Ahira's Hangar

danlo asked me to bring up Taoism here. Which I'm more than happy to do. But please allow me to make it easy on myself, and point you to my site:
www.geocities.com/laochuangtsu/

As I say there, the Tao Te Ching is what I know and love best. It is the first book, and foundation of Taoism. There are various translations of it at www.clas.ufl.edu/users/gt...c-list.htm

Although I can't for the life of me understand how some people can read the Tao Te Ching and come away with the interpretations they do, you should know that some people do, indeed, have other views. I don't want anybody to think that what I'm saying is THE interpretation. It's the same as it is with Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and everything else - people interpret through the needs, fears, desires, and other psychological factors that they are composed of. The biggest division in interpretations is between philosophical Taoism (which is where I stand) and religious Taoism. Religious Taoists interpret certain passages as saying that physical immortality is possible. Lots of techniques were developed in the attempt, and their pantheon has many gods.

But there are also arguments between philosophical taoists. Human nature, I guess.

Ummmm, any questions? Fist and Faith<i></i>

No questions, but I got some quotes by Ikkyu (15th century zen master).

No walls no roof no anything my house
Doesn't get wet doesn't get blown down

Nobody told the flowers to come up nobody
Will ask them to leave when spring's gone

It's logical: if you're not going anywhere
Any road is the right one

Don't hesitate get laid that's wisdom
Sitting around chanting what crap

I'm going to pick up The Tao of Zen this weekend, I think. ________________
I wanna feel the metamorphosis and cleansing I've endured within my shadow. Change is coming. Now is my time. Listen to my muscle memory. Contemplate what I've been clinging to. -Tool, "Forty-Six & Two"<i></i>

"Where ever you go, there you are." And now Danlo looked in that direction, too. He remembered that snowy owls mate in the darkest part of deep winter, and so along with this beautiful white bird perched in a tree a hundred feet away, he turned to face the sea as he watched and waited.

Ahira, Ahira, he called out silently to the sky. Ahira, Ahira<i></i>

Definitely good quotes! AFAIK, the one danlo quoted was first heard in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai (Although there it was, "No matter where you go, there you are."), and is supposed to be a joke. But it is definitely words of wisdom, completely in keeping with this thread Fist and Faith<i></i>

Actually I 1st heard it on the old Tonight Show with Johnny Carson ages ago (like 1968 or so...) quoted by the crazy and hiralious old comic, Proffesor Irwin Corey! And now it's in some car commercial!

And now Danlo looked in that direction, too. He remembered that snowy owls mate in the darkest part of deep winter, and so along with this beautiful white bird perched in a tree a hundred feet away, he turned to face the sea as he watched and waited.

Ahira, Ahira, he called out silently to the sky. Ahira, Ahira<i>Edited by: danlo60 at: 6/20/03 7:31 pm
</i>

This is sorta Taoist...these r reminder adages from 1 of my fav 'philosopy' books, The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment by Thaddeus Golas:

We are equal beings and the universe
is our relations with each other.

What am I doing on a level of consciousness
where this is real?

No resistance.

Love it the way it is.

Love as much as you can from
wherever you are.

Whether I am conscious of it or not, I am
one with the cause of all that exists.

Whether I feel it or not, I am one with
all the love in the universe.

Love is the only dimension that needs
to be changed. (I LOVE that 1, that 1, in itself, is very deep
and Taoist)

Go beyond reason to love: it is safe.
It is the only safety. And now Danlo looked in that direction, too. He remembered that snowy owls mate in the darkest part of deep winter, and so along with this beautiful white bird perched in a tree a hundred feet away, he turned to face the sea as he watched and waited.

Ahira, Ahira, he called out silently to the sky. Ahira, Ahira<i>Edited by: danlo60 at: 6/20/03 7:32 pm
</i>

Reminds me of a good Tool song (but really, are there any other kind?).

Lateralus
Black then white are all i see in my infancy.
red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me.
lets me see.
as below, so above and beyond, I imagine
drawn beyond the lines of reason.
Push the envelope. Watch it bend.

Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must
Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines.

Black then white are all i see in my infancy.
red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me.
lets me see there is so much more and
beckons me to look thru to these infinite possibilities.
as below, so above and beyond, I imagine
drawn outside the lines of reason.
Push the envelope. Watch it bend.

over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition leaving opportunities behind.
Feed my will to feel this moment urging me to cross the line.
Reaching out to embrace the random.
Reaching out to embrace whatever may come.

I embrace my desire to
I embrace my desire to
feel the rhythm, to feel connected enough to step aside and weep like a widow
to feel inspired to fathom the power, to witness the beauty,
to bathe in the fountain,
to swing on the spiral
to swing on the spiral
to swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be a human.

With my feet upon the ground I move myeslf between the sounds and open wide to suck it in.
I feel it move across my skin.
I'm reaching up and reaching out. I'm reaching for the random or what ever will bewilder me.
what ever will bewilder me.
And following our will and wind we may just go where no one's been.
We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
________________
I wanna feel the metamorphosis and cleansing I've endured within my shadow. Change is coming. Now is my time. Listen to my muscle memory. Contemplate what I've been clinging to. -Tool, "Forty-Six & Two"<i></i>

Great, great song. ul! And now Danlo looked in that direction, too. He remembered that snowy owls mate in the darkest part of deep winter, and so along with this beautiful white bird perched in a tree a hundred feet away, he turned to face the sea as he watched and waited.

Ahira, Ahira, he called out silently to the sky. Ahira, Ahira<i></i>

Like I said in the Neverness forum, halla is Taoism. Here's the halla quote from there, plus a new one.Quote:The Devaki have two words for beauty: shona, which they use to describe sunsets and mountains and trees fresh with snow, and halla, which has a different meaning altogether. In essence a thing - or event - is halla if it is in harmony with nature, more precisely, if it "sees the intention of the World-soul." Thus it is halla for the Devaki not to slaughter sick mammoths, just as it is halla to die at the right time. Almost anything can be halla. A spear, if properly balanced and well-made, is also halla. The Devaki have come to call halla many things that would not at first thought seem to possess beauty of any kind. Being human, they often confuse the World-soul's intention with their most basic desires. Even though the scooped-out carcass of a seal is the ugliest of sights, I have heard Yuri declare it halla. Does not a single seal feed the entire Manwelina family for three days? And is it not the World-soul's intention that the Devaki nourish themselves and thrive? So a gutted seal is halla, and ten seals laid out on the sleds of returning hunters are hallahalla because in reality nothing is more beautirul to the Devaki than the sight of fresh meat.And from The Broken God:Quote:"Halla is the cry of the wolf when he calls to his brothers and sisters. And it is halla that the stars should shine at night when the sun falls beneath the mountains. Halla is the way ... the way false winter takes away the cold, and the way false winter dies into the colder seasons so the animals do not become too many and crowd the ice. Halla is ... oh blessed halla! it is so fragile when you try to define it, like crossing morilka, the death ice. The greater weight you give it, the more likely it is to break. Halla is. Sometimes, lately, I think of it as pure isness. A way of simply being."
This is all SO VERY much like the overall feel of the Tao Te Ching - everything acting according to its nature; everything interconnected. And the first verse of the TTC even says, "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name."

But actually, there IS a difference between the Tao and halla. Halla is the Alaloi judgement of the Tao. Like many people, including me, they think the Tao is beautiful. But the TTC doesn't mantion the beauty of the Tao. It mentions the beautiful/ugly duality, but halla says that this duality is, itself, beautiful. All dualities are beautiful. ____________
Highdrake's mastery of spells and sorcery was not much greater than his pupil's, but he had clear in his mind the idea of something very much greater, the wholeness of knowledge. And that made him a mage.<i></i>

And now Danlo looked in that direction, too. He remembered that snowy owls mate in the darkest part of deep winter, and so along with this beautiful white bird perched in a tree a hundred feet away, he turned to face the sea as he watched and waited.

Ahira, Ahira, he called out silently to the sky. Ahira, Ahira<i></i>