ChiDragon

Yes, alcohol within limits is fine for those who are only a partial Quanzhen Tao practitioner. The Quanzhen Taoists live an austere life, wealth is insignificant to them. The necessity for survival is only required to be at minimal. Btw The full time Quanzhen Taoists are abide by the four cardinal vices with no exception. A partial practitioner of Quanzhen Tao will not be considered to be a 真人. Partial practitioner of Quanzhen Tao means that a person can be married, have money and can drink within limits but still practice the of principles of Quanzhen Tao. This group of Taoists is called the "正一派". I think you had answered your own question about the mind purification by the above quote.

Gladly! As I had said many times before, “Chi 氣” has multiple meanings and its application of usage. If someone only know one definition, then one will have trouble interpreting Chinese. 氣(chi): air; gas; energy; function of the internal organs(in TCM); breathing(in Chi Kung). The idea for 氣 to be meant "temperament" was from the sign of being angry of a person. When a person gets mad or upset, the person breathes heavily which exchanges lots of air through the body. The Chinese called that "生氣" which means "angry". In regarding to 色, in order to make some good sense out of it, one need to be familiar with the language and understand the usage in the different Chinese religions. 色 has its basic linguistic meaning and esoteric meanings for different religions 1. The linguistic definition in the ordinary daily life, it means color. 2. As an esoteric term for a Taoist, 色 has something to do with getting one sexually aroused, such as a woman, porno, thoughts, desire, or anything that trigger the libido of a person. 3. To a Buddhist, 色 was referred as the materialistic world. If one has been cultivated to keep the four cardinal vices out of one's life, then it was considered to be that the mind has been purified. PS... If one translates 色 as "color" and 氣 as "energy", probably, it wouldn't make any sense for a Taoist to think that they are part of the four cardinal vices.

TTC 43 3. 無 有 入 無 間 ， 3. Formless(Tao) enters non-space.

氣(temperament) agitates the mind. Note: It is time to learn a new meaning of Chi.

直通天庭 Straight through to heaven

There is a sign says: "Photo taken is forbidden" in front the tree by the red door..

生氣, anger, may cause someone to be violent. Of course, this will not happen to a highly cultivated Taoist.

Not really!

Nice try, MH.... Sorry! A sage has no mercy and treats all as straws. As soon one had committed to be a Taoist, one's cultivation starts on day one. There is no canon should/will be broken. Another words, there is no disciplinary action was required for a Taoist.

Why is 氣 is temperament here. Actually, it is shot for the compound characters 生氣 for "angry". Literally, it means "generate hot air". Here is the logic, when people get upset they generate lots of heat and sweat. It seams like steamy hot air. In the Chinese logic, they've used that for the description for someone who was being "angry". In addition, one might say it generate lots of body energy. It is because when one gets upset does built up lots of energy and get ready to fight someone. However, the former was the original thought about 生氣(angry) and the latter might be an after thought.

In our daily life, 酒色財氣 are the four major culprits with the greatest temptation which cause the most disturbance to the mind. 酒(alcohol) upsets the mind 色(libido) titillates the mind 財(wealth) entices the mind 氣(temperament) agitates the mind. The combination of 酒(alcohol), 色(libido), and 氣(temperament) are harmful to the mind as well as to the body. Especially, the 色(libido) is the worse criteria which can effect the health of the body tremendously. The sexual drive was triggered, it make cause a male to be over masturbated which is very harmful to the body and mind. Over masturbation may cause a person to be lackadaisical, lack of interest in life and detach oneself from social environment. Let's look at 氣(temperament). I think most people do recognize this character which known as "Chi" whit the meaning as "energy"; but why it has the meaning of "temperament" here? Well, the character is the most confusing character in the Chinese language due to its multiple definitions. Even the natives are having problems with it. Most of the time, they really don't know what it meant exactly when they say it. The reason they say it is because they were just repeating what they were told without knowing its actual meaning. It is worse in the west, its only known definition is "energy". It may cause a lots of confusion and misinterpretations when the character was used solely with one definition.

Very good. Thank you for leading the discussion in to the progress of this thread. That was exactly what I had in mind to go into the four cardinal vices. Please let me answer your intelligent questions one by one! In regarding to the self-cultivation of civility(禮) and the essence of the Way(道), there is a fallacy in the thinking for most people about Tao(道) in this regard. The reason I have said that is because there is a distinctive difference about Tao(道) between Confucius and Lao Tze. Confucian's Tao(道) is about the morality of human conduct which one has the goal tend to be a sage(聖人); and Lao Tze's Tao is about the Law of Nature. In Taoist religious practice(only), a Taoist has a goal to preserve one's life by integrating with Nature and become a True Person(真人). Hence, the term 聖人(sage) is a term was applied to Confucians; and the term 真人(True Person) is esoteric for a Taoist. In regarding to Post #29: Progress in relation to what? In general, it was meant that is the progress of the development of a human society. In regarding to Post #71: Is this similar to the religious “self-cultivation” of the Catholic priest to purify himself of sin? No, the self-cultivation of a Taoist is not about sin but to purify the body and mind without any contamination. For the body is like not having any bad habits or substance; and for the mind to be healthy is like having good logic with good reasoning and keep the fallacies aside. As a result, to purify the sins maybe just a hidden agenda which came with the package. Thus a Taoist do not consider any notion about sin other than just the bad habits which need to be eliminated. What is the rational foundation for the four cardinal vices (酒色財氣)? This requires a separate post for a more thorough and explicit explanation. Btw I have intended to do so, next, before you come about with your valuable questions.

Okay, thank you for your clarification.

The whole confusion was really started with the name of the Taoist sect that was improperly named(名不正言不順). This is the worse case that an organization would want it to happen.

Sorry, MH. For the health of this thread, I must do what I have to. This is part of the DCXM. We must not have any contaminants to be dealt with for now. You will see what I mean when I go over the four taboos of the Taoist canon. Impatient and prejudicial thinking are very poor mental health for the cultivation of Xing Kung.

Can you tell me what do you mean by lit up? What were/are you practicing to get you up to this point?

Yes, you are correct. However, an action potential is an electrical impulse. Let's not get too technical about it. If we are trying to talk about electricity in the body, an "action potential" is the closest to it. Otherwise, where can the electricity be accounted for?

You may not realize that was what it is doing inside the body. However, please don't take my word for it!

Real cool..... You have the best and the simplest solution all along. We all learn from each other but sometimes from the hard way. However, the final product is what we had learned from experience. Once Lao Tze told Confucius: "I am not your teacher but I only knew a little more than you this time. Next time, when you know more than I do, then you'll be my teacher. It was only relative." One is not a Taoist once born. It takes time and hardship to become one.

The only electricity flow is in the nerves which is called the "action potential". When it was activated, the muscle contracts and also generates body heat. The electrical energy was released by the the ATP in the mitochondria. Theoretically, if one can have all the mitochondria to generate a maximum amount of ATP at the same time, then one can imagine how much energy and heat were generated in the body. The action potential only happens in a short time which means it cannot be stored. When the action potential has gone, then the muscles are relaxed and the body heat is no long being generated. In order to keep the muscles to be contracted, the action potential has to be generated constantly. IMO A Chi Kung practitioner could have been generated an excess amount of energy and heat which might be used externally like setting up a fire. This is the possible explanation to the best of my scientific knowledge. There is something that is observable, a Chi Kung practitioner always have the muscles contracted or tighten in any demonstration to generated the Chi.

Sorry, again. It is utterly impossible for me to respond to a certain degree of accuracy which is so characteristic to your remarks. Thanks to a special feature which has been given to us by the forum, this kind of remarks is no longer highly visible to my eyes.

To be honest, I knew no more than anyone of us until the translation was done. I am sorry, what do you mean by BS in the above statement?

I see nothing in the contents that is pertaining to the title of the OP. This article has too much western influences which is trying to equate Tao to the gods or deities from other cultures. IMO This article should have been payed more attention to the text and context of the Tao Te Ching instead of most often spoken about the gods in other religions.

Cool..... Not if everyone can hold the patience and endurance by just ignoring such "tyrants". "Annoyance" is only to someone who is not familiar with the cultivation of Xing Kung as a Taoist. "Annoyance" is only not acceptable to those who do not have patience and endurance. Why do you think Taoists exist? They do exist is because they have cultivated themselves to hold this high standard of conduct. "Annoyance" may be there but if it was ignored by the majority; then it will be dissolved by itself. "Ignore" means by not responding to any of the annoying remarks.

When you said "God", may I assume that it was meant the "Christian God". Based on that assumption, God does not exist nor any deity in the Tao Te Ching. However, there are many deities in the Taoist religion. Lao Tze was placed in the Taoist shrine as their first paramount deity.