wandelaar

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Posts posted by wandelaar

  5. Posted · Edited by wandelaar

    Yes having a calm mind is crucial. I'm still too easily disturbed to always follow a TTC-like approach. And some will probably say I'm not a Taoist at  all. ;-) But in my experience the TTC teaches how to use the way things are (Tao) to accomplish what you need. To do that you have to develop a calm mind and an unassuming attitude, and you must be willing to wait for the right moment to act. It's futile to continually keep forcing the world to do what you want, however the dynamics of things is such that at certain moments minute actions can change the course of things almost without any effort. That's wu wei. It's not doing nothing but doing the minimum possible to achieve what you want in as unassuming a way as possible. In that way you will accomplish the most lasting results because less people will feel forced or humiliated. There is more to the TTC, but taking a soft, feminine, non-dogmatic approach is key.

    • Like 3

  6. Posted · Edited by wandelaar

    Why should Tao be something supernatural or extraordinary? Clearly the world shows certain patterns, and that in itself is proof enough to me that the world isn't a complete chaos. Tao is simply a name given to the principle, final cause, reason or whatever that lies at the basis of the patterns we perceive in the world. An example are the laws of nature as studied by physics. Of course one can deny the existence of such patterns by taking refuge in some form of armchair philosophy, but in daily life we know better. You don't need to be a believer or initiate to recognize the existence of Tao, being a realist is enough.

    • Like 4

  18. Posted

    I interpreted those reactions as showing that my English was in fact OK, and that they didn't see was I was worried about. In fact by presenting my English as possibly deficient I deliberately gave others the opportunity to tell me that there was (possibly much) room for improvement. Nobody took that opportunity. So I concluded that there was not much of a problem there. 

     

    But let me now ask everyone here if my English is OK. Not asking if you agree with me on this or that, but simply this: are my posts written in readable and understandable English?

    • Like 3

  20. Posted

    1 minute ago, Wilhelm said:

    Yeah that's fair enough.  I had never gone too deep into philosophical readings of the DDJ, but I appreciate that it's the most popular approach in the West (and I'd imagine China as well)

     

    I recognize that there is an esoteric interpretation of the TTC that (in its early forms) can be traced back to at least Heshang Gong and to some parts of the Kuan tzu. A more rational interpretation of the TTC was given by Wang Pi. So divergent views on the meaning of the TTC existed from early on. What I take as my (axiomatic) guideline here is that one should not resort to far fetched esoteric interpretations when the text already has a clear meaning as it is. Other Bums might wish to do otherwise but they are on no firmer ground than I am.

  21. Posted · Edited by wandelaar

    41 minutes ago, Wilhelm said:

    Interesting.  Have you read any of the alchemical classics like the Cantong Qi or Wuzhen Pai?  Or is this approach mainly how you see the DDJ/Zhuangzi/etc.?  Just asking because the former don't really allow for an interpretation at face value

     

    I have tried several times to read such alchemical texts and books and articles about them and I struggled through The Dao De Jing: A Qigong Interpretation by Jwing-Ming Yang. But it's not my cup of tea. And I see no reason to force such interpretations on those parts of the TTC that already have a clear meaning and that don't need any interpretative hocus-pocus to give them one. The parts of the TTC I mentioned about simple living have a clear meaning, and are also seen to have such a clear meaning by all (or most) expert sinologists. I don't have the expertise to fabricate a TTC interpretation of my own that's worth its salt. So I go by what the experts say, unless they are clearly mistaken. The latter seldom happens.

    • Like 1

  24. Posted

    8 hours ago, Giles said:

    That already seems reasonably clear to me, which leads me to ask what's your level of English proficiency?

     

    Years back I asked on this forum whether my English was OK, and nobody had any problem with it then. Nor has it been a problem afterwards. I also read books in English as easily as I read books in Dutch. So I don't think the problem lies there.

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  25. Posted

    Quote

     Robert G. Henricks' 1989 translation of Ch. 70:


    My words are easy to understand,
    And easy to put into practice.
    Yet no one in the world can understand them,
    And no one can put them into practice.
    Now my words have an ancestor, and my deeds have a lord,
    And it's simply because [people] have no understanding [of them],
    that they therefore don't understand me.
    But when those who understand me are few, then I'm of great value.
    Therefore the Sage wears coarse woolen cloth, but inside it he holds on to jade.