Mystery

[mystery]

I am opening this thread to discuss the mystery/unknown. I am wondering how we all approach the mystery/unknown. I am wondering if members in this forum are even open to witnessing the unknown/mystery.

Edited August 15, 2016 by mystery

[Marblehead]

Hi mystery,

 

Getting right down to business, aren't you?

 

Yes, I often speak of mystery (wu) as well as manifest (yu) but I'm not sure what you are referring to regarding "unknown".  I normally directly associate unknown with mystery and potential.

 

Maybe you have a view I have not yet considered?

[rene]

I'd tell you all about it but words don't work, sorry.

 

couldn't resist

warm regards (-:

[silent thunder]

every time I try to share what seems most amazing, the methods I possess to communicate, seem absolutely incapable of the depth of the required transmission...

 

edit to add:  but nonetheless, I love to hear when others make the attempt...

Edited August 16, 2016 by silent thunder

[joeblast]

or I just wind up using too damned many big words

[Daeluin]

I don't know.

[dwai]

This is the best I could do with words...

 

[dwai]

Or this one (from far more accomplished musicians than myself) --

 

[Marblehead]

 

 

[Wayfarer]

The unknown/mystery is everything you are looking at, everything your senses feel.  There is no approach to That which is everywhere Presence.  You may refer to Xuan; the dark mystery referred to in V1 of the TTC.  The TTC explains how to "approach" this in V16, through stillness. But Xuan is not something 'else' it is a way of describing something in plain view that is generally overlooked and therefore is likened to darkness and being a mystery.

 

It is not a mystery though, and while it is dark, it is also everything that is bright.  It cannot help the fact that is expresses itself as trees, sky, rivers, clouds, birds, people.  

 

The real mystery is why we think we are not Itself. 

Edited August 22, 2016 by Wayfarer

[blackstar212]

I am opening this thread to discuss the mystery/unknown. I am wondering how we all approach the mystery/unknown. I am wondering if members in this forum are even open to witnessing the unknown/mystery.

How does one approach that in which they are immersed?

[sillybearhappyhoneyeater]

Just in terms of Daoist thought, which is what I am principally interested in, mystery comes etymologically from the Chinese character xuan 玄

here is a Eastern Han dynasty period etymological approach to xuan:

玄：幽遠也。黑而有赤色者為玄。象幽而入覆之也

xuan: deep and remote, black and red colours together are called "Xuan," its appearance is deep and entering, it is overflowing.

 

taken from http://ctext.org/shuo-wen-jie-zi/xuan-bu1

 

Technically, Xuan means purple, which is the colour of Daoism.   It is dark and vague and seemingly has no bottom.  A silent and empty mind seems like a deep, dark, mystery  :) :)

[dawei]

I never much liked Xuan (玄) translated as mystery... I always preferred, 'original', or more like 'primordial'.    It has many associations in various writings but generally seems to always point to something about Heaven and often includes Earth.

 

It is said the color of Heaven is Xuan/Dark as the color of Earth is huang/Yellow.

 

Mystery implies an unknown and if something is unknown then how can you talk of it.  Maybe it is better to say something is 'mysterious' as if it can be known but it is not clearly known.

 

 

Meditation on the One

The One resides at the North Pole, 
in the midst of the abyss. 
In front is the Hall of Light (mingtang), 
behind is the Crimson Palace (jianggong). 
Imposing is the Flowery Canopy (huagai), 
great is the Golden Pavilion (jinlou)! 
On its left is the gang star, on its right the kui, 
waves and breakers propagate in the void. 
Mysterious excrescences overlay the cliffs, 
vermilion herbs enwrap the hills; 
on the rocks is white jade, 
the Sun and the Moon spread their light. 
There you go beyond fire and pass over water, 
you cross the Mystery and go past the Yellow.⁽¹⁾ 
Walls and gates intersect, 
curtains and hangings are adorned with gems; 
dragons and tigers are lined up on guard 
and divine beings are at their sides.⁽²⁾

Notes

(1) Mystery (xuan) and Yellow (huang) are attributes of Heaven and Earth, respectively: "Mysterious and Yellow means the mingling of Heaven and Earth: Heaven is the Mystery and Earth is the Yellow" (Book of Changes,Explanation of the Sentences, sec. 4).

(2) This passage contains terms that appear in contemporary texts related to meditation and in later texts related to Internal Alchemy: Hall of Light (the upper Cinnabar Field); Crimson Palace (the middle Cinnabar Field); Flowery Canopy (the eyebrows and, again, the upper Cinnabar Field).

 Baopu zi, chapter 18. Translation published in Fabrizio Pregadio, "Early Daoist Meditation and the Origins of Inner Alchemy," in Benjamin Penny, ed., Daoism in History: Essays in Honour of Liu Ts'un-yan, 129 (London: Routledge, 2006). This quotation is expanded.

[rene]

How does one approach that in which they are immersed?

The same way one finds what was never lost.

 

warm greetings

[Albion]

I'm gonna stick my toe in again, hoping the pirañas are asleep.

 

I think that the DDJ/TTC speaks well of the mystery. I find it in many verses.

 

That's all that I really wanna say.

 

Peace, D.A.D.

 

P.S. It took a lot of courage to do this!

[Marblehead]

Courage is what makes the difference between those who stand up and do something and those who remain seated and do nothing.

[sillybearhappyhoneyeater]

Courage is what makes the difference between those who stand up and do something and those who remain seated and do nothing.

Takes a shit tonne of courage to sit in one place and do nothing

[Marblehead]

Takes a shit tonne of courage to sit in one place and do nothing

I won't argue with the correctness of that statement although I could question the philosophy behind the thought.

[mystery]

How does one approach that in which they are immersed?

We may be immersed in mystery as all pervasive but how aware/realized are you or I of such mystery? I am discussing such realization as opposed to our relative ignorance of what may be

[mystery]

I do not know what better word to use that realization/awareness to convey what I am meaning. The definitions found in these words can never accurately capture, point to,  and/or clarify what I am referring to. But I suspect people in this forum may know what I am pointing at.
I am just saying I am emphasizing oneself being immersed in the mystery beyond the unconscious inertia of the brain there.

[Silent Answers]

So what exactly are we meant to be discussing? ;p

 

Words cannot sufficiently convey the unknowable. It's forever out of reach. But if you can become a deep well with no ledge to cling to, IT will surely fill you up.

[blackstar212]

We may be immersed in mystery as all pervasive but how aware/realized are you or I of such mystery? I am discussing such realization as opposed to our relative ignorance of what may be

I cannot speak for how you are aware but I am aware of being immersed in mystery. I am not sure when I came to the realization that we are immersed in mystery or the process of how that happens.

 

I do embrace the mystery though.

[Stosh]

I take a best guess, or leave the chad hanging.