ChiDragon

It wouldn't be esoteric if one knows how our body works. The keyword is "breathing". Why does one breathe? It is to keep one alive. Unfortunately, humans lose the ability to breathe from an infant. The reason for breathing is to capture the oxygen in the air for the body to function. If breathing isn't done properly to provide ample oxygen to the body, then, the body will not function normally. There is a certain amount of oxygen that the body can take. Not more not less. If too much, the person might die. If not enough, it will cause chronic diseases. Deep breathing is the best breathing method to bring the maximum amount of air(oxygen) that the lungs can hold. The oxygen helps to generate body energy, and heat is part of the energy. When blood circulates, it will generate heat all over the body. Not just the abdomen. The feeling of heat is when one can resist the cold temperature in the atmosphere without putting on extra clothes.

It takes time like months before one can feel the effect. Nice try.🙃

May I ask how old are you？Are you a male? Do you masturbate often?

The term "constant Tao" for " 恆道’’ was used in the English translation. However, I prefer using the term "eternal Tao" is more appropriate.

@Daniel Yes, I think it can be done with a bilingual person. I am glad to do it with you if you want to point something out. @Cobie This is the book title I was talking about. 老子註譯及評介ISBN 962 231 107 5. The whole book was posted both in The Open Tao and The Original Tao.

No, Cobie. This one is all in English. The one I have is all in Chinese. I think you had seen it before but you forgot. PS Yes, this is the English translation of original Chinese version.

All the spiritual beliefs are the legendary of the Chinese people. The highest human authority believes that the sky is governing the earth. They do not believe anything else but the sky has the highest universal authority. FYI The Ching dynasty forbidden the people to believe in deity and ghost or witch craft in the Forbidden City. In the TTJ，Laotze created Tao that is the highest universal authority.

Now, I see the cultural difference in thinking. That is why different people interpret the TTJ in many different ways. That was how the meaning got lost in the translations.

I see. Atheism to me do not believe anything spiritual.

I might have missed. May I see it here?

I thought we got over that and the subject was closed! PS As you can see that I am not responding to any spiritual posts here.

My native language is Chinese and I am a native Chinese. I had learned the meanings of the basic characters when I was young. However, there were some ancient characters and terms I was not familiar with until I'd read Chen Guying's book on the interpretation of the DDJ. That is how get to understand the DDJ 99.99%. At first glance, I had no idea what are these two ancient characters 橐籥meant. Until I read Chapter 5 of TTJ. It is a wind box that iron smith used it to increase the temperature in the furnace.

Please note that TTJ was written as Laotze's philosophy. It was not intended to be the canon of the Taoism religion. There are two categories of Taoism in Chinese thinking. One is philosophy and the other is religion. The philosophy group is the scholars who wanted to interpret the true meaning of the TTJ as written. The religious group of Taoism selected some chapters of the TTJ that fit their religious beliefs as their canon to create the Taoism religion.

I am a Yang style Taiji practitioner for more than forty years. I do recognize that the latter is the Yang style and is legit. It will have the healing effect as the former, but I would strongly recommend to go with the latter.

Thank you! I appreciate your continuous compliments on my posts. To tell you the truth, at first, I knew nothing about the Tao Te Jing. I tried to read the English translations to begin with. It did not help me much. Then, I tried the native translations. I was still not pleased. So, I dropped by a local Chinese book store and found one book that is very good. I have mentioned it many times here. The author is Chen GuYing( 陳鼓應 ). His book helped me to have a clear understanding of the TTJ. Another lucky thing is that I did not lose my heritage and the meaning of the characters. Finally, with the vast information on the internet, I was able to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

I don't quite get the meaning of the "concept of spirit". If you don't mind, would you just give me a little hint. Thanks.

Yes, it is a bad translation. The English word "Spirit" is a very broad term. In Chinese, there are different names given to a specific kind of spirits.

1. 昔之得一者。 2. 天得一以清。 3. 地得一以寧。 4. 神得一以靈。 5. 谷得一以盈。 6. 萬物得一以生。 7. 侯王得一以為天下正。 1. Since those who gained unity: 2. Heaven gained unity became clear; 3. Earth gained unity became peaceful; 4. Deity gained unity became miraculous; 5. Valley gained unity became full; 6. All things gained unity became alive; 7. Rulers gained unity made world peace. Here is the interpretation of lines 2 to 7 in Chapter 39. The key words are "gained unity(得一)." Laotze used Unity to represent Tao. What 得一 means is one who has Tao will be so and so..... It was indicated in lines 2 to 7. Those who are having Tao in their lives will have the benefits as indicated for each entity. 8. On the contrary, 9. Heaven is not clear, afraid it will split; 10. Earth is not peaceful, afraid it will quake; 11. Deity without miracle, afraid it will disappear; 12. Valley is not full, afraid it will dry out; 13. All things cannot grow, afraid they will extinct; 14. Rulers without standards, afraid they will be overthrown. Lines 8 to 14 explained that what happened to those who does not have Tao in their lives. The lesson taught here is to accept and live by the principles of Tao; or else otherwise!

I don't believe in God. However, I can talk about your God with you. Do you believe in Tao?

It will throw me off completely. Unless you go into a specific case for me to interpret.

Laotze is an atheist and naturalist. He uses ghost(spirit) as example in people's language to explain so people who would understand.

神得一以靈 Deity has Tao(得一) will have the effectiveness of the magical power. If deity do not have the effectiveness of the magical power, then it will rest soon. Rest soon means deity is no longer a deity. 以靈 doesn't mean spirit here. It means the effectiveness of the magical power.

No, I was referring to 靈(灵)魂。

Yes, Tao is eternal.

Yes, Tao is existed before anything.