smallfish

Awesome, thank you.

This passage has troubled me for some time also. Takuan Soho's commentary on 74 shed's good light on it. I will not quote him here but rather share what i have gained from it. My interpretation is that the "Way" or "Nature" has methods of weeding out or weakening or dispersing or doing away with the undesirable. The Karmic wheel returning what was once sent perhaps? Those that play with fire will get burnt, live by the sword/die by the sword/evil men die evil deaths....etc. The first half seems to me to be directed at government, the second half is saying let Nature do its job. Stepping in as executioner or punisher does not bode well in the long run. Old Lao Tzu must have had a heck of a time writing that one....LOL.

Glad to have found this site, been trollin for awhile and finally signed up. 10 years or so studying Wing Chun and some dabbling in tai Chi, but always without fail a daily reader of taoist writings, DDJ, Chaung Tzu, Liu I-ming, etc. I know nothing in the arena of translating, i am at the mercy of my own interpretations of someone elses interpretations.........nor can I claim to be much of a chinese culture historian, but nonetheless i truly have overcome a few obstacles in my travels on the "way" and i look forward to a further diminishing of the "not-so-important".

Relax Darx, I have no idea what or who you are talking about, or what book. Nor am i any sort of chi kung master but i do know that the harder you look for an answer the further it will get from you. Anxiety and tunnel vision can destroy your ability to absorb/shed things that you desire/dislike. Calm down and take a breath. I suffered from anxiety and it turned my world upside down (or so i thought) and searched high and low for a cure other than Perscription meds, but ended up worse off than before. I was doing what i thought i should be doing rather than what i needed to be doing.....big difference BTW.......anywho, naturopathic medicine has helped me as has doing a little "house cleaning" inside the old noggin and i would not reccomend taking perscription drugs nor diving into chi kung if not in the right mindset. Start slow, empty your head, go with your gut.

LOL....thats funny. I too have been around the block searching for a religion that fits, and then realized that it doesnt work that way......as Lao Tzu mentioned in the opening chapter of his writing. Hold on to your hat and put your shades on, your in for a wild ride if you can empty the ole cup.