singing ocean

Thats a pretty cool representation… how the rhythms are represented by little bars, and the instruments by different colors.

Wow, cool imagery (the hole)

“The intersection of the Dao with a human life is the
instantaneously and continuously creating “life path” that
one is walking. It is the sidewalk that is being built
continuously before one’s walking feet” – Steven

I really dig that.

The impression I get of the Wuji is as being the “universal ground”, an…[Read more]

a re-statement through my lens:

The personal self (the five shen, the “ego”) is here firstly to experience post-natal life and work out issues specific to its unique configuration.

As a result of creating balance in its microcosm, to experience what balance in the macrocosm is.

And, being able to experience balance in both the personal…[Read more]

Okay, okay, there was a small misunderstanding here.

My expression was not that the life force is inherently out of balance, but that it is a dynamic process, and humans (with their free will) play an important part in that process.

The idea of “responding with anger” is as follows: lets say you are confronted by an excess yang person,…[Read more]

So if I’m understanding you correctly, by having the attitude of wu wei, by cultivating attunement with the qi flow, we can achieve a natural alignment with the process of change. This is more equivalent to a “state of attunement with flux”…whenever I think of the “state” of things, it suggests to me something fixed, i.e. “a frozen state”.…[Read more]

I would agree that in a superficial situation, the choice not to be angry would help to maintain the balanced flow of qi, but in a situation where a more forceful response is desired to maintain balance, anger would be useful.

The idea that “everything is ultimately irrelevant in the big picture” makes sense when we look at the vastness of the…[Read more]

There are many obstacles on the path, I am interested too to know what are those “shadow forces” are, and how actually willful they are in their actions. Aside from that though, another reason why I like the daoist approach is that it does not seek to remedy the symptoms, but prevent them from happening in the first place.

It is far better to…[Read more]

I just wanted mention that these frequencies of vibration should be considered as simultaneous, with the “dao” as both the unknown source and the entire process itself, the mysterious mechanism of transformation.

The Hun Dun has been described as indescribable, or rather the idea of naming something implies that it is a fixed reality thus…[Read more]

How do we live in the “yuan state”?

Do you consider the “yuan state” to be part of a dynamic process, or is it fixed?

Is there anything beyond it or is it absolute?

Some reflections…

An alternate title could be “unity and individuation”.

Acceptance is a reflection of our primordial nature…it has no judgments about life, the five shen are what assign the meaning. Acceptance is the unity of the whole, the five shen are the collective individuating out (to even have a collective implies that there…[Read more]

It is good to be in a process of transformation. It is also good to acknowledge being in a process of transformation, if things stayed in a fixed state, then the Great Process could not evolve.

As I have said, in Harold Roth’s writing there seems to be the quality of someone trying to psychologically understand what is an embodied experience for practitioners of alchemy. I would like to take the opportunity use some of the english translations of chinese terms that are more familiar to practitioners:

“Inner training defines virtue…[Read more]

“Inner Training”

This title implies that some sort of practice or cultivation is taking place, so the purpose of the book (Nei Yeh – Inner Training) is to teach someone how to cultivate themselves inwardly.

Is the purpose or method of the text to cultivate AWARENESS of the Great Process of Tao, or is it to cultivate Jing, Qi and Shen (a…[Read more]

Can anyone translate what the character used for “Ghostly” on line 6 of the Nei Yeh, verse one is?

1. The vital jing of all things:
2. It is this that brings them to life.
3. It generates the five grains below
4. And becomes the constellated stars above.
5. When flowing amid the heavens and the earth
6. We call it ghostly and spirit (shen).
7. When stored within the chests of human beings,
8. We call them sages.

My own…[Read more]

I do agree that I’m in the process of transformation. I answered in the way that I did because your answers seem like they seek to encompass all points of view, but I am still left with the feeling of not being sure exactly what has been said.

I was trying to paraphrase what your approach is in order to communicate more clearly, but maybe it…[Read more]

Nei Yeh (Inner Training), P.101-103, “The Philosophical Foundations of Inner Training”

I agree with what the author says here, but find that there is something missing in his explanation, and also problems due to language and translation.

A large part of the issue is that the Author takes a “philosophical” approach, Whereas I tend to view…[Read more]

That sounds a little condescending.

Yup, makes sense to me. Thanks for the clarification.

So in other words…go with the flow?

The non-approach is the best approach? Or all approaches are the best, or there is no best approach, just do what you feel?

Do any of these answers paraphrase/approximate your response?