Cobie

To me that’s like being inside my own mind. Teaching that thoughts are not real.

Proactivity vs Reactivity

Yes, and also - not real! They cannot do any harm. Any harm comes from the ‘reacting’.

Dao 道 (dao4) the Way = 首 (shou3) ‘head/sky’ + 辶 (chuo4) ‘feet/earth’, i.e. the Way is a harmony of polar opposites.

a ‘gut’ feeling “It [meditation] helps to restore the balance of gut bacteria, improving gut barrier function and reducing inflammation. Emerging research underscores the positive impact of regular meditation practice on gut health. https://www.news-medical.net/health/Exploring-the-Connection-Between-Gut-Health-and-Meditation.aspx#:~:text=It%20helps%20to%20restore%20the,meditation%20practice%20on%20gut%20health.

The word "meditation" originates from the Latin verb meditari, which means to think, contemplate, or reflect.

Dhyāna (Sanskrit: ध्यान, Pali: झान) means "contemplation, reflection" and "profound, abstract meditation". The root of the word is dhi, which, in the earliest layer of Vedic texts, refers to "imaginative vision". (Wiki Dhyāna in Hinduism)

from your list, these are the ones I like:  silent sitting, uniting with the Dao from the heart for religious reasons to clear the mind sit and empty the mind meditation is about seeing things as they really are meditation can bring clarity, balance, order, and harmony meditation is beneficial for calming down when upset meditation can be simple and straightforward meditation is being awareness is flow, not forcing or hoarding

Yes, that’s me too.

I think in life in general, as well as on a forum, there is no point really in conversing with people that are not talking from the heart.

Thanks for putting in the time to collect the info. That’s the sort of communication I like, informative, constructive and from the heart.

I don’t think a face-palm emoji is conductive to further interesting exchanges of views/information. I think it is a total bloc to communication.

I do find the face-palm emoji rather ‘passive aggressive’.

Why do you think it is ‘face-palmy’ for me to have this opinion?

Some people meditate for decades, believing it will eventually bring ‘enlightenment’.

Yes I am aware of that. As I said earlier: I translate the characters in the meanings that Laozi used them in the Guodian/Mawangdui DDJ.

There’s also this one: 心 齋 (xin1 zhai1) from the heart for religious reasons to clear the mind

Me too. Taoism is a living religion. It has developed over the millenia. It integrated many aspects from other religions during that time. My interest is only in the DDJ as in the Guodian/Mawangdui.

also known as e.g. 靜 坐 (jing4 zuo4) silent sitting. 守 一 (shou3 yi1) uniting with the Dao.

I’m so happy you are on the forum.

imo: never ever “accumulate” qi, that’s an obstruction; no hoarding. Just a total free flowing, awareness is flow.

坐 忘 (zuo4 wang4) sit and empty the mind; Daoist meditation (it’s apophatic meditation)

imo there sages often need to use ‘white lies’ for didactic purposes. A bit like e.g. maths 101 saying parallel lines never meet; only later on comes non-Euclidean geometry.

For me, meditation is ‘being’.

Some suffering I want to keep, e.g. mourning.