ChiDragon

Chapter 6 The Mysterious Female 1. 谷神不死 2. 是謂玄牝。 3. 玄牝之門 4. 是謂天地根。 5. 綿綿若存， 6. 用之不勤。 English translation: 1. The spirit of the valley never dies. 2. It is called the mysterious female. 3. The door of the mysterious female, 4. It is called the root of heaven and earth. 5. She seems existed eternally, 6. With her endless reproduction capability. Annotation: 1. The spirit of the valley was referred as Tao by LaoTze in this chapter. Gu(谷) means valley. 2. 谷神(gu shen) actually means the "god of the valley". Perhaps, it may sound better in English as the "spirit of the valley".

Please don't take it too seriously. The term "straw dog" was only an effigy used by Lao Zi in his metaphor. What he meant was that you have been treated equally and impartially. He was not calling anybody a dog. The straw dog itself has nothing to do with you personally but only philosophically. I think you knew this all along. However, you are just being naughty with the words now. If you keep it up like this, then there is no point in keeping our foregoing conversation in the near future. Sorry, the reason I said that is because I felt that we are not making progress in the study of the TTC. We don't want to be stagnated at one place all the time. Do we...???

hmmmm..... What make you think that you are exclusive from Tao.......???

Well, the winds are active; and the grasses are passive. They are only interacting, thus there was no yielding. 天地不仁 以萬物為芻狗 Nature has no mercy. It treats all things as straw dogs. Isn't this inclusive enough; all aspects of Tao....???

Rara.... What did you do before you go to bed? You didn't read some thing or stay on the internet for a long time before you go to sleep, did you....???

I think one will know the answer to that if the definition of a TRUE Taoist was known.

Yeah, you can visualize it all you want with your imagination. You will rest right next to Tao or even on top of it. Furthermore, if you are lucky enough, you will be inside Tao....

Do you think Tao does any "yielding"......??? Well, I don't like it any better than the character 弱 (weakness) was used. BTW, sometimes, the way that classics were written do not have to make sense to the eyes of the reader. Hence, it was even to a native speaker. Especially, it was translated into another language; further misleading will be introduced due to the stubbornness of all the languages. IMO The best thing to do is translate it as close as possible even it doesn't make any sense. It is only the interpretation, rather than the translation, which will make sense and matters. Reluctantly, shall we yield to the mysterious subtlety of this ancient masterpiece of classic.

Yes, Lao Zi and Wen Zi knew that there is one, and only one, spirit of the valley which is Tao.

Based on what I had read from the inputs, here in English, every thing is almost like the exact words in Chinese. It is hard for me to say that there is a difference. Since the TCM is traditional, then why should it be any different than CCM. I wouldn't say that the TCM has changed any in the last couple thousand years. Since when did people came up with the term CCM....???

mYTHmAKER... I'm just curious, do you practice at that speed too as a beginner.....???

Well, likewise.... Yes, you're still talking about a man like Confucius, in contrast to Lao Zi, which is a fantasy.

I think the air need to be cleared here! The thinking of Taoism and men cannot be mixed in this scenario. What is in blue is only pertained to men only. By definition, a Taoist has no desire for the intention to act out anything as specified in blue. It is not Wu Wei in the cultivation of the Taoist practice.

As a novice, it is impossible to learn the basic movements correctly the first time. It seems better just to learn the forms, now, and correct them later. You don't want to hear too much minor details to avoid confusion. Watching the movements of Tai Ji from a video is best from a posterior view.

I would say that the latter takes priority....

We do a translation to determine which one makes more sense. received 聖人亦不傷人 A sage, also(亦), does not harm anyone (or people). reconstructed MWD 聖人亦弗傷也 Two possible translations: 1. A sage, also, does no harm though(也). 2. There was, also, no harm done to the sage though.

It was not the variance with the teachings of Tao but those who had leaned differently from it.

Rara.... Learning to breathe is an art of living. The goal in learning to breathe is to accomplish abdominal breathing or dan tian breathing or whatever it is called. The realm of breathing is to breathe down below the belly button. That is where the dan tian is located. At the beginning, it is very hard for someone to accomplish abdominal breathing, especially, for a beginner with breathing problem. Breathing problem means that one cannot breathe down to the chest or abdomen very easily. If you want to correct the breathing problem properly, please do not try to do abdominal breathing right away. It is because it take time for you to practice to get there. Otherwise, you will have symptoms like light-headed, tight in the chest or suffocation. Here is the proper way to correct your breathing habit during your meditation. 1. You need to establish a baseline by taken a deep breath to a point that you are comfortable with. 2. Take a breath deeply, slowly and long, down to that point every time when you inhale. Then exhale at the same point. Eventually, you breath will go down to the abdomen progressively. Please just remember don't do it too fast but slowly. Your body is not used to take so much oxygen, all the sudden. That is why you may get some uncomfortable symptoms. By the way, practicing Tai Ji is the best way to correct the breathing problem. It is because Tai Ji will automatically improve your breathing progressively. Indeed, this is my empirical experience.

PLB.... Let's say that I am not familiar or used to the terminology used here. I would say it is all of the above. I am having trouble in understanding the single point with the cone analogy.

Yes, they passed beyond the toes. This thread is about "grounding". However, all this points had been mentioned many times in the past. It is really nothing new. Is it ok that we assume they are understood....???

PLB.... If you think I am getting to far or out of line please let me know, than, I'll stop. If you don't mind I would to have you clear some points for me. What do mean by: 1. Single weighted 2. Doubled weighted 3. "If I were to use a geometric model to describe it, I would be more inclined to see it as a cone that meets the earth at single point and becomes more stable as the kwa increases in circumference." a. What do you mean by a single point here....??? b. What is the maximum circumference do you allow the kwa to increase to....???

IMO.... I believe the purpose of the horse stance is for one to keep in balance statically and dynamically. No one will be standing still to wait for the impact of the strike. It seems, to me, staying low is less vulnerable of being attacked. Most lightly the opponent would be in a dynamic mode and at a higher position which is more vulnerable than the one in a static mode. Hence, the one in a higher position is subject to be thrown off balance with less awareness.

道: Tao is the principles of Nature and reasons. 德: Te is the merits that is pertaining for someone who was dedicated to carry out the principles of Tao. 經: Jing is a classic which was written with principles by the ancient scholars or philosophers.

If one can answer this question, then, it will be answered all of your questions. A Taoist believe in the principle of Wu Wei(無為). Let Nature take its course; do not take action to interfere the course of Nature. Have no desire to glorify oneself. Getting a certification of some kind or hold a title for one's prestige is a desire of glorification. This seems to be happening around the world. However, a true Taoist or Buddhist does not have such desire for accomplishment as part of their religious beliefs.

I agree that videos are not good for beginners but good reference. After one learn the basic movements from a teacher and practice diligently. I would recommend to watch as many video as possible to get a good feel of how everyone is doing the same thing differently. One can pick up the good habits and discard the bad ones. Best of all, when the teacher is not available, then, it is a good source of reference for review. Finally, one should not insult one's own intelligence. edited to add: P.S..... The reason we have different style of Tai Ji is because that people do have their own preference of movements for their own comfort. Hence, there is no correct or incorrect way of doing Tai Ji. Even a slight off in the movement is not a significant factor but only a minor issue.