ChiDragon

Yes, that is the whole theme of the chapter. I'm glad that you have read it the same way:)

Hehehehe... Yes, it was called out in the three treasures as in Chapter 67.

Chapter 69 1. There was a saying in military strategy: 2. I wouldn't dare to be the aggressor other than a defender. 3. I'm wouldn't dared to move forward by an inch but to retreat a foot. 4. It was said to be: 5. Even though there were battle arrays, but it seems there were none. 6. Even though there were arms to be raised, but it seems to be none. 7. Although there were enemies to be fought, but it seems there were no enemies. 8. There was nothing worse than underestimate the enemy. 9. Underestimate the enemy almost caused to loose the three treasures. 10.Therefore, if both sides are equal in strength, then, yet, the side with mercy shall win. Chapter 69 1. 用兵有言：| 2. 吾不敢為主而為客。 3. 不敢進寸而退尺。 4. 是謂: 5. 行無行。 6. 攘無臂。 7. 扔無敵。 8. 執無兵。 9. 禍莫大於輕敵。 10.輕敵幾喪吾寶。 11.故抗兵相若, 12.哀者勝矣。

Sorry to say, buddy, you have to fight this one on your own. Nobody can help you but yourself. I guess we all had to go through it one way or the other when we are teenagers. Let fate take care of this one or follow the natural path with Tao.

If you had old injury in the right ankle, you should start with sitting Chi Kung like breathing down to your Dan Tian to speed the healing process of the ankle. You should do your Isotonic Chi Kung until your ankle was recovered. FYI... Any form of Chi Kung is like a form of warm up, already, for any sports or martial arts. IMO it is a fallacy to have some kind of warm up for Chi Kung or Tai Ji. I know some teachers had cooked up some warm up procedures for Tai Ji. It was totally unnecessary. You can do it with or without.

The recognition of Yin-Yang Chis are only by intuition and grokking. One must learn the basic attributes of the Yin-Yang elements in advance.

Knowing it's enough is enough, then it is always enough.

GOOWDAY... Thank you. Same to you.

Yes, LoaTze did mean that two, 無 and 有, are from the same origin and differ in name(Chapter 1).

I do not breathe from the Dan Tian but sunk my breath deep down to the Dan Tian.

I can follow your thoughts but I found the analogy is not quite the same. A warrior can be defensive or offensive, either way, killing is considered to be violent. He is not fighting for food as a lion does. Human has mind control and a lion doesn't. A lion killing for food was just a natural instinct, thus I wouldn't even think of it as offensive or non-offensive. From the Tao Te Ching point of view, war cant be avoided, LoaTze was only suggesting to keep the inevitable violence to a minimal.

Yes, it was hard to breathe through a stuffed nose. However, if it can be avoided, it's better not to breathe through the mouth but the nose. Breathing through the nostrils will filter out the unwanted dust by the nostril hairs before the air goes into the lungs. Exhale can be done through either the mouth or nose.

Warriors and fighters do kill; were their actions considered nonviolent or non-offensive...???

A. 天下皆谓我大. The people all in the world will say, " I'm great. " B. 天下皆謂我道大 All the people in the world told me that "Tao is great." Questions: 1. Is the Tao Te Ching about "Tao" or oneself...??? 2. Was LaoTze's philosophy all about "self ego" or selfless...???

Yes...!!! "Follow up" or "Pestering" is a good strategy for psychological warfare.

When you are sick which means your immune system is low. If you have been practicing Chi Kung properly, then you shouldn't be sick. Therefore, since you are sick, you wouldn't want to do any strenuous exercise but meditation with slow breathing to enhance the immune system and build up your energy level.

Yes, we do have something in common to be communicated with. Hehehehe.

There was this old saying: 言者無心 聽者有意 The speaker said things inadvertently; But the listener took their meanings seriously. MMHO We just have to be careful how we say things and to whom. Peace.

Chapter 68 - Hold your patience 1. A good commander will not be aggressive. 2. A good warrior is not easily to be agitated. 3. One who is good in winning does not have to encounter with the enemy. 4. One who is good in people management will be humble. 5. It was said to be the virtue of not contending. 6. It was said to be using the talent of others. 7. It was said to be cooperating with Nature. 8. These are the ancient utmost principles. 第六十八章 1. 善 為 士 者 不 武 , 2. 善 戰 者 不 怒 ; 3. 善 勝 敵 者 不 與 , 4. 善 用 人 者 為 之 下 。 5. 是 謂 不 爭 之 德 , 6. 是 謂 用 人 之 力 。 7. 是 謂 配 天 , 8. 古 之 極 !

Well, were you a good fighter....???

Marblehead... I respect your point of view. You had declared that you do not read Classic Chinese. For knowing that, I always had been considered that in our dialogs. I think you are doing exceptional well in understanding the concepts of the Tao Te Ching. Of course, sometimes we do have our own opinions. Since they are opinions, therefore, they can be accepted or dismissed. In regarding to the lines that they are there for being a fact because they were there at the beginning. IMO All the different versions were codex. The contents of the Tao Te Ching were copied almost verbatim. Since recently there are unearthed copies, they are good references for the modern scholars to compare notes with. The knowledgeable scholars had made a lengthy study of the Tao Te Ching. The thoughts were considered and linked from chapter to chapter. During the study process, scholars had found lots of errors and sometimes with duplicated lines, which were irrelevant, from one chapter to another. Therefore, from a scholastic view, to reach a higher educational and intellectual level in study the Tao Te Ching, they had come up with a Received Version by combining all the commentaries from the past and present scholars and with logical interpretations. In addition, they also went through some inductive and deductive reasoning process to eliminate the illogical thoughts in each chapter. Some of the characters were changed which they did not make sense before. Ever since we have the unearthed copies, they had found the reasons why some of the characters were changed. One of the reasons was because of the names of the rulers were hot allowed to be used in any document. Sometimes, phonetics were used causing the original meaning of the phrase to be twisted. The reason that I am using the Received Version for my translation was to eliminate any or less doubt in my mind. Also, I don't have to deal with the errors in each individual copy(version). Hence, I could have my translations and interpretations to come as close as I could because I know I was backed up by many scholars from the past and present.

1. I have three treasures. 3. I'll hold on to and well keep it. 3. The first is mercy. 4. The second is cultivation. 5. The third is not dare to dwell before the people. 8. If one is not dare to dwell before the people, then one is able to lead all things. 12. One who disregard to stay behind instead striving to lead in the front, 12. Therefore, one is going toward demise indeed! 13. If one uses mercy in a war, then one will win. 14. If one uses defensive strategy, then one will be stable. 15. Whoever Heaven is willing to help, 16. It will protect them with mercy. Cultivating to the principles in Chapter 67, is to have mercy dealing with others in a humble manner. Lines 8 and 12 thru 14 are good examples of that to avoid any conflict. Lines 15 and 16 are suggesting that one with mercy will have mercy in return from others spontaneously. Otherwise, everything will be returned in adversity.

13. 夫 慈 以 戰 則 勝 , 14. 以 守 則 固 。 15. 天 將 救 之 16. 以 慈 衛 之 。 13. If one uses mercy in a war, then one will win. 14. If one uses defensive strategy, then one will be stable. 15. Whoever Heaven is willing to help, 16. It will protect them with mercy. Robert Henricks 13. If with compassion you attack, then you'll win; 14. If you defend, then you'll stand firm. 15. When Heaven's about to establish him, 16. It's as though he surrounds him with the protective wall of compassion. I can see that the choice of words by Henricks will have a slight twist in the original meaning. Lines 13 and 16 do talk about the first treasure 慈(mercy/compassion).

67 1. 天下皆謂我道大 2. 似不肖。 3. 夫唯大故似不肖。 4. 若肖，久矣！其細也夫。 1. Everybody tells me that Tao is broad; 2. It was not like anything else, 3. It was broad, only because, it was not like anything else. 4. If it was like something else, it would have had been become small already then. These lines are irrelevant to this chapter. It has nothing to do with the three treasures. It was determined that they were mistakenly copied over by the the native scholars.

Thank you Jeff...!!! I know where you are getting at. Interpreting the Tao Te Ching, we have to follow LaoTze's pattern of thinking. In every phrase or Chapter, he always use a dyad to have a distinction between two opposite things. If one interpreted one as a Yin, then the other has to be the opposite as a Yang but not both.