Samurai Mountain man

Reading suggestions! always include reading suggestions!

I know I'm not as good as I think I am.

"As you think, so shall you become."-Bruce lee

Whataaaaaaaaaaaaahoooooooooohhh.

Cause.

It's not really about motivation, all you need is the insight into what's needed and the energy to take the necessary action.

 

People's thoughts and misinterpretation take away their energy and then they think they need motivation.

 

When there's no mental confusion, no reacting, and no emotions, then the motivation is just built in because the energy is there and nothing gets in the way of taking action.

So we have to re-define traditional concepts such as goals, motivation and achievement and combine them into a single thing that's a natural part of our being (as opposed to our doing).

You do honor to your screen name.

Let go.

Hmmm....maybe my expectations of myself are higher than my actual potential.

lol, no man, not at all! Letting go of one's expectations is sure to guarantee that you'll not suffer when they're not met, and that you'll be more efficient in what you're doing.

You're a musician, right? If you expect to play guitar like Hendrix or sing like Pavarotti you're bound to be dissapointed even in your own progress. if anything you should expect to play like yourself, to sing like yourself, to be as good as you can be and to never stop getting better.

There is no such thing as "Taoist thoughts on motivation."

But there *IS* a driving force behind everything; I believe this force is called Te, no? if the driving force is part of the tao, and if the tao is all-encompassing and uncontainable, there is nothing that cannot be considered "non-taoist". You can say something is out of balance or not at peace with the tao but you can't say that something is not of the tao.

Now let's say ninjasm wishes to buy a new motorcycle, he could very well devote his time and energy to aquiring money as the new bike he wants is his Te. Or he could seclude himself in his room, meditate all day and learn to deatach himself and let go of his desire for a bike and disregard all material things he has... But why not both? if you need to be constantly motivating your self through passion to reach a goal, it's likely you'll suffer (unnecessarily) along the way and that you might not actually reach it. However, if we embrace the original Te, if we become it we'll reach the goal seemingly without effort, it'll be as natural as breathing or walking and we'll disregard whatever obstacles get in our way, like if we were water.

Now, sometimes motivation is more than the drive to reach a goal, sometimes we think of motivation as a reason to get up every morning and take control of our lives; Well Old man Lao has something to say about that:

"If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present."

I should know a thing or two about demotivation, I faced a decade of depression with my ups and downs, and understanding that the simplest form of motivation comes from the very fact that you're not motivated, really freed me from that vicious cycle. "I don't want to keep this up anymore" Sometimes you don't have to, and moving on onto something else is not always as complicated as we make it seem; other times there appears to be no choise (or the choises we have don't look any better) so how to deal with that? the Tao Te Ching teaches that we tend to get stuck in complaining and fighting a situation instead of accepting we're in it and then solving it.

Let's say two men are on a boat, neither man knows how to swim.

A strong wave knocks them out of the boat and into the water; one man beings to spash and shout and curse at his bad luck, he soon becomes tired and drowns. The other man, realizing this was going to happen to him, calms himself and begins moving his arms and legs and soon discovers how to displace the water arround him to stay afloat and to move towards the boat.

As I said before, I was very unmotivated to do anything, this made me feel horrible and in turn it made me even more unmotivated. Rinse and repeat ad nauseam. How'd I got out of It? I stopped looking for a magical way out of the cycle, I stopped asking why and stopped looking for answers, there were none of those and I was never going to find them so I simply said to myself "moving on" and I did, I started comming to terms with everything that was causing me grief, I accepted as a thing of the past that which I couldn't change and started changing what which I could. I don't know how many times I read the same story told by someone else on the internet and thought I had it, only to have a "relapse" after a while. You see, it's not a gospel, it's not a chip you can put in your head to change your programming, that's not how it works, the Tao te ching taught me that, taught me how to let go and simply become the change.

I think you are on a good path. Lessening our desires includes, for me, lessening our expectations. (Of everything except myself. I'm a little hard on myself but that's just the way I am.)

Yes, I remind myself constantly "i am in charge of my emotions, in charge of my desires". This I believe, will lead to a life were I am able to grow and learn and suffer as little as possible, i don't want to reach perfection or enlightment or anthing like that, not because it doesn't interest me, but because I am Human and I've come to terms with this state of imperfect perfection. Wether I can "attain tao" or not is not something I devote myself to.

I realize I am experiencing life and that I can discover my potential. I am many things today I don't have to be. how much can I let go to become purely human and not some mental image?

Hmnn, here's a question: Do we stay in the boat and go with the stream or get out of the boat and make our way? Maybe find find that horse?

All of those seem fine to me.

We become the boat-floating person without lamenting the way the stream flows.

We become the swimmer that goes his own way without protesting the strength of the current.

We become the horse-seeker who doesn't expect anything from the horse, not even finding it.

I just realized: That's what philosophical taoism is for me, right on.

I think the question to be asked is: "Nazis followed their dao, or their ego?"

They followed a rigid pattern.

They forced their way.

They wasted energies with their efforts.

They were attached to their identity and ideas.
They acted mostly from their feelings.

History Books tell us that Hitler was very Yang and little ying, too much of something, a filled cup to eventually spill. IMHO

I believe that the very fact we're bound to use language to "explain" something that cannot be exactly contained by language is just another perfect example of the Tao's relativism and duality. through the knowledge of how difficult it is to explain it, we can appreciate just how simple it is, at least that's how it was for me; I had to let go of traditional conceptual understanding to even grasp at the void.

Even as I type this I realize just how contradictory it is to what I truly understand (or think I understand) about Taoism.

I guess it's a positive feeling, not only for It's goal but because I find myself letting go of the unessential on a daily basis, I call it a hunger but I don't feel unsettled or disturbed by it, it doesn't give me anxiety and it hasn't become an obsession. It's a hunger that gives me drive. So yeah I believe I am starting to be at peace for the very first time in a long time.

I am by no means an expert but in very little time i've managed to read and research a decent ammount of information. Bruce Lee's Jeet kune do philosophy was heavily influenced by his study of philosophical Taoism, and he would often paraphrase from the Tao Te Ching, some things I couldn't really comprehend before but now seem to be clearing up.

What i've manged to understand about taoism is pretty much something I can't seem to put into words, the more I try to phrase the Tao the less I "know" about it. it's not really confusing but I can't explain it either, It trully trascends words. "being rather than Doing" comes to mind when attempting explanation.

Hello everyone, I am here because I have a hunger for self-knowledge, I am sure that through the practices of Philosophical Taoism I'll be able to really understand myself and get rid of all those things that I don't need.

I first got introduced to Taoism through self-research a week or so ago.Im not sure why I became curious about it, I just sort of started reading several different translations of the Tao te ching and I also read through some Zen and some Buddhism and found it all more pleasing than I thought it'd be. I eventually landed on Bruce Lee and his philosophical insights which I say really caught my attention because they spoke to me in various ways and they cemented my affinity for Taoist philosophy.

I believe that through understanding more of taoism I'll be able to understand more of the world and more about myself and constantly evolve into a better human being and someone who reaches out to his full potential.

One issue though. i've tried meditation several times (even before reading the TTC) and while i've managed to relax I haven't been able to actually meditate and I was looking for tips and advices, maybe sharing some experience?

Thanks in advance.