Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Chapter of the Week: #10 [Archive]
That's why I keep my karate bag suspended on a rope. 
You're talking about a punching bag, right? . . or are you talking about a bag to put your gi 'n stuff in?
You're talking about a punching bag, right? . . or are you talking about a bag to put your gi 'n stuff in?
Comments
Note: The Tao Te Ching can be obscure, especially if you think you're supposed to understand what it's saying! We find it easier and more instructive to simply contemplate how the chapter resonates with your personal experience. Becoming more aware at this fundamental level simplifies life. This approach conforms to the view that true knowing lies within ourselves. Thus, when a passage in the scripture resonates, you've found your inner truth. The same applies for when it evokes a question; questions are the grist for self realization.
Chapter 10
When carrying on your head your perplexed bodily soul
can you embrace in your arms the One
And not let go?
In concentrating your breath can you become as supple
As a babe?
Can you polish your mysterious mirror
And leave no blemish?
Can you love the people and govern the state
Without resorting to action?
When the gates of heaven open and shut
Are you capable of keeping to the role of the female?
When your disernment penetrates the four quarters
Are you capable of not knowing anything?
It gives them life and rears them.
It gives them life yet claims no possession;
It benefits them yet exacts no gratitude;
It is the steward yet exercises no authority.
Such is called the mysterious virtue.
Sure thing. :roll: Actually, the key here for me is "When your discernment penetrates the four quarters". When my discernment penetrates the four quarters, it is not so much a question of whether I'm capable or not - As discernment deepens I am not capable of knowing anything. 'Each' discernment cancels our the other you might say, and all that remains is [chref=25]silent [/chref][chref=16]emptiness[/chref]. When discernment cancel itself out, all that remains is [chref=52]the light[/chref]. This 'light' spawns all those other can you's naturally and simultaneously. For example, in the 'light', my mysterious mirror is polished and there is no blemish. In other words, everything - yes, everything - feels quite perfect and balanced. Nothing is wrong, i.e., there is no blemish.
The blemishes which I see on Nature, on the One, are simply reflections of my own personal agenda which stem from fear and need. When I'm driven by these emotions, and their myriad 'emergent properties', my discernment is lopsided and sees what I want to see (projects), and not what is there. This lies at the heart of the predicament that we imagine we have. We are [chref=65]too clever[/chref] for our own 'good'. Our discernment is lopsided, driven by emotion, which in turn leaves us feeling lopsided. Ironically, we cherish the [chref=18]cleverness[/chref] that spawns our imbalance. We revere it as that which make us superior. Go figure... :?
The reason it benefits them yet exacts no gratitude, is that it is [chref=46]content[/chref] and complete - One. It is fortunate that such a crazy and unstable person as I was for my first 40+ years of life didn't have children until increasing [chref=51]maturity[/chref] brought me deeper contentment. (or visa versa, i.e., discontentment cause immature action). This brought me the [chref=57]stillness[/chref] (patience) needed to raise them without claiming possession, exacting gratitude, exercising authority, and so forth.
Some unsolicited advice to prospective parents: Wait as long as you can to have kids. It is a blessing for all, parents and kids alike. Especially if you are an emotionally impaired individual - which is pretty much every one of us reared in civilized circumstance. Yep, that is the price we pay for the comfort and safety that civilization provides. And we are not [chref=80]returning to the use of the knotted rope[/chref] anytime soon.
For me, the most non Taoist concept in language is 'should', followed by 'try'. There are two ways to view life, as I see it. Here is an example. Substitute 'tao' for anything else that comes to mind, e.g., Jesus, Buddha, Education, Morality, the American Way, ... any 'value'. After all, 'tao' simple means way, eh?
1) We 'should try' to follow the 'tao'.
2) When we follow the 'tao', we are more content.
#1 is the 'normal' competitive common view of the way to approach life.
#2 is the 'lower position' way of letting life unfold with our [chref=65]complete conformity[/chref].
From your perspective, is my understanding of this teaching ".....accurate? (note how carefully I worded that!
1) Words are the preconceptional bricks with which we build and articulate our perceptions, so they are more important, in a way, than the thoughts they articulate. Yet, we tend to get caught up in our ideas and ignore the role those foundational preconceptions play.
2) I find I understand the Tao Te Ching most deeply when my mind 'holds' it all in 'view' at once. Then, each Chapter gives context to the others. Thankfully, the Tao Te Ching can be read in an hour!
3) Even so, understanding is relative. What we think we [chref=70]understand[/chref] is actually simply a reflection of where we are 'standing' at the moment. In a sense, if you can articulate your understanding in words, you are identifying where you are standing, and not what the 'tao' is about. The [chref=43]teaching[/chref] is best 'understood' in silence. I imagine that might sounds kind of crazy.
In other words, the question of "accuracy" is not relevant in Taoism, as I see it anyway. There is no fixed separate reality, i.e., accurate vs. erroneous. For example, think of accurate as [chref=2]'good'[/chref] and erroneous as [chref=2]'bad'[/chref], and you will see where that lands you.
What it reminds me of is how indocrinated we are to being right, to getting the right answer, by our childhood and education. When we are told we are wrong it's like a slap in the face. But here there is no right or wrong; it's just what is and as Carl explains, how we perceive the Tao reveals what we are like not what the Tao means.
The confusion comes from using language to try to communicate about this at all. But that's all we have.
I'm happy you're here.
I appreciate the help as well as the greetings. Have patience with me!
Mike
Civilized circumstances - tool use - removes much of Natures 'discipline', or 'push back', on our instinctive desire for pleasure, comfort and security. Tool use enables us to get what we want... as much as we want. This throws us off balance, emotionally and psychologically. The "impairment" is symptomatic of civilization. Though, even without that, our mind's enhanced ability to [chref=28] sever the uncarved block[/chref] probably throws us a bit off kilter emotionally. Our ability for dialectic discernment and our inclination to believe our own bull****, leaves us feeling emotionally disconnected. This disconnect goes back at least 50,000 years, I suspect. Anyway, civilization and the wealth it brings, has the unintended consequence of "impairing us emotionally" even further. As the years go by, [chref=51]circumstances bring us to maturity[/chref], and better emotional balance than we had in youth - maybe because we see the bull**** for what it is more than we could in youth. At least, that has been my experience and also my observation.
Ok, it is your turn now...
Emotion, as I observe it (and thus define it), is the primal electro chemical 'energy' which underpins and drives those manifestations of human behavior you cite. Our 'need' for pleasure and comfort, and our 'fear' of pain and loss are the motivating forces driving these emergent properties of humanity. Pull the plug on these primal drives, need and fear, and all which rest on them will crash down like a house of cards. Our need for, and fear of losing, pleasure (comfort) and security form the basis for all that we do. Humbling is it not?
How's that?
Note: This primal emotion - need and fear - not only drive our lives, but the lives of all mammals, reptiles and insects as well. I could even make a case for this 'energy' being the driving force behind ALL life, right down to plants and virus, but I won't. That might just be a little too humbling to swallow for now...
Suffice it to say, we are all [chref=39]One[/chref] big 'happy' family of [chref=1]myriad creatures[/chref] interacting here on earth. Our differences pale in light of our similarities. Indeed, differences are relative and illusionary, and only reflect our own needs and fears.
1. Accept change, nothing stays constant.
2. Practice non-attachment, do not attach to pleasure/comfort or pain/loss.
3. Everything is connected or networked together, therefore practice non-duality. We need to get above pleasure/comfort and pain/loss.
4. Practice egolessness, it is our own egos that are contributing to the need for pleasure/comfort and fear of pain/loss.
5. Be in the NOW! If we are in the NOW pleasure/comfort and pain/loss disappear.
6. Minimize/eliminate our desires/lust and what is driving us will also be minimized/eliminated. Well, the ball is your court NOW.