manitou

I have a book right here on my desk, it's the writings of Chuangtse. It's interpreted by Lin Yutang; but the chapters are not ennumerated. Chapter 1, he's calling 'A Happy Excursion', where he talks about the p'eng bird. Chapter 2, he calls it 'On Levelling all Things', where Tsech'i of Nankuo is leaning on a low table, gazing up at heaven, and has a conversation with Yench'eng Tseyu. Chapter 3, he calls it 'The Preservation of Life', where it talks about Prince Huei's cook cutting up a bullock. Chapter 4 is 'This Human World', where Yen Huei is talking to Confucius. There's also a story about a hunchback. Is this the same Chapter 4 that you're looking at? If so, we could try and figure it out together.

Center, how graceful your life must be. Your words were like a cool stream running over me. I have come to realize that our outsides mirrors our insides. To look at someone's current manifestations is to look at their soul. It is the current manifestation that is used for triangulation in inner shamanic practices as well. When my own self is off center, and one of biggest clues is the very thing you're talking about - the condition of my home. I have a way of getting distracted if I don't stay in the Here and Now, and it reflects in that I'll have things start to pile up, one thing over the other. Or if clutter on my kitchen counter is given a foothold, I find myself becoming confused (which came first, the chicken or the egg?); sometimes I have to stop, put myself in the here and now, and clean up the area focusing on one item at a time, left to right. There is something about picking up each item, no matter how small, even if it's a bobby pin. Then walking with that bobby pin down the hallway to the bathroom to my little bobby pin box and put it away. And then back to the counter and pick up the next item. I suspect that this could be an age thing too - the short term memory is getting worse and worse, and a type of ADD is developing. Unless I'm in the Here and Now, then I don't need to rely on short term memory. But physically doing something to clean up the physical matter around us; it's as though it starts a cleansing process from the Outside to the Inside, even though we manifested it from the Inside to the Outside. It does seem to happen rather magically. And thank you for your idea about smudging the room before cleaning it! That really appeals to me, and it's a perfect meditation, particularly if done with fluid motion and interesting music. I think the meditation could be the conscious awareness that we're cleansing or aligning our inner self as we clean the kitchen. Very nice!

A thread on parapsychology? Darn, I missed it. Too much doctor stuff, probably. My husband just had back surgery. I would have loved your thread.

I think there is a God and we're it.

Therefore this vital energy Cannot be halted by force, Yet can be secured by inner power (Te). Cannot be summoned by speech, Yet can be welcomed by awareness I guess, to stop the vital energy, one would have to be 'outside' the vital energy, which we cannot be. To develop Te (virtue) is to develop the inner power. As we've discussed a lot on these threads, 'te' isn't being good or bad; te is what is developed if we're impeccable in our self-discovery. The vital energy, the Tao, seems to be a latency. It is the blueprint of the oak tree that is in the acorn. We can skirt around it with words, but it manifests inside us as awareness. I guess awareness is the oak tree growing within us. Or not. Any other ideas? These first two verses are awfully close to the beginning of the TTC, so there's not a lot of new chewable stuff yet. But it does get interesting.

I think it just boils down to the Intelligence underlying everything. and personally, I think it's friendly.

Oomph! This one kicks me in the heart, lol. I too want to come visit! If it's just me, i'd like to live there! Actually, I think at some point it would be fun to just have a convention of sorts - it would be similar to cat herding, i'm sure - but what fun it would be to put faces to the souls that we come across on this forum.

I like to do this as a meditation sometimes to feel connected to Everything. Sometimes if you're sitting in a doctor's office or someplace where there are a variety of sounds (a train depot?) it's wonderful to just close your eyes and listen to every single sound around you; and giving no more importance to any one sound than the other; to imagine it as a symphony. It's pretty powerful and makes an instant connection. (So much for the next 10 years, windblown, lol. I read one of your previous posts in a different thread). I agree that sometimes it's good to take a break from shoving new stuff into our heads and let the inner awarenesses catch up.

I think many see it this way, a sign of indecision. I don't believe so. Remember that one of the first persons to visit the White House was the Dalai Lama (although he was sent away the first time, if you recall - we had to have China in there first) - my guess is that the Dalai Lama was able to 'see' the enlightenment. He is the one that reached out to him, not the other way around. For the U.S. to have 'policy' in any particular area is to be stuck in the mud. I am happy to see him getting away from "U.S. foreign policy", or anything that causes us to have to act in any particular way. Several times I have heard on a news snippet that he tells people to stay in the 'here and now', which is pretty darned enlightened for a huge government. He trusts the internal process of the Tao, or whatever he calls it. It's incredible to me that he was able to get his staff, such as Hillary, Gates, whomever - to go along with this. I have 'seen' his enlightenment since he came into office. I have Seen his do-nothingness, but in a very smart way. If my sight is wrong, it is because my eyes haven't developed to the extent that is capable of seeing correctly. I guess it'll all come out in the wash, maybe 20 years down the road when this period of time can be viewed from a distance. It seems to me that he is handling things one day at a time, and his timing is pretty impeccable.

What a marvelous topic. Atheism. A wonderful topic. I think there are a couple different atheistic mindsets. One type of atheist mindset is the one that has never bought into the concept of a separate god, and they get along just fine in life, the ones I've run into. After all, they too have the knowledge of kindness and compassion in their hearts and can surely tap into it anytime. To my way of thinking, I've met some really balanced atheists, real good people. Perhaps their folks were atheists. There's another mindset which is often created at a young age to be different from the crowd, to rebel in some way. This is a type of atheism which comes without thought, only the need to feel different from the pack of Christians they're surrounded by. A third type of atheism is the type we get down to at the bottom of self-awareness. There is often the awareness (often a sudden and traumatic awareness) that there is no separate god at all, that we're it, that we are One with the Tao...that the manifestations occur from within ourselves, and also manifest communally to create that which we see and sense. This is a traumatic awareness because the idea that there is a friendly old codger out there who is taking care of us is terribly comforting, and cutting this loose is like having the floor pulled out from under you. I like the analogy of the Wizard of Oz. When Dorothy and the gang finally got to meet the Wizard, there was no wizard there at all. Lo and behold, it was merely man. Atheism is very close to enlightenment.

I want to say something about our current administration here, but any time I mention anything political at all, it gets edited out. This one may too, but damn! it's so pertinent to today.... The current administration is practicing wu-wei on the world situations. You can see it in the fact that there is no action until the time is right. The administration waits for the situation to come to them. They are running a large country like you would fry a small fish - hands off, involve yourself as little as possible or the fish will fall apart. Only turn it once. I see enlightenment at our highest levels; everything will naturally fall into place because wu-wei is in effect. The man is a sorcerer.

Actually, this is a fantasy I've sort of had my whole life. To live communally with like-minded people who care about each other. And I love the idea of the Wanderers as well. Once I read a newspaper article on the back page of section D - you know, the one where Marilyn (Savant?) answers questions. Apparently she's supposed to be enlightened or at least really smart. Someone asked her the best way to get to 'know yourself'. Her answer was to travel by yourself in a country where you don't speak the language. Interesting approach, and I'll bet it would go a long way to aid self discovery.

I agree, Marbles. I get hung up on The King is Great part of this section too. The way I've reconciled it in my mind is to assume the writer is talking about the 'power' of the king being great. It would go along with the power of the Tao, the power of heaven, and the power of earth. I don't think he was talking about a king per se as being great. And the power of a king is great, even if he's a lousy king. and even if someone is a lousy king, the Tao still works its way in to where it wants to go; ultimately the Tao's desired result (can we assume there is one??) will be achieved whether the king is a good one or not. Also, I see this as the chapter that describes reversion pretty well. Lin Yutang's translsation on the reversion dynamic: If forced to give it a name, I shall call it "Great." Being great implies reaching out in space, Reaching out in space implies far-reaching Far-reaching implies reversion to the original point. So I don't think they're saying Great in the same sense that we would say Great. Yutang implies a circular dynamic which is movement, not merely a descriptor.

I am familiar with this phenomenon as well. To me, I 'see' it as an openness hovering over a body of knowledge that can be assimilated up at will when the need arises. The need often arises on this board, and I find myself using this channel often. It's pretty visible when others are posting from this source as well. In my mind's eye I see it as a spaceship hovering over a body of water. When this channel first opened in me several years ago it was very difficult to handle. I would blurt things out at inappropriate times, things I would see, even things to strangers. It's a bit odd. I have wondered if it relates to anything to do with the Akashic records, as I've had 3 lucid dreams involving scrolls and books where I'm reading them line for line. I'd love to hear of similar phenomena. A person always feels so very strange when these things happen to them -

As I look at these short chapters (26 in all), it would make sense to maybe do a couple at a time. Verse One and Two seem to go together, so here they are together - Chapter One The vital essence of all things: It is this that brings them to life. It generates the five grains below And becomes the constellated stars above. When flowing amid the heavens and the earth We call it ghostly and numinous. When stored within the chests of human beings, We call them sages. Chapter Two Therefore this vital energy is: Bright! - as if ascending from the heavens; Dark! - as if entering an abyss; Vast! - as if dwelling in an ocean; Lofty! - as if dwelling on a mountain peak. Therefore this vital energy Cannot be halted by force, Yet can be secured by inner power (Te). Cannot be summoned by speech, Yet can be welcomed by awareness. Reverently hold onto it and do not lose it: This is called 'developing inner power." When inner power develops and wisdom emerges, The myriad things will, to the last one, be grasped. Does somebody want to kick it off?

Please note that there's a new topic started up in the Tao Te Ching category. I'm going to be posting chapters from the Nei Ye, written around 4th century BCE, translated by Harold Roth. I'll post a chapter every few days - it looks like it could be pretty nice for discussion. This is similar to the TTC but different in some interesting ways. It seems to go much more into the inner cultivation dynamic than the TTC. It talks more specifically about how the Sage got to be the Sage.

Please do offer comments - it may just be you and me.

Perfectly said, to my way of thinking.

thanks, Ralis - now I see what you're saying.

It would be interesting to try to apply the principle of wu-wei to this situation, if we could just figure out what that would be. To say 'do nothing' is totally disingenuous. But there is a 'do-nothing' dynamic that may be beneficial. If it were me, (and particularly if you love the job as much as you do) I would go to the trouble of studying up about it. Study up about the level ahead of you as well. Know your stuff. Anticipate the problems before they arrive - in other words, be the type of employee that are few and far between. At some point in time I would approach the boss and let her know that you are aware of the tight financial conditions at this time, but that at some point in time you look forward to a nice raise or promotion. This will only work if you have something over and above what everyone else has to offer. Have some sort of a device in mind which is all yours, like an idea for a more efficient operation. If you show her that you care more about the job than just an employee putting in his 8 hours, I think she'll be putty in your hands down the road. Plant the seed. Once you've instigated this 'plan', do 'do-nothing' from that point on. Water the seed. Let it come to you; be as impeccable and as kind to everybody as you can every day; let your good character shine through. Don't obsess over the extra quarter - your reward will be much greater than that down the road - just 'know' that you will be rewarded whether it comes in the form you're expecting or not. that's how wu-wei works. Good luck to you....

Huzzah, huzzah, Aaron! You've done very well in describing the indescribable. I see enlightenment as a warm golden pool that sits at the bottom of the personality well that is 'us'. Once we have found the pool, all we have to do is open our minds and let the answers bubble up from the pool. I don't know how I communicate the ideas I get running through my brain - but I do know that it's not knowledge I was previously aware of. The answers just come up on their own, not through any structure of my doing. Folks who have found their pool (it is all the same pool, I equate it to the molten mass in the middle of the earth) need just put on a non-judgmental hat to draw up the answers to whatever we're asking. But this pool, to my knowledge, can only be accessed by going in to one's own personality and developing self realization. Realizing who they really are.

It seems to me that Daoism goes deeper than Confucianism. Confucist sayings are wonderful, and I get the impression that they're more intended for the common good then the inner development. Maybe I'm wrong here, it's been a while since I've looked at Confucius. I'm kind of excited about the writings in the Nei Yeh after having read it this morning.

I think Virtue as it's used in Tao philosophy goes to solid character, the ability to stand grounded, to not be knocked off course because the Sage's eye is always on the prize. Virtue is the place that we triangulate from when the third eye is developed. One leg of the tripod stands in the clarity of our character, one leg of the tripod stands in the current manifestation of the situation we're looking at, and the third leg of the tripod will triangulate the answer or solution. The shaman and the sage have bumped into each other at the top of the hill, but by different paths.

Thanks again, TWIV - I got onto that site - incredible! I put it on my Favorites bar and I want to get back and read it all. I have read Lin Yutang's translation of Lao Tsu in the past and I find it a little overwhelming - I think I'll try reading it again. For some reason the first analogy about the li bird irritates me - probably because I couldn't figure out what they were talking about. As we hopefully keep evolving, maybe the time is right for me to look at it again. I just looked over the li bird analogy and it jumps out at me this time that they are talking about comparative situations; the length of the li bird's flight with the short twittering flight of the sparrow. Surely this goes to soul awareness and depth of understanding; I'll have to go back and look at it with more knowledgeable eyes this time. And wow. The Nei Yeh, or "inward attainment". I ran off a copy of it. This is pure Tao through and through. I'm delighted to see that the focus is on inner awareness, and in fact chapter three gets very specific as to what to look for: All the forms of the mind Are naturally infused and filled with it (the vital essence) Are naturally generated and developed (because of) it. It is lost Inevitably because of sorrow, happiness, joy, anger, desire, and profit-seeking.[/b If you are able to cast off sorrow, happiness, joy, anger, desire and profit-seeking, Your mind will just revert to equanimity. The true condition of the mind Is that it finds calmness beneficial and, by it, attains repose.. And harmony will naturally develop. I would like to start a new book study based on the Nei-yeh. It seems to be a real instruction manual for how to attain the Sage mindset.

In the end run, this seems to be the essence.