T_Clark

Welcome. I hope you find what you want here.

You must have noticed that each of the people in this discussion have different ideas about what the Tao Te Ching means. We all speak with different w...

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I agree. I'm ok with this, as long as, when you say "reality" you mean "the 10,000 things" and not "the Tao." I think it's more than that. It looks li...

I don't agree with this and I don't think Lao Tzu would either. Don't you like how I can authoritatively put words into Lao Tzu's mouth.

No, I'm not talking about dualism. I'm talking about different levels of organization. Biology is not chemistry. Psychology is not anatomy. When I tal...

This is not true for me. I don't see how this is different from what I described. Actually, I do. Once I become aware of fear and face it contemplativ...

I see what we're doing, at least what I'm trying to do, differently than that. I'm an intellectual, verbal guy. So there's a natural tendency for me t...

Verse 14 Mitchell Translation Look, and it can't be seen. Listen, and it can't be heard. Reach, and it can't be grasped. Above, it isn't bright. Below...

Come on - tell us the song. "I'm going back to Massachusetts, something's telling me I must go back" (patient dies).

Do you mean that they threaten the basis of our lives? The foundation we stand on? Or something else?

I'll keep reading. As Barrett points out, it can be hard to tell two emotions apart. It's also true that the same emotion may vary from instance to in...

Yes. It's something I've thought about a lot recently. As I had always seen it, the process by which the Tao is differentiated into the 10,000 things ...

I find "The Great One Gives Birth to the Water" perplexing. It seems by its style that it doesn't belong with the rest of the TTC, but in at least one...

To oversimplify - I am afraid because I think I am my self, but that's just a story I tell. When I see through the illusion of my self, my story, ther...

I haven't read much Kant. I remember when I first came across the idea of noumena, which is similar to ding an sich, I thought it seemed similar to th...

I find this way of looking at things very useful. I've been in TTC groups where the other members did too. It's also fun. If you don't find it helpful...

I think we think of Taoism as paradoxical for the same reason we see Quantum Mechanics that way - because they both deal with phenomena we can't talk ...

I don't think Lao Tzu would think that the Tao he experiences in ancient China is different than the one we experience here, 2,500 years later and 12,...

Heaven and Earth I’ve looked through several verses looking for instances of “heaven” and “earth.” In all but one verse, “earth” is always found with ...

The Tao is the most down-home, everyday, run of the mill, no big deal of all. You'll find that several places where the Tao is referred to as low or b...

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

Are you saying that you are Saige? If so, the fact that you speak with two different voices is confusing. Flat out wrong = I don't understand what you...

As I've said, I don't have the wherewithal to do a linguistic analysis, although I think your input in that regard is interesting and relevant. I just...

I'll take a look and see if anything interesting pops out. I don't focus on the Chinese language like @"Possibility" does. I don't have the tools. I p...

Oh, no - I'm falling way behind. I'll catch up.

Agreed. I've never heard the term "ontic structural realism" before. I looked it up. Are you saying that the fact that Chinese words can act as any pa...

"Self" and "body" are different, and I think that may be an important difference between the translations. I also think they have something in common ...

Over the past year, I've spent time with a lot of different translations of the TTC. All and all, I think Mitchell's translation holds up well. He doe...

It's really a help if you tag your response so people will know you are responding to them. There are two ways: Push the reply button under the text o...

The territory that can be mapped is not the eternal territory. How's that? All Taoist and wise and all. Yes, well, that is the most common response to...

First off - In addition to being good with machinery, you're also a good writer. I wonder where that came from. It's definitely a different set of ski...

All definitions are just changing one word that you don't know the meaning of for another that you do. A probability that an event P will have a resul...

I think a lot of Lao Tzu's instructions are "Hey, Valentinus, over here, pay attention to this." This is something I've been thinking about a lot rece...

Often when someone references a source, I go look it up on the web. I tried that but didn't find anything, so I wondered if this was someone you could...

D.C. Lau uses "startle" also. Some translations say "surprise" some say "fear". Some translations say "body" some say "self." The choices all make sen...

Most people would disagree with you. That's why there is a new "Is there free will" thread every week. As if it matters.

You see things differently than I do.

Our choices are not truth and pleasure. Truth and knowledge are instrumental - we look for them, we're built to look for them, because we need them in...

Verse 13 Stephen Mitchell Success is as dangerous as failure. Hope is as hollow as fear. What does it mean that success is as dangerous as failure? Wh...

Be nice. He's a new guy.

More advice. I assume this is directed at me, but I'm not sure. You can make it clearer in two ways: Make your response by clicking on the "reply" arr...

I do hate zoos. As @"tim wood" indicated, scientists believe that a diverse set of animals may be self-aware e.g. crows, dolphins, octopi, and chimpan...

I'm working on the next verse now. When I'm done with that I'll do a post on heaven and earth so we can talk about it.

Yes. The thing that is a thing is not the eternal Thing. I have no trouble with that description, as long as it doesn't mean that the TTC is all thing...

Is this a friend of yours? I couldn't find her on the web. So, you're saying she smells nice?

I read the NYT article. Then fiddling around looking up the author of the review, I came across one of his books, "Quantum Mechanics and Experience," ...

Elect them president.

I think I'm well aware of the limits of science. Even so, within those limits, and discounting the arrogance and narrow-minded of many scientists, it ...

Whose commentary is this? What the commentator has written is similar to the other translators and commentaries. What are your thoughts about it? It j...