Stosh Posted August 3, 2014 Ah! The attainment of happiness. Who said it? "We never find happiness until we stop looking for it." Random thoughts oftentimes come fast and furiously. Yes they do , just call me monkey minded. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted August 3, 2014 And yet, here you all are, giving in to the urge to post 'something' in a thread that ostensibly should be about no thing :-) But how can one talk about no thing? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soaring crane Posted August 3, 2014 But how can one talk about no thing? silence speaks pretty loudly sometimes? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted August 3, 2014 silence speaks pretty loudly sometimes? That's called listening well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Muqtada Posted August 13, 2014 But how can one talk about no thing? Are we still talking about the Tao or politicians? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Horus Posted August 13, 2014 If the Dao can not be spoken, then, ipso facto, that which can not be spoken must be Dao. When I gaze at a tree surrounded by sky atop a mountain resting on Earth absorbing and reflecting light traveling from the sun changing its position in the sky minute by minute creating with every movement a new tree, a new mountain, a new earth, a new sky, and all of it at the same moment is tree, all of it is sky, all of it is mountain, all of it is earth, all of it is sun ... and all of it is me, all one; I can't grasp and express the wholeness that I see before me or the connections I feel inside me. See? And because I can't grasp and can't express: Dao. People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soaring crane Posted August 13, 2014 People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh :-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thelerner Posted August 15, 2014 There was a young lass from Nantucket.... jump in any time Who flew to the moon in a rocket A taoist she met there and before long she could swear he held secrets aplenty in his pocket. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beyonder Posted September 6, 2014 If the Dao can not be spoken, then, ipso facto, that which can not be spoken must be Dao. That's a fallacy; you're converting a conditional. http://infidels.org/library/modern/mathew/logic.html#conditional We aren't arguing, and I'm not trying to pick a fight. Just pointing it out. "To find ones way in the infinite, one must learn to connect and divide." 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soaring crane Posted September 6, 2014 That's a fallacy; you're converting a conditional. http://infidels.org/library/modern/mathew/logic.html#conditional We aren't arguing, and I'm not trying to pick a fight. Just pointing it out. "To find ones way in the infinite, one must learn to connect and divide." well, thank you, I can appreciate the linguistic/rhetorical weakness my initial argument except, it's not an academic exercise. It's not an attempt to formulate an intellectual position or initiate debate. It was something that went through me while in meditation. I would never make a similar ipso facto statement regarding something from the everyday. Dao. edit: also -- I'm always so surprised every time this thread pops up. I don't get it, and I'm curious: How did you come across it? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beyonder Posted September 7, 2014 edit: also -- I'm always so surprised every time this thread pops up. I don't get it, and I'm curious: How did you come across it? Oh, just browsing the forums. My apologies, though. Calling out informal fallacies is somewhat of a reflex of mine, and my previous post had no relevancy to this thread whatsoever; I just couldn't be helped. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ion Posted September 16, 2014 The tao that can not be spoken of is never mentioned in the ttc.Also it must be a mistranslation because unless there is no mention of the eternal tao in the entire TTC I imagine that Laotzi was speaking of it throughout the book. At the very least, yher very first line of chapter 1 is definitely speaking of it. In actuality these lines do not mean you can not talk about the eternal tao that is a wide spread mistake obviously, but imply something totally different. I believe this is more accurate- The known was formless and perfectbefore it was known,as it is nowKnown as Emptiness,Absolute, Noumenal, Ever-present,Its realization is the originator of the arisenBecause it is realized it is not;it's eternal being Knowing creates being, being creates knowing; that which is known is eternal, yet not the ever-changing of its faceThe ever-changing brings about all that had & will be knownThe original originless known, diversified and with that let go of the formless creative living thingsFreedom & stillness reveal its wayRacing, fighting, and grasping leave one interacting with the illusions left in its wakeOne split into two the moment it emerged, yet they all share the same nameThat togetherness is the home of all things 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites