Verse 42, Tao Te Ching

[Nungali]

On 6/13/2025 at 8:44 AM, Cobie said:

Ron Hogan ‘translation’ of the start of Ch. 42 

 

Chapter 42 starts out 
with some cosmic mumbo-jumbo
about Tao making one, 
one making two,
two making three, 
and three making everything else.

I don't know what it means,
and, frankly,
I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

 

 

 

I bet he knows my cousins wife !    We were discussing marijuana and she was horrified ; " Its rots your brain , gives you deformed children and sends you crazy ! Why would any one want that ? " 

 

Me ;  " Well, it didn't  do that to the Chinese people  and they been using it for 10,000 years ."

 

Her ; (laughing )   " Chinese !  Well, look at them, they are hopeless ! " 

 

Me; "  WEll, they had one of the first and most successful civilizations in history ." 

 

Her; " What ?  Rubbish !  When was this, that never happened !  " 

 

[BigSkyDiamond]

my experience has been that for practices such as Zen, the use of psychoactive substances is (a) advised against, and (b) an obstacle and barrier to spiritual development. 

 

my experience has also been that the behavior of those seeking to justify use of psychoactives are often times seeking to justify their own addictions.  it's along the lines of someone saying "my uncle Fergus lived to be 85 and he smoked a pack a day and drank whiskey every night and worked on the farm his whole life" therefore tobacco and alcohol are not harmful.

 

walk into any bar and ask who here has a problem with alcohol, and no hands go up. same for those who claim psychoactive substances are not only "not a danger" but as post above claims, they are even GOOD for you they are medicine for healing.   Typically, those seeking to justify the use of psychoactive substances and justify their own addiction, are not under the care and treatment of a Doctor of Oriental Medicine. 

 

Tying this into TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and the Tao Te Ching and the thread topic, the underlying purpose and practice and prescription is to restore balance and harmony.  Psychoactive substances disrupt rather than restore balance.

 

Edited Sunday at 10:43 PM by BigSkyDiamond