zerostao

good point eskrimador,

water can seem effortless and it is natural in its naturalness.

virtue or Te can be looked at in this way.

water is one of the very basics needed for life, a healthy and happy life.

virtue is the same as water in this regard.

Te/virtue is to be natural and effortless in ones actions and inactions,

to do what is naturally appropiate in a given circumstance.

here is an excellent thread started by rene;

http://thetaobums.com/topic/19499-laozis-de/

to have virtue is not to neglect enjoyment. it is kinda to embrace enjoyment.

if we look at the tao te ching as a simple and often misunderstood title

but literally it is saying that the way to power is thru virtue.

accumulate virtue in this life and then accumulate more.

and have a positive attitude about it and have some fun.

Virtue.

bingo

if there is something that i do not have a direct experience with, i still cannot be so strong in my opinion to say for a fact it does not exist.

and there are things that i do in fact have direct experince with, so i tend to lean strongly that they do exist.

"When I have a terrible need of - dare I say the word - religion, then I go out and paint the stars."

-- Vincent Van Gogh

he also wrote;

"i prefer to paint human eyes rather than cathedrals"

ed>i couldnt spell eyes lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A58hAcBDvOw

some folks see the world in a grain of sand , some folks say damn sand gets into everything

some folks see heaven in a single wild flower, some folks see useless weeds

I see no difference between religion and spirituality

i guess it depends on an individuals own definition on what is religion and what is spirituality.

my view they are entirely 2 different things.

we are all going to have our own very personal views about these and very different definitions.

if someone has frequent and direct experience/contact with spirit world, i dont call that religion.

i call that spiritual.and i look at religion as having alot of dogma. i am sure others have a different definition.

i do agree with aaron, in that it is ideal if everyone can plant their own apple seeds.

can't anyone make the leap?

i think gatito's rumi post leaped way over it

are your laogongs open?

edit> and connected to ldt?

2nd edit> you never wanna force energy

3rd edit> qi flows or pulses out the hands easily enuff as long as u r not trying to force it,

never force the breath either

I've had that happen trying to push energy out of my hands, it was quite painful for some time after that.

this doesnt sound good, i tried to scroll back to see what it was refering to, but didnt

can you give more details?

Move, move, move like a spinning top:

idk but ive been told if ya never slow down ya never grow old-tom petty

but seriously someone tip that waiter.

yesterday i made a post about wild horses running thru the night, some wolves dancing thru the night

and some famous owl who only spread his wings after dusk,

then when i went outside and saw the moon i was like , doh!

i would like to invite any bums down the next 2 full moons to cumberland falls to view the moonbow (it is a rare thing)

and quite striking.

http://quietbuck.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/the-moonbow/

@gatito, i posted breath on the rumi thread and then came to find that you had already posted it here

i felt you had prompted me to post breath

i am happy to find it already had been posted

http://www.arashnaraghi.org/articles/Rumi.htm

a timely bump i think

a timely reminder here from the timeless rumi

some redundancy may be in order here, so

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu

Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion

or cultural system. I am not from the East

or the West, not out of the ocean or up

from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not

composed of elements at all. I do not exist,

am not an entity in this world or the next,

did not descend from Adam and Eve or any

origin story. My place is placeless, a trace

of the traceless. Neither body or soul.

I belong to the beloved, have seen the two

worlds as one and that one call to and know,

first, last, outer, inner, only that

breath breathing human being.

There is a way between voice and presence

where information flows.

In disciplined silence it opens.

With wandering talk it closes.

welcome (back)

i reckon i could be a herd animal if the herd were wild horses

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCjxZHGHL4Y

or a pack animal if it were a pack of brothers, er wolves

the owl of athena spreads its wings only after dusk

then you can imagine my joy, when in class this morning, this was presented to the class and then we had to critically analyze , to include describing its aesthetic beauty, if it related more to frueds love drive or death drive, well that one was easy. describe all emotions displayed, provide insight to the moment when she said parole, and so on. still i expect an a for my efforts hahaha

i dont have to write about this next one, listening is good enuff

edit> wow that was great, it was so inspiring really i had to listen to the great great great grandmasters(RJ) original version. damn good

i must be waaaaaayyy basic then, coz i always felt, and still feel that human basic nature is a desire for happiness and to share that happiness.

Edit to add:

Oh!, I am still very good at spreading BS.

you are certainly not the lone ranger here in that regard!

ed>forgot to italicize

2nd edit>> maybe part of what is missing is the ralis/vaj dynamic type of thing.

ralis is still here, so ,

time for some real music

did anyone listen to the entire 21 minutes?

here is a sample critical review:

The sublime coda to Visage is one of twentieth century music's holy moments

mh. you are a regular cupid i suppose.

you don't have long to wait, soon he'll be back to wonder why he didnt evaporate into the 9th dimension on december 21 2012

 

and regale us with stories of bigotry and self loathing thinly disguised as spiritual diatribes

 

and troll

so, there will be something to look forward to if there is a december 22 afterall

I apologize, I'm voting against it...I think Taoist and General discussion forums are adequate. You want qigong to be listed along with neigong? People will be talking 8 brocades alongside mo pai. Makes no sense to me.

how many arguments debates have sprung up over the subtle differences in what some call chi kung or qigong or neigong?

the subforum expansion thing could be a good idea but do the majority of these subforums maintain momentum?

imo the personal practice logs are ideal for these sorta things.

you dont see me asking for a baguazhang subforum and please do not include it in one