The Official Tao Te Ching Thread

[selam]

Chapter 34 in Stephen Mitchell translation:

The great Tao flows everywhere.
All things are born from it,
yet it doesn’t create them.
It pours itself into its work,
yet it makes no claim.
It nourishes infinite worlds,
yet it doesn’t hold on to them.
Since it is merged with all things
and hidden in their hearts,
it can be called humble.
Since all things vanish into it
and it alone endures,
it can be called great.
It isn’t aware of its greatness;
thus it is truly great.

 

[NkrumahWasRight Is Wrong]

Tao 33


Knowing others is wisdom;
Knowing the self is enlightenment.
Mastering others requires force;
Mastering the self needs strength.
He who knows he has enough is rich.
Perseverance is a sign of willpower.
He who stays where he is endures.
To die but not to perish is to be eternally present.

Just the realist shyt.

I wish someone would come in here and try to hate on the Tao

 

[Julius Skrrvin]

http://www.daoistcenter.org

http://www.goldenelixir.com/goldenelixir_press.html

Accept no substitutes. Avoid cornball mystic shyt that promises fake powers.

 

[selam]

This force called the Tao is omnipresent.

It is gives life to everything that has life.

It is "The Life" of the living.

but It doesn't "create" the living, in the way that a writer would create characters in a story.

It "pours" itself into the bodies of the living,

The way that electricity would "pour" itself into a light bulb.

It pours itself into people, the "Heavens", the Earth, other animals, plants, etc.

The Born, are an extension of It.

Through them, It has a body. It can light up.

So it doesn't need to claim The Born, They ARE It.

Chapter 34 in Stephen Mitchell translation:

The great Tao flows everywhere.
All things are born from it,
yet it doesn’t create them.
It pours itself into its work,
yet it makes no claim.
It nourishes infinite worlds,
yet it doesn’t hold on to them.
Since it is merged with all things
and hidden in their hearts,
it can be called humble.
Since all things vanish into it
and it alone endures,
it can be called great.
It isn’t aware of its greatness;
thus it is truly great.

 

[vaudevillevillain]

Probably my second favorite book after Be Here Now. That book is pure insightful piff from beginning to end, I go back to it at least once a month and I always feel great after reading it. You guys should check it out, here's a free pdf for you

http://stormwolfwords.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/be_here_now2.pdf

eat brehs

 

[selam]

The whole concept of the book is to take jabs at explaining what the Tao is with words.

When Lao Tzu connects with his jabs of words,

He can do pretty good job of describing something that can't be described....

Like he does in the bolded.

and just to expound a bit more on that point...this thread should be relatively short then

ill participate though despite that since i have such admiration for it

sidenote: im @ chuang's version of the tao but w/e

“Countless words
count less
than the silent balance
between yin and yang”

“Shape clay into a vessel;

It is the space within that makes it useful.
Cut doors and windows for a room;

It is the holes which make it useful.
Therefore benefit comes from what is there;
Usefulness from what is not there.”

“The hard and mighty lie beneath the ground
While the tender and weak dance on the breeze above.”

“Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good only because there is evil.”

The Master's power is like this.
He lets all things come and go
effortlessly, without desire.
He never expects results;
thus he is never disappointed.
He is never disappointed;
thus his spirit never grows old.”

“When the student is ready the teacher will appear. When the student is truly ready... The teacher will Disappear.”

I connect to my perceived truth of these and so many other quotes and have probably applied or tried to apply more of these concepts than any other book/advice/teachings ive ever heard. I also believe that the belief that the basic tenet that Taoism is "going with the flow" is incredibly over-simplified and perceived inaccurately. True Taoism is about "inaction" which then gets inaccurately understood as laziness and lack of total action. Going with the flow and inaction in Taoism isn't about not acting, its about not acting in accordance to the Tao, which in my interpretation is acting out of pocket and trying to seize opportunities or go for things that aren't truly wise or follows the true pattern and forces one to over-exert themselves mentally, spiritually and physically in pursuits that will either render poor results short term, poor results long term, or profound discontent and peacefulness which could be achieved by becoming one with the Tao and being patient enough for the "right" moments

 

[NkrumahWasRight Is Wrong]

There aren't many Taoist temples/pagodas in America, particularly in my region.

On the real though, I pitched an idea to my boss to have a Taoist type meet/discussion/meditation every once in a while open to the public. I want to implement it into our athletes mental approach to the sport

 

[selam]

1

The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named
is not the eternal Name.

The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin
of all particular things.

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.​

Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.​

Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding.

This is the first chapter in the Tao Te Ching. It has layers of meaning depending on life experience.

In his very first words, Lao Tzu is saying that the Tao is indescribable, but continues on to write an entire book about it.

You won't understand life by understanding this book. Words can't describe life, because IT IS YOURS. You have it. It is not something that exists in the past or in the future. And not even Lao Tzu can write about life, your life.

This limitations of words is something that I have discovered in my own life and something that is an important part of this book



​

 

[Blackking]

2. “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

(i have something sorta ignorant to say about this)


This one has always been very deep to me. I even have told it to bytches this in my own way .. before fukking. somehow these sayings work on chicks brains and loosen them up like drugs.
There is another one I used too... but i didn't see it posted and i can't remember the exact verbiage.

 

[selam]

(i have something sorta ignorant to say about this)


This one has always been very deep to me. I even have told it to bytches this in my own way .. before fukking. somehow these sayings work on chicks brains and loosen them up like drugs.
There is another one I used too... but i didn't see it posted and i can't remember the exact verbiage.

I think women have a different way of understanding things without getting caught up in the words. This might be why they are so difficult to have a conversation with. Men want to share information. Women want to share feelings.

 

[Blackking]

I think women have a different way of understanding things without getting caught up in the words. This might be why they are so difficult to have a conversation with. Men want to share information. Women want to share feelings.

i agree...

but I don't think they are difficult to have a conversation with --- just sometimes hard to have the same understanding of a situation.

They just have a different understanding... To a man , we think bytches only have a surface level understanding, when in reality they get deep- just in a different perspective more relevant to them (and their biology)

Our brains are connected more within each side...... women's brains have more connections connecting the two hemispheres.(left to right) .. So we see things differently.... So when you drop shyt like this on them, even if they don't get it ( or don't have anything relevant to say in response) They'll go "yeah I agree" ... and then bodylanguage will move towards you, cuz... hoes like their mind stimulated.
Men like to stimulate their own minds --- and "share information" as you said.

at my job I notice the shows people watch. all the people are highly intelligence because you have to be.... but the women always talk about dumb ass shows, whereas the men speak on history, science, and documentary type shyt.... sometimes conspiracy type shyt. on average the women who speak on the news - it's some local shyt they saw while gettting ready and basically gossipy


There are some women who think like men though- i friend zone them because ... that shyt doesn't vibe long term... imho.

 

[selam]

I find that in every day conversations, for example about how the person's day at work went, it is difficult to talk to women.

They can go forever trying to make me to feel how they felt in that situation...which is impossible.

Maybe they are like this when it comes to things that occurred in the past.

When they are caught up in the moment and not worried about anything...There is nothing like a woman. So soft and soothing. The trick is getting out of the web of words they spin...and then helping them to get out of it.

i agree...

but I don't think they are difficult to have a conversation with --- just sometimes hard to have the same understanding of a situation.

They just have a different understanding... To a man , we think bytches only have a surface level understanding, when in reality they get deep- just in a different perspective more relevant to them (and their biology)

Our brains are connected more within each side...... women's brains have more connections connecting the two hemispheres.(left to right) .. So we see things differently.... So when you drop shyt like this on them, even if they don't get it ( or don't have anything relevant to say in response) They'll go "yeah I agree" ... and then bodylanguage will move towards you, cuz... hoes like their mind stimulated.
Men like to stimulate their own minds --- and "share information" as you said.

at my job I notice the shows people watch. all the people are highly intelligence because you have to be.... but the women always talk about dumb ass shows, whereas the men speak on history, science, and documentary type shyt.... sometimes conspiracy type shyt. on average the women who speak on the news - it's some local shyt they saw while gettting ready and basically gossipy


There are some women who think like men though- i friend zone them because ... that shyt doesn't vibe long term... imho.

 

[mbewane]

Subs

 

[IronFist]

Tao Te Ching 50

Between birth and death
three in ten are followers of life
three in ten are followers of death.
And men just passing from birth to death also number three in ten.
Why is this so?
Because they live their lives on the gross level.


He who knows how to live can walk abroad
Without fear of rhinoceros or tigers.
He will Not be wounded in battle
For in him rhinoceroses can find no place to
thrust their hor, tigers no place to use their claws,
And weapons no place to pierce.

Why is this so?

Because he has no place for death to enter

 

[010101]

closer to the truth than that other shyt
my mentality is unintentionally taoist

wavy*