Analysis of the Translation of the Three Treasures.

[YMWong]

This is a mostly misunderstood subject, and often on purpose as the various "Dao of sex" <sig> lessons sell well.

 

First of all "jing" does not strictly mean "semen", while it is related to it they are not the same thing.

 

Celibacy for Daoist practice means total abstention, which include desire, any thought and the likes.

 

Meditation, I mean real meditation, shall lead to a loss of desire too so as you said practice and abstention are linked in a complex manner.

 

The schools/sect which do not have FULL (complete) celibacy as a rule shall require the pratictioner abstention in particular times, during which Qi can be accumulated, Jing can be eventually transformed etc. As I said in my previous message, those substances are continuously accumulated as long as one lives and in particular when one practices properly. They are however also consumed/wasted by the body so this is where practice and following the rules makes a difference.

 

Jing, Qi and Shen are always present in the body as long as one is alive.

In the same way that standard gymnastic transforms the body, as for example I have the same muscles in my legs as an Olympic marathon champion but there is no way I can even got close to compete with him, Daoist practice transforms the subtle body.

 

Just like with the leg muscles then, we basically all have what it takes to do the job.

What most of us don't have, however, is an expert to teach/guide us and - most of all - the commitment and dedication to follow the training.

 

Again, think about what an Olympic athlete can endure and see how many of us could do the same - then multiply that by many, many times

 

YM

[宁]

that means that even an average joe can enjoy the benefits of jogging every day, and never be dissapointed that he will never become an olimpic athlete.

 

dedication is really difficult to understand here in the west, you know, there are tons of motivational books and motivational speakers/leaders, but motivation and dedication are so different. i've learned more about it coming in contact with Asian culture, and surprisingly, "military" culture.

 

thanks for sharing!

[YMWong]

that means that even an average joe can enjoy the benefits of jogging every day, and never be dissapointed that he will never become an olimpic athlete.

 

One who wants to be an olympic athlete must first make sure to have the qualities necessary to be one, which apart from some eventual inborn talent are mostly geared around the ability to stand the pain and never give up.

 

One who does not have them, and here we talk about the vast vast majority of us, and yet get disappointed on not getting that gold medal is an idiot and should watch himself at the mirror as this is the one to blame.

 

dedication is really difficult to understand here in the west, you know, there are tons of motivational books and motivational speakers/leaders, but motivation and dedication are so different. i've learned more about it coming in contact with Asian culture, and surprisingly, "military" culture.

 

Dedication is not learned through books or speakers but it is fully dependent on ourselves.

 

Some have the "fortune", or misfortune when looked at from a different angle, to be born in the right situation: you can look at the history of many of our musical "talents" for instance, and you will see how they were stripped of their youth by a strict family who put them over a musical instrument (for instance) hours and hours a day since they were born.

Nothing else but music, eat, music, sleep, music ....

 

Those who are grown up and can decide for themselves don't have this luxury of being forced and, as I said, can only blame themselves if they don't reach their goals.

Luck of course plays a part, as everything in life, but it is usually a minor one.

 

YM

[宁]

One who wants to be an olympic athlete must first make sure to have the qualities necessary to be one, which apart from some eventual inborn talent are mostly geared around the ability to stand the pain and never give up.

 

i saw a documentary about reckon marine military training (an elite of the marine corps), there were 70 people that had to work through 3 months of (as the instructors describe it) "living hell". the physical ability of those marines was already very good, yet they had to complete missions that required them to push through their limits. the instructors were shouting at them repeatedly, that it was not as much a test of physical strenght, as it was a test of attitude and dedication to the mission.

and yes, most of it was center around the idea you mentioned, the ability to stand the pain and never give up. they were constantly taught to eliminate "i can't do it" from their vocabulary. the instructors already knew what they were doing, because they had generations of 'students' that passed that ordeal.

at the end of 3 months, only half of the marines pushed through that training, it was humbling to see really strong grown men, weaping and marching, carrying tens of kilograms of gear, plus carrying wounded comrades on their backs, exhausted, shouting to themselves: never give up, a marine never gives up, i have to complete the mission no matter what!

I bet that if someone applies that attitude to whatever he/she does, there is nothing he or she cannot achieve. pity we are not taught this as we grow up, as we once were (there are still tribes in some parts of the world that include trials like this as a test for a young man to become an adult.)

 

i must confess that film determined me to stay still through my first complete hour of zhan zhuang. a minor step, of course, but it showed me it's possible to break though your limits if you are determined enough to.

[YMWong]

i saw a documentary about reckon marine military training (an elite of the marine corps), there were 70 people that had to work through 3 months of (as the instructors describe it) "living hell". the physical ability of those marines was already very good, yet they had to complete missions that required them to push through their limits. the instructors were shouting at them repeatedly, that it was not as much a test of physical strenght, as it was a test of attitude and dedication to the mission.

 

Yes, and with Daoist practices there is not even the help of making usage of anger or shouting because calm is one of the basic requisites be be attained and kept thru out the routine

 

YM

[宁]

要不叫他们忍者吧, 嘿嘿, 比道士这个词更合适. 忍, 忍, 忍...

[ChiDragon]

If the original writer wanted to mean "generate" he would not have used "hua" 化 but "sheng" 生 instead, you say you read the DDJ you should know better

 

So "transform" is the correct translation in that, to use your words "when jing transforms to qi, jing IS NOT maintened".

Again, just use logic: we breath, drink and eat and our body TRANSFORMS those substances into nutrients that produces movement etc.

 

YM

 

"hua" 化 is 化育; it is more like a chemical reaction rather then "sheng" 生.

 

"jing IS NOT maintened"

When you say "jing" which jing do you mean, postnatal or prenatal....???

Are you saying that postnatal jings do not maintain prenatal jings....???