Harmonious Emptiness

However, these people did not have to actually do anything. Because they were always in harmony with themselves, nature, and the universe, the weather would naturally fall into harmony when they were around. So nature would take it's course, which is to be in harmony amongst harmonious circumstances.

dbl.

A few others I should add to this, for anyone going through these lists: Touch the Earth by TC McLuhan (one of Marshall's daughters), a collection of speeches by First Nations elders made between about 1600 to 1930. of course TTB favourite: Opening Dragon Gate by Wang Liping Another one I am glad I picked up: Encyclopedia of White Magic by Paddy Slade. The author is sort of like a "lineage holder" of Western European traditions and goes through the ceremonies and significances of all the equinox and mid-equinox festivals. Especially enjoyable since my distant roots are from all over the UK, and we still practice many of these things in the West in different ways. More and more recommendations more than welcome!

For me, mostly oatmeal hopefully with some fruit like a pear mixed in, cinnamon on top sometimes brown sugar, always with unsweetened soy milk. Aside from being filling and full of energy, it keeps my grocery bills way down. Sometimes also millet with toasted pumpkin seeds and fruit mixed in. This is also very inexpensive. Otherwise organic granola or rice and millet flakes with soy milk, or peanut butter and toast, or sometimes an egg and cheese sandwich. Also fresh ground, french press coffee. On weekends usually eggs, potatoes and onions fried in butter(makes all the difference), and maybe some broccoli. Any good recipes for breakfast potatoes?

After my last breakup I started eating less, possibly due to the schedule change of not eating with that person, but also maybe just wanting to be lighter to adapt to the change. I still eat less than I used to, maybe just as you said, priorities seemed to change. I don't read anything that sounds crazy (in what you wrote). Sounds like you're traversing some deep realizations. Not knowing more about the situation, I might say just go with it and see where it takes you.

Yeah, I listened to a great interview with him. Thanks for the reminder! Great title.

Well, that shouldn't be a problem now . Thanks for the list!

Sure. Personally, my speculation is that it could have just as easily been one person well learned in these various teachings who wrote them all down after having learned and lived with them over a number of decades. He may not have been the first to teach them, but was likely very well learned in them and other aspects of their application. Yes, I'm using the term as a "catch all" to refer to people who heal using internal means and/or employ unseen forces for healing. True, on my part it can only be speculation, but there is reason to link the teachings in DDJ with spiritual healing. Here is an excerpt from the following web page which I'm sure all interested in this thread will enjoy: http://www.dayuancircle.com/teachings.htm "3. The spiritual healer is a shaman whose internal vision and/or spiritual accomplishment automatically rectify the spirits/energy around them. Their immediate presence heals those in contact and their existence itself pervades the environment (Space). They often live alone in remote wilderness areas. Their method is often described as "radiance". Their healing is largely unintentional or effortless (natural - wuweidao)." This is the type of healing that I'm referring to. I can't remember where, but I've also read of a Taoist hermit being summoned to fix a drought and, essentially, this is all he had to do. Seems to me, when reading the DDJ, that this type of knowledge saturates every chapter, and so it seems highly probably that Li Er was also a spiritual healer. I'd be very interested to hear more of the differentiation of these and the other Chinese terms you refer to here! I agree. Unfortunately, this knowledge and terminology is not widespread enough for everyone, including myself, to communicate with effectively. I guess the written words are like the leaves that we all get to see, while the branches and the roots are still there but not so apparent. I think meditation is part of any mystical tradition, it's just that we all don't get right up into the tree, so to speak. Well most cultures with some Aboriginal mysticism seem to agree that women are more often born with the gifts, while men more often have to struggle for the comparable abilities, so it's no wonder that these "leaves" have understand feminine or Yin power. It all came from Khemet (possibly even influencing China), in my opinion, but that's a whole 'nother discussion (one I've pretty much given up having on forums).

Ok, so he is up front and clear about the difference, and there is some connection to teachers of Kunlun Pai.

It's a complicated concept. How would you like to define it? edit: I should add the phrase from TTC as support: "Take the action which consists of no action and order will prevail."

I don't want to get in the middle of this, but can we get a clarification on this statement? I wouldn't want it to just sit there unquestioned.

I see Bee Shamanism predated the Chinese with acupuncture. Really? The magazine looks good too, especially to see how people are using these things in day to day life. Naturally there is some fear of modern people mixing up the real traditions, but I don't think it will be much different than with Taoism, ie., the more dabblers learn the more they realize how little they know and hopefully cultivate enough humility to learn some more. edit: some good book reviews in Sacred Hoop as well..

Thanks, these look great! Cool, I like the travel diaries type stories too.. a good dose of adventure at the same time. Either way, pretty much anything a traditional shaman decides to share about the world is well worth the read.

Agreed. I was going to mention him for coreography, taking the comedic fight sequence thing from the past, but adding an unprecedented level of creativity and insane stunts!

Thanks for sharing these thoughts. Interesting considerations. I also wonder how much we are in the Now without realizing it.. I guess that makes one slightly out of the now if they are not also aware that they are in the now.. according to some views. There are practices for being in the now which demand a high level of concentration, like martial arts. I wonder if the same benefits of martial arts can be obtained by numerous other concentration inducing arts. The limitations of a wandering mind become far more apparent during combat or sparring, as well as during performance. A major benefit of martial arts in this is that the focus is on the body and energy as well as the mind, and the energy, movement and mind of the sparring partner. In performance, this is also true, that there is intense focus on the body, the energy, and all these things in the other performers and even the audience. Maybe most challenging situations demand hightened focus, but some incorporate focus on internal energy more than others. I suppose the purpose of these is to build that focus. ...

Snowmonki, how do you know that the author (or compiler of teachings) of the Dao De Jing was not a shaman? There are Taoist shamans who merely fix things by being present in a community, making the weather come into balance and various other things. It appears to me that this is the sort of achievement through wu wei that Lao Tzu speaks of quite often throughout the Dao De Jing. There is of course more to shamanism than this approach, but I don't think it can be overlooked in this context.

This song comes to my head when I watch that scene

Maybe it is the instant karma of those insects. They attacked an animal and they lost. I think this is where karma is not a concept lacking in Taoism. You try not to disrupt the harmony of things, and try to keep the harmony and balance in ones self so that you can be attuned to the push and pull of things. Also being in harmony you can try to bring other things into harmony rather than see them suffer or further disrupt the harmony. When they continue to disrupt the harmony, then they will only cause suffering for others and eventually themselves, so "the sage follows the actions of heaven." We've polluted and assaulted heaven and earth for a long time now and rarely see the consequences, so this shows how heaven and earth work in this way. However, it won't help anyone if we discard all capacity for corrections.

I think with enough people, a difference can be made in the general consideration level given to people just by being more generous with space on the sidewalks. I noticed that the vibe in a street can become very uptight based on people being greedy or inconsiderate with space on the sidewalk. It could just be me, but when I realized this and started making more effort to somewhat chivalrously give way to people, the vibe seemed to be more easy eventually. I think if enough people make an effort to do this, then people will pass it on, and the guard comes down a bit and people are happier and less stressed about guarding their personal space. I don't know what this would do on a world level, but if the vibration goes down a bit, the low tension level allows for more mindfulness.

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#1. The Zatoichi series, starring Shintaro Katsu, could still watch more and I must have watched about a dozen of them. The cinematography being a huge advantage, but also the character development and coolness of the Blind Swordsman. Toshiro Mifune and Bruce Lee tied at second for me. The Wu Tang series would be up there for entertainment value if not for the ridiculous overdubs .

Well thanks rainbowvein. I presume you are playing along with the put on, as I don't really have a Zen art of forum writing, but I guess maybe that means I do! ?

Thanks for that post CT. This is the kind of stuff I love to read here. Well written, well read

LOL

I feel like if you meditate well at the right times of day, then a lot the stuff just happens on it's own. I was reading "Tao of Health Longevity and Immortality, teachings of Chung and Lu, trans: Eva Wong" again recently and it seems more that what Chung explains is not what to do, but what happens inside when you meditate at the right times of day and night. Nonetheless, I've been thinking about the relationships between upper, middle, and lower dantiens, and Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. I think absorbing qi can help to integrate these functions so that they are all tied in together. Focusing on building the dantien doesn't get one so far if they don't cultivate their humanity aspect, which can be a qi gong in itself to develop traits like lovingkindness and compassion in cultivating the Humanity aspect. I can imagine how this can be increased by absorbing energy from nature, and I can imagine how absorbing energy from nature might be accomplished in many many ways, subtle and overt. A last thought, is that we naturally absorb blessings of the Tao when we enter wu wei and work in harmony the Tao. Seems to me that not all schools of Immortality focus so much on the lower dan tien. Seems like that is more of a martial and healing requirement, but most of the work goes on in the upper dantien with cultivation of "Openness."