GrandmasterP

It's not 'General' Taoism or related is my point. It's more of a political subject and therefore ' Off Topic' IMO. ( prior to MH getting it Pitted). Race threads generally end up as either shouting matches or sounding boards for bigotry from all and every side. Time will tell with this one. Ooops. Just noticed that this has been moved to ' Off Topic" Kudos Mods.

Factoring out the danger and the weather, cycling is just about the most energy efficient way of getting from A to B. It even beats walking in terms of distance attained for energy expended. Plus cycling keeps you fit ( and it can be fun).

Isn't this potentially contentious thread more "Off Topic" than " General"? General being 'generally' about cultivation and such.

Where would we be without black polo shirts complete with a big dojo badge embroidered thereon? I wear one when teaching and I'd bet most folks either do or have done too.

Here's a useful Pure Land primer. ( Mods NB. This resource is copyright free)... http://web.archive.org/web/20081205151947/http://www.ymba.org/BWF/bwf0.htm We get lots on Tibetan hence I hope we can maybe also begin to discuss other Buddhisms such as Zen and the Pure Land. Could be that no one is interested but... " Nothing ventured- Nothing gained." Anyone else ever cultivated Nembutsu? How did you find it?

+1 Driving in a car to a gym then paying to go on a walking machine. There's surreal.

Nice image in plain view there. Thank you. You might have spoilered it.

Ameri-Do-Te... Here...

A lot of folks would starve if they had to grow their own food. It is jolly hard work. Hard work's not so popular these days as once it was.

Robert Rankin has a running gag about 'dimmac' martial art in his ' Brentford Trilogy' books. Well worth checking out if you like laughing.

"Yes, this is the DEADLIEST and most TERRIFYING fighting art known to man--and WITHOUT EQUAL. Its MAIMING, MUTILATING, DISFIGURING, PARALYZING and CRIPPLING techniques are known by only a few people in the world. An expert at DIM MAK could easily kill many Judo, Karate, Kung Fu, Aikido, and Gung Fu experts at one time with only finger-tip pressure using his murderous POISON HAND WEAPONS. Instructing you step by step thru each move in this manual is none other than COUNT DANTE--"THE DEADLIEST MAN WHO EVER LIVED." (THE CROWN PRINCE OF DEATH.)"

Yep, very Taoist that Zen Buddhist Shobogenzo. Or at least, worthy of discussion along that or other lines I thought. Sorry it wasn't a Tibetan topic but I'm interested in Zen and PL mainly.

Maybe. Maybe not. I'm not sure.

Sublime indifference. Tao just is. We know from the TTC that Tao can't be defined with any degree of accuracy. No point in trying IMO.

Sod putting it off. We want to see the pictures. !

In Chapter 76 Dogen says... "By groping for what great Buddhist practice is, [we can find that] it is just great causes and effects themselves. And because these causes and effects are inevitably perfect causes and complete effects, they could never be discussed as falling or not falling, or as unclear or not unclear. If the idea of not falling into cause and effect is mistaken, the idea of not being unclear about cause and effect must also be mistaken." Pure Taoism there IMO

Hi Mark. Good post. That Nishijima/ Cross version is as good as any IMO. Given that few of us will ever be able to read the original as we don't read or understand Japanese and even for Japanese readers some of the nuances could seem obscure at the very least then we treat with the words on the page. It's a huge corpus and something in there for everybody. Sometimes 'too many cooks spoil the broth'. Look at all the TTC versions out there likewise the Christian Bible. You pays your money and takes your choice with a version to suit each and every sectarian approach. I 'm looking forward to Brad's forthcoming Dogen commentary. On topic though and as this is a Taoist site I thought to cite some Dogen wherein I reckon Taoism can be detected... For example

What is it with farmers and massive tractors? Time was an old Massey Ferguson or Fordson tractor not much bigger than a small car and one step up to get into the seat did everything and then some on every farm. Nowadays tractors are huge great things with a ladder needed to climb up into the cab. Farms are no bigger in the main, we've very little 'prairie style' mega fields compared to USA. I can see huge fields needing big kit but round here farms are still quite small but all with giant tractors.

Sure are pretty though. We had an old disused 'tank' ( stone built pond for water supply) near our compound in India that was totally choked up with lotus. Stunning to look at and teeming with birds

Grrrrrrrr Mrs GMP in London for a wedding. ( Reception in 'The Shard' no less! Very posh.) Dogs and I stuck here, literally. It hasn't stopped raining all day and the dogs show little enthusiasm for playing either card or board games.

GMP." How much was the pay for that job?" Nungali. " Five pounds an hour." GMP. " That wasn't much!" Nungali. " It was all that I could afford at the time."

Ideally, to live that way in comfort then you'd need lots of money. But I'm sure we all remember a story about that... Just the punchline... "But" the old fisherman protested to the yuppie; " I can already go fishing whenever I choose to."

Quite right too. Time was here in Blighty that only male Freeholders aged over 35 had a vote. Leaseholders and the unlanded could not vote but their landlord could vote 'on their behalf'. We used to have entire ' Rotten Boroughs' wherein the lord of the manor was the only voter . Hence ( surprise surprise) either the Lord of the Manor, his brother or similar close relly or chum was the sitting Member of Parliament winning every election with a 100% landslide majority. British Democracy really meant something back in the day.

Little feckers made a load of streaks on the kitchen tiled floor overnight. That or I should have changed the water in the mop bucket as I did the kitchen last. (We're all laminate downstairs). With the sun on it this morning it looked as if I had mopped the kitchen with dilute mud. I however chose to blame the faerie folk. Mrs GMP chose not to believe me and did it again when I was at work. It's all shiny now.

Is there to be no justice? I call upon the impassively impartial. Am I not impaled? Nay.. Impacted upon by this imperious Imp. (((( retires to bed to lick wounds))))