over Heaven, Tai, is titled as "great." In the Dao De Jing, Lao Tzu says "I don't know what to call it so I write it's name as Da, Great." Tai is full Yin over full Yang - expressed later as Taiji, which also synonymous with Dao. It's all there in the trigrams and hexagrams. Learning from them was generally something done with a teacher, so the what has been written of Daoist philosophy is, at best, the tip of the iceberg. Our intellectual/scholastic ping-pong games are also obviously no more than recreational past-times, but, you never know where showing up will lead you to. -
Classical Daoism; is there really such a thing?
Harmonious Emptiness replied to BaguaKicksAss's topic in Daoist Discussion
Anyways.. yin and yang, Classic on the Changes (of yin yang, bagua), wu wei, you wei - this all goes back over 1000 years, in study and in writing, before Lao Tzu. from Water over Mountain, "Difficulty," (trans. Legge) 初六：往蹇，來譽 From the first SIX, divided, we learn that advance (on the part of its subject) will lead to (greater) difficulties, while remaining stationary will afford ground for praise. 往蹇來譽，宜待也 'Advancing will conduct to (greater) difficulties, while remaining stationary will afford ground for praise:' - the proper course is to wait. -
Classical Daoism; is there really such a thing?
Harmonious Emptiness replied to BaguaKicksAss's topic in Daoist Discussion
Bao Pu, any comments on the quotations I've provided? They are 1000 years older than the Dao de Jing. That's plenty of time for something as important as the I Ching to penetrate the philosophies of ancint China and lead to someone writing about having a clear and sincere heart (pu, zi ran), and appreciating the unadultered nature. -
Classical Daoism; is there really such a thing?
Harmonious Emptiness replied to BaguaKicksAss's topic in Daoist Discussion
The Duke of Zhao's commentary on line one, from Water over Earth, "Union," is 初六：有孚，比之，无咎。有孚盈缶，終來有它吉 which can be translated (selon moi) as: First six: Have sincerity (trustworthiness). Like this there is no misfortune. Have (let there be) sincerity (to) fill the (earthenware) vessel. The end will arrive with the same. Fortunate. Then in Earth over Heaven, "Tai" (translated by Legge) 九二：包荒，用馮河，不遐遺，朋亡，得尚于中行 The second NINE, undivided, shows one who can bear with the uncultivated, will cross the He without a boat, does not forget the distant, and has no (selfish) friendships. Thus does he prove himself acting in accordance with the course of the due Mean. 包荒，得尚于中行，以光大也。 'He bears with the uncultivated, and proves himself acting in accordance with the due mean:' - for (his intelligence is) bright and (his capacity is) great. 九三：无平不陂，无往不復，艱貞无咎。勿恤其孚，于食有福 The third NINE, undivided, shows that, while there is no state of peace that is not liable to be disturbed, and no departure (of evil men) so that they shall not return, yet when one is firm and correct, as he realises the distresses that may arise, he will commit no error. There is no occasion for sadness at the certainty (of such recurring changes); and in this mood the happiness (of the present) may be (long) enjoyed. 无往不復，天地際也 There is no going away so that there shall not be a return' refers to this as the point where the interaction of heaven and earth takes place. 六四：翩翩，不富，以其鄰，不戒以孚 The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject fluttering (down) - not relying on his own rich resources, but calling in his neighbours. (They all come) not as having received warning, but in the sincerity (of their hearts). 翩翩不富，皆失實也。不戒以孚，中心願也 'He comes fluttering (down), not relying on his own rich resources:' - both he and his neighbours are out of their real (place where they are). 'They have not received warning, but (come) in the sincerity (of their hearts):' - this is what they have desired in the core of their hearts. -
Classical Daoism; is there really such a thing?
Harmonious Emptiness replied to BaguaKicksAss's topic in Daoist Discussion
above THUNDER below WIND THE JUDGMENT DURATION. Success. No blame. Perseverance furthers. It furthers one to have somewhere to go. THE IMAGE Thunder and wind: the image of DURATION. Thus the superior man stands firm And does not change has direction. THE LINES Six at the beginning means: Seeking duration too hastily brings misfortune persistently. Nothing that would further. ° Nine in the second place means: Remorse disappears. Nine in the third place means: He who does not give duration to his character Meets with disgrace. Persistent humiliation. Nine in the fourth place means: No game in the field. Six in the fifth place means: Giving duration to one's character through perseverance. This is good fortune for a woman, misfortune for a man. [Wu Jing Nuan translates this last line as "Constant one's virtue. The divination: a wife, good fortune; a husband, bad fortune."] Six (Yin)at the top means: Restlessness as an enduring condition brings misfortune. above WATER below EARTH THE JUDGMENT HOLDING TOGETHER brings good fortune. Inquire of the oracle once again Whether you possess sublimity, constancy, and perseverance; Then there is no blame. Those who are uncertain gradually join. Whoever come too late Meets with misfortune. THE IMAGE On the earth is water: The image of HOLDING TOGETHER. Thus the kings of antiquity Bestowed the different states as fiefs And cultivated friendly relations With the feudal lords. THE LINES Six at the beginning means: Hold to him in truth and loyalty; This is without blame. Truth, like a full earthen bowl" Thus in the end Good fortune comes from without. Six in the second place means: Hold to him inwardly. Perseverance brings good fortune. Six in the third place means: You hold together with the wrong people. Six in the fourth place means: Hold to him outwardly also. Perseverance brings good fortune. ° Nine in the fifth place means: Manifestation of holding together. In the hunt the king uses beaters on three sides only And forgoes game that runs off in front. The citizens need no warning. Good fortune. Six at the top means: He finds no head for holding together. Misfortune. -
Classical Daoism; is there really such a thing?
Harmonious Emptiness replied to BaguaKicksAss's topic in Daoist Discussion
Lao Tzu speaks of wu wei as knowing when not to act, when not to put oneself in front of others. These tenets are central to the I Ching commentaries written by King Wen (1152 – 1056 BC), explaining the trigrams, and by his son the Duke of Zhou, explaining each line. -
Am I a Taoist or a Zen Buddhist?
Harmonious Emptiness replied to Fai0607's topic in General Discussion
Many Taoists do the same thing that many Chinese Buddhists do, but part of being a Taoist is cultivation of Life, so they have a particular appreciation of the medicines in the body brought forth through still-clarity, and the transformation from jing, to energy, to spirit that takes place. They are spiritual physicians in fact. Should add that to the dictionary....... -
Not that I agree with giving out teaching certificates to just anyone, but it does raise the question of who can, could, or should, teach chi gung? It's not that hard to benefit from certain styles. If someone has a simple practice that they benefit from, and is able to communicate what they do - should they not teach people who are looking for the benefits of that practice? I've taught a group of people chi gung (after having been asked to do so) and it was really great. I'm not a certified teacher, but the practice is simple enough to show and do properly the first time with demonstration/guidance. I can tell you that every person in that group was almost astonished at how they felt by the end of the session. I do have more than 2 days of experience, and it helps that the set flows well from warm up to cool down, but the set sort of spoke for itself I would say (and it was a nice day, etc., etc.). The focused movement, breathing, and relaxation are very beneficial in the right circumstances (a good group, a nice setting). I don't know how much is necessary to share chi gung effectively, but I do think it's possible for someone who "gets it/feels it" to help someone else "get it/feel it" if the cirumstances are right (the persons looking to experience it and that's why it's being taught), even if their "credentials" are bogus.