hans-wolfgang

Every man is like a ship in a river; he runs against obstuctions on every side but one; on that side all obstructions is taken away, and he sweeps serenely over a deepening channel into an infinite sea.

http://www.diarius.de/tao/12917/

You have inspired this:

http://www.thetaobums.com/blog/hans-wolfga...p?showentry=265

Purity and Tranquility Scripture

Full Title:

The Wonderful Scripture on Constant Purity and Tranquility, spoken by The Supreme Elder Lord

 

(Tie Sioeng Loe Guen Sued Sioeng Tsing Jing Mulle Ging)

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The Great Tao has no form;

It brings forth and raises heaven and earth.

The Great Tao has no feelings;

It regulates the course of the sun and the moon.

The Great Tao has no name;

It raises and nourishes the myriad beings.

I do not know its name --

So I call it Tao.

 

The Tao can be pure or turbid, moving or tranquil.

Heaven is pure, earth is turbid;

Heaven is moving, earth is tranquil.

The male is moving, the female is tranquil.

 

Descending from the origin,

Flowing toward the end,

The myriad beings are being born.

 

Purity -- the source of turbidity.

Movement -- the root of tranquillity.

 

Always be pure and tranquil;

Heaven and earth

Return to the primordial.

 

The human spirit is fond of purity,

But the mind disturbs it.

The human mind is fond of tranquillity,

But desires meddle with it.

 

Get rid of desires for good,

And the mind will be calm.

Cleanse your mind,

And the spirit will be pure.

 

Naturally the six desires won't arise,

The three poisons are destroyed.

Whoever cannot do this

Has not yet cleansed his mind,

His desires are not yet driven out.

 

Those who have abandoned their desires:

Observe your mind by introspection --

And see there is no mind.

 

Then observe the body,

Look at yourself from without --

And see there is no body.

 

Then observe others by glancing out afar --

And see there are no beings.

 

Once you have realised these three,

You observe emptiness!

 

Use emptiness to observe emptiness,

And see there is no emptiness.

When even emptiness is no more,

There is no more nonbeing either.

 

Without even the existence of nonbeing

There is only serenity,

Profound and everlasting.

 

When serenity dissolves in nothingness --

How could there be desires?

When no desires arise

You have found true tranquillity.

 

In true tranquillity, go along with beings;

In true permanence, realize inner nature.

Forever going along, forever tranquil --

This is permanent purity, lasting tranquillity.

 

In purity and tranquillity,

Gradually enter the true Tao.

When the true Tao is entered,

It is realised.

 

Though we speak of "realized,"

Actually there is nothing to attain.

Rather, we speak of realization

When someone begins to transform the myriad beings.

 

Only who has properly understood this

Is worthy to transmit the sages' Tao.

 

The highest gentleman does not fight;

The lesser gentleman loves to fight.

Highest Virtue is free from Virtue;

Lesser Virtue clings to Virtue.

 

All clinging and attachments

Have nothing to do with the Tao or the Virtue.

 

People fail to realize the Tao

Because they have deviant minds.

Deviance in the mind

Means the spirit is alarmed.

 

Spirit alarmed,

There is clinging to things.

Clinging to things,

There is searching and coveting.

 

Searching and coveting,

There are passions and afflictions.

Passions, afflictions, deviance, and imaginings

Trouble and pester mind and body.

 

Then one falls into turbidity and shame,

Ups and downs, life and death.

Forever immersed in the sea of misery,

One is in eternity lost to the true Tao.

 

The Tao of true permanence

Will naturally come to those who understand.

Those who understand the realization of the Tao

Will rest forever in the pure and tranquil.

________________________________________

 

(This translation comes from "The Taoist Experience" by Liva Kohn)

You have inspired this:

http://www.diarius.de/tao/12124/

I am Hans-Wolfgang, I am taoist and on the way of Tao.

The taoism, especially of chuang tzu, is my approach to living.

I like taoism, because it is not against the world, as unfortunately the Buddhists who became life-negative. They became more interested in dying than in living. They became more interested in suicide -- slow suicide, gradual suicide. Suicide became their goal. This is a perversion -- a perversion of a great master and his great words.

Because laughter is for me religion, I will tell you one very beautiful story, a sad story.

The situation was not unusual. The boss of a large and successful firm employed a beautiful secretary. The boss, in his early forties, was a bachelor. He had a large car, a luxury flat, and was never short of feminine company. But he met his match in his beautiful secretary. She politely refused his invitations to lunch or dinner, and his offers of expensive presents and salary increases were refused with equal grace and charm. In the early weeks of her employment, he was of the opinion that she was just playing hard-to-get. During the months that followed, he changed his toothpaste, his soap, his after-shave, but all to no avail. Finally, he resigned himself to accept the fact that she was beautiful and highly competent, but that his chances of developing any kind of personal relationship with her were nil. It therefore came as something of a shock when he walked into his office one morning and found his secretary arranging flowers on his desk, and even more of a shock when she looked at him demurely and said, "A happy birthday, sir." He mumbled his thanks and went through the rest of the day in a complete daze. As the time approached five o'clock, the secretary came into the office and confessed that she had ascertained his birthday from the staff files. "I hope you don't mind," she added. He answered that he didn't mind it at all, and she looked relieved. "In that case, sir," she went on, "I wonder if you would care to come round to my flat this evening, at about nine o'clock. I have got a little surprise for you that I think you will find very pleasant." He mentally congratulated himself on the fact that the girl had finally had to admit that she was attracted to him, and tried to appear casual as the arrangements were finalized. Promptly at nine o'clock, a bottle of champagne in his hand, he presented himself at the flat. She was a vision of loveliness, and he hoped that she could not hear his heart pounding as she poured him a large scotch and urged him to make himself comfortable. "Loosen some of your clothes if you are too warm," she said. "I'm just going into the bedroom to get ready. Please come too when I call you." This was too good to be true. "I must be as desirable to her as she is to me," he thought smugly. "You can come in now," she called eventually, "but be careful you don't fall. All the lights are off in here." Our hero could take a hint. Quickly slipping out of his clothes, he entered the darkened room and closed the door behind him. As he did so the room became flooded with light and he saw that the whole of the office staff stood in the center of the room singing, "Happy birthday to you...."