Who follows whom.....?

[ChiDragon]

人法地
Human follows Earth

[ChiDragon]

地法天
Earth follows Heaven

[ChiDragon]

人法地
地法天
天法道
道法自然

Human follows Earth
Earth follows Heaven
Heaven follows Tao
Tao follows Naturalness

A place of tranquility integrated with Nature. It's time to meditate(靜坐) to capture the source of Chi.

Edited November 3, 2013 by ChiDragon

[manitou]

You're getting quite metaphoric in your old age, Chi Dragon

 

Your photographic postings on this thread and the other thread remind me, in a large and general way, of the microcosm / macrocosm phenomena. Our bodies, the earth, and the cosmos reflect the same principles. In the first picture, the road meanders with the curves of the earth. If that mountain range were here in the States we would have built a huge suspension bridge to bypass the curves, making the trip from point A to point B do-able in about 5 minutes. Because the West is obsessed with time, we often see time as the enemy. How to cram more Day into 12 hours. I've been to China and recall the sweetness of going with the flow, reflected in the manifestations of the roads, the architecture, the simplicity of the people (we're not talking downtown Shanghai here); how often Mother Earth is acknowledged as a partner in the is-ness of their being, reflected in most everything. Maybe this is only because China didn't rise financially until fairly recently and there was no expendable stuck energy with which to crunch Time. But now the West being on the comparative decline and China has the stuck energy. How strange. Our roads and bridges, because we no longer have the financial resources we used to, are on the decline. Nature is taking its course, gravity affecting our ignored bridges, rust accumulating in our old vacant factories and railroad tracks.

 

Accumulating money seems to be at the root of the problem. The more stuck energy we have at our disposal, the more we like to insulate ourselves from the Mother. no more worrying about sleeping on the land; no more worrying about the weather, because we have big sturdy houses to insulate ourselves. The weather no longer matters as much because we have cars to insulate our travels and crunch time. We have lost touch with the living, breathing creature that is the Mother. The ancients, prior to Copernicus, even saw the rising of the sun, moon, and stars as a living thing, their actions of the heavenly bodies voluntary, not cyclical and automatic. Which is why the heavenly bodies were implored to keep coming back; my guess is that the original 'worship' of the sun was a function of our fear, not love; fear that it wouldn't come back after the winter months.

 

So yes - let nature take its course. It is the only way returning to the One can be achieved; by seeing through all of man's "accomplishments" to be seen as they really are: fear of lack, fear of time, fear of death.

[ChiDragon]

[ChiDragon]

The philosophy behind the "Human follows Earth" is that Earth dictates human to take a path from point A to point B. It doesn't matter how human get there. As long one lives on Earth, one will be dominated by Earth. If one wants to take a shortcut by building a bridge, but it was still under the dictatorship of Mother Earth.

[Marblehead]

Yep. And Mother Earth has removed some bridges because we humans didn't build them properly.

[manitou]

 

 

LOL. Really, LOL.

[ChiDragon]

Yep. And Mother Earth has removed some bridges because we humans didn't build them properly.

 

[Marblehead]

Yep. That one too.

[ChiDragon]

LOL. Really, LOL.

 

[Marblehead]

With the Chinese characters at bottom right I would assume that is in China somewhere but there is one similar to that in France. I wish I could remember more about it so that I could post a picture.

[ChiDragon]

The Milau Bridge in France.....???

Edited November 4, 2013 by ChiDragon

[manitou]

 

Now this really is funny. Look at the condition of the roads going to the mountaintops where the bridge lies. You could go about 70 mph across the bridge but would have to slow down to about 5 mph to get down the hill to the neighboring town. Something just Ain't Right there, in Ohio-speak.

 

I just got it. It's the perfect metaphor for Being Here Now. Past, present, future are all caught up in the same journey.

Edited November 4, 2013 by manitou

[9th]

“

 

Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.”

- Alphonse Karr

 

[Marblehead]

The Milau Bridge in France.....???

 

Yes, that's the one I was thinking of.

[manitou]

 

“

 

 

Life could be said to be the thorn patch. It's through adversity that the rough edges are filed off by repeated exposures to the thorns, resulting in the blooming of the soul into connection with The Absolute.

 

It could also be said that the Sage, once a Sage, is not harmed by environment, as it says in the DDJ, differently said in each translation. This is the Principle of the thorn protecting the rose from predators perhaps; the thorn too is the manifestation of the Idea of the Rose (the Idea of the Thorn doesn't manifest the Rose, it's the other way around). The Sage manifests safety to surround his Beauty. The attributes of The Absolute are Beauty, Truth, Self Knowledge. We are the Absolute's reflection, as the rose above.

 

Or is it the principle that the Truth is not found in judgment of things as being Good or Bad, Hurtful or Pleasant?

 

 

9th - as to your avatar. I'm wondering at the symbolism, which I am sure you intend to be there. Is it the principle of reversion, the reversion of the Dao? The body of matter returning to its end, the beginning? Or is it symbolic of the spiritual alchemy which takes place, the Christ Consciousness, once the holy grail has been found by a seeker?

 

Or is it Matter reverting to the flame of the sun caused by the gravity of the natural order of things? The end of our journey and the onset of another?

 

Or is it just a pretty picture?

Edited November 4, 2013 by manitou

[hagar]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_njpY4VjTsqo/TGhAEzSYZPI/AAAAAAAABMk/gkR05OH11Qo/s1600/sshot-1-jin%27s.jpg

 

Norway in a nutshell

 

Apparently, earth follows Man nowadays.

Edited November 4, 2013 by hagar

[xor]

That was an interesting link to the blog before you edited it hagar. Some crazy building projects(the cruise ship and bridge for holiday traffic made me shake my head) going on in Norway it seems that we never hear about here in Finland. If only I could read Norwegian better.

 

Man can try to make the earth follow but earth and nature will claim it back in time with infinite patience.

[manitou]

Did anyone catch the fact that the men in Hagar's link are all walking in the same direction? (the exception being the fellow on the other side of the river, holding up the wires). Maybe he's stopped because he's afraid he'll get electrocuted if he steps into the water.

 

It's not lost on me that the are holding up electricity; what better metaphor for the man/creator symbiosis?

[manitou]

. Some crazy building projects(the cruise ship and bridge for holiday traffic made me shake my head) going on in Norway it seems that we never hear about here in Finland.

 

 

As crazy as the massive rubber duckie floating around the rivers of Pittsburgh?

[xor]

...

Edited November 4, 2013 by xor

[ChiDragon]

Did anyone catch the fact that the men in Hagar's link are all walking in the same direction? (the exception being the fellow on the other side of the river, holding up the wires). Maybe he's stopped because he's afraid he'll get electrocuted if he steps into the water.

 

It's not lost on me that the are holding up electricity; what better metaphor for the man/creator symbiosis?

 

hmmm.........

Don't you think that the man has been electrocuted already....???

Edited November 4, 2013 by ChiDragon

[hagar]

That was an interesting link to the blog before you edited it hagar. Some crazy building projects(the cruise ship and bridge for holiday traffic made me shake my head) going on in Norway it seems that we never hear about here in Finland. If only I could read Norwegian better.

 

Man can try to make the earth follow but earth and nature will claim it back in time with infinite patience.

 

Interestingly, we have a pretty conservative and preservationist agenda, yet the last years, things have taken a turn. Basically due to infrastructure-pressures. Outside the national parks there is no inherent prohibitions, yet there was a major upset when the power lines across the fjord was decided to be built. Nobody stated the obvious; use less power....

 

h

[manitou]

Interestingly, we have a pretty conservative and preservationist agenda, yet the last years, things have taken a turn. Basically due to infrastructure-pressures. Outside the national parks there is no inherent prohibitions, yet there was a major upset when the power lines across the fjord was decided to be built. Nobody stated the obvious; use less power....

 

h

 

 

If someone here in the States told us to Use Less Power there would be hotheads everywhere demanding to use as much power as they darn well want, after all, it's their God-given right. And then they'd go to a mega-church and celebrate Jesus' birthday or something.

Edited November 4, 2013 by manitou