Peace and love and stuff
Jun. 20th, 2013 03:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brightrosefoxDoes anyone here have any experience with Taoism?
I have been having recurring dreams about walking down a long winding path of many colors, with a companion made up of dragon, cat, and humanoid parts.
She tells me the same thing over and over:
"Be who you are. Love who you are. Know who you are. Follow your own Way. Your own Path stretches long and strong all around you. Happiness, ecstasy, tranquility, serenity, joy, peace - it is all part of you. Heed the advice of others, even if they do not always match your Way or Path. See anger as a thing to work with, not against. Be calm in the face of fear and rage. Be the dragon, acting; do not be the tiger, reacting. You are part of the universe and every cosmic force. Be a force within yourself."
Now, what I find fascinating is this:
**
A recurrent and important element of Taoism are rituals, exercises and substances aiming at aligning oneself spiritually with cosmic forces, at undertaking ecstatic spiritual journeys, or at improving physical health and thereby extending one's life, ideally to the point of immortality. Probably the most characteristic among these methods is Taoist alchemy. Already in very early Taoist scriptures - like the Taiping Jing and the Baopuzi - alchemical formulas for achieving immortality were outlined. Enlightened and immortal beings are referred to as xian.
A number of martial arts traditions, particularly the ones falling under the category of Neijia (like T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Bagua Zhang and Xing Yi Quan) embody Taoist principles to a significant extent, and some practitioners consider their art to be a means of practicing Taoism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoism
**
Recently, it has been as though a biochemical or neurochemical switch has been flipped and I have begun to see things in ways I can't explain. My mood is still elevated even when I'm in depressive or postictal states, which is fascinating. It's as though a part of my brain and mind has separated and remained lit up, waiting to merge back in when all the neurological crap has been treated. I like it.
(Also, please don't suggest yoga. Yoga does not work well for me. I perform personalized exercises and stretches that resemble certain yoga poses, but I do not do yoga.)
I have been having recurring dreams about walking down a long winding path of many colors, with a companion made up of dragon, cat, and humanoid parts.
She tells me the same thing over and over:
"Be who you are. Love who you are. Know who you are. Follow your own Way. Your own Path stretches long and strong all around you. Happiness, ecstasy, tranquility, serenity, joy, peace - it is all part of you. Heed the advice of others, even if they do not always match your Way or Path. See anger as a thing to work with, not against. Be calm in the face of fear and rage. Be the dragon, acting; do not be the tiger, reacting. You are part of the universe and every cosmic force. Be a force within yourself."
Now, what I find fascinating is this:
**
A recurrent and important element of Taoism are rituals, exercises and substances aiming at aligning oneself spiritually with cosmic forces, at undertaking ecstatic spiritual journeys, or at improving physical health and thereby extending one's life, ideally to the point of immortality. Probably the most characteristic among these methods is Taoist alchemy. Already in very early Taoist scriptures - like the Taiping Jing and the Baopuzi - alchemical formulas for achieving immortality were outlined. Enlightened and immortal beings are referred to as xian.
A number of martial arts traditions, particularly the ones falling under the category of Neijia (like T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Bagua Zhang and Xing Yi Quan) embody Taoist principles to a significant extent, and some practitioners consider their art to be a means of practicing Taoism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoism
**
Recently, it has been as though a biochemical or neurochemical switch has been flipped and I have begun to see things in ways I can't explain. My mood is still elevated even when I'm in depressive or postictal states, which is fascinating. It's as though a part of my brain and mind has separated and remained lit up, waiting to merge back in when all the neurological crap has been treated. I like it.
(Also, please don't suggest yoga. Yoga does not work well for me. I perform personalized exercises and stretches that resemble certain yoga poses, but I do not do yoga.)
