Josh Young

Buddha was the saint of the Sankyas, this was a preexisting dicipline with specific works including the Srimadbhagavatam. This is the reason for him being called Sakyamuni. There are many teachings attributed to Buddha, are they all correct? The essence of the Diamond Sutra is no different than that of Tao. The essence of dhamapada contains no thing not found in Tao. The vedas contain the same teachings. Have people not noticed that the Tao De Jing is a sutra? Have they not noticed this structure form is the same as that of the vedas? Do people forget the symbols? The Chakram, the Dharma wheel, the bagua, they are one and not by any stretch of the imagination. How many roads to truth must providence provide, that we will embark upon one of them? Only one for each of us, no more no less. Must it all be put in identical terms? In the same language? How then will it reach the people? It can only be one at a time. Why then, do we seek to tell others about our own path? What allegiances must we have? To an organization? So that only those who belong may find the way? What utter nonsense. But tao is without name and without quality or property. It cannot be sought after nor can it be avoided.

At their core there is no real difference between early Buddhism, which is based upon the sankya philosophy expounded in the Srimad bhagavatam, and taoism. If you translate vedic concepts into chinese you get taoist concepts. The trigrams correspond to the I ching, the vedic astrology contains the same concepts and symbols too. The trigrams also correspond to the symbol of the chakra, which is none other than a symbol of Vishnu. Amita buddha bears the swastica on his chest just like narayana bears the same mark, they both reside upon the lotus on the waters and have almost identical symbolism. In some statues the mark on buddha is three straight lines, this is the symbol of devotion to Shiva, who if you read the scriptures is inseparable from Brahma and Vishnu. The swastica is itself both a solar symbol and a yin yang symbol, the two lines of it that cross have been described as two fish, a symbol consistent with both vedic teachings, Taoist teachings and those of early Christianity whose very symbol is the two fish. The ever familiar taiji symbol is a form of swastica and have been called two fish. The mathematical extrapolation of it, using quabbalic methods, results in the trigrams and hexagrams. The coptic judaism of ethiopia, dating from before the destruction of the temple of solomon, bears the same symbols of the swastica and the sun as the vedas, the tao, and buddhism. An examination of the development of religious iconography of earth shows that a mere few thousand years ago the symbols were remarkable consistent in some aspects. The architecture of the buddhist, hindu and judiac temples seems initially related, as does the very structure, or layout of the works. The role of music in temple ceremonies in judiaism is reminiscent of Japa mantra use. The early caste system of judaism, which has warriors, priests and workers, mirrors that of india, and that of egypt. It can clearly been seen to have influenced the caste and class system of other areas too, like Japan. At their core the philosophical beliefs of world religions are also very similar. Our genetics show us that we all descend from a common population that was rather small, this bottleneck undoubtedly affected culture as well though people have not realized that this, and not Jungian archetypes, is responsible for the seeming convergence of religious themes which is none other than the divergence of themes from a common ancestry. Tao is at the root, the heart, the source. When Moses asks god for a name, what god reveals is tao, saying: I am that I am. For those who know the tao there is no distinction between tao and this understanding. Over time all of these religions have strayed and evolved so to speak. They all wear funny hats and argue over which funny hat is correct. But the tao is unchanging. You will not find modern religions to agree so much, but if you look far enough back the differences between religions will begin to be realized as just another part of the illusion of the world.

I enjoy Yang Taijiquan through Yang Cheng-fu,- Chen Wei Ming, - Sit King Leung,- Alwin Leung,- Art Barret- me. I also practice Shurikendo and Michuan taiji jian.

Why do we conflate intellect with social/vocational obedience training? Why do we pretend that it amounts to education? Education is a rare thing, even among those with several degrees.

My name is Josh. I don't call myself taoist, but consider myself a student of the tao. I am a practicing member of IKT or I-Kuan Dao, something I noted that there was much misunderstanding about here. I practice Yang style Taijiquan, but don't conflate taijiquan practice with form practice and believe that mere choreography cannot constitute the practice or the development of any skill other than dancing. I study history and religion a great deal and am interested in more topics than would be fair to mention. I'm bad at small talk and am not very social, but I enjoy discussions and conversations provided they are sincere. Well that is about as good as I can do eh? Thanks, Josh

same crap over and over again.... Listen if somebody attacks you on the street it's gonna b a series of very fast strong punches straight in the face and none of this taichi BS would work I guarantee you. I know several bikers and ex gang members who disagree with you. I have seen a modest amount of violence, people beat down in the street. I know a ton of stories about various fights too, sometimes ending in death. I literally know people who used to collect money for meth dealing biker gangs, they were recruited right out of highschool and did terrible things to people. Years later they ran security at a bar and a friend of mine was hired by them, that is how I met the guys. I know boxers and MMA guys, ex marines and kempo blackbelts. I've been in a fair number of fights when I was younger too. I have seen several types of attacks on the street, but not once have I seen very fast straight punchs to the face. I know some wing chun guys who work like that, and the boxers have pretty good jabs but the right cross and the two handed shove are some of the most common moves. Many people go to the ground in a grapple, sometimes people get knocked out by a single punch, usually a sucker punch. Most attacks come from behind or the side. The bouncers and fighters and boxers and people I know think that taijiquan works and are impressed with it. There are bad examples for every martial art but that doesn't discredit the idea that if you practice you will gain skills. Don't you see the same pattern in all these masters - The teacher will tell you exactly how to attack (usually with some lame back of the forearm move at your chest level) and they will continue slow until the teacher decides to strike you really fast in the balls to impress the audience --- this has nothing to do with reality - your master would be biting the dust before he knows it and only a gun could save him. I criticize these same demonstrations for the same lack of realism, but I have see taiji work very well and it has been proven time and time again in open fighting tournaments far more brutal and lethal that the sportfighting that takes place in the US. CC chen and Zhang Qin Lin are fine examples of people who proved taiji was effective and lethal and could be used for sport fighting. The very history of taijiquan has the blade techniques of the art being widely employed by the Qing imperial guard. Yang taijiquan under Luchan was a battle art, not a sport. That's why there are no videos of taichi guys fighting a real fighter - not because of their philosophy but because they can't do it - it's not possible !!! That is your opinion and compared to the historical record it seems rather misinformed. Taijiquan is not a sportfighting art, comparing it to MMA is like comparing having live rounds fired at you (taiji) and having paintballs fired at you(MMA) it is a joke. Don't tell me that sportfighting produces warriors, if anything it produces dolts with braindamage, what use has a taiji person for violence? They know the art is proven and if someone who has not done the research claims that taiji is BS then that is their opinion, history has already shown that taijiquan is effective. I think the whole penis measuring thing for martial arts is silly anyway. No art is capable of producing someone who cannot be defeated. Skill is a personal progress thing, not a sportfighting thing. I don't consider sport fighters to be martial artists at all. In one of my friends garage they have a heavy bag and a 200lb+ water filled kicking target. I am the smallest guy in the group of people, I mean I am 160lb at most and most of these guys including the ex-marine and several people who have worked as bouncers are above 220lbs. They are clearly stronger than I am, but in terms of technique their ability to issue energy is no stronger than mine, my taiji techniques clearly transmit more force into the bags than those of the much bigger individuals. Seriously, taiji techniques are very powerful, I can shoulder streetlight poles and they shake violently, (the hollow round steel type that are about 20 feet tall) and secretly I am glad these larger guys don't know how to do that, it takes a special way to use momentum and agility. Taiji is genious motion technology, if you have a genuine issue with a technique of it lets hear it, if you want to say it stinks without any real insight other than what you think you saw a so called master do then you don't have any credibility to the idea that it is ineffective.

Im not saying Taiji is bad or doesnt work im saying that bouncing people has nothing to do with reality fighting or even MMA . Comparing MMA to Taiji is like comparing playing paintball to being in a war. Taijiquan is not a sport, it is not sport fighting. Sport fighting has many rules, such as "no unsportsmanlike conduct" taiji is not concerned with sport fighting, it is not about violence either, the martial side of it is but one small part of a rich system. Bouncing people is the safest way to issue energy into them, or redirect energy into them. We do not hurt our training partners. The same openings that allow us to redirect and bounce someone could be used to main or kill them. The amount of energy involved in a bounce can easily break limbs, crush a windpipe or stop a heart. The truth is that most goods taijiplayers know this well enough to not tell you about it, we are not interested in teaching thugs to kill, it is an art about self development. There has been a very strong effort for many years to hide the lethality of taijiquan from those whose interest in martial arts comes not out of a quest for personal mastery but rather comes from a thirst for conflict and violence. Let the animalistic people get into the ring and do what they will, however the conflation of sport fighting with martial arts has gone one too long. The Gracie system is proven in many contexts, but it is the person, not the system, that attains excellence. You will never obtain enlightenment through Gracie sportfighting, if you think you can compare BJJ to taijiquan you are severely mistaken. Im sure Adam is a fine teacher if bouncing people is what you are after and of course his taiji! No real taijiquan teaches bouncing as application. However it is a skill that should not be underestimated, people get knocked out this way fairly often by hitting the wall and or the floor. Taijiquan has far more to it than the eyes of an outsider can every pick up. Maybe go and test your Taiji in Lampeedee stadium against the Thai Boxers? If you win using your bouncing Jing i would be hugly impressed and take back any negative comments of bouncing people around. This is a radical conflation of the test of violence as a test of a taijiquan. Those who insist upon such tests have little comprehension or understanding of taijiquan or the very concept of self defense which is to minimize chances of conflict. No self defense is had by entering into contests of violence. There is always someone bigger, faster or stronger, there is no man in any martial art that cannot know defeat. William CC Chen and Zhang Qin Lin have both proven taijiquan can be used for sport fighting. That it was used for actual combat by having Luchan teach imperial troops should not be forgotten either. In the case of Zhang Qin Lin, he won an open fighting tournament in which people died, as a matter of fact he used lu to strike a man in the side of the head and the man died. CC Chen also won an open fighting tournament. Those who know taiji well know that the martial side of it is well proven to be effective and lethal, however they also know that the spiritual aspects of it are the primary focus. I rather prefer that taijiquan gets constantly underestimated. This allows us to see the frauds who have altered the art and changed things having not understood the art due to not having received the actual transmissions, including about things like fa-jing and fang-song. Not understanding how and why taiji was effective they modified it according to what they think it should be, they then insist that their students don't read the classics and worse will tell you that form training is a traditional and effective way to develop skill, this is not so. The training of the 13 postures classically culminated in the transmission of the form, it certainly didn't begin with nor emphasize the form for training but rather relies upon a comprehensive and systematically progressive series of drills and practices including weapons training.

I wished to share my own answers to this, please forgive me if I mention what others have before or mention an alternative view to what others have mentioned. I only wish to share and learn. Is there any deities or a Deity in the Taoist way of life and ritual? I dislike the reality that I must address terms before I can share my opinions. The very term deity is complex. However my answer is that if deity exists, then the answer is yes, and if deity exists then the answer is no. I do not claim to know that deity exists, but I believe deity does and thus for me Tao is not only of God, but God is of Tao. However I can neither affirm nor deny that deities exist, I know that I do not know. 2) Can enlightenment be achieved through a Taoist type practice? The answer to this depends on what you think enlightenment is and why you want it. The short answer is that it has been known to happen, but that enlightenment might not be what you think. The very understanding of tao in its ultimate nature is an enlightened concept unto itself. 3) can people convert over to a Taoist way of life or does one have to be born into it? Neither. Living a way of life has nothing to do with belonging to a group or organization. As a matter of fact no matter what group you are in or what you call yourself your actions are still the result of your choices, thus there is no born into or converting to. If there was then it would not be Tao and it would not be pure. 4) is there life after death? Maybe, maybe not. I don't know and I don't think anybody does. Why does it matter anyway? Do we seek eternal life? If so why? To what end? Is not life and death enough? If you knew there was or was not an afterlife would you act any different than you do now? I doubt that i would, I am not motivated by greed of eternal life or fear of eternal punishment, I doubt any student of Tao would be so easily coerced by fear and desire into making claims that they know things which they were merely told, as opposed to knowing what they experienced. 5) Do Taoist believe in reincarnation? I do, but not the incarnation of the soul in new bodies time and time again, rather I believe in the reincarnation mentioned in the Diamond Sutra. This reincarnation I know first hand, however the other reincarnation i cannot affirm or deny for i do not know. 6) Are there other realms than the realm we are currently in? I don't know, I believe so but know that there may be, and there may not be. 7) Does Taoism also focus on Ancestor guides? The IKT certainly practices filial piety, since we all share ancestors this means respecting the entire family, from ancient ancestors to our distant relatives across the globe, the ultimate realization of filial piety is that we are all extended family and even the stranger is worthy of the respect our parents and children deserve. 8) Does Taoism have any mystical practices like lucid dreaming? I don't consider lucid dreaming to be mystical, however one who follows the Tao may practice many things including lucid dreaming. I am not aware of there being the endorsement of such practices by Tao, but some folk religion Tao groups may have all sorts of practices, there is modest diversity in them after all. 9) What are we? Are we a soul? A spirit? What is the Taoist definition of what we are? I am not a taoist, I am a student of Tao. When you know the answer to this question you may become enlightened. Why is a tree a tree? Is that actually what it is? You ask me to name something that needs no name, it existing is enough, to name something doesn't result in understanding. We are that we are, is this not what we are? Things define themselves in and of being, this is how Tao defines. If you name yourself, then that name shall stand between you and yourself, if you define yourself, that definition will prevent you from understanding. What you are can be understood by what you are, but not by words or names. 10) Do Taoist pray? If so to whom? I do. To my heavenly father and ancient mother who are one. Celestial progenitor, higher power, Lao Mu, God. I pray for thanks and sometimes ask that others be healed. I have never had a sincere prayer go unanswered. I also communicate in a way that many would call prayer with everything around us, including people, plants, minerals, and the planet. It is not a form of worship or veneration. 11) What types of meditation are taught in the taoist tradition? Multiple traditions result in multiple meditations. Qigong is very common, moving, standing and sitting meditations are common too. 12) Can someone link me to some reading material on Taoism for beginners? May i suggest the Dao De Jing? ( if I bounce between wade giles and pinyin please forgive me) 13) Were we created? If so by what or whom? No, we were sourced. Creation is the conflation of reconstruction with manifestation from nothing. Tao is unending, it is source and destination, creation is an artifact of the illusion of the world. Just like the thermodynamic laws state, energy cannot be created nor destroyed. There was no time when all that exists did not exist. This is self evident through Tao which is eternal but not in the sense of the projection of human concepts of eternity through the concept of time being a linear thing. Tao allows things to self create in a manner, or to self manifest. It is perfect so there is no need for it to have an idea like creation, it cannot look at a clock or a calender and say, "OK now it is time to to this" that very idea is absurd, particularly if it is attributed to an omnipotent god, god would have no need to schedule things or wait for the right time, there would be no need for intervention either, for what god other than one that is imperfect must step in to fix what he created when it doesn't go the way it should. The very idea that we can create is dubious, I make wooden swords and carve stones, I create nothing but shape and re-contextualize. I am a parent and I know I created nothing, the life that was in the cells that joined together to become my children was there in me, how arrogant I should be to suppose that i created a child or that i created life. Indeed creation is a word associated with many, many misconceptions. 14) Does Taoism have an explanation for those who have seen the deceased in dreams who give vivid messages that prove true in waking life? Does an explanation matter? I have had some experiences involving dreams and premonition that have been highly accurate. I had a dream that my taijiquan teacher moved back to town for specific reasons, I don't know however when or where I had the dream, the memory of it seemed to appear out of nowhere, I told my teacher about it and he said it was absolutely true. In dreams however, we do not require an explanation, after all what is an explanation? If gravity is not explained to us are we likely to float away? Could our minds show us something we need to know through the image of a deceased person? Sure. Could a deceased person show us something we need to know in dream? Perhaps. Either way what matters? The explanation or the dream itself? I can do amazing things in my dreams, including flying around, this does not mean i can fly. 15) do we have spirit guides? Do you want a spirit guide? What would one be? I have had people council me in dreams, who gave me names that I later found out were people who were dead. I am at a loss to understand it and make no claims that it was or wasn't meaningful. I don't know that we do or don't have spirit guides, but I know that if I wanted one I would experience one regardless of if it was real or not. Along those lines, whether god is real or not matters not to me, for my heart goes out to god none the less. 16) Are there any angels? In the IKT they teach that there is a spirit world and indeed what would correlate as angels. I however cannot claim that I know what I have been merely told, even if it is plausible or probable. I believe there may be angels, and there may not be. 17) are there heavenly realms? Yes, they are found in this life here on earth. There may be others too, but don't fail to appreciate what you have looking for what you don't. Please forgive my answers should they offend, I have no desire to be argumentative.

Show me one word, one rock, one leaf, one moment, untouched by tao. Tao is not something that is one thing and not another. Those who speak do not know and those who know do not speak. To say " this or that" is not tao is as foolish as saying "this or that" is tao. I read someone say that IKT is a combination of religions, however it is not syncretic nor an amalgamation. Tao is found in everything, everyone, and every religion. It does not mean religions or things are tao or that tao is them. Buddha knew the tao, is this so unbelievable a concept? That he found it through the guiding works of Kapila, and thus was known as the sage of the sankyas, or sankymuni, the sankyas being those expounding the works of kapila in the Srmiad Bhagavatam. And who is to say that Kapila did not know dao? Tell me what is tao that it is not known to the sages? Where are the differences between Tao related understanding and those of the various religions? Tao is their source, tao is pure, the works and words of our humble species can never contain, prescribe or limit tao. We like to imagine that each religion sprang up on its own, not so, they branched from each other and the source is not syncretic but does indeed contain the essence that is within them all. I do not speak for the Tao, nor the IKT, like all humans though I may delude myself in to thinking I know things, I know that all I have is my opinion and that is all anyone else has. Mr, Mak Tin Si Perhaps we can attempt to illustrate the actual differences of the core of the beliefs of IKT verses your taoism? I find there are two Tao traditions, one is a developed folk religion, the other is pervasive and inescapable.