PDA

View Full Version : Nothing to think about



Nameless
09-06-2001, 07:31 PM
This is directed to all the "Internet Blackbelts" and "Online Champions" on this forum.
"One on one tip-toe cannot stand,
One astride cannot walk,
One who displays himself does not shine,
One who justifies himself has no glory,
One who boasts of his own ability has no merit,
One who parades in his own success will not endure,
In Tao these things are called "unwanted food an extraneous growths" Which are loathed by all things. thus a man od Tao does not set his heart upon them."
This is an excerpt from Lao Tzu's Tao teh ching.
this passage mkes me think of some of the people in this forum who are constanly braging of the "Expertice or training time/ability in the MA".
As someone once asked me "do you have anything to contribute to this forum besides quotes from acient litereture?" I would hope that I can bring a new outlook to this forum, to see what the true meaning of Matial arts is.
For me martial arts is no longer a perfection of physical skill but a search for inner peace,oneness of being and serenity.

Just a little something to think about.

Then again what do I know...

Nothing.

Nexus
09-06-2001, 07:37 PM
The point of the Tao Te Ching is to allow the reader to look into himself for the answers, not give the answers to life. Lao Tzu wrote it as a guide, so that those following the path could reference it or use it to see how they are fitting into all of that. When you are firstly insecure about yourself and afraid to "be" yourself then you sometimes need such things to comfort you with what you are doing. This is all part of spiritual growth.

It is good to quote the Tao Te Ching here though, because I agree that many here could learn a lot from what it says, but there will always be those who dismiss it as eastern crap philosophy that has no merit these days.

Although I must say that I have used the Tao Te Ching many times and probably read parts of it at least once a month.

Good Post!

- Nexus

<font size="1">"Time, space, the whole universe - just an illusion! Often said, philosophically verifiable, even scientifically explainable. It's the <font color="blue">'just'</font> which makes the honest mind go crazy and the <font color="blue">ego</font> go berserk." - Hans Taeger</font>

apoweyn
09-06-2001, 07:42 PM
Nameless,

I'm the person you referred to. And what bends me a bit out of shape about these posts is your constant insinuation that we haven't thought of these things before. That we haven't read the books. Or thought the thoughts. That you've somehow shed light on what was previously completely unknown territory.

I know about Laozi. And Confucius. And Buddha. And the Bhagavad Gita. The Kabbalah. And lots of other things. But being able to draw quotes doesn't make these things any more or less relevant to an individual person.

What makes them relevant is an ability to start over, in your own voice, and reason these things out as they apply to you. So that's why I ask you for something more than your favorite quotes. I want to know what this means to you. From your head. Your heart. Wherever this sort of thing comes from. (Insert your own joke here.)

Please don't assume that you've gotten somewhere that the rest of us haven't found yet. Personally, I find these quotes interesting, a good starting point, but ultimately unsatisfactory. I believe that the way you make an understanding your own is to constantly start over, make the mistakes, come to accept them, and keep going. And none of that ends within the covers of a book.

What about you?


Stuart B.

Repulsive Monkey
09-06-2001, 11:15 PM
I think the Tao Te Ching isn't to reasoned with as much we should reason with ourselves and see how we fit into the Tao Te Ching, as it's authour was a realised person. I only say this because the majority of us are not and only our ego's will convince us that we understand the truth of the words in such texts. You say that you've read many texts!!? Well any one can read a text, but did you understand it like how it was meant to be understood, or did you make the champion mistake of thinking you knew what it meant in relation to your own life? To understand these kind of texts is no easy thing and it is a highly reccomended thing to contemplate such texts as they are written. The ego is a master at deception, and believe you me 99% are usually deceive 99% of the time.

For what quotes are worth (and thats a lot folks!!)hjere are the two which I meditate on a wee bit:
" The Sage does nothing, yet nothing is left undone" Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

"Desires do not hurt the mind as much as opinions do. The senses do not hinder enlightenment as much as the intellect does" Huanchu Daoren, Root Vegetable Talks.

MaFuYee
09-06-2001, 11:22 PM
HA! - i don't go by belts rankings...
i'm a "traditional" internet warrior!

Doh! A beer! I want a beer....
Ray, the guy who buys me beer.
Me, the guy who Ray buys beer...
Far, the way to go for beer.
So, I think I'll have a beer...
La, la la la la la la.
Tea? No thanks I'll have a beer...
And that brings us back to Doh! doh! doh!
---Homer Simpson

- The learning curve is now a spin cycle.

SifuAbel
09-06-2001, 11:57 PM
They're no better than TV evangelists.

All I can hear is their but cheecks clapping,
As they f@rt from here to there,
stinking up the day so happily,
thinking they could walk air.

Its dangerous to think you are immortal.
sifuabel@yahoo.com