Harmonious Emptiness

still takes me a few steps to log out too, and might permanently log me in on a public computer where I can't download or use developer extension. Would be nice to log out with one click encore

Wealth is whatever your dreams are. To believe you can achieve "dreams" takes a faith more than that needed to be "rich," and more likely to bring timely contacts and such into your life. Not a useless post at all. It lead me to creating this one: Changing Destiny - Liao Fan's Four Lessons

Another way to word it (en mon avis): 心Mind 中Centered 一at one 无without 所dwelling 着movement，一one 念thought, 一at one 无Without 所dwelling in(located in) 思 contemplation. Mind centered and at one, not scattered, nor in habitual movement. The only thought is on the one, without dwelling on this contemplation. nice. Thanks for sharing .

Life can be rough, no doubt. It's rough on everybody, which is what leads some people to bad things. This does not make them blameless, as everybody has the choice to not do something, but this is why they do it - because they couldn't take the pressure. This is why Buddhism says to have compassion for enemies, because they are suffering delusion which drives them to do the things they do. As spiritual people, we also pray for our enemies that they will see the light of love and stop having to combat the shadows of their delusion(s). If they die in their delusion they will suffer and suffer, not having the resources of humanity to learn to live in Light. Willing to Listen, it's important that you too realize that you are suffering. You are suffering bad, and you need help. Go get help from the resources that humanity has set up for you. Talk to your therapist. Tell him what you've been going through. Even if you have to take sanctuary in a hospital for a while to get a grasp. That might sound extreme, but I've known two people who spent time in a hospital when they needed to straighten our their perspective on life and it did them well. One of them is one of the most awesome people I know, who makes friends everywhere she goes, and is a fairly successful artist as well, yet she still had to take some time at some point in her life (probably around the age you are now, end of high school or so). It's worth getting the help so that you can continue on in whatever path you want to. It's not a permanent thing. These troubles feel permanent, but they are not. The moon waxes and wanes, the sun rises and sets and rises. It's just a part of the cycle that you're going through right now, and it's only human to use the resources we have to get past it.

Just speaking my truth, and bringing to light that there may be a deeper reason to the behaviour in discussion. Note the intent that I was referring to: If someone insults me in hopes that I will see my error, this is one thing. When someone insults me in an attempt to make me accept their superiority and take on their belief in my own worthlessness, then I have nothing to learn from them in this respect.. Though I still might learn something from the event, it's not likely to be what they hoped. Believing I'm the greatest or believing I'm worthless, there is still an ego-affliction to be dealt with. edit: This said, I'm all for playfully insulting someone to make them examine their behavior, but as I said in post #24 here, anything more serious than this needs more of a plan to be effective.

Yes, but in this case, the master had a plan and program that could take place over time, and also had the commitment of the student. This can work, but is not the same as just debasing someone off hand with an air of superiority and thinking it will somehow enlighten them.

I will withhold my comment

I don't see how insulting someone does anything to reduce their ego - it only puts their ego on high alert and confirms its necessity. If someone points out an error in me and I see they actually have good intentions, I'm glad they mentioned it. This method of debasing someone is just trying to control their mind, and it's usually done with anger. This is what cults do. How can being angry and hating and debasing someone lead them to compassion? If anything, this method drives someone to self-pity which is only a more ego-centered state of mind than they started with. One would think this to be blatantly obvious, but somehow some people have managed to avoid(?) seeing this. There can be a bit too much suspension of disbelief for the sake of seeing the truth, or tolerance for the obviously malicious. I think some people here must have entity issues to be so full of shit and so unable to see it.

Life is Yin and Yang. Without the light there would be no dark. Without dark, no light. All is balanced composition of everything. The light and dark, and 5 elements with varying degrees are within all things, and you will come to see them fluctuate with everything. Most people simply aren't aware of the forces that influence them, and don't be so foolish to believe that they don't fluctuate in you (any more). It's only because gravity pushes down that flowers grow up. The resistance is what makes things grow. It's the difficult that provides the opportunity to grow. Anyone can be a perfect sage when everything is perfect. It's how you deal with the difficult situations what makes you any different. "Stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but who can bear the provocation of a fool?" -King Solomon

I just meant that it might merely be a pressure change in the air, or wood expanding due to temperature changes.. though perhaps there are larger reasons for that. edit: and just mean to say that this is not necessarily spirits. I don't doubt that our environment changes to our energy at times. I think it can also be that we learn to be in time with our environment.

there are other strong possibilities.

Also comparing chapter 10, consider this from the Ming dynasty "Anthology on the Cultivation of Realization" (in Cleary's Taiost Meditation, I won't put in the rest of the paragraph due to copyright restrictions). "Essence/Xing is the reality of the infinite. Life/Ming is the vitality of yin and yang.... Essence/Xing is in the mind. To the extent the mind is cleared, to that extent is [the reality of the infinite]essence/xing visible."

I'd strongly suggest some martial arts classes which will help to discipline body, will, and intention. Also practice virtue and virtuous acts, and study texts on virtue. The Bible has some good guidance. Also check out the Tao Te Ching, the Chuang Tzu, and the Dhammapada for starters. For martial arts, ideally Baguazhang or Wing Chun.

I can say I've been there.. very familiar things in your post WL. Number one is that is that if you want to do something about this, you need to do something about it, and weed is not going to make it a smoother ride. There are obviously good things about this experience and bad things; good being awakening to potential, bad being that they are driving you and you haven't learned how to do the driving. You have energy traveling through your system at a rate that you are not at all used to and you are trying to figure it out. Weed is going to both make that energy act chaotically, thus making it more difficult to follow/understand, while numbing your ability to follow and understand it. You might feel this experience more noticeably when your high, but instead of being like "ah I have a drivers license, it's nice to be able to drive the car around town" it's like "Oh shit, I'm driving a Mack truck down the highway and I'm f*%&ing stoned! SHIIIT!" So, yeah. Lucid ("having full use of one's faculties"). I find coconut water is a great substitute for alcohol in social situations where you want to something to sip on but don't want the effects of alcohol. Way cheaper at Chinese grocery stores. I do this when playing music to stay in full form. It's also mucho healthy. Hang around TTB a bit and you'll probably pick up some good tips too, if you can sift through all the B.S.-ing. Peace.

I see several similar pointers in Chapter 10 to what seems to be the inner dissolving method taught by Bruce Frantzis at the end of this interview (from recent thread). Seems it could be read word for word with deeper meanings towards this meditation, which he says traces a long lineage directly back to Lao Tzu.

You could take a look for "General Instructions for the 12 sleep practices of Hua-Shan" Hua-shan Shih-ehr Shui-kung Tsung-chueh by Chou Lu-ching, c.1600s trans. by Teri Takehiro details some instructions from Chen Tuan, a legendary master, who is said to have slept for 100 days straight as some type of Taoist cultivation meditation.

Chinese grammar textbook http://www.kinezika.info/pdf/SchaumOutlinesChineseGrammar.pdf

Finally in front of my own computer and able to add some more here. Yes, chapter 10. I've always thought it might be the most overt about energy cultivation practices, after having translated it. I'm not sure that they are directly related, but it's interesting that both Po and De, possibly associated to Xing, are both mentioned in Chapter 10 which more or less explains to gather in one's chi and think beyond thoughts. Detached from thoughts and rewards, one arrives at De. This is generally fundamental to Ming and Xing cultivation. I would venture to say that Chapter 10 is one of the earliest teachings of Xing cultivation. Here is my translation of DDJ10: Chapter 10 01 載營魄抱一, zāi yǐng bō bào yī, Supporting your fortress of po-soul, embrace it within 02 能無離乎?! Can you do this without letting it flee like a bird from a beast? 03 專氣致柔, Concentrate, as though spinning thread, and chi will arrive softly 04 能嬰兒乎?! Can you be like a newbord child? 05 滌除玄覽, Wash, and eliminate, your profound introspections 06 能無疵乎?! Can you be without this disease? 07 愛民治國, Loving the less fortunate, govern the nation 08 能無知乎?! Can you do this without academic knowledge? 09 天門開闔, Heaven’s gate opens and closes 10 能為雌乎?! Can your actions be soft? 11 明白四達, Clearly understanding how all sides have come together 12 能無知乎?! Can you do this without academic knowledge? 13 生之，畜之, Create it, nurture it, 14 生而不有, Creating yet not holding on to it 15 為而不恃, Doing without the assumption of a particular outcome 16 長而不宰, Being great without expecting others to recognize and cater to your status 17 是謂玄德。 This is called De 德

I think BKF is just being who he is. That is his personality. How could he sincerely go from being a dynamic type person to a quiet and meek invisible person. I'm not saying that he is a Buddha, but we need some personality to survive in the world at times, especially if 100's of thousands of people are trying to learn from us. I don't see a braggart full of childish pride when he talks about his past. I'm sure he doesn't say far more than he does. I think there is something to be said for spiritual teachers smashing expectations of the limits of a cultivated person. Like if people expect to see a meek type person, some might show the opposite just to make them question the fixed-ness of reality and spirituality.

From "Xing Ming Gui Zhi" trans by Burton-Rose: Interesting that “the combination of metal and wood” could be referring to uniting 3 hun (heavenly) and 7 po (earthly) spirits, being hun/liver/emotion with po/lungs/metal, possibly making innate disposition/Xing somewhat related to the 3 heavenly po spirits. Seems that this phrase puts Xing as a metal elemental. a few other notes to remember: Intention/yi is associated with the spleen/earth and the zhi/will is associated with the kidneys/water. The process involved here reminds me, once again, to the mention of Ming in DDJ Chapter 16.

Hey Dawei yes another thread might make a bit more freedom for that. I've been slow on this thread as I want to read that Burton Rose translation but can only access it from home. It might be a bit longer before I can make anything resembling a meaningful contribution, but I am reading. thanks

Perhaps we could list the Confucian texts here, with some description if possible. I will start with my own limited knowledge here. These can then become additional topics. The first obviously being The Analects, attributed to Confucius. I'm not sure if there is much debate as to some of Analects being the words of someone else, such as with the later part of The Chuang Tzu. They come from the early Warring States Period, around the same time as the Dao De Jing first appears. Many believe Lao Tzu to have been one of Confucius teachers, Lao Dan, which might explain so much of the similarity in describing Sages and Refined Men (usually translated Superior Man, though I think that has unintended connotations in English, and that it would be better translated/interpreted as Refined Man, since a Refined Man has no need for superiority in the senses that the English word usually has attached to it. One who grasps after superiority would really be a Mean/Inferior Man by Confucian principles - just something worthy of note before the discussion, I believe). There are also the 7 Appendixes to the I Ching which have been attributed to Confucius, though to attribute all of them to Confucius is highly debatable. Much can be said about them which I hope someone will oblige in doing as my knowledge about them is very slight. They also discuss the character of a Refined Man. The Doctrine of the Mean[Middle Way], written by Confucius' grandson and Mencius' teacher, Si Zi, also seems to have had a great influence on Daoists. The Great Learning attributed to Confucius' teachings, has some similarities to the Dao De Jing as well, in speaking of influencing the state by cultivating one's "root." I think this is one of the most explicit descriptions of how Wei Wu Wei actually works, and the role of the Sage in government: to govern without governing is to focus on cultivating one's root(a topic of its own) which will thereby influence the people and state by matter of natural course, as one's virtue will influence all around them, like water seeping through walls. This function also appears in The Analects (ch.6, v.30 for ex.). The Mencius/Mengzi, said to be a student of Confucius grandson, Si Zi, and of whom there is likely the most known about his life. My knowledge here is also very limited, perhaps somebody has some more basic info to add about Master Meng. (Just getting the ball rolling here, hoping some people will be able to add other Confucian texts, as I know there are many of which I am unaware but would like to read).

guess I missed the memo about getting old first.. no worries.

Awesome. I've got some reading to do then

Hey Manitou, to discuss these passages I think they would be best in designated topics within this subforum. Note that this topic is to compile a list of the Confucian texts. Some more texts that might be discussed in the Confucian subforum, discoverd in the Guodian (300 B.C.) tombs: “Ziyi” 緇衣 (Jet-black robes) “Wuxing”五行 (The five forms of conduct). “Zun deyi” 尊德義 (Honoring virtue and morality); “Xing zi ming chu” 性自命出 (The xing emerges from the endowment); “Liude” 六德 (The six forms of virtue); “Qiongda yi shi”窮達以時 (Failure and success depend on time); “Tang Yu zhi dao” 唐虞之道 (The Way of Tang and Yu) “Zhongxin zhi dao” 忠信之道 (The Way of integrity and trustworthiness); “Yucong” 語叢 (Collections of sayings).