Harmonious Emptiness

Lienshan, you're talking about the Mawangdui B text. both Guodian texts have: 民莫之命而自均安 For some reason 安, peaceful, also means how and why according to http://www.internationalscientific.org, so I guess this was why it was changed to 焉. Could be possible that these two character mean "this is how" rather than "how?" Nonetheless, how about "people do not command" versus "people are not commanded?" Is there a grammatical rule that disallows either of these? Thanks

Any hope of this? I can't even find chapters using multiple search angles. 6 tries and still haven't found chapter 32 the TTC. even when I used exactly the wording "[TTC Study] Chapter 32 of the Tao Teh Ching" I couldn't get the chapter. I would be willing to help if needed.

thanks Rene. What did you search under? For some reason the exact title of the topic "[TTC Study] Chapter 32 of the Tao Teh Ching" doesn't work.

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You Xuande is the current headmaster on Wudang mountain, so it appears You Li Ou was authorized to teach directly via Wudang mountain. http://wudang-academy.com/xuan-wu-pai/ You are very lucky to have this school anywhere near you if you're looking to study Daoism and Daoist arts.

It can be your mind thinking about something that has already happened but adding metaphorical associations to it. So if you feel like your mom limited you spiritually but you're smarter than to let it work on you, this could easily be turned into a scenario of images in the dream as it did. According to some books I've read about dreams and just my own observation, we are still thinking when we sleep but our mind can use images which turn to scenarios and before we know it we're deep in sleep and forget that we're consciously imagining these things.. letting us get swept up in the scenario and then wonder "what was that all about?" sort of like when in a conversation and asking "how did I get to talking about this?" We dream a lot when awake too, but we realize we're doing it. As I'm writing this you might making a sandwich while thinking about school and something that happened and something that could have happened, but because you're awake you know that you're not actually there. When sleeping and thinking like this, instead of just sleeping vs. instead of just making the sandwich, you don't realize that your mind is off thinking since it's not conscious of anything else going on. This is the way I've come to see it at least.

Lucky for you!

Well, basically, but often just recognizing the situation can lead to this. You likely already have, and the dream was an illustration of that.

"Something added or attached to an entity of greater importance or size; an adjunct."

Sounds to me like the higher part of you realized an appendage put on you by someone else, which is just that -- an appendage. Your higher self was closer and clearer, resulting in you realizing what's you and what's accessories and even the direction from which they arrived. Commentary: We all have these things, and our fears and weaknesses can put them other people as well. It's important not to be angry with parents for putting them on us, as they are just as human as anyone else, in reality, and our proximity to them from before we even take our first breath of earthly oxygene means that they are our sources of these things, primarily, and our "job" of maturity is growing out of them.

Sounds more or less like what "Western" astrology is about - showing the forces of influence. I wouldn't believe in astrology if not for the fact that I went through several months of reading a particular astrologer at the end of the day and every time, the most significant issue of the day was signified quite categorically in horoscope's counsel. Eventually I came to realize the influence that was strong in the mornings that needed to be acknowledged and stopped looking to the horoscopes to tell me what it was (which planet was presiding). People might like to try and bash things as "new age naivete" but coincidences can be like road maps sometimes.

The story seems pretty tight. Strange that so many people were there with massive backpacks, including Navy Seals, but if they were throwing bombs out of their car and shot a cop, no doubt they were not set up. http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/04/19/boston-mit-shooting-campus-police-officer.html

What about the suspect apparently having a bomb on him when he was shot? Their uncle didn't seem to question the accusation at all, though one could easily say that he would be in Guantanamo right away if he did.

It's normally acceptable to ask where a teacher was taught. I would just ask how or where he became a priest and instructor. I get the sense you'll receive a satisfactory answer. Keeping in mind, its unlikely that there is one teacher anywhere who can be the equivalent of continual learning with various teachers throughout one's life.

Whoever they were, they need to be investigated, OBVIOUSLY. Big backpacks, same time, same place, same equipment. Who were they, why did they have those backpacks, what was in that guys hand, and why were they even there to begin with? This is clear and blatant evidence. It cannot be ignored, like the warnings to congress before 9/11.

It's about acting from the heart. Can you contrive the heart? Not really. You can inspire it though. Finding x=z so y should be 0 is not going to lead us to the heart. Contriving to be uncontrived leads to contrivance. Wu wei is to leave the categorizing and do what's real. It does take skill though - to be able to drop the mind, listen, and dance with the river banks. True skill doesn't come from the mind, it comes from the heart. These are the differences.

from Chapter 31 of the Dao De Jing: "Good weapons are instruments of fear; all creatures hate them. Therefore followers of Tao never use them. The wise man prefers the left. The man of war prefers the right. Weapons are instruments of fear; they are not a wise man's tools. He uses them only when he has no choice. Peace and quiet are dear to his heart, And victory no cause for rejoicing. If you rejoice in victory, then you delight in killing; If you delight in killing, you cannot fulfill yourself." - Feng translation

No, just open to misinterpretation, like all systematized moralities which are, or have been, misused to justify unjust behaviour.

It's a tricky question, because there's good sides and bad sides to the elements, but maybe there is a clue in chapter 49 of the Dao De Jing: (my translation, from Mawangdui B text:) □人恆無心 The sage does not have a stubborn heart or mind 以百省之心為心 His heart and mind are no different from the peoples'

Correction, it was in commentary that I translated it as that. For chapter 25 I translated it "Dao is regulated by its perfect completion" since it's nature was described at the beginning of chapter25 as "混 成 random and chaotic, yet perfect and complete."

Thanks for this. I see then, that translating 自然 as "self-correcting/self-permitting" does make sense, if it summarizes: 自備, self-perfecting 自得, self-attaining 自極, self-ultimate 自正, self-correcting 自定, self-fixing 自名, self-naming 自化, self-converting

just repeating for umph-asis

I thought this seemed more to the style of the language in the Dao De Jing and so translated it as such (in my translation) anyways... interesting! I've just been reading a preview of Pulleyblank, but didn't see that. Thanks..

I highly recommend this book. Rites of Rhythm: the music of cuba "The music of Cuba is primordial and poetic: steeped in sex, drenched in mysticism, and at once exotic and familiar. Jory Farr, whose articles about Cuban music earned him a Pulitzer Prize nomination in 1990, has carried on a love affair with the culture and the country for over a decade, returning again and again to research and experience firsthand Cuba's musical heritage as both a journalist and a musician in his own right." Part of it is the author's adventures looking for an authentic Santeria gathering, being told he has curses by people who want him to pay to remove them, and the information shared and learned by him when he meets a man who makes the sacred conga drums for ritual. Beautiful book. You will be inspired. And of course, be sure to see "The Divine Horsemen: the living gods of Haiti." which shows the real side of Voodoo, where there is/are no evil god(s), only gods of peace, wisdom, and strength. Remember... charlatans will always show what the money's looking for, good or bad....

Thanks CD , though, it's just a start .