yiming

You are a nice guy, Sifu Chi. I find it difficult to reconcile this human character, from a brash culture, with an affinity for obscurity. Dictionary meaning of 混 is reckless and 沌 is confusion. And Google translated 混沌 as chaos. This crazy-maker, more likely wants to project that he is "Chaos". He is arrested for attempted robbery after his buddy was shot in the heart by a 92 year-old WW 2 veteran in Kentucky.

Sifu Chi, what do the characters on his chest say?

Ok, I take this to mean that you regard Christianity as a load of bull even though you endorse Flowing Hands' shaman magic. Look, there is no expert on the Tao Te Ching as long as we all accept the Chapter 1 decree that the Tao that can be spoken is not the Eternal Tao. I was merely pointing out that your depiction of the Eternal Tao as a levelling instrument is an attempt to use a revered Chinese classic to give credence to the western political value of equality. West is west and East is east. Stop trying to equate the two. Knowledge about the Tao? I have none because it is unknowable. Which part of Chapter 14 do you not understand? My time is better spent swinging myself 180 degrees on my swivel chair to watch the garden as I recite Chapter 14. People are fighting all the time. You can choose to see it as racism and morally demonize the conflict that way. Lions have been hunting wildebeest, and if the latter thought like you, all lions would bear the stamp of the swastika. Don't you understand Chapter 2? China is a land of many races but they are all Chinese including white-skinned, blue-eyed ones in her western regions. Cultural purity is what holds the Chinese together. If you are not Chinese like me - culturally speaking - then you are a tourist. Your study of the Tao Te Ching would be like a visit to the Great Wall of China. We, Chinese, ARE the Great Wall. We ARE the Tao Te Ching. Now, that is grokking. Are you not being a mite self-righteous here? You would insist on judging China based on your western moral yardstick. The Chinese have suffered mightily for far longer than any nation but we don't moan about it crying foul this and foul that. The root of human suffering is unknown. Calling it racism is scapegoating to fuel more conflict. You feel better now? Venting is good to maintain Chi balance. I prefer using the crapper.

It is not personal, at least not on my part. If this sounds like a quarrel, it is because of the passion aroused by the debate. I am all for the freedom of expression and beg your indulgence. So, please bear with us in this free-for-all venting of views and don't call in the cops. No one is getting hurt here and there is so much to learn about Harmony's grasp of the Tao Te Ching.

So, you reckon Mary and Joseph were a random pair of strangers? I'll bet you do based on your doctrine of a levelling Tao, something only a Marxist socialist could dream up. Equality is a western political sentiment. It has no place in Chinese philosophy which is not philosophy in the western sense. The Tao Te Ching predates western civilization. So, how is a fella like you going to jump out of your cultural brainwash to grok something that is eternally removed from you? A Chinaman doesn't have your handicap and to point that out is not being racist. Racism is another western hang-up implanted in the western psyche by Jewish reaction to anti-semitism. Here again, the Chinese is not burdened by this emotional baggage. What you will take away, after all your study, is a monster that bears no relationship to the Tao Te Ching. It will be your own little baby that look just like you because it is you who fathered it, not Lao Tze.

Ok, since this word has been used, I guess it counts. I stand corrected. I had a 感覺 that you couldn't have made - what I thought - such a glaring mistake. Yes, "ghum hok" does mean feeling.

Grokking is not an English word. Do you mean "groping"? Anyway, I had fun figuring out the Chinese characters in Cantonese. 意思 is yi si = meaning 通過 thoong kor 感覺 ghum ghok = reflect idea 意會 yi wui =

Your response to my buzzing around is a lot more Tao-like than Harmonious Emptiness's. May untold pleasures be with you for ten thousand years.

Shit seeking housefly. I like that. You are right about the shit-seeking but I never thought of myself as a housefly.

Two trunks forced together by a rope. I really like that imagery. As for the rest of your explanation in Chinese, it's way beyond my level of comprehension. Thanks anyway. I appreciate your contribution and will store it away for further study.

Sifu Chi, pardon me for asking. "grokking" is not an English word. What does it mean? I first noticed your use of this word when we were studying Chapter 1.

I thought you are a moderator. You certainly behave like one trying to control the discussion and pushing me around. Let the mods decide. If they want to throw me out, that's fine. You mind your own business.

I don't. You do? Unless you are blind and speaking from direct experience, you are indulging in promoting shaman nonsense. I once asked a guy who was born blind if he was living in a state of darkness. He mulled on my question and replied, "I don't know what is darkness because I have never seen light." What that blind guy said stunned me. No duality. Simple as that. But I don't think you can grasp this. And what is that original idea?

Well, you think wrong. All Shamans get money especially those who use PayPal. I have to hand it to Flowing Hands though. He must be the first white man getting into this nonsense. I am not trolling. You guys are - trolling for superstitious fellow travellers in the guise of studying the Tao Te Ching. I am trying to stick to the subject which is inquiry into the crap that life has become. The Tao Te Ching is supposed to be a book of wisdom. Apart from the "you are clever and I am smart" ego-massaging exercise, show me one scrap of wisdom that you fellas have uncovered in your study.

You study the I Ching too? That's impressive, even for a Chinese which you are not, unfortunately.