YMWong

And where's your sense of humour ?!? YM

Oh ! Here goes the first then: YM

Craig, reading Daoist texts is not the same as reading the newspaper. They have a number of usages one of which is instilling 'things' in your mind in a non-direct way. So if I ask my wife or daughter, who are both native speakers, to read those stanzas and tell me what they mean they won't have an immediate direct answer. A literal translation, in my opinion, as as close as it comes to give similar results in another language. The brain will work on that, consciously and later unconsciously, in a similar way as a native speaker would do i.e. in the original way the author meant it to be done. Needless to say one reading the translation might miss quite a number of things given the fact that his and the language backgrounds are different, but at least he won't get *mislead* by someone else's interpretation. Daoist texts, most of them, has been (classically) interpreted by various masters of the past for the usage of later Daoists - but those are specifically called 'commentaries' which are given AFTER the original text. YM

Cat, WDQ's point, and mine for what that matters, was that DAOISM does not have trasmission/enpowerment and not that tibetan-yogi-whathaveyou do not have it YM

In my opinion a translation should be as literal as possible, an interpretation should contain the interpreter's understanding. I enjoy both, as long as the author stick to one of the two and openly so. Shen, again to me, is not consciousness but spirit. I may be wrong as english is not my first language but a see a huge difference between the two. Shen-spirit is (almost) an entity that resides within. YM

Be willing to help people is certainly a good thing, but to do that one has to first help oneself: a sick doctor can hardly heal a patient. To heal a patient a doctor does not need any *power*: he needs wisdom, compassion and knowledge of his specialty. All doctors with *power* do not heal or treat patients, they are politicians. YM

ToL, this has nothing to do with what "transmission", in the empowerment sense, is frequently discussed here. "Daigong" simply means that Wang leads a group of students, for instance in meditation, and of course the results might be quite different from the group practicing alone. But there is no 'infusion' of anything, so secret-touch-that-gives-power. There is no power, actually YM

My suggestion is to let "power" to the electrical company and just sit quiet YM

Vey true, WDQ, very true YM

Back online. Let's start with the first two stanzas: 调息要调真息息，炼神要炼不神神 SYD reads it as: Breath regulation means to cultivate the real breath, Shen cultivation means to practice a state of thoughtless awareness my reading is: (To) adjust the breath one has to adjust the breath of real-brething (To) practice the spirit one has to practice the spirit of no-spirit 凡息停而真息动，真息生而内炁行 SYD reads it as: When the common breath stops the real breath ignites, when the real breath begins internal Qi flows my reading is: (When) normal breathing stops then real breathing moves (When) real breathing is born then internal Qi flows Any take ? YM

Right on, brother YM

You may have missed the fact that I was the fist or the second to add additional translation to this thread, my friend. You also might have a lot of spare time and probably cannot conceive that people have a life and things to do. My question to SYD, which he has clearly understood, was about the possibility that some of his insigths might have been there - thus making for an interpretation instead of a literal translation. I'll post some about that later tonight, if we are all here to discuss. YM

Is that your translation, SYD, or an interpretation ?!? There is quite a bit, IMHO, to be heavily re-worked YM

A perfect pair of matching hands ! YM

See me here standing next to that house on the left ? see here I had just attained my dragon body ... YM "now you see me, now you don't" Wong

Well, yes and no I'd say One can do jogging on the weekend and still enjoy running while another can train all his life and become a world champion Needless to say, as you noticed above, most probably the guy who become the world champion has an *inborn plus* but that's only a maybe ... we don't really know The very fact that we are here spending our time on the web shows we are only amateurs, some less some more, but again one do not need to become 'world champion' to enjoy a certain practice If you want to see how a *professional* trained than I'd suggest you read books like The Teaching and Practices of the Early Quanzhen Daoist Masters S. Eskildsen, SUNY 2004 but again we don't need to go too far to see that *high levels* - in any discipline - require incredible efforts So I'd say don't get pessimistic, don't set any far away 'enlightment goal' and simply do one step after another In chinese we say 'even 10,000 kilometers starts with the first step' The goal of practice/life is well explained in Zhuang Zi It is (utmost) happiness ---- and that is on the reach of EVERYONE YM

I'd add to it that this book, in its original version, was co-written by Shi Ming and 'our own' Viktor Xiao (of Wang Liping). YM

not the herb: YM

http://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%22%C1%F9%D0%C4%CF%E0%D3%A1%22 Three pages with the exact sentence, only Martial references YM

I really have no idea, sorry. I saw this reference in Xingyi and Yichan books only. I also just Googled the six heart sentence and it only sorts out Xingyi/Yiquan references so I'd tend to say that's a very specific and martial thing. YM

This is actually from martial art practice and, at least for as much as I know, I haven't heard the same discussed in cultivation terms. As I don't practice Xingyi or Yiquan, from whence the saying comes, I cannot say for sure but I suppose the 'summit heart' is the top of the head. YM

It is Liuxin Xiangyin Xiongbei Yiyuan The six hearts are the 'hand hearts', 'foot hearts', 'actual heart', 'summit heart' Best YM

Dear SYD, maybe you have seen this already but in case you haven't I find these commentaries quite useful http://219.76.217.108/Books/Mast_Lui/Tao_Medit2.htm Best YM

A kind of chinese medicinal root (Radix Polygoni Multiflori) that may, like any other root, at times grow in the shape of a human body. That's one of the many common "fake" products sold nowadays in China and even the 'real' ones are simply standard roots with another shape, nothing medicinally special apart from its shape. http://images.google.com.hk/images?um=1&am...G=Search+Images YM