The Tao of Inspiration

[hyok]

The word "inspiration" means "In Spirit" literally.

If you are "in spirit" then you are one with the Tao

Peace be with you

 

Fascinating.

 

 

 

I'm beginning to love your threads, Stig.

 

when I think back to the moments when I felt most inspired, I recall feeling as if there was so much to live for that even eternity was not enough to get it done

[Encephalon]

Are we at risk of deluding ourselves when we get so speculative? I'm not suggesting that higher planes of existence are not there to be explored - "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" - but when it comes to internal experience, doesn't language ultimately fail well before the inner experience begins to manifest in some sort of recognizable pattern?

 

I feel I have a tremendous amount to learn in here, but is there not a proper balance between speculation and good old fashioned intellectual humility and skepticism? Or is philosophical Taoism simply not connectable with rationalist inquiry? I respectfully request that someone clarify this for me. If I get told to stick to my somatics and keep an open mind, I will happily do that.

[Stigweard]

Are we at risk of deluding ourselves when we get so speculative? I'm not suggesting that higher planes of existence are not there to be explored - "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" - but when it comes to internal experience, doesn't language ultimately fail well before the inner experience begins to manifest in some sort of recognizable pattern?

Hiya Blasto

You are of course correct that we shouldn't 'indulge' in speculation. However, "speculation" is from the point of view of the ignorant aspirant pondering the clouded mountain tops. The teachings of subtle and purer energy has been passed down to us by the masters of Tao. It is from the perspective of the achieved Xian who have ascended the summit and in turn point the way for those still climbing.

 

Notice though that I am not saying "higher planes" as such, merely indicating that there is a spectrum of energy that spans from the coarse and dense through to the subtle and mysterious.

 

And you are right that language cannot encapsulate the subtlety of universal reality. Words and models can however point our minds in the direction of truth and if we are to be effective guides to others we must learn to use our words impeccably.

 

I feel I have a tremendous amount to learn in here, but is there not a proper balance between speculation and good old fashioned intellectual humility and skepticism? Or is philosophical Taoism simply not connectable with rationalist inquiry? I respectfully request that someone clarify this for me. If I get told to stick to my somatics and keep an open mind, I will happily do that.

Firstly just a point of clarity here. I know it is a contentious issue hereabouts and contrary words have been exchanged on this subject, but the Taoism that maintains the view about the reality of both subtle realms and subtle energy is not "philosophical Taoism" but is the ancient spiritual tradition that preceded it. There is evidence that suggests that "philosophical Taoism" as such is very much a latecomer and the term possibly wasn't even used until the commencement of Western investigation of Taoism. 1

 

And yes once again you are right that we must temper the counsel of the ancients with "good old fashioned intellectual humility and skepticism". When we encounter these higher principles and teachings we must not simply believe the face-value of things because doing so would be "blind faith" and being blind is not the way of the Xian. As an aspiring Taoist we also acknowledge the infinite mystery of life and our initial understanding of a principle may not be the subtle reality of what is truly being communicated.

 

Nor however should we disbelieve them out of hand because to do so would be to assume one "knows it all" and thus you immediately entrench yourself in your own conceptual fixations, creating divisions of what is right and what is wrong. In doing so we once again may miss the subtle universal truth.

 

And so we must "sound out" what we are hearing or reading and listen ever so carefully to the implications of what is being conveyed; to listen to the space between and beyond the words. In doing so we may discover, through our own experience and awareness, that which inspired the speaker or writer to articulate their experience of universal life.

 

------------

1. http://kirkland.myweb.uga.edu/rk/pdf/pubs/pres/TENN97.pdf

[Marblehead]

And do you believe that we are able to 'tune in' to this pure state of Chi?

 

Yes. I believe it is possible. But, it requires total mindlessness. That is, a deep meditation (however one meditates) where we have closed the senses, the brain and the mind. At this point there is no obstruction between universal Chi and one's personal Chi (I sometimes call this 'spirit').

 

However, I don't know if we can be selective in what energies of universal Chi we are receptive to. I say this because when we are mindless we do not recognize or realize what is tahing place - we only experience it after the meditation (when we are once again mindful).

 

I suppose it would depend on the state of our personal Chi (the harmoniousness of the energies [yin and yang]) as to whether or not we will be receptive to the purer states of universal Chi.

 

Is this making sense?

 

Happy Trails!

 

 

Are we at risk of deluding ourselves when we get so speculative?

 

I was going to respond to this post but Stig did such an excellent job at discussing it so that I have nothing to say.

 

Happy Trails!

[Encephalon]

Hiya Blasto

You are of course correct that we shouldn't 'indulge' in speculation. However, "speculation" is from the point of view of the ignorant aspirant pondering the clouded mountain tops. The teachings of subtle and purer energy has been passed down to us by the masters of Tao. It is from the perspective of the achieved Xian who have ascended the summit and in turn point the way for those still climbing.

 

Notice though that I am not saying "higher planes" as such, merely indicating that there is a spectrum of energy that spans from the coarse and dense through to the subtle and mysterious.

 

And you are right that language cannot encapsulate the subtlety of universal reality. Words and models can however point our minds in the direction of truth and if we are to be effective guides to others we must learn to use our words impeccably.

Firstly just a point of clarity here. I know it is a contentious issue hereabouts and contrary words have been exchanged on this subject, but the Taoism that maintains the view about the reality of both subtle realms and subtle energy is not "philosophical Taoism" but is the ancient spiritual tradition that preceded it. There is evidence that suggests that "philosophical Taoism" as such is very much a latecomer and the term possibly wasn't even used until the commencement of Western investigation of Taoism. 1

 

And yes once again you are right that we must temper the counsel of the ancients with "good old fashioned intellectual humility and skepticism". When we encounter these higher principles and teachings we must not simply believe the face-value of things because doing so would be "blind faith" and being blind is not the way of the Xian. As an aspiring Taoist we also acknowledge the infinite mystery of life and our initial understanding of a principle may not be the subtle reality of what is truly being communicated.

 

Nor however should we disbelieve them out of hand because to do so would be to assume one "knows it all" and thus you immediately entrench yourself in your own conceptual fixations, creating divisions of what is right and what is wrong. In doing so we once again may miss the subtle universal truth.

 

And so we must "sound out" what we are hearing or reading and listen ever so carefully to the implications of what is being conveyed; to listen to the space between and beyond the words. In doing so we may discover, through our own experience and awareness, that which inspired the speaker or writer to articulate their experience of universal life.

 

------------

1. http://kirkland.myweb.uga.edu/rk/pdf/pubs/pres/TENN97.pdf

 

 

Thank you, Stigweard, for your very thoughtful and lucid reply. I am grateful for the intellectual level you introduce to this forum. There are a handful of other voices in here who are sincere, educated, accomplished, and literate, and I've had the good fortune to "meet" many of them.

 

This forum has been a remarkable tool for me. It offered a wonderful opportunity to compose some thoughts that remained plugged up for quite some time as I struggled to finish grad school projects. I also needed to experience the sociological dynamic of chat rooms. My fiance and I both participated in them only recently, and it does reveal a different dimension of human behavior that deserves to be understood.

 

I'm writing in past tense because I feel it's time to move on. All the best.

 

Blasto (Scott)

[Stigweard]

Yes. I believe it is possible. But, it requires total mindlessness. That is, a deep meditation (however one meditates) where we have closed the senses, the brain and the mind. At this point there is no obstruction between universal Chi and one's personal Chi (I sometimes call this 'spirit').

 

...

 

I suppose it would depend on the state of our personal Chi (the harmoniousness of the energies [yin and yang]) as to whether or not we will be receptive to the purer states of universal Chi.

Yes, and right there, in general terms, is the fundamental premise of the ancient spiritual tradition of Tao that adheres to individual sublimation and universal integration as the central channel of Taoist cultivation.

 

I'm writing in past tense because I feel it's time to move on. All the best.

 

Blasto (Scott)

Blessings on your Way Scott

 

I think what we're trying to say here is original nature leads to what we define as inspiration.

 

This statement so deserved to be in this thread as well

[Marblehead]

Yes, and right there, in general terms, ...

 

I laughed after my brain digested your words. Nearly everything I say is in general terms - I have thrown the specifics away (except for the Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu).

 

Happy Trails!

[hyok]

The traditions of Tao that emphasize personal sublimation guide us down the course of attaining this pre-heaven Shen and in this quest I am encountered with the question: "What are the signifiers or precursors of the attainment of pre-heavenly Shen?"

 

At this stage of my nascent growth my best answer to this is that this Universal Consciousness is known to us through a feeling and my best description of that feeling is "Inspiration".

 

Taoism tends to offer confirmatory signs for attainments. Perhaps attaining pre-heavenly Shen is not an attainment, or is self-evident once it is attained. Just throwing possibilities out there.