Rara

Yes, I started on something similar. In England, we have Twinings, and also Clipper. I would try out different flavours like "Green tea and cranberry" which now, I will never go back to them. They did help me stop the habit of drinking normal tea with milk and two sugars though! So some suggestions. If you don't even like tea, you can find "fruit teas" which is basically dried fruit which you can put in an infuser. Sometimes these are mixed with black or green teas as well. In other words, "tea" has become a broad term for "hot drink that isn't coffee". If you have a Chinese supermarket near you, you will large loose leaf teas as well. These are their usual commercial ones, not quite as good as the high grade stuff but honestly, you don't need that. You might even find them online. No teapot or infuser necessary for these either, as I just throw a pinch into my cup and the leaves fall to the bottom. They can be rebrewed 2 or 3 times too. As I write this, I am trying to upload some photos of mine but it is not working. Hopefully I can find a way.

I like this. I think this is explaining that little buzz-phrase "everyone is Daoist" Perhaps this is why humans like to bend the rules here and there? Or at least desire to if it's not possible. I feel this line works best in the context of governance and unnatural laws.

Good afternoon! I am looking for a word that best describes someone that may be very well versed in many philosophies, and practice maybe from several, as many of you do. For example, although I mainly use the label of Daoist, there are many traditional formal practices that are still different to other philosophies or religions that I also adopt from. Most major world religions I can take something from, and I do enjoy learning from them and their cultures. I also like what I've seen of hermetic, socratic and stoic philosophies, to name just a few. So the closest word I found by a simple Google is "Philomath" but I'm still not convinced this covers exactly what I mean. The term seems to broad and cover most learning. Anyone have any other terms in their vocabulary?

My mum was told about 6/7 months ago that she needed heart surgery. 3 months later she was told everything had improved and she could now be reviewed in a year. Throughout the 3 month period between reviews, she had all sorts of worries about going into hospital (this was before Covid became global) She said to me that she felt that even if the surgery was a success, did she even want to go on with a failing heart? I spoke with British Heart Foundation and they said that they appreciate how difficult the decision would be to make, but statistically she would be likely to add more years onto her life. Well, whatever it was, she hoped for the non-surgical route and miraculously turned her fate around. She gets to skip surgery for at least a year and no doubt, when she goes for a review in around 9 months' time, she'll skip it for another.

You need to come back too

I hope you come back and visit here one day. This has become my favourite YT channel in recent years, and I hope this video helps. Quite strange timing-wise as this has only just happened. The next day, here I am reading ch.50.

Which ones have to tried? Usually bitter tastes come from bags (red teas, aka black teas in the west) because they are lower quality. If I know, I might be able to give a few suggestions

This is the thing, mine comes from a market in the North of England, 20 miles from where I live. Maybe try having a search online? You can always DM me whatever you find, if you find it at all, and I can double check it for you.

This chapter has stuck a chord with me due to the mass protesting over the week. The initial incident, people's ractions (also violent in places) and everything else that has come with it. I have been observing and trying to avoid debate. At one point, I was saddened by the people's reaction but also had to understand why they were angry. Any opinion of mine would have merely been made up by my exposure to social media. I text my friend who is a policeman in England and he has has the most testing week of his career, sending me photos of his colleagues that had been attacked. Who is bad here? Who is good here? No one. Or both. We can be empathise and be compassionate to both.

Yeah man. In fact, I think I still have some of my "high end" pu'er from over a year ago. I buy this stuff sparingly like someone would a bottle of champagne.

You can try green tea, boil water and pour into first cup/pot. After 10 seconds, pour the water away. This will take out a lot of the caffeine. Then pour in water around 70-80°C for drinking

I had a white tea called "snow dragon" once but it was so expensive to import that my guy stopped selling it. It was from somewhere in China, not entirely sure where exactly now, it's been years.

Heresy! Hehe. Pu'er is one of my favourites. I can also obtain green darjeling leaves from one merchant in Leeds which is very tasty. I was astounded, because for me, black darjeling is overrated but if you ever get a chance to get your hands on the green one, it is VERY tasty.

Interesting. I often use the word "eclectic" to describe my music collection, so "Syncretic" might be the word I'm looking for. What I'm trying to do is to almost create an elevator pitch. I say this loosely...perhaps more of a summary. I'm starting a blog for young startup businesses, as I have been self-employed since university and I have always adopted various philosophical ideas and practices. It dawned on me this morning that I want to make this quite a big feature in my "About" section" as it is important to attract the correct readers. Until now, I overlooked this and just thought I was writing tips, but I would like to also emphasise how all these schools of thought were influential to my decision making and also, how when I didn't follow them, things didn't turn out so well!

May I ask - are we learning to unlearn? To the untrained eye, the words in this chapter could always be misunderstood as laziness, which is also a common misconception of wu wei. I learn taiji, so of course, learning will always be involved. The terms "just be", or to simply "relax", require practice. Sometimes in training I have to be told to relax more when I already thought I was. An interesting paradox.

Truth!

Deep breathing in any form. I think the ability to be able to take this to work, family etc away from formal meditative practices has saved my bacon in this life.

The "untrained eye" of a non-Daoist.... A non-Daoist approach creates a wonderful show. People in jobs can always look busy without achieving anything in their day. A Daoist approach goes against the grain, thus looking foolish, but the net result exceeds belief. Non-Daoist is short-lived. Daoist is eternal.

I was going to post something a while ago about this but thought nothing of it in the end. Now the sensation has come back, I thought I'd share in case anyone else has experienced this. Months ago, I kept noticing a cooling sensation around my tailbone. Almost like a menthol rub, only that there was no rub! I'd notice it mostly when static and relaxed. Something new and pleasant, but odd. Over this weekend, it has returned in my mouth. At first I assumed it was toothpaste but realised it came on later in the day and after food. It was late afternoon yesterday and early evening today. Maybe it's nothing, but if you've heard of anything that this could be, let me know!

Ah, that's comforting. For a moment I thought I was going backwards as I've had such a calmer time with it all for almost a year. Well then, I'll carry on as usual!

I don't think the Heavens have this sort of opinion as I don't feel it is personified in the DDJ anyway. In the rankings, it appears 2nd to Dao, and if this is so, then it is the highest of what can be named. Imitating Dao and being almost an image of it (paradoxical, I know) our connection to Heaven as humans is what's important. From this chapter, I don't believe the King is appointed by heaven. I would say your latter question is closer to the meaning.... Say, you, cultivate with commitment, you become one with Heaven. You become King in this context. Maybe this is Zhuangzi's "Perfect Man", or similar. A Zhuangzi quote also comes to mind: "If heaven and earth fall to ruin, the sage suffers no loss". Alas, man will be destructive and man doesn't elect true Kings into power.

I think we've narrowed it down. I'm going with B as this has been my main concern. A variety of sensations, nothing particularly settling. It has always been common for me to emit lots of heat. I learnt early on in my journey that I have lots of "yang", and one of my teachers even laughed and said I needed medicine. She also didn't seem to think it was a big deal, her tone was very jokey, and it's not like she bought it up ever again. So I just carry on, and now I heat up very quickly, but it also feels like I'm purging the heat. The other seven sensations come and go. No. 8 is very intriguing because I was getting those tremors and I just took them as something natural and paid little attention. The thought did cross my mind that it was a bit freaky and maybe I had a medical condition, but then I calmed down. Thankfully, it doesn't seem like it's "C" and I am not meditating enough for it to be "A" due to time constraints. I'm currently just working/dealing with other uncertainties that are going on right now and my taiji is all I can consistently maintain. Also what you said about speaking to my teacher if it's any of the others... It's funny, that's why I posted here. I don't often post questions anymore but there are just some things that don't seem "serious" enough to speak to a teacher about. It's almost instinctive, some things can be pretty much answered without that And I like that, as often I get told "it doesn't matter", so I'd rather find that out here haha.

That's useful to know, thanks. Yes, it is a confusing sensation because I'm going through phases of feeling serene and almost blissful, but also, I am tiring much earlier in the day to the point of irritation so this inconsistency is a bit of a concern. If it helps, in ZZ, the heat in my hands is quite intense right now.

Very interesting as I'm also feeling strong tingling and heat now when I practice as well.

Yes, all the more reason to start. I guess that's why martial arts was my choice. I feared conflict, I was tense, had no flexibility, poor coordination and prone to anxiety and rage. Maybe in another life, I'll work on my handwriting 😂