365 Tao

[Marblehead]

That's an important one, I think.

 

Peace & Love!

[adept]

Those who follow Tao believe in using sixteen attributes on behalf of others : mercy, gentleness, patience, nonattachment, control, skill, joy, spiritual love, humility, reflection, restfulness, seriousness, effort, controlled emotion, magnanimity, and concentration.

 

This quote could be the focus of another thread I think. Give me a few days and I'll sort something out.

[Brian]

...

Edited July 13, 2010 by A Seeker

[adept]

NONYIELDING

When in the arena,

Yield not to an aggressor.

When outside the arena,

Affirm compassion.

 

This world and this society are competitive. Tao uses the metaphor of the warrior to meet that competition. Warriors never yield to their opponents. They may sidestep, but they do not give way.

Whether you are a lawyer, police officer, fire fighter, doctor, businessperson, athlete, or any one of numerous other professions, you compete against either other people or natural forces. But there is a right way and a wrong way to compete. Avoid anger and greed. Use concentration and awareness.

 

Coincidentally, concentration and awareness are also necessary for spirituality. That is why the follower of Tao incorporates the way of the warrior into training. The warrior and the sage both seek to transcend emotion and petty thinking, to perfect themselves, and to live lives of the deepest truth.

 

But when outside the arena, do not forget to be kind. Leave behind competitive aggression. You must still have awareness, concentration, and reflex, but the expression will be different. Your compassion must not falter. That is why the combination of the way of the warrior with the way of Tao is the ultimate symbol of versatility. Such a follower of Tao commands the extremes of the universe.

[adept]

FIELDS

Worship by cultivating nine fields :

Diet. Herbs. Clothing. Recitation.

Movement. Meditation. Creativity. Teaching.

And most important : Compassion.

 

Worship is not a matter of making an obeisance to a god. It is a matter of achieving godlike qualities in yourself. This is done through the cultivation of nine areas :

Diet should be moderate, healthy, and of living foods. If you want to be sustained, eat things that themselves sustained life.

 

Learn to use herbs, for they heal and maintain health

Be moderate in your clothing; wear natural fibers. What you wear is an expression of your state of mind

 

Recitation includes prayer, song, chanting, and finally, the practice of silence. What you say becomes reality

 

Stretch, move, and exercise every day. The universe moves; so too should the energy within your body

Meditate every day -- once in the morning and once in the evening, if possible. Only then will you attain tranquility and triumph over your dilemmas

 

Be creative. Thus we contribute, and thus we elevate our souls

 

Acquire a good education. Treasure what you learn, and preserve it so that it may be passed on to others. Never be selfish with what you know

 

Above all, be compassionate. This is a stand against all evil, and it opens your spirit

 

People ask, "How can I worship properly?" Cultivate these nine fields

[adept]

AUSTERITIES

Self-discipline leads to higher spiritual states

Only if practiced with understanding.

The clearer the goal,

The greater the result.

 

We must distinguish between discipline with a purpose and blind discipline. Discipline with a purpose is merely a means to an end and is healthy. Blind discipline does not have a true purpose and so becomes fanaticism. In the past, there were many spiritual people who believed in harsh asceticism. They would flog themselves, live in cold and damp caves, twist themselves into uncomfortable postures, fast for dangerous periods of time. All too often, these people lost sight of their goals. We must be strongly disciplined, but we must not lose sight of our inner meaning.

Austere living with a clear understanding of why and how we are doing things does not require esoteric practices. Few of us mind going through extra effort and even hardship if we know that we will gain something better for it. That is all that discipline and austerity are about : You make extra efforts to gain a better life.

[adept]

IMMEDIACY

When washing your face, can you see your true self?

When urinating, can you remember true purity?

When eating, can you remember the cycles of all things?

When walking, can you feel the rotation of heaven?

When working, are you happy with what you do?

When speaking, are your words without guile?

When you shop, are you aware of your needs?

When you meet the suffering, do you help?

When confronted with death, are you unafraid and lucid?

When you meet conflict, do you work toward harmony?

When with your family, do you express benevolence?

When raising children, are you tender but firm?

When facing problems, are you far-seeing and tenacious?

When you are finished with work, do you take time to rest?

When preparing for rest, do you know how to settle your mind?

When sleeping, do you slip into absolute void?

[adept]

SEARCHING

Where is Tao right now?

You say that it is all around me, but I

Only see my surroundings, only feel my own heartbeat.

Can you show me Tao without reasoning it out in my mind?

Can you help me see it here and now?

Can you help me feel it as doubtlessly as I touch?

You argue that Tao is beyond the senses,

But how do I know it exists?

You say that Tao is beyond definitions,

Then how will I understand it?

It is hard enough understanding the economy, my relationships,

The bewilderment of world events, violence, crime,

Drug abuse, political repression, and war.

With all these things requiring years to fathom,

How can I understand something that is

Colorless, nameless, flavorless, intangible, and silent?

Show me Tao! Show me Tao!

 

Look within, beyond the physical body; you have the faculties to do so. Focus your mind away from sensual input, and you will discover a new mode of perception. With this mode of perception, you can sense Tao. Once you search in this way, you will find Tao and have no doubts about it.

[adept]

GRATITUDE

When you drink water,

Remember its source.

 

If your spiritual understanding is sound, then you will constantly be aware of the subtleties of life. If you fritter away your concentration on minor entertainment and trivial distractions, then you will never attain a profound level of awareness.

It is not the grand sweeping religious celebrations and heroic moments in life that are the only important spiritual occasions. Every ordinary moment, every little detail should be a celebration of your personal understanding. Your smallest act should be permeated with reverence.

 

One of our most basic acts is drinking water. Without it, we could not sustain ourselves. Water cleanses us, cools us, and is an essential component of most of our biological processes. But when we drink it, are we aware of what it does? Do we think of its source and all the efforts that make it possible for us to have this simple glass of water?

 

Being spiritual means not taking things for granted. Quite the opposite, you remember how everything that comes to you fits into an overall scheme. You acknowledge the precious quality of everyday things. An you maintain a gratitude for both the good and the bad in your life.

[Marblehead]

Yep. Many of our most important lessons are learned through 'bad' experiences. We need be thankful for those experiences as well.

 

Peace & Love!

[adept]

MANDALA

What did I do today?

I exercised. I said good-bye

To a departing friend.

I went to market, ate my meals.

Took a walk. Took out the garbage.

Read a little. Meditated. Slept.

This was my mandala.

 

A mandala is most commonly a diagram or painting that one uses during meditation. the painting is usually brightly colored and extremely complicated. By beginning at the outer perimeter of the picture and gradually working inwards (sometimes pausing at certain parts to contemplate), the meditator becomes completely absorbed. By the time that the center is reached, all normal egoistic notions should have been dissolved and the profundities of the mind should have been opened.

Other religions have various other ways : mass, chanting, sacrament, reciting holy scripture, contemplating. These too become their mandala -- their objects of worship.

 

But it is not enough to go to church or temple once a week, or to read a bit of a holy book every morning. Can Tao be confined to such simple rituals? No. We could fly to the very height of the cosmos, plunge to the greatest depth, swim the length and breadth of eternity, and still not come to the limits of Tao. Therefore, we should look for Tao in every day. We should ask ourselves each day how Tao manifested itself to us. Our daily activities are our mandala.

 

Tao reveals itself to us in our mundane doings.

[Marblehead]

Our daily activities are our mandala.

 

Tao reveals itself to us in our mundane doings.

 

Excellent!

 

Peace & Love!

[adept]

SMOTHERED

It's daybreak and already

The prostitutes are on the street,

Addicts are searching the corners with a feral glint.

An obese woman, winded from a few steps,

Passes an anxious man scavenging a garbage can --

Jester to winos in a fiefdom of pigeons.

The summer sky is obscured with leaden clouds.

 

Tao is all around us, but sometimes the weight of our poor habits, our bad circumstances, or our lack of exposure to philosophy hampers us. Although every person should be equally valued as a human being, not every person is equally sensitive to Tao.

Ignorance is our predominant mode in life. We may pass through ghettos and consider ourselves more fortunate, but don't we all have dense layers of misfortune, confusion, and selfishness to dissolve?

 

Tao can be known by progressive purification and cultivation. The opposite is also true. Ignorance can be compounded, made denser, until the light of our spirits is smothered.

 

The light of the soul is bright, but dense clouds of human ignorance obscure it. Where are you in terms of your effort to make your life brighter?

[Marblehead]

Where are you in terms of your effort to make your life brighter?

 

I am about as high as I can get without using any alcohol or drugs. (No, I haven't learned how to fly yet.)

 

Peace & Love!

[adept]

CONSERVATION

Don't let a thread fall without noticing it.

Don't rake dry brown leaves carelessly.

Think how difficult it was

For something to take this existence.

 

Frugality is lauded in almost every culture. Nearly all of us have been taught to conserve and save. Those who do not waste and yet do not become misers are most admirable.

We can be aware of conservation every day. We should think whether what we discard can be reused or recycled. We should consider whether our expenditures are really necessary. We should be aware if we are wasting our time and efforts on frivolous activities. We should not abuse our environment with garbage, pollutants, and recreational activities.

 

Conservation is impossible without a sound understanding of the wholeness of cycles. Unless we remember how precious something is, how much effort it took for it to come into being, we will not value it. Unless we think about its proper transformation into its next phase -- a leaf withering, a flower browning, a lake drying up -- we will not know our relation to it. Everything lives or dies in its own time. We too are part of the same cycles, only we have the option of contemplating and acting within that context. To do so with grace and awareness is the essence of one who follows Tao.

[adept]

INTERNALIZING

People think they don't have to learn,

Because there is so much information available.

But knowledge is more than possessing information.

Only the wise move fast enough.

 

The amount of information available to day is unprecedented. In medieval times a few volumes could form an encyclopedia of all known facts, or a despot could control his subjects simply by isolating or destroying a library. Now information is available to us in tidal proportions.

Some people take a lethargic approach to this enormity. They feel that if there is so much at hand, they do not need to actually learn anything. They'll go out and find it when they need it. But life moves too fast for us to rely on this laziness. Just as the flow of information has increased exponentially, so too has the pace of decision making accelerated. We can't be passive; we have to internalize information and place ourselves precisely in the flow.

 

It has been stated that the average human being utilizes 10 percent of his or her mental capacity. A genius uses only 15 percent. So we definitely have the capacity to keep up -- if we unlock our potential. This requires education, experience, and determination. One should never stop learning, never stop exploring, never stop going on adventures. Be like the explorers of old. What they acquired for themselves will always surpass those who merely read about their exploits.

[adept]

CHOOSING

One side of a ridge is cold and foggy,

The other is hot and dry.

Just by choosing where you stand,

You alter your destiny.

 

Those who follow Tao talk of destiny. They define destiny as the course or pattern of your life as it spontaneously takes shape. They do not think of destiny as a preordained set of circumstances. There is no rigid script for this mad stage that we are on.

Those who follow Tao then talk of location. By this, they mean something as literal as where you situate your house or where you stand politically. They think that these factors are very important. Let us imagine for moment that you had a job offer in another city far from where you were born. You move there with your family. Do you think that your life would change? We can refine this perception : If you went to a certain school, you would be educated differently. If you went into a different profession, it would change your outlook. If you lived in one neighborhood or another, you would be a different person. Every choice you make changes you.

 

No matter how minor or how great, you must make choices each and every minute that passes. The irony of life is that it is a one-way journey. You cannot go back, you cannot make comparisons by trying one way and then another. There are no double-blind studies when it comes to your own life. Therefore, only wisdom will suffice to guide you.

[Marblehead]

This is a very important concept in Taoism, I think.

 

Choices and free will. Indeed, our choices will define our destiny. Our destiny is not fixed, we can change it any time we wish to do so (within natural limits).

 

Peace & Love!

[adept]

APPEARANCES

Some look fierce, but are mild.

Some seem timid, but are vicious.

Look beyond appearances;

Position yourself for the advantage.

 

Without experience, we are easily fooled by appearances. A large man speaks loudly, so we judge him crass and belligerent, but he may turn out to be quite kind. If we approach him defensively, we may not notice his good points. On the other hand, when we meet a petite and quiet woman, we may become complacent in our attitude. If she turns out to be a treacherous person, our laxity contributes to our victimization.

Sometimes people are exactly as they appear. Other times, they are only showing camouflage.

 

Humans, like animals, have different strategies for survival. Coloring, movement, scent, and so on are all ways in which animals practice deception. People are no different. They promise a great many things, but they seldom come through. They proclaim lifelong friendships, and yet they never return again. They promise you many things, but they are only looking for a way to take advantage of you. We must learn to clearly discern the personalities of others in spite of the facades they project.

 

Position yourself in the most advantageous way at all times. Use experience to pierce the trickery of others. That is the right way to cope with appearances.

[thelerner]

Wise and deep and timely.

 

Thank you.

[adept]

UNEXPECTANT

Meditate with no thought of gain.

Expect no ambitions to be fulfilled;

Only then will the inner force manifest.

 

In the competitive world, we give expression to our ambitions, shrewdness, and aggressiveness. We must do this to survive. In the meditative world, we cannot use these attitudes. What works well on the outside will not serve us on the inside.

When we meditate, we must expect no gain. If we look for results, then those results will elude us. In contrast, if we suspend our ambitions, then the results will manifest very quickly. It may sound like absurd mysticism, but it is an undeniable, empirical truth. If you have no expectations, you will feel the divine. If you strive and have selfish desires, then you will feel only frustration.

 

When the mind is occupied with meditating for gain, it creates a barrier to precisely the results that you want. Spirituality is a mode that is far beyond the machinations and imaginations of the rational mind. It is created by an aspect of the mind that is not a part of everyday thought. In fact, the part of the mind that brings spirituality is very nearly antithetical to the common ways that we think. Therefore, we can only reach this type of spirituality by suspending our everyday thinking.

[Marblehead]

I like that and it reflects near perfectly my understanding of meditation.

 

Thanks again for sharing these.

 

Peace & Love!

[LaoTzu21]

what if its a leap year?

[adept]

INVISIBILITY

Invisibility is the best advantage.

But if forced to a confrontation,

Come out with all your skill.

 

There was once a roadside vendor who sold rheumatism formulas to the passersby. He was a cheery old man who was faithfully at his spot for years. One day a young bully began to harass the vendor. The old man tried very hard to avoid the confrontation, but eventually the bully became convinced that he had a coward to abuse as he pleased. When the moment of attack came, the old man defeated him with superior boxing skills. Significantly, the old man was never seen again. He had manifested his superiority at a critical moment, but once he had exposed himself, he disappeared.

In this competitive world, it is best to be invisible. Go through life without showing off, attracting attention to yourself, or making flamboyant gestures. These will only attract the hostility of others. The wise accomplish all that they want without arousing the envy or scorn of others. They make achievements only for the sake of fulfilling their inner yearnings.

 

Yet it is inevitable that you will have to prove yourself at one time or another. When that is necessary, then you must marshal all your skills and do your very best. Prove yourself when it is demanded, and when you must prove yourself, be superior. At that moment, it is no time to talk of philosophy and humility. Act. Do. Then fade back into invisibility.

[Marblehead]

Excellent lesson, I think.

 

Peace & Love!