Think...

I am going to post a new excerpt every day for 50 days as a personal challenge to myself. These, hopefully, will be as thought provoking to you as they are to me.


Marking out the path

The Tao that can be spoken
Is not the true Tao.
Any name which can be given to it
Is not its true name.
That which was before
Heaven and Earth is Tao.
Tao is the mother of all things.
The wise seek its mystery,
And find it made of opposites.
Opposites arise from the same source
And are identical in all but name.
The mystery of opposites is so profound
To understand it
Is to open the door of Tao.

From the Tao Te Ching

Right on Brother Jack ! Thanks for reminding me , i never really liked the Tao , but its growing on me :lol:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqYnevHibaI

The first chapter of the Tao Te Ching could be seen as all one needs in understanding the Tao, or rather, letting go of what one thinks they understand about the Tao. Thus the line "the Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao".

Try comprehending the Tao, the Force, God, or whatever, from a perspective of knowing that nothing you say or think comes close to the truth, and see where your mind goes

I am going to post a new excerpt every day for 50 days as a personal challenge to myself. These, hopefully, will be as thought provoking to you as they are to me.

What is the part that constitutes a "challenge"?

Certainly its not just copy and pasting the Tao?

What is the part that constitutes a "challenge"?

Certainly its not just copy and pasting the Tao?

The challenge is perhaps to *read* it - Posting it here is just a sort of "Trust" to make sure it happens.

Like a workout diary - There's no challenge in writing "Bench: 225lbs" - but there is in lifting it

Possibly also actually typing it out rather than copy/pasting will assist in the contemplation (Some might call this a cheap version of writing, but that's not really here nor there)


I see no problem, and if they're kept short enough, I may even remember to read them, and gain something to consider myself

Khaos wrote:

I am going to post a new excerpt every day for 50 days as a personal challenge to myself. These, hopefully, will be as thought provoking to you as they are to me.

What is the part that constitutes a "challenge"?

Certainly its not just copy and pasting the Tao?

This is a meditation challenge for myself. I will meditate on each one that I post for 50 days in a row. These are not copied and pasted either, I have the book and I type them out. The actual challenge is for me to do this for 50 days in a row. This is not a challenge for anyone else, nor have I asked it to be. I will post the excerpts here because I think they can be thought provoking. I am not challenging anyone but myself. The challenge involved is for me to actually make time to do this. Not just the posting part, but the meditation part. I work nearly 80 hours a week, plus the gym 5 days a week, plus I am moving. Making the time to do this will be a task in itself. I am not going to post whether or not I do because I will know if I meditate or not, but I will post excerpts of my choice that I feel like are thought provoking. If anyone else wants to do it, fine, have at it. But I challenge no one but myself. I try to be a better me every day.

May the Force be with you.

....Any name which can be given to it Is not its true name.

That line would fit very well in one of those "define the force" threads.

Day 2

Opposites

When one speaks of beauty
As being beautiful,
Ugliness is at once defined.
When goodness is seen to be good,
Evil is at once apparent.
So having and not having
Mutually give rise to one another,
As do difficulty and ease,
Far and near, high and low.

From the Tao Te Ching

Force be with you friends

Day 3

Wu Wei

The Sage is occupied with the unspoken
And acts without effort.

Teaching without verbosity,
Producing without possessing,
Creating without regard to result,
Claiming nothing,
The Sage has nothing to lose.

From the Tao Te Ching

Acts without effort. Occupied with the unspoken... claiming nothing... hard thing to do when the word says....meeeeeee all the time. Tough chain to break, possible but tough