What Dao do you follow?

[Ascetic]

In Heavenly Phenomena, many find it easier to focus on one part of Heaven and Earth rather than the whole.

What Dao do you all follow? What is the focus, the drift, or the essence? What part of Heavenly Phenomena finds itself as bright as the Sun in your eyes?

Edited Tuesday at 04:35 AM by Ascetic

[Ascetic]

I have studied the Dao of Sand all my life. This looks like an obsession probably, with sand. How sand finds its place in nature, the insignificance of a grain of sand as a memoir to my own pointless shell, and how to settle Qi in one's body just as how sand settles at the bottom of the ocean.

After a lifetime of this focus, I have finally drifted towards the Dao of the Sword, something probably more well known here. Though I know little about this or any martial art, the focus and dedication of it for me is only gathering "Sword Qi" as I cultivate.

As many are aware, there are different kinds of Qi, at least I believe so, and they behave with different qualities. It appears that understanding of the respective Dao does not only speed cultivation, but also the sheer intensity of one's Qi refinement.

Sword Qi feels sharp, hard to even hold without an edge for it threatens to cut the container its placed in part of. Dispassionate also, everything can be cut, there are edges everywhere, yet also a sheer respect for every lifeform that has sheathed its container.

[Nungali]

19 hours ago, Ascetic said:

In Heavenly Phenomena, many find it easier to focus on one part of Heaven and Earth rather than the whole.

What Dao do you all follow? What is the focus, the drift, or the essence? What part of Heavenly Phenomena finds itself as bright as the Sun in your eyes?

 

Daily Dao . 

[forestofclarity]

Timeless awareness. 

[Taomeow]

 

 

 

Quotes aside, all kinds of "the tao of..." thingies constitute yet another cultural appropriation (much as I dislike the glaring overuse of the concept in vogue of late, it does occasionally hit the right target), westernization, and oversimplification of the deepest insight of another civilization.  Tons of books with this cute title --  The Tao of Pooh, the Tao of Meow, etc. -- created an illusion that such a thing as the tao of something not only exists but is approachable by the same cute methods as those outlined in self-help books or "get rich fast" investment plans.  

 

A fascination with sand you describe -- you can call it contemplation, introspection, study, observation...  all fascinating to be sure, but none amount to "the tao of sand."  Tao is not a property of sand.  Rather, sand is one of the manifestations of tao, out of many.  As for the sword, a sword practice is one inroad into "attaining" tao -- out of many -- and it can't be attained via contemplation, only through practice itself, but even at the highest level you would call what you attain "the gong of sword" first, mastery through dedicated practice -- and you might attain tao through that, some 50+ years down the road...  or not.    

 

Also sprach Taomeow.   

[Ascetic]

"Tao is not a property of sand.  Rather, sand is one of the manifestations of tao"

What a pleasant line.

Still I believe the opposite. Sand does not have the intelligence or eyes to see Heaven.

It is Man that introduces Heaven with his voice, not the Sand even if he believes that it can listen. The Tao is always clear there is no confusion about it, the things we add and expect are what creates the price:

Time, Right Effort, Need for Goodness and Communion of Particles.

I keep my purity elsewhere, it is not included in my Daoism. So for me it is cruel to believe that there is a price or an expectation for perfection in the Tao.

Edited Wednesday at 09:54 AM by Ascetic

[idiot_stimpy]

Separate heaven and earth.

 

Then bring them together as one.