Favorite Daoist Quote

[CedarTree]

Zen Buddhists love Basho in particular his frog poem as in the tradition it is seen as uniquely zen and possibly the language of zen of awakening.

 

What is your favorite Daoist quote or scripture or whichever that you think is incredibly eloquent and really struck you as special

[sagebrush]

"plop".....

 

( jumping in the pond) behind the delighted teahouse. :-)

 

I do not know any by memory.

 

 

[cold]

"plop plop fizz fizz oh what a relief it is" for the resulting cramps, after jumping in the pond before waiting at least an hour after eating the rice and millet cakes.

[9th]

the seers fortold coming of bullshit
smear tactics and measured skidmarks
face paint kubic khan dumpster diving
kicked up tonka trucks playing sandbox time
bleeding from papercuts but licking slugs
salted lime key dropped over pie glass rim
plop plop fizz fizz oh what a relief it is
crosscut swine tickler sea cow lemon shit
coathanger style across the hand
standing waving it around and around
in a mountain of crusty tissue 

[Marblehead]

You guys beat me at the bullshit this time.

 

To the opening post:

 

The one who thinks he does not know is profound, the one who thinks he knows is shallow.  The former deals with the inner reality, the latter with appearance.

[Lost in Translation]

4 hours ago, CedarTree said:

What is your favorite Daoist quote or scripture or whichever that you think is incredibly eloquent and really struck you as special

 

This is "incredibly eloquent" and strikes me as "special". Taoism in a nutshell.

 

 

[Stosh]

The shines equally ,on the Wicked ,and the Just . 

It may be from Matthew but it is quite appropriate anyway. 

Edited November 9, 2017 by Stosh

[oak]

The Katha Upanishad

[Stosh]

Yep, there too, almost the exact same reasoning , very cool! 

[Marblehead]

To ask about that which should not be asked is to land in extremities.  To answer a question that should not be answered is to fail to recognize the inner reality.  If then those who do not recognize the inner reality try to answer questioners who land in extremities, such people have neither observed the workings of the Universe, nor do they realize the Ultimate Source. 

[Stosh]

Well said.:)

[sagebrush]

 

 

 

 quick to listen and slow to speak 

 

 go placidly among the noise and haste/ desiderata

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2017 by sagebrush

[Lost in Translation]

“Falling, one of humanities most feared and misunderstood conditions. The key to successful falling lies in realizing that you are a falling person. Do you go stiff, resist the fall like a standing person, or do you accept it like a defenestrated feline and stay alert to each and every falling opportunity?”

 

The Tick.

Season 1. Ep. 4

Edited November 12, 2017 by Lost in Translation

[Chang]

"Demand much of yourself and expect little of others. Thus you will be spared much vexation."

[Marblehead]

7 hours ago, Chang said:

"Demand much of yourself and expect little of others. Thus you will be spared much vexation."

That's a lesson I had to learn the hard way.

 

[Chang]

10 hours ago, Marblehead said:

That's a lesson I had to learn the hard way.

 

 

This is true for many of us.

[Marblehead]

To limit oneself to that which has a name and a tangible existence is to remain in the domain of perceptible things.  To discourse upon that which has no name and no tangible existence is to form a conception only of the vacuity of things. 

[Miroku]

“Careful man, there’s a beverage here!” — The Dude

[exorcist_1699]

I like the following quote:

 

"忘形以養氣, 忘氣以養神,  忘神以養虛 " 

 

( " Forget the body/form so as to nourish qi,  forget qi so as to nourish Shen, forget Shen so as to nourish Emptiness" )

 

Looks  zen-like , not Taoist ,  yet  because  it mentions body and qi ,  this quote  is undoubtedly Taoist . 

[rainbowvein]

1 hour ago, exorcist_1699 said:

I like the following quote:

 

"忘形以養氣, 忘氣以養神,  忘神以養虛 " 

 

( " Forget the body/form so as to nourish qi,  forget qi so as to nourish Shen, forget Shen so as to nourish Emptiness" )

 

Looks  zen-like , not Taoist ,  yet  because  it mentions body and qi ,  this quote  is undoubtedly Taoist . 

 

It's alchemy.  

 

jing (body) transforms to qi transforms to shen transforms to emptiness

[joeblast]

You suppose that attainment is possible in quietude but lost in activity; you do not realize that the reason for loss through activity is because nothing is attained through stillness.

Lu Yan (829-874)

[dawei]

Despite my affinity and connection to Laozi, the one quote that stays with me is from Zhuangzi.. I blame Marblehead for being a herald of his text.

 

paraphrase:  "When the world was born, I was born".    The interconnection of the small one to the big ONE is apparent.

 

The sheer Oneness of the phrase leaves no doubt as to his position about existence.  And it allows a cause - effect interpretation... or even a dependency argument against self-arising or self-independence.  

[exorcist_1699]

11 hours ago, rainbowvein said:

 

It's alchemy.  

 

jing (body) transforms to qi transforms to shen transforms to emptiness

 

Hi, 

 

You got it  . Instead of paying attention to certain part of body/ dantian  , the quote  says forgetting it ;  instead of asking people to lead the qi  mobilized , it  further asks people to   forget it ;  so, at different stages of Taoist cultivation , people do need to have different mindset . 

Edited November 15, 2017 by exorcist_1699

[Marblehead]

To speak of the existence or absence of a Prime Mover is nothing less than rationalizing from ignorance. 

[doc benway]

On 11/9/2017 at 0:18 PM, CedarTree said:

What is your favorite Daoist quote or scripture or whichever that you think is incredibly eloquent and really struck you as special

 

A quote from my Daoist teacher when asked about reading recommendations.

Not particularly eloquent but something that has been deeply important for me.

 

'Don't waste time reading... PRACTICE!'