dawei

I think the key to the first two lines is a proper handling of what is Zhong (中). At least in the MWD and BeiDa versions, Zhong is at the end of 5 and also in 25... So is Emptiness just Emptiness itself or is something to be empty? I lean toward those who see this as man is to be empty; thus, Zhong is a reference to the person's inner aspect which seems its use in Chapter 5 too.

I agree they are two different characters and I think you have the right-hand side correct but I am suspicious of the left-side... so I don't think a typo. And I am partly suspicious because that first character does show up in the MWD and BeiDa versions but not in Chapter 2. Here is what Hendricks has as the original characters:

He juxtaposes Zi-Ran (Self-so) with Wu-wei... which is quite interesting because most find them on the same side, not opposites ! In a nutshell: Ziran is the active self-becoming aspect Wu Wei is the negative self-becoming aspect

This is a truly great introspective inquiry... PRACTICE.... even Bao Pu Zi said practice is not natural... RECONDITION... to what? when we are first born we are DAO-first-conditioned... later we are Society-conditioned... My understanding of the thread is: If we stop 'practicing' do we revert to 'society-conditioning' ? I may be totally off here... but if you stop practicing you have a better chance of finding DAO-first-conditioning... Why?

I agree... and there was a time that I used 'area' instead of organs... the middle area... and it should include not just heart and lungs but also the 'yellow court' where unprocessed emotions reside... But in the end, it is all about transformation... you can pick a word "Jing", "Qi", "Shen"... but the three are really one... and if we are willing to get beyond that idea, they are just "spirit"... For the purpose of the thread... "The heart is the ruler of the five organ networks." http://www.itmonline.org/5organs/heart.htm The heart is much under estimated in cultivation... As are the lungs.... so Uroboros is on to something The heart pumps the blood; the lungs pump the air. In the body... what do you really 'feel'? Move energy from top to bottom... what do you feel moving? In most cases, your breath/air... and pressure... and then blood-as-energy. So we find that there is an inter-connection of: mind-breath-air-pressure-blood-energy. My recommendation is to explore that connection.

That is a good self-check for a translation... a bellows does not 'breath'... so how can it be breathless... but it breaths in a way we do understand... So I personally think its function is more important than the idea of breathing.

I still like this variation have a read: http://www.confuchina.com/05%20zongjiao/Lao%20Zi's%20Concept%20of%20Zi%20Ran.htm I explored 'method' and other Fa meanings... And I researched the origin of Fa... 灋 This character contains the elements zhi ‘unicorn,’ plus qu ‘to get rid of,’ plus shui ‘water.’ Originally, in the Western Zhou character, the element qu meant ‘to get rid of evil-doers,’ while the character shui was included to indicate ‘impartiality of judgement’ because water always reaches its own level. By the Han Dynasty however, due to the standardization of the Chinese script, the characterfa no longer contained a recognisable goat-unicorn zhi element. As a result, the identity of the mythic goat-unicorn element became obscured. Thus people may have thought that the element qu was directly related to the element shui, and concluded that this combination meant ‘to get rid of water.’ The bronze character 灋(fa) was carved initially at the bronze vessel named DaYuDing(大盂鼎). in Zhou (周) dynasty. 灋(fa) was composed of 去, 水, 廌. 去 related to sacrificial rites. 水 meant sacred place. 廌 meant totem. The shape of 灋 bears a close parallel to that of (天水) 訟卦 which is hexagram 6 among 64 hexagrams in the Book of Changes(周易). ☰(天) was a hieroglyphic symbol of Heaven. ☵(水) was a hieroglyphic symbol of the Milky Way. 訟 was a worship or worshipper. The bronze character 灋(fa) and hexagram 6, ( 天水 訟卦) has a common image that a worship was performed by a certain tribe at the sacred place. The bronze character 灋(fa), therefore, means that a certain tribe, a “廌” worshipper, performs a ancient rites “大社” at the sacred place “水”. The broad meaning of fa as standards or law may have been derived from the radical ‘water’: ‘Fameans xing, which levels [affairs or persons] like water’. The second opinion is that fa originally meant fei 廢 (to abandon, stop or forbid), from which it derives the meanings of legal codes as ‘forbidding regulations’.

It is all but a fiction... any good? fiction... again... true tales... fiction again.. worthy knights-errant of history... Ready... Go I'm interested to hear more

IT is BS about self... Self-hack. Take care of 'self' and feed it in a good way... Health-hack

It is not open yet. Walk up to a VERY LARGE TREE... breath about 10 times very, very, very, slow.. Slowly, look up and down the tree... very, very, very slow... smile at the entire exchange... Raise your arms to waist height on each side of the tree... just breath very, very, very slowly in and out... and let your mind go up up up and disappear to the sky (tian) or down down down and disappear into the earth (di)... Don't try to even think or control it... just disappear...

where is the witchcraft from? Transmutation is a process... I think what I am asking is: Where does this all start from? What is the beginning of the process which leads to 'today' of channel witchcraft ?

A daoist Game of Thrones... or is this more like Reign... Game on...

Then just say IT !!!

IMO... We are all interconnected-beings... often distracted by compassion, love, and every emotion which exists... We are all interconnected-beings...

The title is actually a topic (actually spanning many threads) which has been discussed at length for more than a year among the staff. The staff has discussed over a year such issues as: Is TTB a safe place to post? Members complain they can’t post without fear of attacks by very specific people or hijacking of the thread or off-topic de-railing or trolling or mis-information or elitist telling them they are inferior, etc. Members who persist in the above actions. “The no-insult policy is not enough at the scale ttb has grown.” – founding admin The need for moderating “beyond the rules”. – past admin A “moderator prerogative” to act alone and then discuss as a group any further action or reversal of action. An “admin prerogative”. As stated in the Three Foundations: “The admin also has broad discretion to protect the civility and resources of any aspect within TTBs e-community.” With the recent topics of racism, the women’s cultivation area, and those suspended/banned over the last several months, it appears that all of the above topics continue to be a concern. Although these do show the passion that people can have on issues, ultimately the staff is charged to ensure that TTB is a safe and welcoming place for a diverse community of ideas. After becoming admin, I have generally allowed all suspensions to end early; allowed at least one banned member back. Anyone suspended or banned is free to contact me as I will judge if there is a chance for change and whether it aligns with our oversight of TTB. But I have also looked for ways to tighten up the growing concern of issues. There is less tolerance on some issues. The moderation team has prerogative to act faster to lock or hide threads, move topics, split/pit without other’s agreement. In such a case, that moderator generally has the ‘lead’ on the issue. But some of these do need notification to staff of the action and some will require discussion to uphold or reverse the action. In some cases, staff only voice their opinion and the ‘lead’ mod can make the final decision. In general I want faster action to occur… but I know some question whether this happening from the reports they send to staff. I can tell you that while mods are generally trying to stay out of the back-and-forth they do take any report seriously. I know historically that reports feel like they are dropped into a TTB vacuum and just disappear; Most every report gets several comments posted which is an indication (to me) that the staff discusses most every report. We’ve just re-shuffled the staff again. Those who have been on staff in the past know the good, the bad, and the ugly. Varying opinions are needed on the same issue but can result in difficult decision making and make consensus very difficult. One can feel very strong about taking action with no others agreeing; or the action desired ranges from 2 weeks to a ban; and where is the middle ground on that? In any case, there is lots of discussion and even compromise at times. The staff is not perfect... we are but human and we try our best to work together to maintain a healthy and welcoming community. I understand that our decisions will not please everyone but our hope is that you find TTB a place you want to come back to.

It is only fair that I reply to the OP... I think the answer has been given; based on Brian's reference to TTB's 'egalitarian directive' and as Trunk points out (with the insight of an Admin) about how subjective it would get in the end, this is not a strong position we'll take. I would agree that posters would do better to communicate and discuss, even when disagreeing. I know this has been a sore issue in certain sub-forums and some feel by the usual suspects. For now, I would only encourage members to 'know when to hold them and know when to fold them'; silence is one way to stop a person's posting which nobody responds to. And report posts as needed but it needs to be some violation of rules or spam, or inciting, etc. The gray area is when someone's posting style is just irritating. Members are free to report this but these often go without action but the staff does review any reports. We'll let someone know if they are just reporting too many issues and there is not much we plan to do yet...

~~~ ADMIN NOTICE ~~~ Narew has been suspended until the mods decide whether TTB is the place for him to lambast TTB because he can only read 1% of a forum he insults/belittles with an inciting attitude. ~~~ / ADMIN OUT ~~~

I know you have mentioned the Yellow Emperor's Four Canons... I starting going through the books I have. "One should not act until he has to act; when one acts he acts with prudence, according to what is fitting with the Dao of Heaven." -- Section Eleven: Basis for Military Expedition

I really like how you kept the last four lines parallel. That is my main beef with most translations but yours does it in a way I have not seen I think because 'man' is in the final lines that 'king' simply is a bit of 300 BC Chu Political correctness.. and as suggested, a longevity method

Go to the button at the bottom, "More Reply Options". Then scroll down and you'll see an Attach Files area below the area you type in

If your really this curious and mindful of her affectionate shift... be mindful of the potential psychological, emotional, and mental shifts going on. Maybe your seeing the tip of an iceberg... keep diving deeper and get to know her deepest self.

I would say, start a new thread with the Pin Yin in http://thetaobums.com/forum/239-taoist-textual-studies/ sounds interesting.

玄關 usually refers to the third eye area; if what TT says of 密戶= kidneys, then the locations don't really add up... but I think we can over-think this and the added pin yin may be nothing more than a synonym (?) but it doesn't seem to really help. I am enjoying the thread. thanks.

There is an interesting angle whereby 'governance' is in all three at all times... it trickles down and overlaps, etc. (Dao governs the ten thousand; earth governs the four seasons; man governs himself.)