ChiDragon

Perhaps you have made a point which is valid to a certain degree which may be reached to the universal virtue of humanity as the final result. However, the whole idea about "te" in the Tao Te Ching was not mainly emphasized on that(virtue of humanity) but the Virtue of Tao. Indeed, those scholars who study the Tao Te Ching must have known the distinctive difference. It wouldn't be a waste of your valuable time and energy to continue with the endless notion about the "te", in the TTC, being the Confucian virtue of humanity.

Most people misunderstood the term: 正氣 in 正氣歌. 正氣 is a compound character term which means "righteousness" not "righteous chi". The two characters should not be translated separately because the "chi" was comprised in the meaning of "righteousness". The proper interpretation for 正氣歌 is the "song of righteousness" instead of the "song of right chi". PS..... I think this twisted misinterpretation was derived from some of the native speakers too.

If one understand the difference between these two systems, then, the question about Taoism vs Daoist wouldn't have had been asked. This question had been asked before....!!!

It may be an interesting reading but please don't invest too much time in the pursuit of it. To be most pragmatic is to perform Tai Ji or Chi Kung.

This is a misconception to begin with. Does anybody know what the real translation of these two terms are......???

You mean Pronunciation System rather than a Translation System......???

According to the Taoist fairy tales, the former is considered to be a valid statement. The latter is valid for a practice of some Neigong practitioners with the balls sucked in too. This also could happen to a male, as natural, in extreme cold weathers. PS..... Immortals are not required to be reproductive to have offspring.

Do you agree that Tai Ji practitioners do not require to do Zhan Zhuang but optional......???

I think he had already told you by not telling it is not possible because you knew already. Do you think ZZ was expecting a fool to read his parables.... Again, do you think a metaphor will always tell you the whole story......??? I think not, it is always up to the confused readers to be sorted things out themselves . Btw This is another one of those annoying examples for interpreting the classic parables. Unfortunately, one mistake you are out to never-never-land; then you'll never know what he was saying.

Stosh and Marblehead.... Literal speaking, the point ZZ wants to make was his wishful thinking to be a "Free Wanderer". In order to be a "Free Wanderer", one must be free of all attachments even defying the law of physic. Again, to understand ZZ's philosophy, we must read within the scope of his parables and work only with the given parameters. If you are adding more to what was given to you, then you'll never know what he was trying to say besides reading lots of words. The whole idea of this chapter was telling us that ZZ just want to a free man at all cost by all means. He will go beyond imagination or reality if he has to. Please keep in mind that we are here to pick his brain but not to find faults with contradiction of what he says. That is why his metaphoric writings are called parables. The worse part of it was written in classic which is very difficult to be interpreted by non-scholars with a scientific mind like us.

Sorry, I have to quote myself on this one..... To Lao Tze: one depends on the draft of the wind to fly was considered as Ziren. However, ZZ went one step beyond Lao Tze's thinking; ZZ wants to fly without depending on the draft to fulfill his requirement as a "Free Wanderer". This is what was suggesting within the metaphor; even though it didn't say so. .

He knows; he knows.......

Stosh...... Nicely said, my eloquent scholar...........

I cannot answer your question before you tell me what and how you were doing in your Qigong. However, if you are doing it correctly, there will be a detox reaction taken place inside your body. Please tell me about your practice....???

I've never agreed that "immortals" are existed. Are we only reading ZZ's parables and what they say, aren't we.....??? If we are applying modern logic to argue that his fairy tales are not true and some of the things don't even exist; and If you people do not know how to read metaphors, let's quit now.......!!!

I would not criticize too much on this translation; but it certainly didn't reflect closely to the original thoughts. I believe in the original section it did state that a person(?) flies in the air still depends on the draft of the wind. The metaphor says, even though one can fly but still relies on the draft of the wind. This still leads to my bias interpretation on the "Free Wanderer": If one has to be depended on the draft of the wind to fly, then one is still one level behind to be a "Free Wanderer". It was simple because one still has to depend on an attachment which does not give one the freedom to fly independently.

ZZ had defined what immortal(神人) is here. If it was stated the same all the time, then why should anyone go look for the answer elsewhere......???

That was no yummy bone. The more stuffs he knows, the more he toss in to create more confusion.

A man is a man. An immortal is a an immortal. A man is not an immortal. An immortal is not a man. How much more flexible can a language be......??? @MH.... Sorry, we got into this again. It was just inevitable. I've tried to stay within the scope of the subject, but.....!!! Oh well.....!!!

This is a good example of a Free Wanderer having all these exemptions. In the parable, ZZ was indicating that only a divine figure or immortal can attain the realm of a Free Wanderer. It is because immortals are free from natural disasters and free of any human attachments. Thus they can travel or do as pleased with no limitation or restriction. ZZ's philosophy of Free Wanderer" is based on no limitation or restriction forced upon oneself.

Sorry, I got me lost in the translation. To me in Chinese or English, a man(人) is different from an immortal（神人）。　You may twist it anyway you like for your argument sake; only, if you want to put someone in doubt due to the ambiguity in some words.

This whole phrase was thrown off and misled by one mistranslation of two compound characters 神人. It is not possible for a man not be harmed by natural disasters. Only an immortal or a divine one can be exempted. 神人：　divine one; immortal. Thus it should be rephrased as: "Nothing could hurt that divine figure(神人) ; the greatest floods, ............ "

We're existed but not by choice.

1. There is no special recommendations but just practice. The strength will build efficiently after a prolong practice of the stance. 2. Yes. 3. As a beginner, one should never go too deep but to a comfortable position until the muscles get use to the stress which has never been applied to the legs before. 4. One should never push the muscles to the limit to avoid over strain to the muscle at the beginning. One should start easy on the muscles, then slowly applying more stresses to the muscles by bending the knees progressively until one can do the 90 degree stance for a long period of time.

I would say that is only a misconception. You have to focus on the dan tien, in order, to have the whole body effect. Otherwise, they wouldn't say "Chi sink to the dan tien(氣沉丹田)" for nothing. The phrase is above all; no one can defy it.