sean

I am obsessed with this M83 album right now.

👋 Howdy y'all. I wanted to tell you that I've decided to: Revoke all existing moderators. Ask all committed right-wing members of the forum to leave. I realize this may seem extreme and come as a shock to many. I'll do my best to explain where I'm coming from, what this means for the forum moving forward and I'll also request help. > WTF? Pas de replâtrage, la structure est pourrie. No replastering, the structure is rotten. I made a fundamental mistake in the foundational ethos for this forum: believing that "no insults, be nice" is a powerful enough core virtue to sustain a diverse, healthy community. The problem with "just be nice" is that it's impotent in the face of organized malice. In a society where marginalized people often suffer invisibly, taking a clear, assertive stance against the creeping normalization of bigotry and even outright fascism whenever possible is far more important than being "nice" merely to avoid rattling an oppressive status quo. I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." — Martin Luther King, Jr. > This is about Trump, isn't it? Donald Trump is a menacing buffoon but also mostly a disgusting symptom of a very sick society. He's also a kind of litmus test for how deranged I find someone's morality. Being anti-Trump is not "partisan" (if being nonpartisan is even possible or noble). One of the lowest ethical bars I can imagine is finding Trump repugnant. I'm not even going to waste time enumerating Trump's voluminous flaws and demonic policy positions. If you're pro-Trump you almost certainly already know and don't care. This isn't a debate. We have deeply incompatible values, and I'm drawing a line in the sand. > What should pro-Trump and other far-right members of the forum do now? You should leave. If you're pro-Trump, I'm asking you to leave this forum. You're not welcome here anymore. If you're right-wing, please leave. We might need a bullet list. Here we go: If you're pro-Trump, please leave. If you're right-wing, please leave. If you're pro-border wall, pro-ICE, racist, homophobic, transphobic or misogynist, please fuck off and leave. The web is awash with other far-right friendly dumpsters you can crawl into. If you think it's unacceptable that I'm booting members with dangerous, disgusting, antisocial politics, you should probably leave too. (Sidenote: If you're some strange brew of anti-fascist, social anarchist, left-libertarian, or anti-authoritarian, democratic Marxist, socialist or communist infidel, please stay and help me raise hell! ✊ Are there any other leftists here? 👀) > This is an outrage!! ** shits entire diaper ** You're the real fascist, watch this 4-hour Youtube video, something something ... I'm unfortunately acutely aware that if you're being asked to leave that you're not going to understand this decision. I trust that you're going to settle on a self-serving narrative in which I'm a cartoon, totalitarian-communist, "cultural Marxist" suppressor of your patriotic free speech. I'm a hysterical, intolerant "snowflake" that can't stand proximity to your brilliant, hard-truths, lest I be destroyed by sheer "facts and logic". I don't care. I've made peace with your ignorance. Allow me to repeat for those in the back: This isn't a debate. We have deeply incompatible values. So much so that I'm asking you to leave my forum without further discussion. > Did the moderators do anything wrong? I sincerely appreciate the time and energy the previous team put into tending to the forum. If they made mistakes in terms of moderating, I'd hedge they were mostly a result of inheriting the laissez-faire, lazy-white-guy ethos that I unfortunately fostered and encouraged. If you were a part of the previous team and are not being asked to leave and you still want to help out, please PM me. > But this is a spiritual forum! Spirituality without material roots is a dead tree, my friend. The notion that spiritual cultivation, of all things, should somehow be categorically divorced from moral maturation and praxis is a "bad take". This forum has always strived to be a big tent for all manner of weirdos from diverse spiritual and sociopolitical backgrounds. But there have also been times when new boundaries needed to be set. This is one of them. > But what about the terrible things that Obama, Hillary, etc. have done? As I said, I'm not going to debate, and this isn't a political 101 education forum. For what it's worth, here are some of my recent thoughts on the center-right led Democratic party and the rise of Trumpism: The Democratic Party is not inculpable for Trumpism Trump is not a unique Republican If the grotesque insincerity of center-right Democrats (e.g. Clinton and Obama) are the reason that anyone reading this has hitched to the neoreactionary Trump dump-truck, please find a local shaman to unbind this rotten hex. There's a better and much more magical way forward. ✨ > I'm not right or left, I'm a truth-seeker, you're being unreasonable. I've found that people who claim they're "neither right nor left," especially U.S. citizens, are usually center-right at best. (And often worse, e.g., right-wing libertarians or crypto-antisemitic conspiracy-theorists.) The political terms "left" and "right" have ideological meaning. Likewise "centrism" is not defined via an attempt to locate a compromised middle ground somewhere between right-wing Republican monsters and diet-right-wing corporatist Democrats. I've written more about this here: This is what passes for "reasonable" politics. > What about free speech? There's a popular notion that the only civilized approach to social disagreement is to always hear out "all sides" in the "free marketplace of ideas", an imaginary immaterial abstraction. That opinions, no matter how brain-dead stupid or toxic, should always be honored and meticulously ironed out via public "intellectual" debate. But this kind of free speech absolutism is often a pretentious stance weaponized to platform memetic bigotry and silence already marginalized views. By extreme analogy, imagine if there were pro-slavery members on this forum. My stance is that it's a complete waste of time to argue with these people. It would pollute our space with the delusion that both sides of this "debate" are legitimate. I think most of us would agree that bans of racist and violent speech are appropriate. I'm drawing a new, firmer line in the sand. No racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, climate change denial, fascism, crypto-fascism, antisocial bigotry, or far-right bullshit in general (including QAnon and Pizzagate lunacy). There are plenty of other reactionary ashcans on the Internet for these "very fine folks" to brigade. Speech is not harmless. Speech has real, immediate, direct, material consequences on other human beings. Implicitly allowing socially toxic rhetoric to continue platforming itself unchecked in a space, poisons that space, and disproportionately harms the least powerful. > This is a slippery slope, where will it end? Fully automated luxury gay space communism, obviously. You should probably leave now before the communism and gay-stuff starts happening. 🍆💦 > This seems exclusionary and mean. It's exclusionary and not nice, but I don't think it's mean, at least not senselessly. Ask yourself, how many thoughtful, gracious members of this forum have quietly left after seeing relatively uncontested right-wing bullshit plastered across the forums here? I'm aware of several personally. And I don't think the bullshit here is undisputed because of implicit support. I think it's merely sidestepped for the same reason most reasonable people avoid challenging someone screaming evangelical diatribes on the subway. It's literally just not worth the effort. i.e., "the amount of energy necessary to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude larger than to produce it." There's plenty of other subways on the internet to scream inside. This one is no longer tolerating right-wing bullshit. > Are we abandoning confused people who maybe need this forum the most? Meh. I think this question comes from a decent place. But this isn't a political education forum. My stance is that we need to reestablish a bare minimum baseline of shared values. > Are you still with me? If so, that must mean: You weren't asked to leave. You think it's okay and even very good that I've gone full heruka. Welcome! I'm delighted to have you here. I hope you'll stay. ❤️ And I hope you'll stand in solidarity with me as I perch precariously on this fraught limb I've now climbed out on. It's my sincere hope that we can reclaim and reenchant The Dao Bums as a weird-left-friendly space again. > Will you help me? I do need your help. In fact I won't be able to do this without you. Please PM me if you're interested in helping our community. There will be free snacks. 🙃 With Love, Sean

Quote from an article entitled "Neiyeh". (link needed) by Dr. Russell Kirkland, Associate Professor of Religion, University of Georgia. Shazi Daoren on alt.philosophy.taoism recently took a stab at a translation of this work and posted it in five groups of chapters here. He's given me permission to reproduce his translation here in full which follows. Neiye Inner Cultivation zhang 1 1 The Essence of all things 2 Thru transformation creates life. 3 Below, it brings to life the five grains, 4 Above, it aligns the stars. 5 When flowing among the heaven and earth, 6 We call this the 'spiritual being'. 7 When stored up in the center of the bosom, 8 We call this the Sage. zhang 2 1 Therefore, regarding 'Energy', it is: 2 Bright! as if ascending the sky; 3 Dark! as if entering into the abyss; 4 Disperse! as if existing in the ocean; 5 Present! as if existing in the self. 6 Therefore this Energy: 7 Cannot be stopped by force, 8 Yet can be pacified by Virtue, 9 Cannot be spoken by voice, 10 Yet can be embraced by the mind. 11 Reverently nurture it and do not let it go: 12 This is called 'developing Virtue' 13 When Virtue develops and wisdom emerges, 14 The myriad things will all be attained. zhang 3 1 All forms of the Heart 2 Are naturally infused, naturally filled, 3 Naturally generated, naturally completed. 4 They can become lost, out of place 5 Due to sorrow, happiness, 6 joy, anger, desire, or profit-seeking. 7 If you are able to cast off sorrow, happiness, 8 joy, anger, desire and profit-seeking, 9 Your Heart will return to its natural flow 10 The natural emotion of the Heart 11 Is beneficial calmness and tranquility. 12 Do not vex it, do not disturb it 13 And harmony will naturally develop. zhang 4 1 Clear! as though right by your side. 2 Vague! as though it will not be attained. 3 Indescribable! as though beyond the limitless. 4 The proof of this is not far off: 5 Daily we make use of its inner power. 6 The Way is what fills the body, 7 Yet people are unable to fix it in place. 8 It goes forth but does not return, 9 It comes back but does not stay. 10 Silent! none can hear its sound. 11 Present! it exists within the heart. 12 Obscure! we do not see its form. 13 Manifest! it arises with us. 14 Look at it and not see its form, 15 Listen to it and not hear its sound. 16 Yet there is a course to its accomplishments. 17 We call it the Way. zhang 5 1 The Way has no fixed position; 2 In the cultivated Heart, it gracefully abides. 3 When the heart is calm and Energy aligned 4 The Way can thereby repose. 5 The Way is not distant from us; 6 When people attain it they are fruitful 7 The Way does not leave; 8 When people are in tune with it, they understand. 9 Thus it is present! as if you need but ask for it. 10 Remote! as if dissipated and is nowhere to be found. 11 The Way's sensation: 12 How can you be in tune with its sound? 13 Cultivate your Heart and you will resonate in tune. 14 The Way thereby can be attained zhang 6 "Dao" 1 As for Dao, 2 The mouth is not able to speak of it 3 The eyes are not able to see it 4 The ears are not able to hear it 5 It is that which cultivates the Heart and aligns the body. 6 When people lose it they die 7 When they attain it they flourish. 8 When endeavors lose it they fail; 9 When they attain it they succeed. 10 Thus Dao is always without root without trunk 11 Without leaves without flowers. 12 The myriad things are generated by it; 13 The myriad things are completed by it. 14 We declare it 'Dao'. zhang 7 "Ruling Principles" 1 Heaven's ruling principle is to be aligned. 2 Earth's ruling principle is to be level. 3 Humanity's ruling principles are grace and tranquility. 4 Spring, autumn, winter, and summer 5 These are heaven's seasons. 6 Mountains, hills, rivers, and valleys 7 These are earth's features. 8 Pleasure and anger, taking and giving 9 These are human devices. 10 Therefore the Sage 11 Changes with the seasons and doesn't transform them, 12 Yields to things and does not change them zhang 8 "Alignment" 1 If able to be aligned, able to be calm, 2 Only then can you be stable. 3 With a stable heart within your bosom, 4 Eyes and ears acute and clear, 5 Four limbs firm and sure, 6 You can thereby make a dwelling-place for Essence. 7 As for Essence: 8 It is the Essence of Energy. 9 Energy's Dao is to flourish, 10 To flourish is to think 11 To think is to know 12 To know is where to stop. 13 All forms of the Heart 14 Crossing over to knowledge lose life. zhang 9 "One" 1 Those able to transform One thing are called 'Spiritual'; 2 Those able to change One affair are called 'wise'. 3 To transform without expending Energy; 4 To change without expending wisdom: 5 By grasping the One only the Master is able to do this! 6 Grasp the One; do not loose it, 7 And you will be able to master the myriad things. 8 The Master acts upon things, 9 And is not acted upon by things 10 Attain to the guiding principle of the One. zhang 10 "managing" 1 Harness the Heart within your bosom 2 Control the words issuing forth from your mouth, 3 Manage affairs in concert with others. 4 Then it follows, the world will be governed. 5 "One word is attained, and the world submits" 6 So goes the saying. zhang 11 "Aligning the Body" 1 When the body is not aligned, 2 De will not thrive. 3 When the center is not calm 4 The Heart will not be harnessed. 5 Align the body, collect De. 6 Leave to heaven benevolence and to earth justice-- 7 These will naturally thrive on their own. zhang 12 "Attaining the Center" 1 The Spirit comprehends the Ultimate; 2 Manifest! It understands the myriad things. 3 Hold it within your bosom, do not waver. 4 Do not let external things confuse your faculties 5 Do not let your faculties confuse your Heart 6 This is called 'attaining the center.' zhang 13 "Stabilizing Jing" 1 The Spirit naturally abides in the body, 2 One moment it goes forward, one moment it comes back, 3 No one is able to think of it. 4 Losing it results in disorder 5 Attaining it results in order. 6 Reverently purify its dwelling-place, 7 And Jing will naturally arise. 8 Jing: put aside thinking of it, 9 Still your effort to control it. 10 Strictly and reverently venerate it 11 And Jing will naturally stablize. 12 Attain it and don't let it go, 13 Ears and eyes not overflow 14 Heart and mind without any scheme, 15 Align the Heart within the breast 16 And the myriad things will attain their full measure. zhang 14 "The Heart within the Heart" 1 Dao fills all under heaven. 2 It exists everywhere that people are, 3 But people are unable to understand this. 4 One word explains it, 5 Ascending to reach the sky; 6 Descending to the limits of earth; 7 Replete throughout the nine provinces. 8 How can I speak or explain it? 9 It exists in the calm Heart. 10 When my Heart is harnessed, my faculties are ordered. 11 When my Heart is calm, my faculties are calmed. 12 What orders them is the Heart; 13 What calms them is the Heart. 14 The Heart is used to harbor the Heart 15 At the center of the Heart is another Heart, 16 The Heart within the Heart. 17 For awareness precedes words. 18 Awareness then leads to formed reality; 19 Formed reality then leads to words. 20 Words then lead to action; 21 Action then leads to order, 22 To not be ordered invariably leads to disorder. 23 Disorder leads to death. zhang 15 "The Fount of Qi" 1 When Jing is preserved, it naturally grows. 2 Externally it will emanate. 3 Hidden inside, it becomes a primal spring 4 Abounding like a flood, it harmonizes and equalizes 5 It becomes a fount of Qi. 6 When the fount is not dried up, 7 The four limbs are firm. 8 When the spring is not drained, 9 The nine apertures freely circulate [Qi] 10 Then you are able to exhaust the universe, 11 And cover the four seas. 12 Within, when your mind is unconfused, 13 Without, there will be no disasters. 14 When your heart is whole within, 15 Your body will be whole without, 16 And you won't encounter natural disasters, 17 Or receive harm from others; 18 Call such 'Shengren'. zhang 16 - Inner Virtue 1 If you are able to be aligned and tranquil, 2 Your skin will be supple and smooth, 3 Your ears and eyes will be acute and clear, 4 Your muscles will flex and your bones strong, 5 You will then be able to bear the Great Circle of heaven, 6 And tread over the Great Square of earth; 7 You will abase yourself with great purity, 8 Perceiving with great clarity. 9 Be reverently aware without wavering, 10 And you will daily renew your Virtue, 11 Completely comprehending the world, 12 Drawing from the Four Directions, 13 Reverently developing your wholeness. 14 This is called Inner Virtue. 15 However, should you not return to practice, 16 This will increase your instability. zhang 17 - Practicing Dao 1 To be wholly in accord with Dao, 2 You must practice, you must focus, 3 You must expand, you must relax, 4 You must be firm, you must be regular. 5 Hold fast to excellence; do not let abandon it. 6 Chase away excess, let go of the trivial. 7 Once you know the Ultimate 8 You will return to Dao and De. zhang 18 - Manifest Qi 1 When the whole Heart is centered, 2 It cannot be concealed or hidden. 3 It is apparent from your body's appearance, 4 It is visible by your skin color. 5 With good Qi, when you greet others, 6 They will be kinder than brothers and sisters. 7 With bad Qi, when you greet others, 8 They will harm you with force and weapons. 9 The sound of 'no-words' 10 Is louder than the thunder of a drum. 11 The perceptible form of the Heart's Qi 12 Is brighter than the sun and moon, 13 And more concerned than parents. 14 Rewards are not sufficient to encourage the good; 15 Punishments are not sufficient to discourage the bad. 16 The mind attains Qi, 17 And the world submits. 18 The Heart and mind stabilized, 19 And the world listens. zhang 19 - Concentrating Qi 1 When you concentrate Qi like a spirit, 2 All things will support your existence. 3 Are you able to concentrate, able to be one with them? 4 Are you able to be without divining or counting stalks, 5 Yet know bad and good fortune? 6 Are you able to stop? Are you able to be yourself? 7 Are you able to not demand from others, 8 Yet attain it within yourself? 9 You think about it and think about it. 10 And again, deeply think about it. 11 You think about it, yet you can't fathom it. 12 A Spiritual Being will fathom it, 13 Not due to the Spiritual Being's power, 14 But due to the ultimate of Jing and Qi. 15 When your four limbs are aligned 16 Your blood and Qi are tranquil; 17 When your mind is one and your heart concentrated, 18 And your ears and eyes not distracted; 19 Even that which is most remote will be accessible. zhang 20 - Self-Realization 1 Thinking and searching generate knowledge. 2 Laziness and ease generate worry. 3 Cruelty and arrogance generate resentment. 4 Worry and grief generate disease. 5 Disease then causes death. 6 When you think about it and don't let it go, 7 You will be internally distressed and externally weak. 8 Dont let little things become big plans, 9 Else life will abandon you. 10 Eat, but do not exceed your appetite, 11 Think, but do not overanalyze. 12 Temper and put these in balance, 13 And you will attain self-realization. zhang 21 - Balance and Alignment 1 As for all human life, 2 Heaven brings forth its Jing/essence, 3 Earth brings forth its bodily form. 4 These join in order to make a person. 5 When in harmony, then there is life; 6 When not in harmony then there is no life. 7 In examining the Dao of harmony, 8 You cannot sense it by sight, 9 You cannot summon it by a chance meeting. 10 When balance and alignment fill your chest, 11 And respiration is governed within the heart, 12 This results in enhanced life. 13 When fondness and resentment cause you to lose stability, 14 Then make a determination 15 To restrict the five desires, 16 To remove these two misfortunes. 17 Do not be fondly attached, do not be resentful, 18 Let balance and alignment fill your chest. zhang 22 - Stabilizing Your Nature 1 As for all human life, 2 It must flow from balance and alignment 3 Where we lose these, 4 Must be by fondness, resentment, worry and anxiety. 5 Therefore, to stop resentment there's nothing like poetry; 6 To cast aside worry there's nothing like music; 7 To temper music there's nothing like ritual; 8 To keep to ritual there's nothing like reverence; 9 To keep to reverence there's nothing like stillness. 10 When inwardly still and outwardly reverent 11 You are able to return to your nature 12 Your nature will become greatly stable. zhang 23 - Dao of Eating 1 As for the Dao of eating, 2 Overeating harms the body 3 And brings misfortune 4 Undereating dries up the bones 5 And congeals the blood 6 The point between overeating and undereating: 7 This is called harmonious completion. 8 It is the where jing abides 9 And where wisdom is generated. 10 When hunger and eating lose balance, 11 Then make a determination 12 When full, move away from gluttony; 13 When hungry, expand your thoughts beyond food; 14 When old, abandon anxiety. 15 If you don't move away from gluttony, 16 Qi will not circulate within your extremities. 17 If when lusting food you dont expand your thoughts, 18 When you eat you will not stop. 19 If when old you dont abandon anxiety, 20 This will cause your alertness to be exhausted. zhang 24 - Recycling Qi 1 Enlarge your Heart and release it, 2 Expand your Qi and increase it, 3 Your body calm and unmoving; 4 You're able to hold to the one and abandon the myriad distractions. 5 You see profit and are not tempted, 6 You see harm and do not fear; 7 Detached and relaxed, yet compassionate, 8 In solitude enjoying yourself, 9 This is called recycling Qi, 10 Your thoughts and actions are like heaven. zhang 25 - Not Forcing 1 As for all human life, 2 It thrives within serenity. 3 Worry results in the loss of disipline, 4 Resentment results in the loss of equilibrium. 5 When worried or sad, fondly attached or resentful, 6 The Dao then is without abode. 7 Fondness and desire: still them, 8 Folly and confusion: correct them. 9 Do not pull, do not push, 10 Good fortune will naturally return, 11 The Dao will naturally come. 12 By this means you can rely on it. 13 Tranquility results in attaining it, 14 Impatience results in losing it. zhang 26 - Dao of Tempering Desire 1 The ephemeral Qi within the Heart: 2 One moment it comes, one moment it departs. 3 So minute, it is without interior; 4 So great, it is without exterior. 5 Where we lose it 6 Is due to our impatience causing harm. 7 When the Heart maintains stillness, 8 Dao will naturally stabilize. 9 For people who attain Dao, 10 It pervades their structure to the tip of their hair. 11 At the center of their chest, nothing is lost. 12 Temper desire with Dao 13 And the myriad things will not trouble you. translation © 2005 - shazi daoren Notes: some of these phrases were very difficult. some of them didn't quite align with daojia, or at least to my understanding of it. it's very difficult to be unbiased in translation. zhang 6 this is close to a literal translation Heart is xin - heart/mind zhang 7 the first three lines are quite terse in chinese heaven-rule-align, etc. i followed a bit of roth's approach to solving this obliqueness. zhang 8 this verse seems core to neiye and equates jing and qi as the object of alignment. such alignment focuses on calmness, centered heart, a specific awareness of eyes and ears, and posture. then jing is able to dwell and qi is able to flourish (grow, flourish, be born, etc.) this doesn't seem to result in emptiness but rather a level of thought that stops short of knowledge. zhang 9 this is a very interesting verse. the first two lines don't convey the One theme as well as in the chinese, where line 1 starts 'One thing' and line 2 'One affair'. This focus on 'One' is replete in this zhang. The Master - junzi, is the same word konzi uses as the 'superior man'. i felt that the use of Master in 9.5 juxtaposed against the verb 'master' in 9.7 works very well. I really like the concept the master acts (not wei, but rather, shi) upon things and is not acted upon was an interesting concept. Although the 'One' concept seems quite daoist, the use of junzi and some of the act on things don't be acted upon may be a bit confucian. zhang 10 harness, control, manage, govern are all the same word in chinese. yet the idea conveys better as multiple words appropriate to the object of each line. The last two lines are a bit enigmatic, and i've translated it as close to the text as i could. it's a powerful statement, perhaps a bit of hyperbole, but yet the idea of attaining dao in later daojiao does empower the Master. zhang 11 the Roth translation seems to ignore line 6 which is 'tian ren di yi' 'heaven benevolence earth justice/righteousness' roth has: 5 Align your body, assist the inner power, 6 Then it will gradually come on its own. true, benevolence and righteousness are distinctly confucian thoughts, yet it makes more sense to contrast these with the last line having a form of 'ziran' but not exactly 'self so'. zhang 12 This is where the 'spirit' begins to take some central importance in the neiye. i spent two days thinking about one word here - guan - "Government", translated in line 4 and 5 as 'faculties'. roth translates it 'senses', which isn't quite it, as i see it, it would be the government or constitution of the body, your general health/faculties. zhang 13 i left more words in this cut untranslated, especially Jing, De, and Qi, meaning: jing - the essence De - Virtue Qi - well, Qi, ch'i, Energy. but some words, spirit/shen, heart/xin i have translated. i'm just inconsistent that way - dao ke dao. zhang 14 this zhang is amazing, and amazingly difficult to translate. 1-7 portray the 'dao is everywhere' concept 8-9 introduce the core teaching, that dao is accessible only by what's in the Heart. I did not translate Heart as Xin, although it isn't quite heart either. it's heart/mind. 10-16 may be some of the most powerful words I've read in daojia regarding the centrality of what's in the heart/mind. even to the point that the writer is juxtaposing the conscious heart/mind with the unconcious heart/mind, that one, not sure which, controls the other. 17-23 show a descent from awareness 'mind'/yi through the embodiment of ideas into actions and order. i'm not sure this isn't more confucian than daojia. there's definitely no wuwei here, and sort of an exalting of order and action. zhang 15 i can't begin to express the beauty of the language here. zhang 16 most of these lines are without pronouns. hence, i could have said 'if i am able to...' it's hard to tell whether 2 3 and 4 are consequences of alignment and tranquility or additional conditions to be met for 5 thru 8. basically, 1-4 may set the stage for the four 'greats' in 5-8. in 4 and 6, there are references to 'great circle' and 'great square'. roth puts 'of the heavens' and 'of the earth' in brackets, but i simplified a bit here in order to easily get the reference. i still haven't made up my mind whether it's better to say 'de' or 'Virtue'. for some reason 'Virtue' in this zhang feels better to me. in 7 there's a word 'jian', which means cheap or lowly, which i interpret as abasing or humbling oneself. in 12 there's a word 'qiong', which means exhaust or poor, roth used 'exhaust', but it doesn't seem to make sense in context. draw from is a way to exhaust something, which is what i used. and the 'four directions' is an idomatic expression, it actually says the 'four ji' as in four ridgepoles or extremes. we might say in archaic engllish, 'the four corners of the earth.' this is all called 'inner virtue' neide. what a concept! inner cultivation results in inner virtue... line 15 has 'ran er' so yet... which together mean 'however' in modern chinese. i felt this combination made better sense, yet these two last lines are difficult at best to translate. zhang 17 this starts, literally, 'all dao' which can also be entirely dao. to make sense of this in context there are a set of six practices that 'must' be one's discipline. hence, i came back to to be wholly (one with) in accord with dao. line 5 'excellence' is shan, good, good-at i felt excellence a better fit, the attribute of disciplined practice. to say 'hold fast to the good' would simply not fit. Ultimate is 'ji' as in taiji, wuji. the ridgepole. once you know the taiji/wuji, or in other words, the 'jis', you return to daode. very interesting thought. zhang 18 line 1 could be entire heart exists in center. but it seems to make better sense in the light of earlier use of zhong/center, to focus on the centered heart. lines 2-8 are easy translations, quite literal. lines 9-10 are quite close to literal, line 10 first word is 'ji' which might mean spreading hate or sickness but in context, it seems better to say 'is louder than' i suggest that ji is just a metaphor for being disruptively loud. this would appear to be an idiomatic axiom. 13 is a difficult translation. 16 and 18 have 'yi' - mind, idea, intention, and given that 18 has both yi and xin, i feel comfortable translating yi as mind in most places here. Yi seems to be the rational thinking mind. the promises of all the world submitting or listening are a bit hyperbolic here. i think the writer is trying to get across that by concentrating qi and aligning the heart/mind, whatever an individual can do naturally thereafter happens, whereas forcing things without the internal de/qi is simply a waste of energy. zhang 19 this is an amazing verse. i don't have much to say about the translation, for the most part it came easily and is straightforward. line 1 'like a spirit' is literally what it says. then in lines 12 and 13, guishen reappars 'spiritual being' - ghost spirit. this is the disembodied jing in chapter 1. in other words, no matter how much one thinks about something, you won't get it. having qi concentrated from jing, as would a spiritual being, one simply understands stuff. how does the human being do this? aligning the body, calming the blood (heart-beat) and breath, centering the heart and mind through some form of meditation (the neiye is not specific as to what). this will collect energy/qi, and align the person's spirit with dao, attaining de. in such a state, one can 'see the world' without leaving his/her village. zhang 20 the first four lines are causal pairs of things resulting in something 'bad' notice that 'knowledge' is in the same class as worry, resentment, and disease. the four 'bads' escalate to death. it may be innocent enough to think and search, but if you think about it, it will burn you up. line 8 is quite funny, literally, 'no flea makes plans', which also must be some sort of idiomatic expression. seems more appropriate to 'nip little things in the bud', like several zhang of ddj. lines 10 and 11 have dual negatives in them, and it's easier to understand in chinese than translate. the idea is to eat and think moderately, not as if (literally) you can't get enough. line 13 literally says 'you will self realize' it's a very powerful statement. zhang 21 - 7-9 there's a theme here that i cannot quite translate accurately. the theme is around the harmony of dao, that its 'emotion' cannot be 'seen' and it's 'note of chinese scale' cannot be 'completed'. i'm sure red will see in this something about sound meditation, and perhaps there is a sense of how the harmony of dao isn't quite like traditional sound or music. the idea, however, conveys to me that there is a futility in trying to see dao with one's eye's or hear it with one's ears. there is a translation of the chinese note as a summons, summon it by a chance meeting is an accurate translation. it also is similar to some phrases in sunzi bingfa around summoning information. in the end, i like where this landed. fondness and resentment are also joy and anger and were translated such in a previous zhang. however, the joy here is really a fondness, an attachment to people and things, not the ecstasy found in meditation or 'true happiness' whatever that may be. given that fondness has its opposite in resentment, and this anger is truly the type directed toward others, then fondness and resentment seem to translate better. 14 - make a determination - is actually 'make a plan', or lay it out on paper in form of a diagram. i could argue that daojia seems to be against making plans, but in fact there are several zhang in ddj around planning things when they're small. so, instead of an elaborate plan, which this isn't really talking about, it's more about commitment. a determination to do the type of inner cultivation that rectifies the dificiencies of one's training. zhang 22 isn't hard to translate, i just have a hard time with the premise that one can use music and ritual as a means of attaining stability. that's a personal matter -- not that i don't participate in ritual or music, but rather whether such are consistent with daojia. it really doesn't matter, because in the context of these writings, daojia and rujia are not in conflict within neiye. zhang 23 clearly is about balanced diet between over- and undereating. the problem lies in line 4, where the words at the beginning, da she, is really mean 'great absorbtion'. all i can say is that it must be idiomatic for undereating or great fasting of some sort. the context all clearly points to a mean between overfilling and something else. in line 15, the phrase begins with 'abalone', implying that when one is in the presence of a food delicacy, one has to be able to move away from a type of sick envy. literally: abalone - as a rule/result - sick envy - move. in other words, don't let the lust for fine food absorb you into a sick envy; move away from it! All that is just easier said move away from gluttony. the last two lines might be better said, but the translation here is pretty much as written - this will cause (ci jiang). zhang 24 is nearly a perfect description of the result of neiye. what is neiye? in my opinion, any type of meditation where the body maintains a relaxed alignment, the chest expanded to allow for deep breathing, an awareness yet ability to detach from distraction. to do this, one balances eating sleeping, and the sense desires; drawing upon Jing to cultivate Qi, and Dao to cultivate De. When you do this, when you're with others you can be detached and relaxed yet compassionate, and when alone you can truly enjoy yourself. zhang 25 - so can all this be trained? forced? hell no. no pulling no pushing no forcing at all. just let it flow tranquility and serenity allow 'it' to stabilize. impatience, literally, causes you to lose 'it'. zhang 26 - ephemeral could also be mysterious - it's kind of like a dead spirit in the etymology very temporary, but not necessarily fleeting. i think 'ephemeral' captures the idea. line 6 hits impatience again. key thought. line 9 and 10 - those who 'attain', dao pervades everything from structure through hair. i could ask 'how can one attain something that is already everywhere?'. yet there is no exact distinction in neiye between dao/de/jing/qi. whatever 'it' is, 'it' is forever nameless, so these labels tend not to be precise in their meaning in the original, nor in translation. the last two lines are poetic without grammar "Dao of tempering desire [resuts in] 10K things no trouble"

Hello there, If you have any kind of blog or personal website and are at all interested in the possibility of (free) cross-pollination with TDB site here, will you please email me at somlor [AT] eml.cc with a link to your site? Would appreciate it. Thank you, Sean

Howdy Bums, I wanted to drop in and say I'm sincerely sorry for being AWOL the last few months. 😔 Some context on what's going on with me. Last year I was increasingly feeling pulled into some intense life crossroads/transitions. OK, turbulent, I can do turbulent. 😐 But then I received a few quite impressive combo punches. Most notably, an unexpected (albeit amicable) separation with my wife, followed up shortly after with getting laid off from my job thanks to COVID-19. Goddamnit. 😵 I'm OK. Not great, or probably even good. But OK. I've been marching through several demanding technical interview processes to find a new job which is consuming most of my mental and emotional energy. I've bumped zuowang to medicinal multi-hour dosages. Otherwise I'm just being my weird, aspie, hyper-introverted self in my mountain-hermit quarantine. Le sigh. Deepest thanks to everyone who patiently reached out to me in my absence. Sorry for lack of responsiveness, I'm just in "sick dog healing under the deck" mode. I'll survive and hobble back here in due time. 🤕 In my leave, I've given Trunk the superpowers to help with any fires. Please be kind to him and to each other (but not to fascists, always be extremely mean to them whenever possible). ❤️ Sean

Welcome to a full ark of new members. 👋 Sorry for the delay in account approval. The dust is still settling from an unexpectedly turbulent holiday season. 😵

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Hey, so I can actually confirm that I'm extremely gay and gender nonconforming because of anthropocentric Western civilization technology Christian colonialist chemical Zionist feminisms.

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