do you carry a copy of the tao te ching with you?

[Taomeow]

Do you have any idea why Fu Xi and Nuwa are depicted as snakes?

 

Yes.

 

but...

 

when Gilgamesh asked Enkidu,

 

"Tell me, my friend, tell me, my friend,

the law of the world that you know,"

 

the latter responded,

 

"I can't tell thee, my friend, I can't tell thee,

but if I told thee

the law of the world that I know,

(you would) sit down and weep."

 

 

But then...

 

I know the dark side and the bright side of the serpent. The back is dark and the underbelly is light, but in some serpents it's reversed, or they're black all over, or golden, or copper (I nearly stepped on a copper-and-gold colored snake as a kid, bright light, bright terror) -- oops, don't let me get carried away...

 

...what I mean is, the dark side of the snake story is, e.g., that the Merovingian dynasty of the kings of Franks and assorted/related European religious, political, and financial nobility derive (proudly) their descent from the snake queen (Melusine, in some versions of the tradition, something else in others) who emerged from the sea -- official genealogical records of old Gaul nobility cite her as the progenitor of the line in all seriousness, followed by many, many descendants who rule the world to this day --

 

so, too, in most "legends" and "myths" scattered all over the planet, the snake is our creator and/or overlord, in this shape or that, the Plumed Serpent, the Dragon, the Nagas, the Great Cobra, Marduk and Enki and Enlil and all those other scaly creatures everywhere and every-when, the story does not vary in its essence, only in the details --

 

but the bright side of the snake, of two intertwined snakes especially, is the DNA, which is what life is based on throughout the universe, not just on planet Earth. Fuxi and Nuwa are not provincial, not some enslaving superior species posing as a deity -- they might well be real deities. Who knows... but in any event, Nuwa, the creatress of humans, is yet another one of those snakes that make us into nothing more (or maybe nothing less) than a biological batch of snake-made goods serving this or that snaky purpose --

 

unless they themselves are man-made long tails tales, which I doubt.

[dawei]

Do you have any idea why Fu Xi and Nuwa are depicted as snakes?

The brother-sister, married couple is often mentioned as: Half-human and half-snake... this is trying to make sense of their physical representation.

 

Time is often shown horizontally in timelines... but chinese treat time vertically...

 

So let's treat their bodies vertically... but not as a half-... but as a progressive unfolding and evolving.

 

A snake body appears gender-less... no male nor female. Show a whole, twisted together as two parts; think Wu and You as co-existent (think DDJ Chapter 1). Think Yin and yang twisted together prior to separated energies. They are Wu Ji giving rise to Tai Ji.

 

Now let the energies separate and become two distinct genders; two distinct energies... Yin and Yang... Heaven and Earth... Fuxi and Nuwa...

[mYTHmAKER]

The intertwined snakes also represent the kundalini - shiva (yin) and shakti (yang)

They can be seen in the intertwining of yin an yang in the taiji symbol and in dna

[Aaron]

Actually, it's not taoism, it's laoism.

 

As for taoism not being a lifestyle, what do you make of the way I carry a luopan with me (that's not a book, in case anyone has been wondering), and when I travel I take my calligraphy brushes and an ink stone and a copy of the I Ching and a set of yarrow stalks I made and matured and consecrated myself, and I check the taoist almanach and the lunar calendar before scheduling appointments, and do bazi readings, and make talismans, and make offerings to the ancestors and the Three Pure Ones and Xi Wangmu and Sun Bu-er, and use a peach tree wood sword for spiritual self-defense and bells, fans, gourd bottles, talismanic water to work with environmental qi, and design all my practices around my ming gua and my wuxing layout, and haven't seen a Western doctor since sometime in the last century but own and use scores of TCM books and design my own herbal formulas and dit da jows based on what I've learned, and use guasha and cupping and occasionally gold and emerald elixirs, and practice taijiquan and qigong and taoist alchemy, and wear traditional taoist clothes for this though never in public, and even on the beach trace taoist symbols into the sand more often than not, and a bit of female alchemy and the bedchamber arts, and a bit of form-compass/xuan kong feng shui, and all of this I do because not doing it makes no sense to me anymore,

 

and you say taoism is not a lifestyle?

 

Laoism and Chuangism are the two main schools of philosophy related to Taoism. You don't need to follow one or the other, but both are considered the basis for current Taoist philosophy. Now traditional Chinese practices, which you seem to be heavily into, are influenced by Taoism, but less so the philosophy, and more the religion, which is drawn from the Chinese mythology, Chinese Medicine, the I-Ching, etc. Now to say these things aren't Taoist, is like saying the pebbles on the river bed aren't part of the river, which is untrue. The river consists of not just the water, but everything that makes up the river; the fish, the seaweed, the mud, and the pebbles.

 

Now to call this a lifestyle is erroneous too, because people who call something a lifestyle often do so to separate their own practices from others, to compete with others, and that's not the purpose of Taoism (remember we should never strive to be first). Also, what most people misunderstand is that Taoism is very much about learning to become attached to others, not detached, so the practice of Taoism is meant to help integrate us more closely into the natural order of the world around us. So in this way, your practice should not be a lifestyle, or a way of life, but rather a natural way of being. If you have to integrate rituals into your life, then you are forgetting what is said about virtue by both Chuang Tzu and Lao Tzu, that ritual is the lowest form of virtue.

 

Now Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu both commented on the need to eliminate ritual from one's life. It is really up to you to decide what is ritual and what isn't. What is the difference between "eh" and "oh"? What is the difference between stopping at Starbucks for coffee every morning or ringing a bell for your ancestors? There really isn't, in fact the problem that arises is that you are making your life formulaic, when in fact it should be dynamic. So for me, I try to be aware of those things I do that are ritualistic, that are repeated without purpose, so that I can be more aware of the spontaneous nature of the universe around me.

 

 

I'm sorry it took so long to get back to you regarding this. Also this isn't meant to denigrate your beliefs or discourage you from practicing, it's just one man's opinion. I hope you are doing well.

 

Aaron

Edited February 27, 2012 by Twinner

[Taomeow]

Laoism and Chuangism are the two main schools of philosophy related to Taoism. You don't need to follow one or the other, but both are considered the basis for current Taoist philosophy. Now traditional Chinese practices, which you seem to be heavily into, are influenced by Taoism, but less so the philosophy, and more the religion, which is drawn from the Chinese mythology, Chinese Medicine, the I-Ching, etc. Now to say these things aren't Taoist, is like saying the pebbles on the river bed aren't part of the river, which is untrue. The river consists of not just the water, but everything that makes up the river; the fish, the seaweed, the mud, and the pebbles.

 

Now to call this a lifestyle is erroneous too, because people who call something a lifestyle often do so to separate their own practices from others, to compete with others, and that's not the purpose of Taoism (remember we should never strive to be first). Also, what most people misunderstand is that Taoism is very much about learning to become attached to others, not detached, so the practice of Taoism is meant to help integrate us more closely into the natural order of the world around us. So in this way, your practice should not be a lifestyle, or a way of life, but rather a natural way of being. If you have to integrate rituals into your life, then you are forgetting what is said about virtue by both Chuang Tzu and Lao Tzu, that ritual is the lowest form of virtue.

 

Now Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu both commented on the need to eliminate ritual from one's life. It is really up to you to decide what is ritual and what isn't. What is the difference between "eh" and "oh"? What is the difference between stopping at Starbucks for coffee every morning or ringing a bell for your ancestors? There really isn't, in fact the problem that arises is that you are making your life formulaic, when in fact it should be dynamic. So for me, I try to be aware of those things I do that are ritualistic, that are repeated without purpose, so that I can be more aware of the spontaneous nature of the universe around me.

 

 

I'm sorry it took so long to get back to you regarding this. Also this isn't meant to denigrate your beliefs or discourage you from practicing, it's just one man's opinion. I hope you are doing well.

 

Aaron

Thank you for your perspective.

 

One thing I have seen many times and understood never is some of the non-practitioners begrudging a practitioner her practice and denying or negating or marginalizing her lifestyle based on same. I've seen roughly the same arguments in justification of this stance -- "you do it to compete" and "to gain the upper hand" and "because you think you are better than me" and what not -- on various bewildering occasions. This is usually followed by this or that "should" -- "you should/shouldn't do/not do/think/feel this and not that," and invariably the non-practitioner seeks to establish his (usually his -- I've seen much fewer instances of this attitude from women, for whatever reason) own superior, upper hand, know-better-than-you and am-holier-than-thou position. If you catch yourself doing this, I invite you to take a closer look at your motives. If you don't -- good for you. It is a useless pursuit, to teach a practitioner who respects some of her teachers and reveres others, and hopes to emulate whoever she has already chosen as her taoist role models, any "better attitudes" than the ones she has already found enough incentives to internalize to propel her practice. She may or may not argue with you out loud, but she is guaranteed to transfer you (the generic you, not you personally) from her mental list of "unique, growing, unfolding individuals -- they will still surprise, I've seen nothing yet" to, well, her other mental list.

 

Hope you're doing well too.

[Aaron]

Thank you for your perspective.

 

One thing I have seen many times and understood never is some of the non-practitioners begrudging a practitioner her practice and denying or negating or marginalizing her lifestyle based on same. I've seen roughly the same arguments in justification of this stance -- "you do it to compete" and "to gain the upper hand" and "because you think you are better than me" and what not -- on various bewildering occasions. This is usually followed by this or that "should" -- "you should/shouldn't do/not do/think/feel this and not that," and invariably the non-practitioner seeks to establish his (usually his -- I've seen much fewer instances of this attitude from women, for whatever reason) own superior, upper hand, know-better-than-you and am-holier-than-thou position. If you catch yourself doing this, I invite you to take a closer look at your motives. If you don't -- good for you. It is a useless pursuit, to teach a practitioner who respects some of her teachers and reveres others, and hopes to emulate whoever she has already chosen as her taoist role models, any "better attitudes" than the ones she has already found enough incentives to internalize to propel her practice. She may or may not argue with you out loud, but she is guaranteed to transfer you (the generic you, not you personally) from her mental list of "unique, growing, unfolding individuals -- they will still surprise, I've seen nothing yet" to, well, her other mental list.

 

Hope you're doing well too.

 

I guess I touched a nerve. Sorry about that. You are as unique as you want to be and there's nothing wrong or right about it, so don't worry so much what I say, because none of it matters in the end.

 

I say if people want to blindly follow something, then so be it. I think my only duty, and it's not a required duty by any means, is to point out what I feel is beneficial, how someone chooses to take that advice is up to them.

 

 

Aaron

Edited February 27, 2012 by Twinner

[Protector]

Twinner is a real man and Taomeow is a real woman

[zerostao]

I guess I touched a nerve. Sorry about that. You are as unique as you want to be and there's nothing wrong or right about it, so don't worry so much what I say, because none of it matters in the end.

 

I say if people want to blindly follow something, then so be it. I think my only duty, and it's not a required duty by any means, is to point out what I feel is beneficial, how someone chooses to take that advice is up to them.

 

 

Aaron

 

 

you have entered a "duty free" zone.

[Aaron]

Twinner is a real man and Taomeow is a real woman

 

In four months you've surpassed me in total posts, which leads me to believe you're a really bored man or woman.

 

Aaron

[Aaron]

you have entered a "duty free" zone.

 

LOL!

 

Aaron