Tao Te Ching: Chapter 2 (Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English)

Xihaon · 2021-02-01T13:19:12+00:00

Build a thing - time will erase it. Build a skill - it will give you countless things. But in our ever-changing world, no skill can stay useful forever. But like a thing has the source, a skill has the source too. The closer we move to the center, the more efficient we become, for this center, is the source of all power.

Xihaon · 2021-02-01T13:09:31+00:00

How do we know that objects exist? We can see, touch, hear them.

To do this, we have to catch some force, moving from the direction of an object. Catch it with our eyes, ears, skin.

Once the force is caught, the mind will build a model of its source. And no matter how close we are to this source, we can never crawl out of our mind and touch it. The object is always only a model. What exists, is the force.

What happens when an unstoppable force meets another unstoppable force? This question seems much easier to answer.

JasonCarswell · 2020-02-24T19:28:52+00:00

Unforgiven (1992) - Its a hell of a thing killing a man... (3:19)

You take away all he's got and all he's ever gonna have.

The Schofield Kid: Yeah, well, I guess they had it coming.

William Munny: We all have it coming, Kid.

JasonCarswell · 2020-02-18T15:51:31+00:00

For lack of /s/Buddhism I posted this in /s/Taoism, which is basically half of what Zen Buddhism is.

Tom_Bombadil · 2019-09-22T14:13:32+00:00

Plenty of gay and lesbian sects.

Timmy · 2019-09-22T12:26:47+00:00

What sects are big in Hollywood?

Tom_Bombadil · 2019-09-22T06:24:25+00:00

The Buddhist population is expected to increase significantly, as a result of the increased sectual activity.

Robin is known as a sects machine!

magnora7 · 2019-07-10T11:18:46+00:00

Unborn people can't do anything, so they're missing out, in a way

RavAshi · 2019-07-10T10:58:36+00:00

What are your arguments?

magnora7 · 2019-07-08T21:18:41+00:00

Interesting. I could also argue they're also the unluckiest, because they never get to do anything.

RavAshi · 2019-07-08T19:32:25+00:00

It is basically like "zen" philosophy and a bit of antinatalism.

The unborn is the luckiest. They are always in the state of perfection; their empty boats are stranded in the land of "voidness".

magnora7 · 2019-07-07T07:21:43+00:00

An interesting read. Thank you.

magnora7 · 2019-04-26T07:21:20+00:00

That's the best kind! :)

JasonCarswell · 2019-04-26T07:18:41+00:00

For short clear unironic wisdom, yes.

magnora7 · 2019-04-25T23:43:13+00:00

It is fascinating, but it doesn't detract from the words of wisdom in any way if the back story is different imo

JasonCarswell · 2019-04-25T21:55:22+00:00

I still find it fascinating.

magnora7 · 2019-04-25T20:50:11+00:00

I think here it doesn't matter, because it's words of wisdom, not someone's life story.

JasonCarswell · 2019-04-25T04:48:14+00:00

A brilliant quote from Joe Shmoe may be brilliant but when the same quote comes from Einstein it's different. Or Monroe. Or Manson.

Context often matters.

Plato was gay and wrote about Socrates while the Symposium from another voice has different nuances.

Does it matter that part of Anne Frank's Diary was forged? Or who the real Shakespeare was? Or who wrote the Constitution?

It all depends. Sometimes it's moot. Sometimes it's fascinating. Sometimes it doesn't matter.

magnora7 · 2019-04-25T04:30:09+00:00

Sure, but the author doesn't necessarily matter

figuratively-hitler · 2019-04-25T03:42:37+00:00

Addiss & Lombardo gang representin'

JasonCarswell · 2019-04-25T00:28:44+00:00

Context matters, in quotes, memes, news, and philosophies.

magnora7 · 2019-04-24T23:57:28+00:00

Who cares who authored it, the words are either wise or they aren't. That's all that matters

JasonCarswell · 2019-04-24T23:56:19+00:00

I find it fascinating to consider religions and philosophies where the leader did or didn't author it.

ie. Socrates, Jesus, Buddha - all hearsay.

magnora7 · 2019-04-24T23:32:16+00:00

I agree the Stephen Mitchell one is much better than many others.

Even just the starting line:

The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao

vs the MIT translation:

The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao.

Here's the full text of the Stephen Mitchell version btw: http://thetaoteching.com/taoteching1.html

JasonCarswell · 2019-04-24T21:28:37+00:00

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Tao+Te+Ching+Stephen+Mitchell

JasonCarswell · 2019-04-24T21:25:49+00:00

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Tao+Teh+Ching+John+C+H.+Wu

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