Saturday, 16. February 2008, 01:28:04
Two monks were washing their bowls in the river when
they noticed a scorpion that was drowning.
One monk immediately scooped it up and set it
upon the bank.
In the process he was stung.
He went back to washing his bowl
and again the scorpion fell in.
The monk saved the scorpion and was again stung.
The other monk asked him,
"Friend, why do you continue to save the scorpion
when you know it's nature is to sting?"
"Because," the monk replied, "to save it is my nature."One of the criticisms laid at the door of this story is the monk should have used his bowl the second time to pick up the scorpion. Which is a good point i imagine, however the intrinsic point of the story should not be lost underneath pedancy.
We all encounter people who for various reasons either push our buttons or set themselves up to attack others. Sometimes just recognising who we are is enough to show us our options and follow our inner self.
Cultivation seems to always point back to the true self, to nkowing oneself, not hiding any warts or any beauty either just seeing the whol eof who we are, recognising that whcih we can improve and in so doing find ways of staying true to ourselves when it feels liek one is under fire. Chapter 11
Thirty spokes join in one hub
In its emptiness, there is the function of a vehicle
Mix clay to create a container
In its emptiness, there is the function of a container
Cut open doors and windows to create a room
In its emptiness, there is the function of a room
Therefore, that which exists is used to create benefit
That which is empty is used to create functionalitypeace to you
beccaxx
http://goto.bilkent.edu.tr/gunes/ZEN/zenstories.htm
http://truetao.org/ttc/complete.htm
Saturday, 9. February 2008, 15:24:23
Hello to you all and wishing you all a prosperous, healthful and harmonious year. Evening wind, morning frost:
These things make solitude beautiful.
- Yun Shouping (1633-1690)
peace to you
beccaxx
Saturday, 2. February 2008, 13:15:29
Cai Fu, Judge of the living and dead.
(Wong, 2007 http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-1-59030-523-2.cfm ) (this is one source for this folk tale)
The basics of this story go like this Cai Fu is an incorruptable judge entirly fair and non biased he judged the living and rumour told he judged the dead at night.
For a taoist festival hunting was banned as the festival celebrated life one hunter disrespected this courtesy and ended up before Cai Fu.
He was gifted with a choice to be judged on the living court which would lead to 50 lashes of the whip or the court of the dead.
Thinking to avoid punishment he chose the court of the dead, reasoning such a court did not exsist or if it did one had ot be dead to be judged there.
Long story short he was judged at the court of the dead by Cai Fu to have the years of life he had taken fromn the deer removed form his lifespan. He protested this to which Cai Fu responded "I gave you the choice of punishment this morning. You chose to be punished here in the underworld, thinking you;d escape justice. Let me tell you this: Justice is dispensed in the realms of both the living and the dead. Had you chosen punishment in the land of the living, you woudl have recovered from your injuries in a matter of weeks. Trying to escape justice in the mortal realm, you have forfieted years of your life." The hunter goes through the remains of his life still trying to avoid the consequences of his actions but he dies anyway.
So What can we take from this story?
We all of us make mistakes, the hunter made a mistake, had he accepted the responsibility for this mistake and the consequences his life would have reverted to normal very quickly. Which we know to be true ourselves if we make a mistake large or small the sooner we accept the responsibility and deal with it the sooner life evens out however the more we try to ignore and deny that responsibility the messier life gets and as withthe hunter it takes over our lives.
I have found that a central feature of dao cultivation and dao teachings is the notion of self knowledge, awareness and taking responsibility for ones actions and accepting the consequences thereof.
It could be small such as sitting in a library and talking loudly and being asked to moderate oneself by the library staff (who are doing their best for the library users to create an atmosphere congruent to learning and peace) one can either accept the library rules and the responsibility for not respecting them or create a fuss and refuse to accept responsibility for ones actions. This is a small thing but illustrates the point well i think. Ultimatly when we deny responsibility for how we act we hurt ourselves more than we hurt anyone else.
peace to you
beccaxx
Monday, 28. January 2008, 16:55:00
The mind of attachment arises from the stopping mind. So does the cycle of transmigration. This stopping becomes the bonds of life and death. Stopping means the mind is being detained by some matter, which may be any matter at all. If there is some thought within the mind, though you listen to the words spoken by another, you will not really be able to hear. This is because your mind has stopped with your own thoughts. When facing a single tree, if you look at a single one of its red leaves, you will not see all the others. When the eye is not set on any one leaf, and you face the tree with nothing at all in mind, any number of leaves are visible to the eye without limit.
- Takuan
How easy is it to listen to the wheel of the mind and to disconnect from the heart of things? To focus so hard on one small aspect of life that the rest slips from focus?
One of the practical aspects of Dao cultivation is on how via applying its teachings to life and through meditation and similar one can learn to see the tree and the leaf rather than one or the other. peace to you
beccaxxhttp://www.dailyzen.com/
Saturday, 5. January 2008, 04:38:09
Internal harmony when the sun shines
This is the calm surface of the lake
Internal harmony after a storm
This is the steadying waters
Internal harmony during a storm
This is the storm ridden lake
Internal harmony throughout sun and storms
This is to be one with Daopeace to you
beccaxx
Saturday, 5. January 2008, 04:22:27
One who has attained the Tao
is master of herself,
and the universe is
dissolved for her.
Throw her in the company
of the noisy and the dirty,
and she will be like a lotus flower
growing from muddy water,
touched by it, yet unstained.
- T'u Lungpeace to you
beccaxx
Tuesday, 1. January 2008, 13:55:41
Clear, fresh Lu-yi sake
Warms on my little stove.
This evening sky may bring snow.
Come enjoy a cup with me.
- Po Chu-I (772-846)Long shadows
Woven with light
Dispel all trees but these
Even the bead trees of Japan
Even gardenias
Are not worth admitting
Polished by wind
Buffed by rain
A forest without a flaw
Each leaf
Each branch
A treasure alone of its kind
- Muso Soseki (1275-1351)peace to you
beccaxx (772-846)image from www.taoism.net
verses from
http://www.dailyzen.com/
Monday, 24. December 2007, 19:30:35
If you want to be free,
Get to know your real self.
It has no form, no appearance,
no root, no basis, no abode,
but is lively and buoyant.
It responds with versatile facility,
But its function cannot be located.
Therefore when you look for it
You become further from it,
When you seek it
You turn away from it all the more.
- Linji (d. 867)peace to you all
and thank you for reading this humble blog
becca 
Monday, 17. December 2007, 15:05:49
Firstly my apologies again for the delay in updating this blog, it has been an odd year.
Yo will have noticed I'm sure that in this blog and my website the yin-yang features heavily as it does in Daoism, Tai Chi, Qi Gong and many other martial arts and paths.
I am equally sure that you will have noticed that often even the most basic meaning of the yin-yang is misunderstood or misrepresented. Some even wondering if there is a point to it other than to confuse.
While I have found that at its various stages of understanding (and i'm in no way claiming to know all these stages) one either has the meditation and cultivation experience to know itsmeaning or one does not, it is not something that can be understood in its fullness at any level, just through reading or listening.
I do think that there is some information that for a variety of reasons many folks do not know, oh it might be said but little practical knowledge and application is behind the words.
Although nothing can replace that imho meditation practice and learning often a good combination of a moving meditation and a stationary meditation, some words have more help than others. I hope this post helps to point ot the origins and hence meaning of the Yin-Yang.
The origin of the Yin-yang comes from charting the lunar cycle the cycles of nature or the multiverse.
As we can see when we look then at the symbol in its original context it makes sense almost instantly at its most basic level. It is pointing to the cycles the circles the flow of nature and natural forces.
We can then see how all things flow into each other, e.g. Spring-Summer-Autum-Winter-Spring .... Dawn-Day-Dusk-Night-Dawn ..... Hot-cold- ... Water-fire-..... male-female .... chi/forces/energies flow into and out of each other (obviously this is then true for all energies). The symbol above includes not only the lunar cycle but also the 24 solar segments, the foundations of the Y Jing. In short the yin-Yang has more than an application to Daoism it is a corner stone a foundation of Daoism.A poem i wrote a while ago whcih covers my current understanding of the Yin-Yang rather than the yin and Yang or yin or Yang ..... whether it is helpful or accurate ... i do not presume to know. Dao
There is one voice, there is no voice
There is right there is no right
There is light and dark
There is love there is hate
There is anger there is peace
There is chaos there is harmony
There is knowledge, there is no-knowledge
There is water, there is fire
There is earth, there is air
There is life, there is death
There is no life, there is no death
There is serenity, there is harmony,
There is yin there is yang,
There is the place without yin or yang
This is yin-yang
This is harmony
This is Daopeace to you
beccaxx
Handy link, but nothing can beat the understanding that comes with meditation and cultivation ....
http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/yinyang.htm
Sunday, 11. November 2007, 11:29:44
Every day priests minutely
examine the Dharma
and endlessly chant
complicated sutras.
They should learn
how to read the love letters
sent by the wind and rain,
the snow and moon.
- Ikkyu (1394-1491)
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