strawdog65

The hummingbird's wings. Beautiful, shimmering blue, Floating Tsunami!

Hello Just me! Welcome to the path! Being a Taoist is slightly different to each experiencer. I realized that I had Taoist beliefs... much to my own surprise. One day while reading about Taoism, it just clicked. It is entirely possible to be a Taoist thinking/acting person and never realize that this "label" pretty much describes you! When reading the Tao Te Ching ... it always seems to me, that the advice is very simple and straight forward. Be as natural as you are able to be, do not use force to influence the outcome any situation, unless your life is at risk, and even that choice is debatable, but since Taoism contains all possible outcomes... there can be no wrong outcome. This is the flow of non interference. Sometimes the best action to take is one of non-action, which is the principle of Wu Wei. To me Taoism is always taking the highest road possible in any given situation, to treat others as part of yourself, to see from another's viewpoint and stay open to the Mystery that is Tao. Many Taoists on this site practice what they believe in physical, or philosophical ways. You will see much here to open your eyes to the world of Taoism. I practice philosophical Taoism. Which means, My interest is in taking the wisdom of books such as the Tao Te Ching, and making my best attempt to use that advice to practice within the wilderness that is our society. It is something very useful, and changes ones entire outlook on life and everyday existence. Rather than seeing obstacles and difficulties as insurmountable problems, you are encouraged to understand what is going on and why your own action/reaction is what it is. To find clarity in understanding that the world is as it should be, and that the amount of control we think we have over our lives is an Illusion. Nothing need be done. All will be done whether we involve ourselves or not, It is only up to us to endeavor to live lives of true Virtue. Peace!

Eggs escape to plate! Yellow orbs, looking at me, Hard questions arise.

Vaj, Wow! I will be reading and trying to digest what you have said.... there's a lot there! I enjoy the fact that you are content to agree to disagree. I am just a humble traveler... and I accept what you have said as your truth. My words can not, more fully express... that which is true to me, more so than I have already stated. I have reached the end... of words. That which can be named is not the true Tao. And so it is.... peace!

Hello everyone!, I'm sure you've all heard it before but I haven't seen it yet on here... Dreams are a form of Shared Consciousness. When we dream... where is it that these events happen? Is what we perceive in a dream, only taking place in our minds? If in fact we all are existing within a Holographically complete universe.... then each one of us is only the smallest of parts of the whole. Holographically, meaning that even the smallest part of the larger item contains all of the information that is contained with the much larger whole. No matter how small the piece is... no information is missing. And everything that is, and ever will be of the whole, also exists inside of us, at all times... We are just not able to normally access it in the conscious state of mind, but when sleeping, or in very deep meditation.... we attain this level of consciousness and are able to do all manner of things. So... Dreaming is a shared state of consciousness with the universal unknown. When people have prophetic dreams, they are merely accessing this information, which is all and everything happening at once. There is no time, there is no separation, there is only information, knowledge and experience to be shared, which these people do and then bring the information back to the conscious level. Peace!

Marblehead the poet. Beautifully said... and illuminating to my mind! Peace!

Hello Vaj! I am always so impressed by the content and thoroughness of your posts. Your knowledge and understanding of Buddhism is very humbling. I have learned much from reading your posts, thank you! I do not mean to present what I believe as a static form of Taoism. Life is nothing if not constant, unending change, sometimes cyclic, sometimes not. As far as escaping from the recycling.... escaping to where? When the Buddha escaped from his own existence cycle... who is to say where he went? A higher plane of existence, a plane of bliss, Nirvanna.... ALL are contained within the Tao. Many ways.... all leading to what may be perceived to the individual as different, but in fact is only perceived to be because of their perspective, which many times has been ingrained into this individual from childhood. Of course this does not say that this "experience" is not "real", for again "reality" is relative. And what's real to one... is not to someone else. Vaj, your belief is Valid... to you, to me, and anyone else that accepts, that regardless of semantics, experiential evidence, and differing explanations, we are ALL just the innumerable facets of the jewell that is the TAO. We are all existing side by side, claiming that there is only one method beyond this madness that we see in the world... all except Tao... Tao is both the sanity and the madness at the same time I will be plain in what I say. My understanding, my intuitive grasp of what Taoism is is that of the Tao being the fabric of all physical, and non-physical reality, The visible universe is but a small part of this. Indoctrination into a belief system such as Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, or anything else, influences all you see, all you experience and all thats distinguished as your perceived reality. Being immersed within a Buddhist belief system, I fail to see how anything presented as real, or proof, can ever be considered impartial... therefore nullifying any actual effect to be evidence of anything at all. Taoism, is impartial by it's very origination. Dualistic, non-deterministic, and accepting of all outcomes. Tao is the void we all exist within. Peace!

Magick? Because we are more than we believe... And able to be more than we know... Who is to say that the nature of reality does not bend to our will? I believe there are those that, however they explain it, are able to mold, and create change in the world. I believe they are us... and we create the change in our reality everyday. We make reality by the thoughts we project. Peace!

Hello everyone! Everything....what an interesting post! Like others here I also gave this much contemplation... especially when I was a younger man. For myself I've only been able to spend 5-6 days completely alone at a stretch. It was not an issue, and there was no feeling of boredom. I found that when I got back around people I had a new found appreciation for all the uniqueness of the individual. And I felt calmer because of the absence. I believe the only way to experience total aloneness without it affecting you emotionally, would be if you could achieve complete detachment from society, your loved ones, and anyone who means anything to you. This would be impossible for me, family, loved ones, beautiful wife... that kind of thing. Peace!

Collateral harm. Low hanging, mountaintop high. Immaterial.

Got Hamlet in funk. Watusi dancing Walrus! Smurf, crushed beneath him!

The ancestral fart. Stumble, rumble, noxious fume. Wincing...a tear drops!

Welcome! Enjoy your time here!

Hi Marblehead! Sorry to ramble on about all that... I guess what I was most trying to say was that we all live within this greatest Mystery we call Tao. That possibly we will never fully comprehend existence, because of our limitations. That separateness is an Illusion. That how we are as people in this physical realm...is directly attributable to the completeness of our actions. That Taoism to me is about acceptance. Peace!

Hi rene! The simpleness of the fool...is enlightenment denied to him? Intent is relative... to who we are. To me the path does not, and can not discriminate... All are welcome through their own understanding. Since the Tao encompasses all, distinctions are only of use to those that separate themselves with knowledge they have had the opportunity to gain. If one is earnest in their practice of Taoist principles, and Does walk the path, regardless of knowledge or learned intelligence or outright ignorance of worldly matters, is not the Way still open to them? If when born, a child is truly one with Tao...are we not all merely striving for this most simple of states to return Home to Tao? Knowledge and learning are they not a byproduct of our own inquisitiveness? Sometimes, adding complexity to what is meant to be simplified, does nothing but add to the illusion. Returning to the simple, seems to be the way of Tao. Are we not being led away from our true nature by separating ourselves from it, by separating ourselves from others, with the amount of knowledge we profess, to be the wedge? Knowledge , to me, is best used when distinctions of who is what and why, are eliminated... Validation for what has been learned by that individual, is its own purpose. Academic learning, and practice of what's been learned are positive, and transformative actualizations. But do they not just further illustrate the need to return to the simpleness of our origination? Who, and what, we are? Many paths leading to the same Tao, one is not better than the other. Knowledge, learning, and insight... Knowledge can be learned... Insight is like a sudden fire, all it takes is a spark. Peace!

Hello majc! Awesome! The clarity of what you have said...is enlightening! Peace!

Hello Manitou, Water does not contend. Even so, no place is unknown to her serenity. I know not... And with knowing, I know not... I am at One with Tao. Peace!

Hello Marblehead, 3bob, Naming, which is done by us from both within and without, is only relevant to us. It has no actual meaning, other than a form , which when agreed upon by the many, allows for intellectual discourse about said object. I have always been quite perplexed by the ambiguity of what we term "real". Thinking back to when I had first heard about optical reality. When it was made known to me, that, for instance, the colors that we see are not in fact there. What?!? Example being, when we view something that we describe as "red" the color we have placed the arbitrary designation of "red" on, we are actually seeing the reflected color of that item. When looking at something, we do not really see what color it exists as, only what our brain says..is "red". What we are seeing is the reflection, which is analyzed by eyes, transmitted to our brains, and Voila....that's "red". So, right there the actuality of what is "real" has already been compromised. So...the item we are viewing is some color, but not necessarily what we believe. So...if what we are looking at reflects the color "red" to which our brains identify...that's what we "see"! Of course all of this is because of the very limited abilities of our physical senses. Just as dog and cats can hear sounds we can not...There are colors beyond the visible spectrum we can never view. You may ask now..(if not much sooner)...whats the point? The very aspect of Taoism (philosophical) that has gotten me so interested...IS this aspect of Nature and reality that is unknowable. All is contained within and without by Tao. Tao and physics have many similarities... Quantum Physics....action at a distance, Quantum entanglement. Evidence of No actual separateness in our physical reality... Tao is everything existing, seen and unseen alike. All over the world people will insist that they are separate from everyone else... But when we look at the quantum level... We see that there is nothing actually containing anything. The containers of everything, including our bodies, are literally full of holes, and empty space is what's predominately there. We have no true "impermeable" surface,the physical part of us is constantly leaking off bits of ourselves. Even when we don't actually "touch" something, when just being in proximity there is a sharing, a commingling of what we are, A sharing of what is "us" with what is "that". At the Quantum level we flow like the ephemeral beings we are, like Water mixing with more water, finding it's way to the ocean that is everything, Tao When faced with the true nature of reality "Separateness" is a ridiculously invalid and shallow concept. We, our bodies, the chair you sit in, the car you drive, the person standing next to you in line, ...at the quantum level, we and everything else, are living an existence of unseen Commingling, we are Literally...part of everything else, as the world is part of us... there is no "me" separate" from the whole. We are threads, within a fabric, only we are too close to see it.

Wind scatters pages. Rustling leaves, piled in corner. Blue jar, full of ash.

Arms outstretched, touch all The Void within as without. Who am I, Stillness.

Hello TSDE! An interesting add-on to follow the same idea... As pointed out to me by my loving and intelligent wife... The technologies of this latest generation, which I have berated, have predominately been designed by the generation which is my own. So who is to be held culpable to the current lack of sensitivity? If one generation is the progenitor of said technology...is it fair to judge the present generation, with them not knowing anything other than what they have been indoctrinated into from birth? Ironically...it seems, we by our very actions... are creating the sociological problems of our future tomorrows. Peace

Yes agreed Samuel, People are becoming Techo-Zombies! One day in the not too distant future, we will wake to a breakfast of 2 flat green squares on our plate. And since no one will paying attention to anything other than their latest status on Face@#*k, or the video they have to watch on yout*&*be........ You know the one, where the man is being severely beaten by kids just because they wanted to see what it felt like? All the while, bystanders are posting their own videos, or streaming live, or posting on twit**r. All and everyone oblivious to the very thought of stopping what they were doing and lending a hand to help stop the madness. Who then will there be to look down at that breakfast plate and scream at the very top of their lungs.... "Soylent Green...IS People!?! Madness it 'Tis, Aye. Awaken the sleepers....Peace.

Wow! I must live in the wrong neighborhood! I think that as conflicts arise, many times deaf ears, are joined by sight restrained eyes. When tossing stones into a turbulent pond, the pattern of ripples is hard to distinguish. At those times, a calmer pond is necessary. Listen and hear, the splash of water! A beautiful, calm , pond is what we have here. Peace!

I do believe the Tao is large enough to contain all interpretations, as long a the central meaning is not strayed away from. The beauty of the TTC to me is it's ability to convey it's message, regardless of translation, about the illusion of being separate, and the incredible realization of the dualistic nature of Nature, of which we are contained within. I am greatly enjoying the discussion of what the TTC means to everyone, and feel that it's all good...if we let it just BE. Acceptance and understanding