oak

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Posts posted by oak

  3. Posted

    1 hour ago, Stosh said:

    As opposed to being a thinking spiritual being. I think the passage suggests a man recognizes that he is not , just the material body. He doesn't react predictably in the manner of objects, he has a greater potential ,like ,  for instance land being the most important 'thing' as opposed to objects within its border, because the land provides the most potentials.

    He plays a choice-ful creative role in his own destiny. He appreciates and gives relative meaning and value. Gold is not the thing of value, the thing of value is not the merit one attributes to the gold , or that which one procures with the gold , but the end benefit to the ephemeral man , , his life. 

    old quote, 'Man is the measure of all things.'

    So even if I do not amass gold, if I live a long happy productive life as I see it, I did not live a life of poverty. 

     

    Your post made my day Stosh. Thank you.

    • Like 2

  4. Posted

    1 hour ago, Taoist Texts said:

    And by that you mean consumerism? Not literal idolatry?

     

    Don't know what your interpretation of idolatry is, mine is putting your hope, your energy, your "soul" in objects, those objects being something that lead you away from the source. Of course one needs people, wood, water, books etc, but psychologically if one hopes to find salvation or an ultimate answer in those one is very far from the right path. So let's say, I know how some books are very important to us but... that something that put those books in our path should be regarded as more important, right?

    • Like 2

  5. Posted

    4 hours ago, Taoist Texts said:

    As opposed to what?

     

    As opposed to giving objects a piece of his soul which would be idolatry. People can be objects/idols too, at least that is my interpretation of the term "straw dog" in the DDJ.

    • Like 2

  6. Posted

    On 15/09/2011 at 3:21 PM, steve said:

    Given the recent suggestion of a sub-forum for yoga and Vedanta, I thought I'd start this thread.

     

    I've previously read the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali as translated by Sri Swami Satchidananda. Recently, a friend turned me on to a series of lectures given in 2004 by Howard Resnick (Srila Hridayananda Das Goswami Acharyadeva) on his own translations of the sutras. He does a very good job of dissecting the sutras line by line and word by word. I don't always agree with his interpretations but it's great to see the meaning of the actual Sanskrit and how he derived his translations.

     

    If anyone wants to check it out:

    http://acaryadeva-nectar.pbworks.com/w/page/1287188/The%20Yoga%20Sutras

     

    If anyone wants to discuss either these lectures or the sutras here, please join me.

     

    Was thinking of starting a thread on such an important book when I found out that you already did steve. I really love the  minimalist straightforward style of the book never using two sentences when something can be explained in one, like the DDJ.  

    • Like 2

  9. Posted

    1 hour ago, Kongming said:

     

     

    Why is this? How can I simultaneously be searching for Truth and yet whenever something like the above occurs feel primal fear or anxiety? How can I overcome this barrier?

     

    My experience tells me that all of that becomes banal with time... like everything else in life. What does one feel when entering the ocean for the first time?... Primal fear right? A few years later one becomes a prized surfer. Be patient, don't rush things, life will happen to you as well as all of us in its due time.

    • Like 4

  12. Posted

    On 14/08/2017 at 3:41 AM, turtlehermit said:

    What are some of the main techniques in classic Taoist meditation? It would be very helpful to hear some simple explanations on some of the fundamental techniques. There are many different techniques that have been developed such as the Inner Smile and Micro Cosmic Orbit, but as I understand these are just thought forms given to processes that occur during meditation and the movement of energy through the body, and are just different ways to achieve the same goal.  Going back to the origins of Taoism, and man's essential nature, there are no words or techniques, just feelings. How did these masters meditate and achieve immortality? It is doubtful that they were practicing a wide variety of techniques and visualizations, each with their own catch phrases and number of repetitions. It is more likely that the early Taoists practiced a simple form of meditation, with little technique, just basic guidelines from experience masters, such as collecting the mind and breath in the lower dantian. What is the classic form of Taoist meditation? It would be great to hear some opinions on the basic steps. Thanks.

     

    I think you'll find confirmation to your thoughts in chapter 4 of the following book

    https://books.google.pt/books?id=NdwZBQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=road+to+heaven&hl=pt-PT&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=road to heaven&f=false

    Bill Porter spent a good part of his life looking for buddhist and daoist hermits in deep China.

    • Like 4

  14. Posted · Edited by oak
    forgot something important

    Been there Lost, know very well how it feels... not for many years now.

     

    If it helps, your suffering has a reason to be as you will probably understand sometime in the future and...even be thankful for it.

    WuDao's suggestion is a wise one STOP! Stop looking freneticaly for a way out of it, the answers you want may be in front of you but your anxiety won't let you notice them. Notice how you're struggling constantly inside yourself and try stopping that as much as you can.

     

    Do much less and trust more.

     

    You are never alone.

     

    Best wishes.

     

     

     

    • Like 2

  20. Posted

    48 minutes ago, CedarTree said:

     

    I think experimentation is really important in some ways too.  I know that Spending time in various traditions, lineages, and understandings has helped me clarify my main practice and begin I think to truly delve into it.

     

    Though I do think at a certain point it's time to knuckle down and get this whole liberation thing going ;) 

     

    Clarity in what we want, yes, but knowing that the path itself isn't linear and yin and yang will always manifest in different ways... :)

    • Like 1

  21. Posted

    Well aware of the dedication and energy required in studying sacred literatute I want to ask if someone can point me out to some source of summarized information about the inerant phylosophy of the book. Something that would help me understand how Yijing students see the universe and behave according to the teachings of the book in daily life.

    • Like 2