yuuichi

If the right hand is yin, wouldn't that make metal go towards it faster since yin is about absorbing something and yang is about emitting (so repulsing)

Hypothetical scenario: You are rich, famous, and live a life of luxury and pleasure. You still desire to enjoy this life of luxury. One day, a monk knocks on your door. He tells you that at no expense, he will offer to teach you to reach Nibbana within a short time. He says that upon reaching Nibbana, you will feel everlasting peace and contentment, but as a result of no longer experiencing desire, you will no longer derive pleasure from your wealth, your wife or anything about your lifestyle (the brain will no longer be affected by the reward (dopamine) pathway as there is no desire to reward). Would you agree to his offer?

The other thread I posted related to this one, a lot of the discussion was too abstract or off-topic. So I made up this hypothetical scenario to keep discussions on topic and informative.

A long time ago, I got up to the 2nd jhana while meditating, and I was quite sure I found a good way to meditate to reach nibbana (some may call this enlightenment? I don’t know). But I stopped meditating. Because I heard that when one attains nibbana or enlightenment, one no longer enjoys things or experiences pleasure. Since I am so young, it seems like nonsense to do this. Why not enjoy life’s pleasures, like watching a good movie, having a girlfriend, eating good food, etc. I still have attachment to these things, and this is what is preventing me from continuing my meditation. If enlightenment frees one from greed, lust, desire, etc. How does one feel pleasure? Surely a life without pleasure (enlightenment) is not a good thing? Edit: of course someone could say the usual answer of saying if there is pleasure, then there is suffering, but suffering isn’t that bad. Enlightenment seems to be defined as perfect equanimity, that is neither joy nor suffering. But doesn’t a life without joy nor suffering sound a bit boring? Please serious answers only.

The problem is, once enlightment is reached, there is no turning back. So the temptation/attachment is to enjoy as much pleasure beforehand. but when is enough, enough? And if enlightenment is as good as they say, why not find it as soon as possible? It’s all a confusion.

Lust/sex resets all one’s progress and the pursuit of enlightenment requires a virtuous lifestyle. This is why celibacy is deemed as so important, and even the Buddha himself was so angry at his disciple who went back to his wife, telling him that where he put it was worse than putting it in the mouth of a snake or hot coals. I want enlightenment simply because it provides peace of mind, but enlightenment seems to turn the person into a unfeeling robot or something. How can anyone enjoy pleasure in the absence of desire? Isn’t equanimity the most you can enjoy in an enlightened state of mind?

Nibbana or enlightenment is found in almost all religions, including Daoism. Daoism calls it refining the Xing spirit, or the Po soul. This causes the cessation of desire.

What about buddha’s brother, who was still deep in lusting for women, and preferred to chase women rather than find enlightenment? Buddha still encouraged him to find enlightenment rather than give into lust, even if that encouragement involved a little persuasion. And this assumes that achieving enlightenment causes one to escape samsara (nowhere else to go), which is not what Daoists believe.

I’m also 100% not a Buddhist. I don’t aggree with buddhism, I don’t agree with the Buddha in many things and i dont agree with most of what buddhism has to say. I disagree with buddhism that there is no such thing as a soul, or an ego. just want to say that so no-one gets the wrong idea. Enlightenment/nibbana can’t be that good then.

I also read Jade has something to do with the heart, but I’m not sure. It is quite confusing.

Thank you for sharing those webpages about Jade. Don’t the ancient taoist texts ever not mention jade (玉)? I don’t really want to hear what others say about Jade, but to read what the ancient Daoists spoke about jade or the jade pure pool as mentioned above. If anyone can share some quotes about Jade from Daoist ancient texts, that would be so amazing. For example, the member Taoist Texts had a really good quote here: If anyone knows any similar quotes, that would be good

I don’t want to gain muscle. I want to gain fat. My fat body percentage is very low.

Also, I hardly ever exercise.

Does anyone have some meals or recipes they can recommend? I’m not a good cook, so I don’t want to cook something that uses a lot of complicated or difficult to obtain ingredients. At the moment, I usually eat rice pudding for breakfast, followed by cereal. And for lunch and dinner I may have fried rice with chicken, omelette or pasta bake with tuna.

Wouldn’t consuming protein fill me up and not give me extra weight? I thought only consuming carbohydrates and fat can put on fat? I don’t live in the U.S. I don’t know what some American food suggested are. And meat where I am is quite expensive. So I try to get most of my protein from egg, tinned tuna and chicken. I don’t want to eat junk food. I never snack, and although I have a sweet tooth and can eat a lot of chocolate and cake, I don’t want to cause health problems by eating so much processed food and sugar. Most days, the only source of sugar in my diet comes from fruit. For most of my life, I have been underweight and very tall, with very little fat percentage. But it’s very hard for me to add fat. I try to consume a lot of dairy, milk and rice, but it doesn’t help and it takes so long to cook. people are thinking I want to be obese. I just want to get my body fat to a healthy percentage. Like 10-15%. I think this is good body fat percentage goal. But it’s so hard to get there.

Thanks, do you have a source?

Don’t worry about it I’m not asking you to explain, i’m asking you to quote. To repeat what I asked before, I want to know whether the Daoists mentioned whether turning the light around affects the Hun (魂) or the Po (魄). You said that they did. Perhaps you were just misunderstanding

But I asked whether turning the light around affects the 3 Hun or the 7 Po. You said there are many theories. I asked you to mention those theories, but you just gave a description of the 3 Hun and 7 Po.

But this doesn’t mention anything about the practice of turning the light around! It’s just a description of the Hun and Po

Please feel welcome to take as long as you like. Enjoy your picnic!

Interesting, could you provide quotes of these theories please? I’ve never heard of them.

Does anyone know if ancient daoist writings ever talk about whether turning the light around (or equivalent practices) involves just the Hun (魂) spirit, or both the Hun (魂) and Po (魄) spirits?

So you agree that turning the light around means focusing on the lower dantian? You never mentioned it before?

You forget the negatives of chinese confucian culture. Parents are too strict on their children and make them work too hard, as their children are responsible for their retirement. This also carries on into choosing a partner for them, as they only care about someone who is rich, so they can provide a comfortable retirement for them. Also, many chinese people are miserable, as they care too much about what their parents think, what their parents might say, and so do not follow their aspirations but just stay unhappy in a safe job and an acceptable lifestyle for the parents. This leads to a lot of unhappiness in families, as not everyone, or even most people can be successful, bringing disappointment to the parents. Also, some parents can be mean and horrible. Should this merely just be accepted for one’s whole life? And a young person living with old people is not enjoyable at all. you say that being alone affects the heart negatively, but wasn’t Laozi alone? Wasn’t many, many Daoist sages alone? They just lived in nature, alone.

Hi taoist texts, if you can, could you please share any other ancient taoist texts talking about jade? I don’t understand the Chinese fascination with it so I would like to understand it.