Monday, 25. June 2007, 14:54:16
Change, Dao, Harmonic Balance
A Cup of Tea
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!"
"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"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 functionalityLet’s say one of you posted a reply to this post that had some thoughts you wished to share in it, these thoughts might well help someone too look inside themselves and see their inner/true self better..... Let us also say that in my attachment to my own ideas even though I say I wish to learn my head is too full of my own ideas and thoughts to allow any space for yours to fit in for contemplation.
so just as my tea mug is good for holding things in it, if it has empty space (space that is always filling then emptying then filling again)so to my head needs to be able to empty itself of certain blockages to allow the thoughts and information of others to enter to allow self contemplation, Dao contemplation all requires a certain amount of emptiness of the mind.
I have found this also allows for a certain equanimity if faced with differences of opinions even seemingly violent ones, there is after all much to learn from any situation if our minds are formless and ever changing enough to allow.
peace to you
beccaxx
Thursday, 21. June 2007, 18:48:21
I should like to wish Lewis skinner at abarefootman well in his new life in sweden
http://www.abarefootman.co.uk/ he has been a long time companion of this blog, and in the early days the support of Lewis and Richard (from a quietwatercourse) helped me find my spiritual blogging identity.
Some very wise posts some funny posts some interesting posts...... worth a read my friends.
Lewis good luck and kudos for entering this new and exciting part of your life.
may our paths cross again.
beccaxx
Monday, 18. June 2007, 21:02:30
Hi, this is an older article but one which having recently re-read seems worth re-posting. Seems perhaps it is worth always looking through the spectecles of those we disagree with more than those we agree with. Maybe then we will disagree with them in a kinder way. I can become tiresome on this i know but it really is not about what soemoen does to us but how we react to other people.
peace to you
beccaxx(image from
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/ukiyo-e/images/8702s.jpg )
The Blind Men and the Elephant
A number of disciples went to the Buddha and said, "Sir, there are living here in Savatthi many wandering hermits and scholars who indulge in constant dispute, some saying that the world is infinite and eternal and others that it is finite and not eternal, some saying that the soul dies with the body and others that it lives on forever, and so forth. What, Sir, would you say concerning them?"
The Buddha answered, "Once upon a time there was a certain raja who called to his servant and said, 'Come, good fellow, go and gather together in one place all the men of Savatthi who were born blind... and show them an elephant.' 'Very good, sire,' replied the servant, and he did as he was told. He said to the blind men assembled there, 'Here is an elephant,' and to one man he presented the head of the elephant, to another its ears, to another a tusk, to another the trunk, the foot, back, tail, and tuft of the tail, saying to each one that that was the elephant.
"When the blind men had felt the elephant, the raja went to each of them and said to each, 'Well, blind man, have you seen the elephant? Tell me, what sort of thing is an elephant?'
"Thereupon the men who were presented with the head answered, 'Sire, an elephant is like a pot.' And the men who had observed the ear replied, 'An elephant is like a winnowing basket.' Those who had been presented with a tusk said it was a ploughshare. Those who knew only the trunk said it was a plough; others said the body was a grainery; the foot, a pillar; the back, a mortar; the tail, a pestle, the tuft of the tail, a brush.
"Then they began to quarrel, shouting, 'Yes it is!' 'No, it is not!' 'An elephant is not that!' 'Yes, it's like that!' and so on, till they came to blows over the matter.
"Brethren, the raja was delighted with the scene.
"Just so are these preachers and scholars holding various views blind and unseeing.... In their ignorance they are by nature quarrelsome, wrangling, and disputatious, each maintaining reality is thus and thus."
Then the Exalted One rendered this meaning by uttering this verse of uplift,
O how they cling and wrangle, some who claim
For preacher and monk the honored name!
For, quarreling, each to his view they cling.
Such folk see only one side of a thing.This little parable brings to mind a quote from Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird"
this quote is from the Film version starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch Atticus Finch: If you just learn a single trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.
This short quote says so much, it doesn't ask that we agree with another point of view, it doesn't ask us to preach that point, just to look at things from someone elses point of view to understand why they feel the way they do.
Again this brings us to the Three Treasures Compassion, Humility, Moderation and of course the True Self, with these things being non thinking/instinctive to us then it is natural to automatically see things from all perspectives and accept each view of others 
Chapter 67
Everyone in the world calls my Tao great
As if it is beyond compare
It is only because of its greatness
That it seems beyond compare
If it can be compared
It would already be insignificant long ago
I have three treasures
I hold on to them and protect them
The first is called compassion
The second is called conservation
The third is called not daring to be ahead in the world
Compassionate, thus able to have courage
Conserving, thus able to reach widely
Not daring to be ahead in the world
Thus able to assume leadership
Now if one has courage but discards compassion
Reaches widely but discards conservation
Goes ahead but discards being behind
Then death!
If one fights with compassion, then victory
With defense, then security
Heaven shall save them
And with compassion guard themChapter 8
The highest goodness resembles water
Water greatly benefits myriad things without contention
It stays in places that people dislike
Therefore it is similar to the Tao
Dwelling at the right place
Heart with great depth
Giving with great kindness
Words with great integrity
Governing with great administration
Handling with great capability
Moving with great timing
Because it does not contend
It is therefore beyond reproachmaybe the next time you disagree with someones point of view, that might be the perfect time to look through their eyes 
peace to you
beccaxx
Sunday, 17. June 2007, 22:37:12
One day a local healer was visited by a man who had hurt his hand badly. it was cut and had glass in it.
"What did you do to it asked the healer?"
"Well, it is an odd thing" said the man " i was arguing with my friend about how this woman in the coffee shop was behaving. He just smiled and suggsted before i tried to understand others i should look to myself. well needless to say this annoyed me and as i walked away i saw something out the corner of my eye i thought was someone attacking me.... I hit it and only realised my error when my hand went through the glasss smashing the reflection..... silly me it turned out to be my reflection in the window. To make it worse while helping me wrap my hand gently to come here my friend said this was what he meant by looking to myself first. How silly as if i could have forseen this accident. "
The healer who had by this time cleaned and dressed the wound smilled and said to the man " you have indeed had an odd day, when i have had an odd day i find sitting by the pool in the village green relaxing, to sit and watch the reflections on the water."
The man replied that he "would wander that way and see whether it helped him to settle in his mind."
On finding himself sitting by the pool he marveled at how nice the day seemed and gazing in the pool saw his reflection it was odd he thought how one reflection in the window could cause so much pain to him, but the rflections of the trees and plants on the green were peaceful.
Sitting there by the pool he realised that what had made him so mad at his friend wasn't his friend but his own reflection in his mind. He then smiled and ambled home to where his friend was fixing his window for him, on seeing his friend he smiled his friend on witnessing the smile knew then that his friend had seen himself. a little story inspired by some self introspection....
peace to you
beccaxx
Friday, 15. June 2007, 05:03:23
Self Knowledge, Dao, True Self, Tao
Recently i have been thinking alot of self awareness and how as a Dao cultivator i cn do more to look within myself. As ever i found what i was thinking about in the Tao Te ching Chapter 33
Those who understand others are intelligent
Those who understand themselves are enlightened
Those who overcome others have strength
Those who overcome themselves are powerful
Those who know contentment are wealthy
Those who proceed vigorously have willpower
Those who do not lose their base endure
Those who die but do not perish have longevityHow do we then understand ourselves? Do we just go through life "going with the flow" and then one day go "eureka i know myself now"..... or is there some practice we can learn to look deep within ourselves not only into our charecters and emotions but into our spirits and formation? Or does it depend on the individual? Or is it a bit of everything? Chapter 70
My words are easy to understand, easy to practice
The world cannot understand, cannot practice
My words have basis
My actions have principle
People do not understand this
Therefore they do not understand me
Those who understand me are few
Thus I am highly valued
Therefore the sage wears plain clothes but holds jadeHmmm could it be that Lau Tzu is giving us a hint as to how to understand ourselves? In how to apply these teachings to our lives? "Easy to practice..." and "have basis".... it is probable that as with much of the TTC there are many meanings, most valid, one could ascribe to this but for this post lets take explore the possibility that Lau Tzu is saying his words have basis in practice.... so perhaps his words and understanding come from what we refer to as meditation. That to understand and apply the way to best do this is to cultivate and explore within ourselves. To truely learn how to look at the mirror within us. Chapter 71
To know that you do not know is highest
To not know but think you know is flawed
Only when one recognizes the fault as a fault
can one be without fault
The sages are without fault
Because they recognize the fault as a fault
That is why they are without faultOne idea i have seen explored is that this chapter means sages have no faults, as in they never make mistakes. Well this seems a little incongruous given sages are living beings and all living beings make mistakes. Even animals in the wild sometimes have "duh" moments like one young lion who tried to take on a crocadile ... soon learnt it had made a slight error. Making mistakes is how all beings learn. The difference this chapter points to between sages and everyone else is sages when they make mistakes view them from detachment so are able to admit their error and to learn from it and let it go.... "because they recognise the fault as a fault they are without fault...".
How would they come to such a place? Through self knowledge. And this is where for many of us the difficult part comes in. Many of us have lived full lives we have had experiences good. bad and indifferent, these experiences leave us with what are now called "issues" and sometimes having that courage to really look inside and explore the depths of memories long supressed of the true us, can be tough. And it is tough especially if you have had some difficult things happen in life it can be very tough to look within and keep learning.
The Dalai Lama in a TV interview i saw with hm once said that ""of course he feels anger like everyone else at some things, he said especially when he saw of abuses to humans or aniamls he got upset and angry but it was a fleeting feeling like the rising and ebbing of the tide. Why? He was asked. Because he answered, i have worked hard to know myself and to learn to let go of these things, when i was a younger man i had a great temper whcih stemmed from having to deal with many things at a young age. i learnt to know myself and through this process to recognise my fault and let it go."" this is a rough summary of that interview but the essence is captured.
It is sometimes said that to know the world we must know ourselves.
I know that self knowedge for me is an ever changing process one which is not static it is not like you reach a point of self knowledge and then stop because your suddenly a sage or enlightened even great spiritual sages continue looking within. It is as with most other things in Daoism and/or Dao cultivation a matter of reaching harmonious balance, of both going with the flow, and in practicing meditation and other forms of cultivation to learn about our inner selves and how bes tot apply Dao cultivation/daoism to all aspects of life.peace to you
beccaxx
Friday, 8. June 2007, 22:14:31
Compassion, Dao, Tao, Oneness
True compassion is a theme addressed by many spiritual/philosophical/religious paths, From Christianity to Daoism. Perhaps then true compassion is an important part of our spiritual cultivation? The Parable of the Good Samaritan
Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
He said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?"
He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."
He said to him, "You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live."
But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?"
Jesus answered, "A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, 'Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.' Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?"
He said, "He who showed mercy on him."
Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." Chapter 67
Everyone in the world calls my Tao great
As if it is beyond compare
It is only because of its greatness
That it seems beyond compare
If it can be compared
It would already be insignificant long ago
I have three treasures
I hold on to them and protect them
The first is called compassion
The second is called conservation
The third is called not daring to be ahead in the world
Compassionate, thus able to have courage
Conserving, thus able to reach widely
Not daring to be ahead in the world
Thus able to assume leadership
Now if one has courage but discards compassion
Reaches widely but discards conservation
Goes ahead but discards being behind
Then death!
If one fights with compassion, then victory
With defense, then security
Heaven shall save them
And with compassion guard themChapter 39
Those that attained oneness since ancient times:
The sky attained oneness and thus clarity
The earth attained oneness and thus tranquility
The gods attained oneness and thus divinity
The valley attained oneness and thus abundance
The myriad things attained oneness and thus life
The rulers attained oneness and became the standard for the world
These all emerged from oneness
The sky, lacking clarity, would break apart
The earth, lacking tranquility, would erupt
The gods, lacking divinity, would vanish
The valley, lacking abundance, would wither
Myriad things, lacking life, would be extinct
The rulers, lacking standard, would be toppled
Therefore, the honored uses the lowly as basis
The higher uses the lower as foundation
Thus the rulers call themselves alone, bereft, and unworthy
Is this not using the lowly as basis? Is it not so?
Therefore, the ultimate honor is no honor
Do not wish to be shiny like jade
Be dull like rocks There are many fine words, spoken by many people claiming to be speaking for "God" "Allah" "Buddha" "Krishna" "Tao" etc but (linking this into previous article "Intention") there is a difference as exampled int he parable of the good samritan between speaking a good service and acting on instinctive non-thinking compassion. Why didn't the priest help the fallen man? Surely a "Holy man" would practice comapssion?
But then here we come to the difference between being compassionate because one "Is told to" and so this compassion comes with conditions and righteous contracts "If you do this then i will help you..." Where-as if one is acting through instinctive "non-action" compassion as exampled by the Samaritian then there is no condition, no contract, no price on the compassion it is just the natural instinct as seen in TTC chapter 67 which comes from the "Oneness" "connection with Dao" of TTC 39.
Natural instinctive action - Oneness - Dao peace to you
Becca 
Friday, 8. June 2007, 14:27:07
Harmonious Balance, Dao, Oneness
A Man Who Loves Sea-Gulls ~ China Page onlineA Man Who Loves Sea Gulls
A man who lived by the sea loved seagulls. Every morning at daybreak he would go to the seaside and play with the gulls. Hundreds of gulls would come to him and not fly away.
His father said, "I heard that seagulls like to play with you. Catch a few for me so that I can play with them too."
The next morning when he went to the seaside the seagulls swooped about in the skies but none came down to him.
One may try, but unable to, hide one's inner thoughts. Even birds and animals can sense one's true feelings. Chapter 16
Attain the ultimate emptiness
Hold on to the truest tranquility
The myriad things are all active
I therefore watch their return
Everything flourishes; each returns to its root
Returning to the root is called tranquility
Tranquility is called returning to one's nature
Returning to one's nature is called constancy
Knowing constancy is called clarity
Not knowing constancy, one recklessly causes trouble
Knowing constancy is acceptance
Acceptance is impartiality
Impartiality is sovereign
Sovereign is Heaven
Heaven is Tao
Tao is eternal
The self is no more, without danger Chapter 39
Those that attained oneness since ancient times:
The sky attained oneness and thus clarity
The earth attained oneness and thus tranquility
The gods attained oneness and thus divinity
The valley attained oneness and thus abundance
The myriad things attained oneness and thus life
The rulers attained oneness and became the standard for the world
These all emerged from oneness
The sky, lacking clarity, would break apart
The earth, lacking tranquility, would erupt
The gods, lacking divinity, would vanish
The valley, lacking abundance, would wither
Myriad things, lacking life, would be extinct
The rulers, lacking standard, would be toppled
Therefore, the honored uses the lowly as basis
The higher uses the lower as foundation
Thus the rulers call themselves alone, bereft, and unworthy
Is this not using the lowly as basis? Is it not so?
Therefore, the ultimate honor is no honor
Do not wish to be shiny like jade
Be dull like rocksWhen we say "Oneness" we mean "Dao" so to attain oneness is to attain that inner connection to Dao, our "true self".
The Man in the story who loved seagulls and they loved him had oneness, he had clarity and did not over try to have seagulls flock to him, yet they found his calrity and did so instinctivly. Where as the father wished to have them caught for him, he wished to force the seagulls to come to him. He had not attained "oneness" or "dao" so was working out of "Self" not from the connection of "True Self". Indeed we could say that the Son had internal "harmonious balance" while the father did not. Don't we find that these verses and the story can apply to life situations? How often do we see those who say all the right words but whose actions and intentions belie those words? This is why even though there are many paths of dao, many ways to follow Daoist teachings and thoughts, some seemingly conflicting ways, some without the label of "Dao" attached, those who have attained oneness, found that connection to their "true self" and have their internal harmonious balance, instinctivly sense as the seagulls did in the story above, when words are just words or when words are made with clarity and "oneness" Of course we all go through the process of the "Self" and say things which we do not really understand on a internal "true self/inner heart" level. Which to a point is all part of following the way of Dao, however this will fall away from those who truely follow the way of Dao/oneness who will find that connection to their "true-selves". peace to you
becca
Wednesday, 30. May 2007, 02:53:08
Chapter 22
Yield and remain whole
Bend and remain straight
Be low and become filled
Be worn out and become renewed
Have little and receive
Have much and be confused
Therefore the sages hold to the one as an example for the world
Without flaunting themselves – and so are seen clearly
Without presuming themselves – and so are distinguished
Without praising themselves – and so have merit
Without boasting about themselves – and so are lasting
Because they do not contend, the world cannot contend with them
What the ancients called "the one who yields and remains whole"
Were they speaking empty words?
Sincerity becoming whole, and returning to oneselfWe have a saying in my part of England "step backwards to see clearly" another is "be like grass, grass is cut but always grows again".
To yield can be good, to step back to yield can be productive. This is not saying that to defned others is bad, or to defend ourselves is bad, but that in most situations in life, defensivness is not helpful and creates more problems than it solves.
We have most of us been subjected to at some point in our lifes to rumour or to unfair accusations, situations where no matter how hard we deny or defend against said rumours or accusations they get worse.
Have you ever been in such a situation and yielded? Bent like the yellow grasses in spring? I have and the results are astounding, now true often the rumours and accusations still occur and do not and often will not just go away, but by removing the obvious target and just getting on with things, eventually those who listen to the rumours and/or accusations just stop listening and find other things to do. If you try to hit wind after a while you just look silly, which while it may well make some people angry it also stops eventually, because people stop watching.
If we can relinquish the need to be defensive, if we "step backwards to see clearly" then we may well find less frustration in ourlifes, and more clarity when facing difficult situations, indeed if we are humble then we may find less difficult situations as a whole.
rember this if a storm rages through the forest even the mightiest Oak risks being damaged but the yielding grasses have less risk of damage.
love and peace
becca 
Thursday, 24. May 2007, 03:16:01
Hello.
Well finally i am getting somewhere with my website. For those who don't know i gave up on the free geocities package as honestly it was a little too basic and for what i'd like to have up eventually, i found a good web host for £30 for two years to host my site till 2009 if it works well i might just keep it.
The geocities site is going to work as a sort of hub and a personal profile, might as well use it, for now at least.
This blog i am keeping to explore my thoughts with my much loved friends, and i do love this blog it is my area for exploring Dao without any preasure of being a forum admin.
How well this will all work i don't know, but it will keep me busy over the summer, and once the main work is done maintaining the website will be easy enough when uni resumes in the autum.
It is funny, when i first found the old Tao forum on msn connected to taoism.net i never imagined i would have the knowledge or confidence to be an admin, a decent admin, to have a reasonably active Dao blog, to have an active and decently visted myspace page and blog, or to even think about writing and maintaining my own Daoist web page. Although this was sometime ago and the web was a little more basic than it is now blogging was in its infancy really but still.
Mind you at that time i had never imagined i would be capable of going to uni doing a honours degree and do well, and here i am 8ish (i can never remeber exactly when i found Daoism i know how but when is educated guessing) years later and through Dao cultivation have opened my true self and am doing all of these amazing things.
Anyway more on that in a more coherent post later, for now here are the links.
Geocities paths of dao, hub
Paths of Dao ~ Website
Drops of Water ~ blog
love and peace
becca
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