invest in loss

[Nexus]

Yes, Lyle. It was really loss you were investing in, otherwise the term would be invest in gain.

- Nexus

[shaolinboxer]

Perhaps it should be.

Where then, exactly, is the loss? What do you lose?

"She ain't got no muscles in her teeth."
- Cat

[origenx]

Sounds like what I'm doing in the stock market right now...

[Scott R. Brown]

If there was nothing to gain there would be purpose to investing in loss in the first place.

Sincerely,

Scott

[Scott R. Brown]

Lyle,

The term loss is a metaphor for emptiness. The source of fullness is emptiness. In order to be filled one must first be empty or there is nothing to be filled in the first place.

Also emptiness is another way of saying chaos or undifferentiated potential. This is refered to as emptiness because no one thing is differentiated or separated out, it is the source of all things, the Tao. Therefore, all things are present within it.

Since all things are present it is called emptiness.

Sincerely,

Scott

[shaolinboxer]

Yes Scott, I see what you mean. However, emptiness and loss imply different things.

Perhaps loss means something like, the process by which emptiness is achieved?

"She ain't got no muscles in her teeth."
- Cat

[Scott R. Brown]

Lyle,

You make a good point. The Chinese method of communicating is known for using methsphorical language to communicate a concept. So while "loss" could imply "emptiness" as I have been asserting, it could very well indicate something else and I am completely missing the point myself.

Sincerely,

Scott

[Scott R. Brown]

That was supposed to be "metaphorical".

Sincerely,

Scott

[honorisc]

"I understood it more simply, to mean that you must do what you cannot do, not what you can do.
If you only do what you can do, you will never escape this constraint. If you do what you cannot do, your potential is unlimited.
Maybe not more simply "

What you Can do is not a constraint if you Can do everything. If you do what you cannot do your potential is unlimited unless there is not anything you cannot do.


To Lyle loss and gain. In Chinese, people are taught by Sarcasm, Irony, Paradox. A person is told the perspective of worst part so that when they are understanding it and see it in different shades they see the good parts. It's humorous how they realizes the good by thinking it was bad and so they carry on the tradition because they remember the last thing-the good and those who are intollerant--undeserving students go away not wanting to invest in loss~. In T'ai Chi Ch'uan this phrase is a gain but a person can only see so much at a time. Invest in loss yield to the force, looks like you got hit and aren't doing anything about it--Loser! However in T'ai Chi Ch'uan the techniques to which this phrase refers deminish the attackers force with the attacker unknowing that in fact the attacker is losing because of the strong attack and the T'ai Chi Ch'uan player uses the acceptance of loss-yielding (seeming to do not anything (not respond forcefully)) [invest in loss is a description of part of the way to Win; first invest in loss THEN take the oppertunity] and in the lie of that stereotypically percieved conception there is Victory when one TAKEs the OPPERTUNITY.

Very some such, perhaps might have been, likely say some, some not.

[origenx]

Such deceptively simple pithy maxims can be interpreted on a variety of levels. Another one is the Taoist method of whittling away more and more excess every day. Unlearning, rather than learning. Bruce Lee's economy of motion. Hence, investing in loss.

[Nexus]

origenx, that is an absolutely wonderful explanation. One should not seek to remove all excesses immediately, as this would be uprooting the self and a complete disturbance to the ego. Hence it would cause a identity crisis and a loss of self, often causing feelings of insanity. This is why someone should be patient but consistent in removing excesses, allowing themselves to be flexible and bending, and not forcing change, but rather accomodating to it.

This will allow a person to change with ease, and to facilitate towards the goals that an individual has. Of course, we are only human, and we often envision what we would like to be high upon a pedestal from where we actually stand. This is why we should treat moments as the Now, and know what it is we do now, and what we can do practically in the moment. In doing so, we can wittle away at excesses as the moment arises, applying insights we have gained into the actions that we do.

Perhaps this will be beneficial for someone, these ideas have been helpful to myself.

- Nexus