ChiDragon

Perhaps, a non-Taoist....???

The Mods are mods by Zi Ren.....

The rules are made to be available as cosmetics for immature audience; but hopefully nobody breaks them and no need to enforce them....!!!

"I will tell the truth, nothing but the truth. So, help you God!" What is the truth here.....???

I think the mods are doing a great job for being Wu Wei. BTW This is a Taoist forum, you know.......!!! If everyone talks about learning and following the Way of Tao on the initial post, then everyone should act like one or at least pretended like one.

Let's not pour any more gasoline onto the burning fire....shall we....???

In martial arts, there are two classifications were considered by the practitioners. These two classifications are categorized as whether they are legitimate or illegitimate. A legitimate practice which does not cause body harm but good to the body as the result of the practice. It was considered to be something that is traditional and confirmed unanimously by consensus of the legitimate group of practitioners. An illegitimate practice which may cause body harm during the process of the practice. The practice can be easily engaged into "run over fire and enter the devilish path". Any immoral act or witchcraft in the practice was also considered to be an illegitimate practice. These kinds of practices are straightly forbidden to be practiced by the legitimate group. BTW Throughout the Chinese history, shamanism was forbidden, by all rulers, to be practiced in the palaces.

takaaki... I apologize for causing your uneasiness in revealing your true identity. I am no better than anybody else. Perhaps, I just happened to be spent a little more time finding the right sources to learn a bit more. Wait until you know what I knew, we'll be even. The word "superior" was a gushing compliment(言重了). I thank you for your modesty and humbleness. I am glad that we are bilingual which will give us a better chance not to have any misunderstanding in our communications. Anyway, to avoid any further personal conflicts, let's have our scholastic discussion in the 道家學說 Section where the classic text is presentable over there.

takaaki.... I have the impression that you have some knowledge of the Chinese characters. Can you give me a rough idea of your ability in understanding the Chinese characters. Can you understand them by looking at them without looking up in a dictionary character by character to guess their meanings.....??? I need to know this in advance so I can present the discussion to a certain level. Thanks.

It is not a problem. I'm glad to start a new thread to discuss Chapter one to begin with. It would be a change of pace for me to discuss the TTC with an open and logical mind individual who has great interest of what I had been keeping to myself for sometime. Thanks for given me the great opportunity.

Back to the OP..... I have noticed that some members had changed their attitude and choice of words with less hostility toward each other. It certainly makes me feel better that the Process of Tao is in effect....... Edited to add: It effected me greatly.

You tell me.......

Well, all my translations were done based on the Received Version in the Tao Te Ching section. The logic just flow from line-to-line and chapter-to-chapter throughout the TTC. Thus that was why my translation was done so smoothly.......

dawei said: "I have nothing to go on or by for who this secret group is and how they arrive at anything they have; whereever that secret text is kept too. They are so far removed from any understanding of 300 B.C. writing, how can they understand the time of Chu and what is the influences of those times? Ergo, I'll stick to the older texts." There is no secret about it. They are written in Chinese and you can buy them books allover China if you can understand what they wrote. Are you any closer from any understanding of 300 B.C. writing, how can you understand the time of Chu and what is the influences of those times? Even though, you'll stick to the older texts. dawei asked: "Is english English your first or second language?" Based on his(takaaki) eloquence judged from his writing, is there a need for asking such question.....???

Yes, as long the odds of Wu Wei is not against you.

When time for review, new words are surfaced with a better clarification for comprehension.....

IMMHO I don't think they were off-topic disruptions. I believe they were legitimate scholastic challenges. It was nice to hear some decent comments from a scholastic point of view. I rather hear some educational questions more than some uneducated four letter word remarks.

How about just experiencing the words themselves....???

By reading and studying the principles of Tao, maybe added more to step forward to. No.....??? It is the first step forward, perhaps...!!!

October.... Have you study or knowing the principles in the Tao Te Ching at all....??? "Now I'm interested in what / how is your way; and your story why you are follow the Taoism." The basic fundamental principle of the Tao Te Ching is Wu Wei(無為), let Nature take its course; take no action to interfere with anything in anyway. Sometimes, it is hard to follow the principles of Tao but it can be done to a certain degree is being suffice. Unless, one wants to commit oneself as a true Taoist and found oneself in a secluded Taoist shrine up in the mountains.

October..... Welcome aboard. Experience without words is just like no experience with words. Yes, I agree that a young person needs experience with mistakes to be experienced in life. Pretty soon, one will be experienced without words to explain the experience one has experienced in no experience.

If you breathe deeply, you are actually doing Chi Kung. If one doesn't know that Chi Kung is the ultimate method of breathing, then it is not my problem anymore. I tried. Good luck to those who feel sorry for me..!!!..

FYI.... Qigong is the ultimate method of breathing. Zazen is Static Qigong. One sit and breathe deeply. Dynamic Qigong: One is often standing with some movements and breathe deeply. If one doesn't breathe, then one is not performing Qigong at all.

FYI I only deal with the Received Version. It is because this version was emended by the modern native scholars who are more knowledgeable with the Chinese classic, Chinese cultural history and philosophy. Indeed, all the errors and mistakes were made by the scholars in the past had been corrected. Some versions have incorrect characters because phonetics were used by other scholars and causing phrases to be out of context and illogical. Some versions were changed in favor for some religious purposes. For example, Heshang Gong's vesion was written in such way for Taoist immortal cultivation to have longevity. There are some health issues can be found in some of the verses. The previous versions were not in written form but by mouth-to-mouth. Some scholar decided to write them down. However, they only wrote down by the phonetics of the characters. By doing so, a tremendous amount of errors was introduced. There is a well known native scholar from Taiwan, 陳鼓應, had been collecting commentaries of scholars from the past to present around the world for emending the TTC and came up with the Received Version. The book he wrote on the Received Version, he gave logical reasons to substantiate his explanations. He linked the contextual meanings from lint-to-line, chapter-to-chapter to assure no logical doubts about the philosophy of LaoTze. His work have revealed that no one has the wisdom as LaoTze. There was no comparison to the principles in the Tao Te Ching. So far, there was no literature has been found with ideas that is similar to the TTC. Thus I believe that the Received Version is a piece of most accurate and reliable document there was ever existed.

What do you think this is....??? Not off-topic....??? If you have full authority on the TTC, as you'd claimed, then you would have had understood what my post on Chapter 81 meant...!!!