Tag Archives: philosophy
The Beginning of the Journey
Without knowing what is behind the mountains, the expectation of finding a new higher mountain is high. This is the reason for hiking, whoever understands this will enjoy it.
The beginning for every Daoist is the direct focus on the goal. You only really learn what interests you, so the goal should get interesting. If we have health problems that we want to deal with, then we are interested in them and not looking for alternatives. If we want to improve more, it is good to be interested and enjoy what can be improved next.
Sometimes it is not possible to take a straight path to climb the mountain. Instead, we look for a suitable path and keep getting closer to the top. Those who are not lazy will be rewarded.
Constant Awareness
When the river flows into a lake, the water suddenly becomes very quiet because it was very loud. In old mountain lakes you hardly hear anything, it is almost unnaturally quiet. Because of the eternal force that acts on this place, the water comes to rest. It is only a matter of time before water creates a place where absolute calm reigns.
Time accelerates for the flow and thus the attention is reduced. Time doesn’t seem to matter in front of the calm lake. Like water in a lake, our attention can develop when the flow of breath calms down.
From the Void to Endless Things
The seasons in the mountains are unpredictable. Only the locals can tell if it will rain today. It is an awareness of all living beings that live with the nature of the mountains. Precisely because the mountains are full of contrasts, every living finding its center. Hence, we can achieve any form of awareness we want as long as we remain in our nature.
Top 6 Rules for a Traditional Wudang School
Traditional schools build character and improve the individual. It is the tradition which keeps everybody oriented and on the right path.
Master Ziji explains:
Sry for the audio desync at the end! It could not be fixed in post.
Here is the Link to the Yuan Xiu Gang seminar!
Many common things in a western society build upon seeking acceptance and assurance from one another. In the Daoist philosophy we solve this ourselves and inspire people to do the same, it is the power that is each of us given once we focus our energy.
If you want to be Wudang student …
Looking at the elegance and grace of Wudang masters may be a great inspiration to us, but it is a great step to truly learn from this inspiration for our life.
If we can fully agree with our self to go beyond our understanding and discard all these expectations and conflicts, then we are ready to understand things that did not occur to us before. It is the essence of what we understand to be good and bad, the decision of which is the common source of our development. The master of a Wudang school has the mission to bring this understanding on a natural path of harmony.
The way will be tough
While all control their focus with power, the Master checks the relaxation. It’s what makes the Wudang teaching unique – staying with yourself, being relaxed and using your energy efficiently. We believe we understand, but Master is here for a good reason, testing the personality of his newcomers. The more important it is, the more the upcoming student is lifted from his comfort zone. Who cannot reconcile the teachings with his ego has no place in a Wudang school.
Wudang and the growing horizon
The perception, intention, relaxation, tension, all those things that make up our lives are answered. Anyone who has never learned professionally will not be able to imagine it. The depth of an inner martial arts school ends only with your own understanding. Therefore everyone lives for their daily improvement of personal problems and conflicts. That is why in our school everyone has so much power as never before in their life, it does not arise from any general answer, but from the individual training method that our Wudang teaching has provided for everyone.
Caught in Your Own Self
The strongest opposites are like fire, which prevents us from progressing. Those who set off will find strong obstacles, so confused people always move in circles. Until we understand that we have never moved, caught in our own ring of fire.
Daoism and the ego
Our assessments do not play a role in Taoism, it is important to understand our limitations and to grow out of them. The more opportunities open up to us, the more diverse our fate becomes. If you have less, you will find faster the high cliffs and deep valleys that have formed in us over time.
Those who find peace can do everything, regardless of how others judge the decisions. The frame of reference is self and self results in the answer.
The fatal error of the mirror image
There is only one Dao, images are empty shells that deviate from the origin. Every drop of the great whole ocean contains a reflection of our self. So we find ourselves in other people and recognize in them our own conflicts. If we then try to “help” these people by trying to solve our inner conflicts in others, that just can not be good. This will be a serious problem if we have never realized who we are.
Self-help comes before neighbor help.
Why the West does not understand the Tao!
This beautiful short film gives us a preview of what awaits us in Wudang training, and it can quickly happen that you skip some of the lines when it comes to the mental training of the Taoists. How do we understand something we have not understood yet?
Wudang discipline and tradition
We can eternally philosophize about Tao and how to do things right; those who have not been properly grounded cannot understand the origins of the Tao, as they lack the necessary calmness. There is no one in the world who is not taught by the Tao, to know where to stay near the Tao, this is something everyone finds out for himself in the exercises. From practice, new impressions and corrections are finally possible.
Who can absorb everything like a sponge differentiates everything according to the truth. Who condemns and ignores things, refuses many things. The few masters in the world who follow in the footsteps of the Tao tell of a common truth, one that can be accepted or ignored by someone who has not yet experienced it.
The teachings of the Master are not for everyone, because not everyone can accept them. Just as many people are not destined to become disciples of a master. To become a disciple means to become a master yourself someday, as a master one is always a disciple of his old master. Because everyone climbs the train at an earlier or later date and explores the components of the teaching in his own way. For the master every student is interesting to learn new things, for the student the master is interesting to understand old ones.
The views of the Master are oriented on the students’ instructions because this led the Master to success. While Master’s methods are highly flexible, the students’ views must be linearized, so that the method is self-understood. The chaos and the confusion are dissolved and the way of life runs through a free naturalness. The Master has unlimited confidence in his disciples, for every step, no matter how small, ultimately brings everyone to inner peace.
According to this principle, there are no exceptions on the part of the pupils and only the execution and the realization of the requirements to the pupils are essential. These requirements of the master are obligatory for every student.
Boycott the Taoist teachings
It is often the case in the West that people believe that they have to help others. However, this can create more problems and internal conflicts for oneself and for others. Any help or diminution of a personal burden creates dependency on both sides and increases internal conflicts with oneself.
In the West, it is often a pretext that people should be warm-hearted and should be there to help others. This is not a bad virtue, but most people do it to circumvent their own problems by giving others advice – this just reinforces their own problems and leads to emotional conflicts.
People with good intentions automatically have the wrong intent, because none of them will dissolve the origin of the problems in the other.
This is Taoism and everyone has the strength to learn for themselves; Who really wants to help must assume that the truth is often not so warm. How do I help others properly to dissolve the origins of inner problems in other people? Quite simply: Through inspiration, as a personal example, we deliberately do not use the word role model – because this can be filled with your own ego and thus cause the opposite. Those who go out with their own example without ego, get friends who share success together. Whoever goes with the ego as a role model, gets followers who want to share the success of their role model.
The desire to help others is therefore not relevant for students! If you want to help, you have to help yourself first.
The task of the student is learning to help others is one of the tasks of a master.
Personal conflicts arise only where there are listeners and spectators, in the presence of the master they are not accepted.
The Correct Method of the Wudang School
After the young swallow has tried dozens of times to fly out of the nest, personal success over the unknown happens on an intuitive basis. The fresh wind that comes mostly from the west due to the warm sunrise (east) is just a harbinger of fate awaiting the swallow. Nature demands an order in which a natural process can take place.
The Teachings of Wudang Art
Wuji
The absolute emptiness, the nothing from which everything can arise. If you have nothing, you can not lose anything. Who is calm, can only be restless. The possibilities are unlimited for those who control the rest. The Daoists often tell of the “Monkey Mind” because the chaotic and power-driven thinking of a monkey (the natural sequence of thoughts) severely limits the possibilities of the monkey. Think back to the source and sharpen our intuition by listening to what we really want to do inside.
Direction – Way – Power
Those who have nothing to lose can only win. The more we identify with ourselves, the clearer our thought processes become, and thus the path of our self-realization. The most important thing before we use energy (strength) is the right direction. Where do we see each other and what do we imagine? All we have to do is find the way to implement it – find the way and then gather the strength to implement our dreams.
Taiji – Yin und Yang
The theory consists of the building blocks of yin and yang. We need both to take our self into our own hands. Those who have never been busy realizing their dreams can hardly remain calm. Taiji is a practice-oriented exercise to clarify the natural process. We are no exception here – none of us.
The Truth That Everyone is Looking For!
The Madness in Us
It is a peculiarity of man to search for things that, on the contrary, contain what he wants to achieve. Those looking for relaxation get lost in the origins of cramping. Those looking for enlightenment get lost in the dark. Those who want to eat healthy, ignore what the body wants. It is as Laozi says, the truth is nested within and contained on the contrary.
The Path of Inevitability
In contrast to the heavenly beings of Taoism, man, who lives according to his nature, is forever bound to the sequences, the ups, and downs, of this nature. This path is characterized by the tolerance of the inevitable, it is the path that shows us our purpose: to be in harmony with ourselves.
The Endless Expanse of Our Consciousness
The view of the ocean shows us an endless horizon, just like our impression of our reality. We get lost in our perception, it is important to understand that what we feel is just a horizon that denies us the view of the other shore. The origin of the cosmos is a little smaller, because everything originates from nothing, and as through a bellows, everything grows up from an early age. When we understand our outward presence, we perceive things from a centered inner point.
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Calming the Monkey Mind
What prevents us from logic thinking and pure action? The monkey mind is an often discussed topic in China and grew familiar with legends like Wukong (the monkey king). This term originated from Chinese history and can also be found in Zen and Buddhism. The monkey mind as a psychological term originated from Taoism.
Monkey Mind in the Western World
Without meditation or other internal arts, the monkey mind is bound to be influential in society. The monkey mind usually gives other people a lot of emotional response which is not necessary. By overloading others, they automatically become at unrest too and seek to unload their heavy emotions somewhere and somehow. This is only one example how the monkey mind cycled continuously in the western world. In the end what is left is a chaotic emotional world without discipline and full of unproductiveness. Some people find a solution/enlightenment while others keep unloading emotions for the rest of their lives.
Monkey Mind in Kung Fu Training
Being unable to practice and keeping up self-discipline is also a sign of the monkey mind. The thinking and questioning of yourself make unsure and unrest. It comes when people are not prepared for changes or prepared for sacrifices.
We Have Everything and Nothing
Our “laid back” modern society has everything and having everything is the same as having nothing. It loses its value as nobody knows how to appreciate what we have. This is not only meant in a materialistic way but also in a personal and emotional way. What is important to you and how do you value it?
Start From Scratch
If you are confused by the monkey mind, you should probably start again from the beginning. Are you healthy? What did you do for the things you value? Clean the mind and connect it with your heart. Discover your soul and the genuine essence of what makes you a person. Don’t let yourself get confused again. Reminding oneself of what is important is giving insight to the actual meaning of all things.
Your Mind Your Will
Taoists practice controlling the mind naturally and positively. How can you be sure to be fully in control of your mind? Are you able to do things exactly as you want? Enduring is something most people can’t do without proper training and is always a test of willpower. The thing is how you approach this matters. If you see it as a challenge then yes it is. Challenge is a conflict where you lose face. Taoists see it as “playing” as a child plays with toys.
What is Laozi’s central teaching?
The most important thing people can do in life, Laozi asserts in the Tao Te Ching and other works attributed to him, is to gain a state of silent awareness — to open the mind to its source:
Become totally empty
Quiet the restlessness of the mind
Only then will you witness everything
unfolding from emptiness
See all things flourish and dance
in endless variation
And once again merge back into perfect emptiness—
Their true repose
Their true nature
Emerging, flourishing, dissolving back again
This is the eternal process of returnTo know this process brings enlightenment
To miss this process brings disasterBe still
Stillness reveals the secrets of eternity
Eternity embraces the all-possible
The all-possible leads to a vision of oneness
A vision of oneness brings about universal love
Universal love supports the great truth of Nature
The great truth of Nature is TaoWhoever knows this truth lives forever
The body may perish, deeds may be forgotten
But he who has Tao has all eternity — Chapter 16
Laozi calls on us to “become empty,” to “quiet the restlessness of the mind.” Then we experience the “emptiness” that forms source and goal of all things. This “brings enlightenment” and “reveals the secrets of eternity.” Grounded in this experience, one attains a “vision of oneness,” leads a life of “universal love,” and achieves immortality. In contrast, “to miss this process brings disaster.” To this transcendental field of life, Laozi gives the name Tao or Dao. Dao is usually translated as the Way or the Path. The term is often understood to mean “nature.” It refers to a very deep level of nature, because, as Laozi says, when you gain the Tao, you gain “all eternity.”
Experiencing the Tao, Laozi observes in this next verse, involves allowing the mind to move beyond the superficialities of thought and perceptions:
A mind free of thought,
merged within itself,
Beholds the essence of the Tao
A mind filled with thought,
identified with its own perceptions,
beholds the mere forms of this world.
To experience “the essence of the Tao,” Laozi indicates, is to apprehend the truth. And the key, again, is to let the mind settle inward, beyond thought, into itself.
Here are some passages from the Hua Hu Ching, another work attributed to Laozi:
The superior person settles his mind as the universe settles the stars in the sky.
By connecting the mind with the subtle origin, he calms it.
Once calmed it naturally expands, and ultimately his mind becomes as vast and immeasurable as the night sky.
As the mind settles inward, Laozi tells us, it expands, culminating in unbounded awareness. This experience, he emphasizes in the same work, is the key to everything good — while missing this experience, he cautions, leaves you forever lost:
Remain quiet. Discover the harmony in your own being. Embrace it. If you can do this, you will gain everything, and the world will become healthy again. If you can’t, you will be lost in the shadows forever.
Here is a final passage from Laozi, this one from work called the Wen-Tzu, again speaking about allowing the mind to settle beyond thoughts to “utter simplicity.” This, he emphasizes, is “the great attainment”:
Clarifying their eyes, they do not look; quieting their ears, they do not listen. Closing their mouths, they do not speak; letting their minds be, they do not think. Abandoning intellectualism, they return to utter simplicity; resting their vital spirit, they detach from knowledge. Therefore they have no likes or dislikes. This is called the great attainment.
If you practice the Transcendental Meditation technique, Laozi’s words shine with a new light. You’ll notice immediately that Laozi is talking about transcending. Many people who practice the Transcendental Meditation technique have had experiences just as he describes. Here is an example:
I distinctly recall the day of instruction, my first clear experience of transcending. Following the instruc¬tions of the teacher, without know¬ing what to expect, I began to drift down into deeper and deeper levels of relaxation, as if I were sinking into my chair. Then for some time, perhaps a minute or a few minutes, I experienced a silent, inner state of no thoughts, just pure awareness and nothing else; then again I became aware of my surroundings. It left me with a deep sense of ease, inner renewal and happiness.
As many meditators will realize, the Tao is not some abstract concept. It is the field of pure consciousness, the source of thought deep within. It is also the source of nature’s intelligence, the unified field of natural law described mathematically by quantum physics.
Every time we meditate, every time we transcend, we experience this unbounded field. We awaken it. We enliven it. Our consciousness expands. Our creativity and intelligence increases. Our thoughts and actions come into harmony with natural law. The force of natural law gathers behind our every thought and action so that we can fulfill our desires without effort.
Emptiness (空) vs Void (无)
Emptiness (空) vs Void (无)
Void vs Emptiness – Philosophy
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