ChiDragon

Did you know what the ancient meant by the heart? It is the mind. I guess you haven't digested that yet. Again, you were mixing TCM in all your thoughts and misled yourself. Besides, we are discussion one character itself, not compound characters, please do not confuse the issue here. It is confuse enough already. Let's straighten out the definition of Shen before we go into the compound definitions. I know you knew the basic meaning of the characters to some level. However, you might need some work on their applications. It seems to me that you are a bit confused in your thoughts and causing some confusions here in this thread. Sorry, I have to put it to you this way because you've given me no other choice.

Another definition of Shen (神) is deity or god. @ dawei This Lao Tzu is not that Lao Tzu(TTC). I meant the member here.

If one looks very healthy and full of energy, he was considered to be have "Shen" in him. Shen is an appearance which indicates one's body is in the state of homeostasis. If one want to be strong and healthy, one would like to have lots of Shen in him. It may be the same kind of Shen in the three Taoist treasures: 精氣神(Jin, Chi, Shen). This is the kind of Shen that Taoists want to be cultivated for longevity.

Like I had said before. One can make a list of definitions for Shen. When one talks about it, one must stay within a category to be in consistent with the thoughts. Lao Tzu said it was "soul". He was talking about the soul of the human body. Your soul reflects effects the spirit within the mind. The way you look at something or somebody you are revealing the true spirit of your mind at the time. e.g. If you are looking mad at someone, you are having a bad spirit against that person. It was not the same spirit that is floating in thin air which one might think.

Yes, I agree, but it was only the emperors were willing to follow the principles of Tao and cultivated as one individual. IMO I don't think Taoists were suggesting any political measures.

Yes, it is a soul; the inner spirit of a body which governs all the mental and mechanical initial activities of a person. It is one of the basic ingredients in the Taoist cultivation. Shen is the mind of a body. The significance of the mind is to manipulate the mechanical movements of the body. The Taoists cultivate the mind to hence the basic features of a body to stay in balance as a self defense against any unexpected adversity.

"Shen" depends on its application and who was using the term to express in a particular field. By the expression was used, you can almost read the mind of the individual and know where one was coming from.

Taoism is a cultivation of the inner spirit by an individual. It was the self discipline in practicing the principles of Tao which brings peace to the world but not by preaching its gospel. IMO I don't think Taoists could be fantastic mediators due to their basic principle of Wu Wei.

Let Tao take its course. Tao's way is Wu Wei. When Nature strikes, nobody is in its way.

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There was no doubt that is exactly how this chapter was interpreted....

Yes, well said. I have another proverb: 天外有天／There is always a heaven above another heaven. 人外有人/ There is always another person that is better than you.

Very interesting...!!! It was so relevant to the subject being discussed. I'm glad that you had found a flaw......

這意思是: 放過你,不要殺你了.

請你說你要說的話,一個人不能把你要說的話告訴你怎樣說. 對嗎? You have to say what you want to say. People cannot be given you details to tell you what to say. Right?

I think you have an emotional problem. You still don't know what is going on, do you....???

小周天 與 大周天

Emotions goes up and down, isn't that the combination of Yin and Yang at work in your inner soul....???

Yes, they were using li(力), alright, rather than Jin(勁). Chen Zhiqiang was always standing in the center of the platform staying calm and reserving his energy while his opponent was too aggressive wasting his strength. His opponent was flying off the ground in his kicking and kicked the opponent above the waist which is a no-no in Tai Chi. That will make him very unstable. Apparently, Chen Zhiqiang has more Jin(勁) than all his opponents. He was also followed the basic principle of Tai Chi by keeping his cool and poise.

Please do...........................

Yeah, I used to think that I had a little lesbian blood in me. I have experienced my Yang side many times. Hehehe. PS.... dawei...you see how it works....??? The Yin and Yang in Tao has perfect balance.

If one don't put Tao in the process yet, then one might see Tao is undivided. Even though Tao is part of the process of it, it still is. Please Look at Marblehead.....

Translation: It was because the methods are not uniform, therefore, I did not point them out explicitly. Let's say quiet sitting, meditating(意念) control, body movements, directing, breathing modulation, and internal alchemy, etc. Among them, there are some methods themselves were actually causing someone to have Chi Kung misunderstood. OK, Finally, he puts out his Chinese definition of Chi Kung. quiet sitting, meditation(意念) control, body movements, directing, breathing modulation, and internal alchemy, I think I had indicated these are the basic criteria of the Chinese definition of Chi Kung in the past threads. This time it came out from another native which indicates that I wasn't BS'ing.... 1. Quiet sitting was to cultivate the body. 2. Meditation(Yi) control is the intent of the mind. 3. Directing is to manipulate the Chi inside the body. 4. Breathing modulation is to breathe deep down to the lower dan tien. 5. Internal alchemy includes steps 1 through 4. 6. Body movements is the dynamic Chi Kung(動功, Dong Kung).

My conclusion about how Lao Tzu came to his idea about meditation was: The risk that he mentioned harm may or may not harm the practitioner was pointing at the idea of 走火入魔(Run fire enter the devil). I recall that we had a discussion about that sometime ago in another thread. The term 走火入魔(Run fire enter the devil) one can find it in many fiction stories. If you ask a Chinese Chi Kung instructor, he will say that could only happen at a much higher level of Chi Kung practice. At lower level of practice, it cannot cause any harm. It is because, at the lower level, a practitioner doesn't know well enough how to manipulate Chi inside the body to make an error to cause harm to the body. I think that was what Lao Tzu was trying to say but he did not express it explicitly.

The undividable Unity is Tao but Tao itself can be either more Yin or Yang as his choice. He likes to be more Yin(feminine) in this chapter as the mysterious female.