General Information

[Marblehead]

Oh wow. I am excited. I don't own a copy of Chang Tzu so I'm going to be following the discussions in this forum quite a bit.

 

Good to hear that. The more people involved asking questions and making comments the more interesting the threads will be.

[Marblehead]

Okay. I am ready to start The Chuang Tzu.

 

I accepted the recommendation to start with the story of the Kun fish and the Peng bird.

 

Please understand that some of the opening posts for the sections of the chapters may be rather long because Chuang Tzu is telling stories and it will be difficult to understand the concepts being presented if I break the stories down into too small of sections. But I will break the chapters into as many sections as possible in order to allow for proper discussion of the section being presented and the concepts contained within.

 

So, anyhow, the story of the Kun and Peng just happen to be the beginning section of Chapter One.

 

I will first post the index with chapter titles along with a few words then post Chapter One, Section A.

 

Enjoy and please participate in the discussions because the more participation we have the more value will be brought toward understanding the stories and concepts within.

[rene]

Marblehead, congrats and well-met on getting the ZhuangZi section going. Generally speaking I'm not a big fan (because of the unnecessary complicating and twisting of simple LZ themes) but I can appreciate and enjoy that others find ZZ to be their cup of tea. (-:

 

warm regards

[Marblehead]

Marblehead, congrats and well-met on getting the ZhuangZi section going. Generally speaking I'm not a big fan (because of the unnecessary complicating and twisting of simple LZ themes) but I can appreciate and enjoy that others find ZZ to be their cup of tea. (-:

 

warm regards

 

Yeah, I already knew that, didn't I? Hehehe.

[rene]

Yeah, I already knew that, didn't I? Hehehe.

No, sorry, I didn't know you already knew that. Just wanted to let you know I'd be mostly sitting back in the discussions. I edited out my post in Ch 2 so as to not disrupt the harmony of your explorations. Have fun!

 

Peace out. (-:

[Marblehead]

Note to Section breakdown.

 

I am trying my best to break the chapters so that they contain as few concepts as possible so that the concepts can be properly discussed.

 

I realize that many of you would break the chapters down differently. But please understand that I must do this according to how my brain works.

 

Criticize if you wish but unless I can find a better (for me) way to break them down I will continue to do it my way.

 

 

And a meaningless comment: While working with Chapter 2 this morning I became very aware of why I like Burton Watson's translation better than others I have access to. Hehehe.

[Marblehead]

And so, with no further concern about praise or blame, this series will continue.

 

Please remember that the purpose of this series is to discuss the philosophy of Chuang Tzu.

 

Jesus can be discussed elsewhere.

[dawei]

I want to say it here so it does not detract from the general thread sections... Thanks for your candor and discussion. I truly appreciate it.

[Marblehead]

I want to say it here so it does not detract from the general thread sections... Thanks for your candor and discussion. I truly appreciate it.

 

And I thank you for your honesty even if we sometimes disagree. I appreciate that!

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Looking for the right place to put this.

 

Marblehead, I'm pretty sure this is your stripe:

 

 

Easy Going Feller, by Paul Lawrence Dunbar

 

Ther' ain't no use in all this strife,

An' hurryin', pell-mell, right thro' life.

I don't believe in goin' too fast

To see what kind o' road you've passed.

It ain't no mortal kind o' good,

'N' I would n't hurry ef I could.

I like to jest go joggin' 'long,

To limber up my soul with song;

To stop awhile 'n' chat the men,

'N' drink some cider now an' then.

Do' want no boss a-standin' by

To see me work; I allus try

To do my dooty right straight up,

An' earn what fills my plate an' cup.

An' ez fur boss, I'll be my own,

I like to jest be let alone,

To plough my strip an' tend my bees,

An' do jest like I doggoned please.

My head's all right, an' my heart's meller,

But I'm a easy-goin' feller.

[Marblehead]

Looking for the right place to put this.

 

Marblehead, I'm pretty sure this is your stripe:

 

Yeah, that fits me pretty well. And you know, thinking while reading that I think that stripe goes back to even my teenaged years.

 

I did have one problem with the poem though when I came to this line:

 

To stop awhile 'n' chat the men,

 

Gotta add the words "and women" prior to the comma.

 

Thanks Harmonious. Yeah, there wouldn't have been any "best" place to put the poem so any place would have been as good as any other.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

What do you think of adding a "Favourite Chuang Tzu quotes" topic in here? Yays or nays?

[Marblehead]

What do you think of adding a "Favourite Chuang Tzu quotes" topic in here? Yays or nays?

Okay, now I see the post! (I guess it helps when one opens one's eyes.)

 

I would go along with that. We could start a thread within the Chuang Tzu sub-forum of quotes and see how it works out.

 

Strange that I have not collected any Chuang Tzu quotes though, even when he is very significant in my belief system. If a thread is started I will have to do some serious reading in order to find some that I feel are specially relavant.

 

Anyone else? Please share your ideas.

[ChiDragon]

Zhuang Tzu Famous quote:

 

1。吾生也有涯，而知也无涯。以有涯随无涯，殆已；已而为知者，殆而已矣。

 

我们的生命是有限的，而知识却是无限的。要想用有限的生命去追求无限的知识，便会感到很疲倦；既然如此还要不停地去追求知识，便会弄得更加疲困不堪！

 

Our lives are limited; but we knew that knowledge has no limit. However, letting the limited life to pursue the unlimited knowledge, it would make one very fatigue. Hence, people are still not willing to stop pursue knowledge will make themselves even more fatigue....!!!

[Marblehead]

Zhuang Tzu Famous quote:

 

1。吾生也有涯，而知也无涯。以有涯随无涯，殆已；已而为知者，殆而已矣。

 

我们的生命是有限的，而知识却是无限的。要想用有限的生命去追求无限的知识，便会感到很疲倦；既然如此还要不停地去追求知识，便会弄得更加疲困不堪！

 

Our lives are limited; but we knew that knowledge has no limit. However, letting the limited life to pursue the unlimited knowledge, it would make one very fatigue. Hence, people are still not willing to stop pursue knowledge will make themselves even more fatigue....!!!

So does that mean that you are interested in starting a thread of Chuang Tzu quotes? Hehehe.

 

Yes, that is a good quote. For me it speaks well to the idea of 'knowing when to stop'.

 

The quote doesn't say to ignore knowledge; it suggests that we know when to stop acquiring additional knowledge, allow what knowledge we have learned to become wisdom, and then allow our wisdom to guide us through a full and peaceful life.