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2008-05-05 11:35:18

Last author: Watashi
Owner: xTxRex

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Taoism-Class

Teacher: [Watashi]

Last update: May 5th 2008

First I would like to complement you people for interacting in the discussion, I very much appreciate it. If you just want to read and don't want to interact, that's fine too. Do whatever feels best for you, but don't be afraid to let yourself be heard.

As you might have noticed, I'm the new Taoism teacher. So I'll be making some adjustments around here, and of course, I will add some more interesting stuff. I'd also like to have a nice discussion going on here, but that's for later. I'll leave the information written by the previous teacher on here for now. I'll sort out later what I want to keep and what not. So if you think his words are very precious, save them while you can ;) So I hope you'll keep a check on the page and enjoy reading it.

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Now, you've come across this page, which means that, you are interested and know something about it, or that you've come here by chance. (Probably bored and clicking on every link you see.) Well all is fine.. I'll start by trying to explain a bit about what Taoism is. And in doing this, I immediatly encounter a bit of a problem, because you cannot really say what the tao is. The Tao, is everything. And in fact, it's more. Now this can be a little hard to understand at first. So keep in mind, that language is something we as humans have made. A construct. But language itself is ofcourse not everything there is. (Although we are very prone to believe it is) So language is a layer, a tool by which we describe the world around is. But this tool can never be 100% accurate. Just think about it, if you really want to describe something, let's say a coin. What is a coin? It's a flat, round metal object. Now if I would never have seen a coin, or metal or something flat, I wouldn't have the faintest idea what you are talking about. So can you describe it in more detail? What is flat? Flat is something which is not thick. Now do you see, that you end up in a vicious circle of describing words. Replacing one word for another. So behind language is the reality which we cannot describe.
So, when we say that Tao is everything, we aren't really saying what it truly is, but we are pointing towards it.
This difficulty of language is why the things I am about to tell you further on, may sound contradictional or very strange. So whenever you get stuck on something, feel free to ask me about it, and I´ll gladly give you another puzzling awnser!

Ok, so far for the introduction.
Tao, which is more often pronounced as Dao is life, or the flow of life. A rather obscure statement but as you´ve read before I´m tied up with words.
Now the importance of Tao lies in going with the flow. This does not mean that you don´t have to do anything. Picture the Tao as a river. If you just let yourself go with the flow of the river, floating around, you are bound to hit your head very hard on one (probably more) of the rocks in the river. So going with this flow means not struggling against life. This is futile, we cannot winn that fight. But it also doesn't mean that you have to let yourself hit every rock in your path. It's responding to changes. If you see a rock ahead of you, swim with the current, but just a little bit left or right so you won't hit it.
Now I know this sounds very obvious, but when we take a look at our lives, we can see that we do the opposit. We always try to hold on to things.. which cause suffering. Take death for example. I know I'm pushing you in deep water now.. Because we as Western people ( and nowadays more Eastern people too) are brought up to think that death is terrible. It is the end! And things that end are not good. So we try to cling to life.. extending it to the max. When people are very old and sick, we bring them to the hospital, connect them to all kinds of machinery just to extend their lives for just a few days perhaps. Why are we doing this. Death as we all know, is innevitable. The only certainty we have in life is that we are going to die. So in fighting death, we are swimming against the flow of the river, wearing ourselves out and not being very happy. Wouldn´t we be more happy if we just went along with that flow?
This idea still brings up a lot of negative emotions in people because we are not used to see death as something positive.
This fear or resentment towards death has very deep roots. It comes down to what we think is the point of living. Most people have set certain goals in their lives which they are convinced they must achieve, or else their lives would have been pointless. To die before reaching them would be a disaster. But what if, life was about having fun? Living in the moment and not setting these ridiculous goals for ourselves. Then you might think that death will stop that happy life. And yes death has the tendency to do that. But don't you see that to exists, everything has to end at some point?

Now this brings me to another key point of Tao. The yin yang symbol. Which actually has a name; the Taijitu.
You've probably all seen this symbol at some point in your life. Why is that? Well because it's a darn good one!

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Let's digg deeper into the meaning of this symbol. At first glance, what do we see?

Black and white
A circle
Two 'drops' that seem to follow eachother
Each drop has a circle with a contrasting color in it.

Now we can look at these attributes of the symbol and think about the meaning of it.

Black and white: Two contrasting colors. If you look at life, at the world, at basically everything, you'll see that everthing comes in contrast. In order to have black, you have to have white and vice versa. Some more examples; Long-short, thick-thin, smart-dumb, cold-warm, sunny-cloudy, positive-negative and maybe most important of all, happy-sad. It's crucial that you understand that the negative side is absolutely needed for there to be a positive side. It's in our human nature to want to get rid of this negative side. Who wants to be sad right? Of course nobody does, but we cannot really escape it. So instead of fighting it and making it worse, we should accept it as part of life. Black and white go together, which brings me to next attribute.

A circle: What would be the first shape that comes to mind if I ask you to take in your minds eye the most perfect shape? I do hope it's a circle or else you are messing up my explanation. Anyways, with me, it's a circle. A circle stands for unity and eternity. This circle holds the two contrasting 'drops' together. "Duality is unity." If the drop shapes are seperate they are sort of incomplete, together they form a perfect shape, a circle.

Drops: Now this section is very similar to the previous one. The drops seem to follow eachother. This implies movement. Movement of the circle. The circle does not have a beginning or an end and so the movement is infinite. This tells us something about taoism that is quite different from most beliefs and philosophies. Whereas most of them try to give us an explanation for where we came from and were we are headed, taoism does not. It simply does not deem that to be of any importance. In taoism the only time that counts is 'now.' What happened in the past cannot be change, why bother thinking about it. What will happen in the future is not something you should be occupied now ( apart from planning the future of course. Going to school, saving money and so on are all very sensible things to do). If you keep thinking about the future you are missing out in life, because life happens now. And this 'now' we are talking about is infinite, as infinite as the circle and the drops we see in the taijitu.

Contrasting circles: One black circle in the white drop and one white circle in the black drop. The older symbols lack these circles, so this is something that was added later. At first glance one might think that these circles ruin the perfectly good drops. And maybe they do. The meaning of circles is to show that nothing is perfect ( and in that way, everything is perfect. [Open for discussion] ). If we think about someone we absolutely hate, we tend to think of them as pure evil. But does pure evil really excist? This person might be the biggest jackass you know and might treat you like shit. But it might just be that he has a kid he adores and treats very well. So even though it is often hard to see, a negative side has always a bit of positiveness in it. And ofcourse, something which seems very positive always has a downside.

That covers the taijitu for now. I find it a very apt symbol. I've looked at it many times and thought about even so many times but I still find new layers and new ways of interpreting it in daily life. And I think that if you keep this in the back of your mind, you'll start to see the many aspects of life where this symbol can be applied.

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Writing by previous teacher

This is a classroom intended to teach those that are interested about Taoism and the universal way. Most people see Taoism as a religion, however, I do not see Taoism as a religion, I see it as something similair to Confucianism, not a belief, but a way of life, an ongoing study and understanding of life and the universe. Many of you, I would bet all, have seen a yin-yan symbol before, it is a symbol that represents light and dark, good and evil, or that nearly any opposite has to exist with it's counterpart, or it doesn't exist, sun cannot exist without shade, good with out evil, male without female, etc. With this, you must understand, that no matter what good things happen, bad things will too, but following the path to enlightenment means realizing this... you must embrace good times and shrug off bad. Maybe some of you know that the greatest teacher of the universal way, was Lao Tzu. If you are interested in Toaism (you probably are if you're reading this page), you might want to go to your local library and check out the Toa Teh Ching, and/or the Hua Hu Ching to study Lao Tzu's Teachings. Moving on now, I shall start your education with the universal way...

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The Universal Way is the destination
       of all spiritual efforts of humankind.
It serves all people's lives,
       everywhere and always.

The Universal Way conveys the deep truth
       of all conscious elaborations of the human mind.
It Contains the vast and profound essence
       of the human spirit.
Thus it transcends all religious teachings,
       leaving them behind,
       like the clothing of a bygone season.

The Universal Way is the goal of all sciences,
      but is not locked at the level of the intellect.
It cuts through all wasteful skepticism
      and inexhaustible searching.
Thus it surpasses all sciences,
      leaving them behind
      like historical relics of the past.

The Subtle Essence that is sought
      by all sciences and all religions
      transcends all attempts to reach it
      by means of thought, belief or experiment.
THe Universal Way leads directly to it
     and guides you to reach it yourself
     by uniting with the Integral Nature of the Universe.

The Universal Way is like the master key
     to all doors leading to the inner room
     of ultimate truth.
It is the master teaching of all teachings,
     yet it relies on no religions and no experiments.
There is no need for intellectual or emotional detours
     that cannot serve the lives of all people
everywhere and always.
Follow the Universal Way Beyond all boundaries.
    to the heart and essence of natural life itself.

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The subtle Way of the universe
appears to lack strength,
yet its power is inexhaustible.
Fathomless, it could be the origin of all things.
It has no sharpness,
yet it rounds off all sharp edges.
It has no form,
yet it unties all tangles.
It has no glare,
yet it merges all lights.
It harmonizes all things
and unites them as one integral whole.
It seems so obscure,
yet it is the Ultimate Clarity,
Whose offspring it is can never be known.
It is that which existed before any divinity.

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Back to Religion or the Elftown Academy

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Past teachers: [xTxRex]

2008-01-22 [Watashi]: thanks. No need to feel dumb..

2008-02-17 [Cyrano meets Merso]: I like TAO,but there is the fact that it made class segregation in Japan possible,not just Tao but other similar religions.But I
am quite found of the idea.

2008-02-17 [Watashi]: :) It's not tao that does that, it's the people who only understand tao for a small part.
If one truly understands tao, then one sees that there is no difference between you and me. And so making a distinction between classes is ridiculous.

2008-02-17 [Cyrano meets Merso]: Yeah,but tell that to the peasants that lost their heads just because of tameshigiri(cutting practice)
But humans usually tend to morph everything...

2008-02-17 [Watashi]: If you look closely at religion, you'll see that in their core, all of them are extremely beautiful and true. It's the people that, through ages of misinterpretation and egoism have made them corrupted.

2008-02-17 [Cyrano meets Merso]: Yeah,you just have to hate that ego don't you...I know it kinda bothers me...
Im Christian,Ortodox,but Im am quite fond of eastern learnings,I
first learned them trough martial arts,and I still think that they are quite good for understanding some things.

2008-02-17 [Watashi]: no no no.. Hating it is not good.
People often make a split between themselves and the ego.
That ego is part of you! It is a sort of radar, watching out for problems. A progam that works to make you survive at all costs.
To hate that ego is to conciously work against yourself! I am not saying you should follow that ego at all times. What I mean is that you have to aknowledge your ego. You know it is there, and you know what it's goal is. Once you realise that, you can live in harmony with it.
This is a very big point that is often misunderstood in buddhism and taoism. I once thought the same thing as you do.
It is easy to hate something. Harder to love. Which is better? ;)

2008-02-17 [Cyrano meets Merso]: I thought that stress is the radar?
I dont use hate as in hate hate,its more as dislike,because with hate you cant hurt anyone,but your self,so there is no need for it...
Hm,I tought that buddism is about loosing the I...

2008-02-17 [Watashi]: no stress is the result of thinking you are the radar;)
You know when you think you have to find problems all the time.. every little thing you see, you report as a problem. That sort of behaviour that many people have results in stress and anxiety.
Dislike is still a negative feeling. It is simply not needed to have any opiniated feeling towards the ego.

Depends on the sort of buddhism;)
haha If you find the 'I' you talk about, show it to me, and I will make it disappear. (classic)

2008-02-18 [Cyrano meets Merso]: my goodnes I am just looking for a way to express my self lol,yeah no filling or how ever::)

I was talking about stress of fear(because its basically the same thing) so when you control it you have something like a 6
sence,haragei was it called?

Yeah,I agree with you,people nowadays considere everything a huge problem,its a result of a life that doesnt have real problems so they loose proporion,and a huuuuuuge ego capsule evolves around them.

2008-02-18 [Watashi]: I do not think that fear is the same as stress. Stress is an emotion and a physical state wherein you work doubletime. No room for relaxation and so you overwork yourself. Very bad for body and mind. Fear the the mental/emotional state wherein you don't want to do something or don't want something to happen.

You see how easily you get tied up in words? ;) But still it's important to understand the underlying meaning.

Controlling states of mind and body is not a 6th sense. For a 6th sense is, just like the eyes and the ears, something that recieves information. Now if you were to see spirits or aura's , that is what I would call a 6th sense. The control you talk about is what it is, control. And a very difficult one to achieve that is ;)

2008-02-21 [Cyrano meets Merso]: well that kind of stress evolved from the natural kind of stress which animals use to survive,its kinda the same as fear...and when you control it its a good emotion,for example if the pshycho test shows that the pilot is without fear,he is terminated from the program...or put in as a food soldier::)
and for the sixth sence,well we are talking about too different things Im affraid,but still,words make conversations go really bad,which is quite...cant find the word,contradictory thats it::)
difficult it is::)

but usually the 6th sence you can call any sence other that the first five(am I not a genious),so if you were a shark it would be Lorency capsules(they see electrical changes in bodys of its pray),or the termo or chemo vision of snakes etc...
many samurais and ninja achieved the one I was talking about,of sensing danger without seing it...something like spidey sense::)

2008-02-22 [Watashi]: I'm not saying such emotions are bad, far from it. It's the way people handle them that is positive or negative, depending on the situation. People often view such emotions as fear or stress as bad, but they are in fact needed. More than one would think. But it's the times when we don't need them, which are more ample nowadays that influence our views greatly. And so most people have become to see fear as a negative thing. But this again, is also due to the identification with it. Just as with stress. People see the fear as something they 'are' in a way. Not seeing/understanding that fear is just one of many things that makes them. If they would see the big picture of what makes them a person/human/soul/whatever, they wouldn't make decisions based on fear so much and so in would influence their life less and thus the negative view on it decreases or disappears.

You're right, every sense other than the basic 5 would be a 6th or higher ofcourse. ^^ I do know what Lorency capsules are, I'm a Biology student and I have work with sharks and other fish for a few years ;)
I usually don't call such skills a sense, because a sense in it's most basic and widely understood meaning is something you are born with. Which is encoded in your DNA and most organisms of your species will have that kind of sense. So I would rather talk about such skills, as skills :)

2008-03-01 [Cyrano meets Merso]: I'm not saying such emotions are bad, far from it. It's the way people handle them that is positive or negative, depending on the situation. People often view such emotions as fear or stress as bad, but they are in fact needed.
THAT WE AGREE ON.
Biology,cool Im 2nd year ecology...how do you stand those DARWIN lovers who think they know everything?

2008-03-02 [Watashi]: those darwin lovers??
Hahaha. I don't really like to put labels on people. But I understand what you mean. It's very easy to slip in that kind of thinking. Because all we do, for years, is thinking about how stuff works and figuring it out. It's very understandable that one comes to think that he or she knows everything. But luckily there are ample occasions where it is proven otherwise ;)

2008-03-03 [Cyrano meets Merso]: yah...but really,its more-less like a magic show,when you figure it out,its not fun anymore...ah,people just enjoy wasting time on pointless efforts(although Im not the one to talk about that::))

2008-03-03 [Watashi]: well what is pointless? What is waiting? Is there something you have to do? That would mean that there is meaning to life. Hahaha :) You don't have to do anything. That's the beauty of it. So don't do things because you have to, do them because you want to. You can never waste time. Because what you do at the moment, is what you want to do most.

I agree partly. I think that you can roughly divide beauty in two. First the nonjudgemental beauty. You just watch or listen or whatever and you do not think about it. Nothing at all. And then you can find beauty in everything. Second there is beauty through understanding, which is a bit judgemental. But that doesn't mean it's wrong. Take for example a tree. I've learned quite a lot about such an organism works, with root pressure and xylem and floeem tissues. About roots and pressure, about leaves and stomata. So now I know how it works and I find it magnificent. Such a perfect dynamic harmony.

2008-03-04 [Cyrano meets Merso]: Yeah,how stuff works is quite fun,and its only natural for humans to ask questions,but if we didnt know anything about the capillary sistems in the three,the water would still go up to its leafs wouldnt it?::)hehe,I agree with you,but most of the scientists seem to learn about this stuff for all the wrong reasons,but who am I to say whats wrong and whats not...
Nature amazes me,and when I learn such details about it I remind my self on a little kid throwing his toy over and over again and being more and more amused every time...

2008-03-04 [Watashi]: :) right or wrong is relative. It all depends on how you view life. So that means, that right and wrong is just an opinion^^ That is quite liberating.. haha :)

Ofcourse, the water would still go up to it's leafs( and down to the roots in the floeem, with water which posesses sugar, made in the leafs). Knowing doesn't have any effect on it. unless you choose to interfere.

I think that when watching/studying nature, you are able to see that you are a (small) part of it. And that helps you bring life back in perspective. Because all to often we humans imagine that we are the centerpoint of the universe. And since we all think that, it brings a lot of conflicts. :p

2008-03-05 [Cyrano meets Merso]: a very very small part of it...yeah the cardiocentrism can bit nasty::)
One of our profesors told us(which I agro 118%) that in our studies of ecology we would always be inferior to the knowledge of lets say Cherokees or any other nation devoted to nature...

2008-03-06 [Watashi]: I don't know about that. Sure, nature devoted cultures are great and they know a great deal about nature. But they do so in another way than of instance modern scientist do. If you take native americans, they know the land, they know what works and what not works. Eat this berry, you live, eat that berry you die. Now, scientist may know the same, but not intuitively like the natives. They know because they know what chemicals are in the berry and how that affects your nervous system. Which neural pathways will be inhibited or stimulated and sofort. So I think that they may both know the same amount, but just in a different way. It doesn't really matter anyway really.. :)

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