marbles Posted December 7, 2008 Man I am lost on most of the forum posts - terms I've never heard - thoughts I've never thunk - whole aspects of spirituality that I can't pronounce much less discuss - Is there a Tao for Dummies area I can visit? I refer to Lau-tzu as "Lou" just because it's easier for my phonetically organized brain to comprehend. Lou and the Dow. Where is that Dummy room?......Lou and the Dow - a new music group - or maybe the name of my next book (also my first book...)....Love ya' Lou.....hang in there with me Bums.... Many thanks, marbles Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marbles Posted December 7, 2008 Thank you Starjumper7. I've spent a couple hours now at the Tea House and was quite comfortable. Look forward to many more hours there - and here - just reading and trying to get a better understanding of the many aspects of Tao and all that goes with it. Appreciate your help. marbles Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sloppy Zhang Posted December 7, 2008 Most people generally start out by reading the Tao Te Ching/Dao De Jing (depending on what system you use to write it out in english) and then, hmm, well I guess a good way to learn about other taoist related terminology is to try and find some internal martial arts information. Books written by Yang Jwing-Ming, for example, have lots of introduction to Taoist thought that really helped me get a handle on things, and when I came here I could figure out what was going on. Â So just do some searching and stuff, read old posts, use the forum search when a term comes up that you don't know, and there will probably be lots of threads about it, with links to other good websites. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doc benway Posted December 7, 2008 Man I am lost on most of the forum posts - terms I've never heard - thoughts I've never thunk - whole aspects of spirituality that I can't pronounce much less discuss - Is there a Tao for Dummies area I can visit? I refer to Lau-tzu as "Lou" just because it's easier for my phonetically organized brain to comprehend. Lou and the Dow. Where is that Dummy room?......Lou and the Dow - a new music group - or maybe the name of my next book (also my first book...)....Love ya' Lou.....hang in there with me Bums.... Many thanks, marbles Hi Marbles, Welcome to the forum! Sometimes a simple search on the forum or wiki will help answer your questions. Anytime you come across something you don't understand, just ask. If you don't get an answer, please feel free to PM me or other members and most of us will try to help. Most of us will try to answer questions sincerely and patiently, no matter how basic the question. Like in any online community, there are people who will occasionally answer cynically, impolitely, or impatiently but pay that no mind, it is just a reflection of their ignorance, not yours. Â In terms of pronunciation of Chinese on this forum you'll encounter a mix of Pinyin (the currently accepted method of English spelling of Chinese words in China and Taiwan), Wade-Giles (an old system that still lingers), and a mixture of those with random efforts at phonetic spelling - it can get confusing but the terms will be familiar in no time. Here's a link that might help. Â Your sense of humor and candor are refreshing. I can tell that you will be a delightful presence here! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marbles Posted December 8, 2008 Hi Steve - I love that you refer to my ignorance as "candor" - bless you. I'm finding - after 2 whole days of The Bums and 1 day of the Tea House - that everyone seems to be over complicating the Tao. To me and my ignorance (bliss) it seems the Tao is simple. Maybe too simple? Maybe I'm too simple? Lou and the Dow are so refreshingly simple to me - so natural, so "of course", am I missing something? I find it so appealing because of it's simplicity. Call it ignorance, call it bliss, I call it an answer to questions I've had for years and I am so grateful to have found it, and to have found you and the Bums and the Tea House. Why the need to over complicate? (not you specifically but in general) It's all as clear as mud and I'm a happy pig.... anyone else feel this way? Look forward to any replies... oink, marbles Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
minkus Posted December 8, 2008 I feel the same marble, Lou and Dow are pretty simple and still so great ! Â You can talk endlessly about Dow .. you can even try calculate it and try to represent it in a figure whole your life. But as LOU said .. you can talk all you want about Dow .. its still not really Dow you talking about. Â Dow is so simple yes. There is nothing more natural. Â I had the same in the beginning on all these fora .. many complex therminology dangling around your head. But after a while you start to understand where they are talking about .. then you say: ow its only that ? been there before yeh, nice ! Â Enjoy, i like your healthy approach very much Lou and Dow are a keeper hehe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doc benway Posted December 8, 2008 Hi Steve - I love that you refer to my ignorance as "candor" - bless you. I'm finding - after 2 whole days of The Bums and 1 day of the Tea House - that everyone seems to be over complicating the Tao. To me and my ignorance (bliss) it seems the Tao is simple. Maybe too simple? Maybe I'm too simple? Lou and the Dow are so refreshingly simple to me - so natural, so "of course", am I missing something? I find it so appealing because of it's simplicity. Call it ignorance, call it bliss, I call it an answer to questions I've had for years and I am so grateful to have found it, and to have found you and the Bums and the Tea House. Why the need to over complicate? (not you specifically but in general) It's all as clear as mud and I'm a happy pig.... anyone else feel this way? Look forward to any replies... oink, marbles It's even more simple than that... There is nothing more simple than the Dao. It is simply following your nature. Everything else is politics. I love the pig in mud analogy! oink, oink! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marbles Posted December 9, 2008 minkus & Steve, Thank you so much - I'm more at ease now. Sometimes if something is too easy I figure I must be doing it wrong....for some odd reason sex comes to mind but that's a whole nother topic.... Anyway - I was questioning my intrepretation of what Lou says - maybe I wasn't "getting it" - but you've reassured me that getting it is whatever I get out of it - and that's what matters. That's the beauty part, no right, no wrong, just being... You are great and have been so helpful. A couple things I need to clarify, I love Sarah Palin, meant no offense, and I love pigs - and mud for that matter.....thanks for wallowing with me - Â I do wonder why Lou isn't more known - more mainstream - everyone has heard of the bible, Jesus is huge - why did it take 42 years for me to hear of Lou and the Dow - It's not a secret, and as you both said it's our nature, there is nothing more natural.... why it isn't more well known? Aprreciate any insight. Thanks again, Oink, marbles (aka: Jenny) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
