Harmonious Emptiness

Interesting topic.

I guess I wasn't too clear in my last post - I was confusing Jenny Lamb being in a movie with one of of Wang's descendants being in a movie. I did some searching and figured out why that was - it was actually Wang Jurong's daughter, Helen Wu, who I was thinking of. Maybe around the same time I saw the Jenny Lamb video I was looking into Helen Wu, who, little did I know when attending University, taught at my alma mater. Helen Wu had a short scene in an episode of The Highlander. My memory can do funny things sometimes lol. "Chronicles of the Dao" was also an exciting find for me. Probably all of the events in it took place at some point in time, so it is true in a way, even though fictitious. Deng Ming Dao is a great writer/teacher, whatever his methods.. I've read a few good books by him (not to change topics.....).

I'd say the core of Daoist philosophy, that of knowing one's place in nature, in time, in circumstances, in society, etc., and being able to glide harmoniously through the changes of this environment, is where Daoism starts. The grain of this wisdom sprouted in various directions, including meditation, political, philosophical, and understanding nature and the nature of the human body. During the time of the "100 schools of thought," there were so many people putting their philosophies out there as "the truth" (not unlike on chat-rooms of today), and the Dao De Jing was the response to these writings, saying "you say it's like this, but really, it's like this" (not unlike on chat-rooms of today). It was a historical discourse, and the Dao De Jing represented the corner of the scholars who studied and developed the ideas presented by Huang Di, Fu Xi, and the masters who taught Huang Di. The scholars in this corner, I would suggest, were normally content to let their contributions reach whoever had the good fortune to come into contact with them, which was fairly easy, not having so many voices clamouring to be heard over each other. When the "100 schools of thought" came to town though, the Dao De Jing was put forth like a bell tower or light-house to ensure that people were not lost in the powerful waves of thought, ensuring that the true measure of depth would not be lost, and the passage would not be cluttered with ships forever stuck in these ideas.

Ah, you're right. I was confusing the two for some reason. Thanks for the correction. And remember - careful what you read on the internet, lol. Here's some footage of Wang Liping and Wang Jurong then

-

Seems there's always an explanation as to why Buddhism is not this and not that, so I would like to hear how Buddhism is not cynical against life. The goal of The Buddha and Enlightenment is largely to end the cycle of rebirth by "extinguishing the flame" of desires and ego, etc., so that people don't have to suffer life anymore. But why have such a negative view of life that you want to escape it? Isn't that manically depressing to say "oh, life, it's just terrible, I'm going to commit myself to never having to do it again." I appreciate the vast majority of Buddhist doctrine, like ridding oneself of the burden of desires and ego, and seeing the transitory nature of all things so that we can both not worry about things that don't matter and also appreciate the gifts of beautiful moments that we have. But there is a lot in the sutras which suggest one needs to see how terrible life is. This is a horrible suggestion, in my opinion, and obviously one which has polarized Buddhist and Taoist doctrines in certain comparisons. So, Buddhists, "what have you got to say for yourselves?"

Okay, did a search on Yuen Chuan. 'Nuff said.

Emptiness and form being one, all being one and one being all. So in Boddhichitta for one, you have Boddhichitta for all. I particularly like Book Seven, Purifying Practice, in the Avatamsaka Sutra for this. An example being "If they see high mountains, They should wish that all beings' Roots of goodness stand out, Their peak beyond anyone's reach If they see thorny trees, They should wish that all beings May quickly cut away The thorns of the three poisons Seeing trees with luxuriant foliage, They should wish that all beings Make a canopy of light With stability and liberation. If they see blossoms on trees, They should wish that all beings' Features be like flowers, With all marks of distinction. If they see fruits, They should wish that all beings Attain the supreme teaching And realize the way of enlightenment. [....] When they eat They should wish that all beings Feed on the joy of meditation And be sated by delight in truth. When tasting flavor, They should wish that all beings Attain the supreme savor of buddhahood And be filled with the elixer of immortality. [not sure what that last line was a translation of.. lol] But anyways, if you find yourself doing something really mundane like sweeping, you can wish that all beings have illusions swept from their spirits, or if you are walking a long journey you can wish that all beings endure the road to liberation, etc.

Check this out too: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/11/18/stay-suicide-hecht/

"First there was Oneness, then there was Two-ness [Tao, yin, yang (imo)], then there was Three [De (imo)], and from The Three came the myriad things." [my translation (evidently)] Dao is "the Way," De is born from Dao, in the way that programs are born of their programming. So, for mystical monotheists, the Daoist "bridge" would be DE, as it is the virtuous birth origin - or at least it would be an easier way for them to understand that there isn't total denial of this virtuous origin. (I talked about this more, here, a while back)

Well, this is a Taoist website, so I'll give you the Taoist (actually Taoist influenced Confucian which later influenced Taiost) advice. Somebody mentioned before that you were chasing states in meditation. Well, here, you're chasing states in normal er'ry day life. Chasing happiness, joy, love, etc.. By chasing them you can't experience them. When you "attain" them, you'll say "oh, I'm joyous" and then joy is no longer joy - it's "oh, I finally achieved joy." Because you don't achieve these things, you experience frustration and anger internalized which is the definition of depression. So you have desire for these states, you have anger of not achieving them, you have sadness of being angry about not achieving them, and joy is the carrot on the stick leading you on this not-so-merry go round! Most people seek joy and this desire leads to anger and sorrow. "Doctrine of the Mean/Middle Way" (scripture written by Confucius grandson Zi Si) states that "While there are no stirrings of pleasure, anger, sorrow, or joy, the mind may be said to be in the state of Equilibrium. When those feelings have been stirred, and they act in their due degree, there ensues what may be called the state of Harmony. This Equilibrium is the great root from which grow all the human actings in the world, and this Harmony is the universal path which they all should pursue. Let the states of equilibrium and harmony exist in perfection, and a happy order will prevail throughout heaven and earth, and all things will be nourished and flourish." You need to experience Equilibrium, which is not so much pleasure, but an absence of displeasure which is itself, by contrast, pleasurable. When you can embrace this Equilibrium, other emotions rise "in their due degree" which might not be strong, but "in their due degree," and allowing this to happen results in Harmony. (And don't say "damn, they're not rising, that dude lied to me" because then you're experiencing anger and/or sorrow, and not Equilibrium, which is the only place these things can naturally arise from towards Harmony). If you feel anger, fine. If you feel sorrow, fine. It's when the emotions are in balance that you can experience Harmony. Harmony has to arise naturally, and accepted as it is. If you want blasting pleasure and radiant joy, how will you taste Harmony? Be with your Equilibrium. Embrace it. Be with it. Don't chase pleasure, anger, sorrow, or joy while you are doing this. In fact, shut them out - the anger that you don't feel joy, for example. If joy seems to be coming, go back to equilibrium. This is part of training to not desire joy and pleasure, because this desire can rob you of their naturalness. This is not all the time that I'm saying, this is while you're doing your internal work. Find real Equilibrium this way first. The rest follows, but you first have to embrace Equilibrium (the absence of pleasure, anger, sorrow, and joy). Otherwise you're not being honest with your emotions. Then when these emotions do arise, the work is to keep them in their "due degree." Don't let them burn you up. Joy can burn up your chi too when it is extreme, and weaken you in the long run. In everyday day to day life, of course, don't expect to be a 24/7 meditation master. Start like this though. And read some classic Taoist texts to help you along. Chuang Tzu, Lao Tzu, Wen Tzu, Huinan, Liu I Ming. Learn from their wisdom, not simply the interpretations by modern authors.

Starjumper, any links about Yueng Chuan? Would be great see videos of Fook Yueng. Some interesting information about his relationship with Bruce Lee here: http://yeungchuan.blogspot.ca/2007/12/small-history-of-fook-yueng.html Interesting about Tien Shan. I see that Systema goes back to the 9th century, and I see what you mean about the connection with Tien Shan and Yeung Chuan if Yeung Chaun "is synthesized from over 160 martial art styles and Tien Shan Mountain Chi Kung" (see link above). This interview is interesting too:

Trying take someone down who naturally fights from the level your trying to "surprise" them at though, when they're rooted and able to redirect you as if you came at them standing up - that's the difference. Not saying he's undefeatable...

Or learn how to fight like this:

Saw this video before, and I've never seen Systema style resemble Taiji fajin so much. I'm pretty sure this teacher is hiding some Taiji under his sleeves. Probably the same with post #3 and push-hands. I'd be surprised if they didn't learn some Taiji at some point in their martial arts studies.

I was interested to read the original text so I made a translation which I will post below for anyone that might be interested. (If you wish to discuss the translation, please post here. Thank you.). 吕洞宾 百字碑 Lu Dong Bin, 100 Character Tablet 1養氣忘言守 Nourish Chi, forget words. Guard (this state. [nourishing and guarding correspond in meaning]). 降心為不為 Lower the heart-mind’s activity to no activity. 11動靜知宗祖 In the stirrings of clarity and calm, know the ancestral originator 無事更尋誰 Without busying oneself further by searching for anyone. 21真常須應物 The true unchanging principle has to respond and adapt to things. 應物要不迷 In adapting to things, it is necessary not to become confused. [*1] 31不迷性自住 Not being confused, Xing (life-heart) naturally resides. 性住氣自回 Xing (life-heart) remaining, chi naturally returns. 41氣回丹自結 Chi returning, medicine is naturally formed 夢中配坎離 In a dream, the marriage of kan (water) and li (fire) 51陰陽生返復 Yin and yang arise and return, repeatedly 普化一聲雷 All things transform in one clap of thunder 61白雲朝頂上, White clouds of the morning above the summit [*2] 甘露灑須彌。 Sweet dew trickles down mount Sumeru 71自飲長生酒 Naturally drinking the long-life elixir 逍遙誰得知 Roaming freely. Who knows of this? 81坐聽無弦曲 Sitting and listening to the stringless tune 明通造化機 Clarity passes through unhindered to create the mechanism of change 91都來二十句, These twenty verses 端的上天梯 Begin the ascent on the ladder to Heaven *1. alt. translation: The true principle always responds to things. This responsiveness must not be lost. *2. 頂 ding, also means “crown of the head.”

I feel I should add that misconception seems to be the norm when it comes to following Daoist wisdom based on what people have heard about Daoist terms and concepts, like wu wei. When reading the classics it can become apparent that there are many approaches for different situations, and that these terms are often misunderstood, over-simplified, and de-contextualized. Reading the classics can help one to know when to put these approaches into place *at the right time, rather than seeing everything as a nail under one's proverbial platitude hammer.

Agreed, more or less. I read until I come across something that needs more absorbing and application in life to really understand on a deep level. Given the depth of Daoist writings, I rarely get through more than about 4 pages before this happens. It's sort of like seasoning on food though. It can give the principal ingredient (being/awareness) more spectrum of flavour, but it can also eliminate the beautiful natural flavour if overdone. And of course, don't just eat the spices!

Meditation is about training the mind, not simply pacifying, which is what binaural beats seem to do. You allow things to settle and your mind functions better, like a bunch of rowdy kids in a class room that need to settle down before they can learn something. You don't put them all to sleep and switch off their minds - you just try to bring calm focus. It sounds like you were going for total blankness in meditation. There should always be that light of awareness - the yang within the yin. I suggest practicing chi gung to get into an active meditation and understand what that's like. Use chi gung as a way to prepare you for sitting meditation. PM me if you want and I can send you an effective chi gung video for beginners.

How can potential be brimming? You really need to ask? Come on - try just a little bit at least. Your elementary school poetry teacher would be ashamed.

Thing is - if you move the dantien - everything moves, and so a little move in the dantien can give a lot of potential to the rest as it means that the external expression is backed by the entire body and requires less strength from the rest of the body. If you're biking and use the turning of the dantien to move the legs - the little effort to do so saves the muscles in the legs. Why do we focus on the dantien? Why do we focus on the ocean when we go to the beach to relax?

Plaintain (the herb, not the bananas) is used by Native Americans for poison ivy and snake bites to draw out the poison, and clean and coagulate the wound. It's also a blood cleanser to it could be taken internally for poisoning as well. Cloves are good not just for tooth aches but also to clean bacteria out of cavities (it's anti-bacterial), and they can be left along the gum line to treat gingivitis as they are antiseptics. Chewing them is also the best thing for sore throats as it numbs the sore throat while destroying any bacteria, virus, fungus, etc. (I add the clove treatments to the "little treasures" because those were my own discoveries on using cloves and are not found in write-ups about them.)

That sounds very close to how I've come to understand and connect on a personal-experience level with DE. All things being inter-twined, to me it feels as though DE encompasses Xing, as in Xing and Ming - "Nature and Destiny" - having virtue is part of Xing practice - it is the nature of DE to be virtuous. "Be the mother to the people" says Lao Tzu. In cultivating virtue one cultivates chi, which brings wei chi "encircling chi," which protects and draws Destiny (rather than fate). Destiny, to me, is virtue drawing one towards Dao. Dao is like perfect geometric harmony. De allows one to walk in this harmonic path, like steep mountain trails, and benefit from the perfect paths towards "destiny" that it makes. In arriving at destiny, one learns by following it and the enduring resilience required to do so. Experiencing that destiny, even temporarily, brings one further in understanding and clarity, which furthers their "virtue," further strengthens their wei chi, and connection with De, which allows them to communicate with Dao ("where are you Dao?" "I'm over here!!"). [Thanks for sharing that Dwai!]

I'll let someone with more of a complex understanding of this answer the details, but I'll add that for general health benefit, total abstinence is not necessary, and unless you plan on continuing your practice at that level, with all safety measures in place to convert the energy and avoid stagnation - for the rest of your life - I'd be careful about abusing the potential of total abstinence.