A question (Earth, translation, heaven, religions)

[Halcyon]

To any Taoist, (although i have a sneaking suspicion it'll be MV )

Who or what is the Valley Spirit, the Mysterious Female - in fact, what is that whole part about?

[Halcyon]

*bump*

Sorry for the bump, but i am really quite interested in what this means.

[Master Vigil]

Gu Shen - The Valley Spirit.

Think of it like the goddess in primitive agricultural religions. It is the aspect of Tao that puts forth life from the earth. It is our mother, our comfort, our stability. It is nature, it is how the water flows. These of course are all metaphors. But this passage from the Tao Te Ching discusses it.

"Gu Shen Bu Si,
Shi Wei Xuan Pin.
Xuan Pin Zhi Men,
Shi Wei Tian Di Gen.
Mian Mian Ruo Cun,
Yong Zhi Bu Qin.
----------
Translated as: The valley spirit never dies;
It is called the mysterious female.
The gateway of the mysterious female
Is called the root of heaven and earth.
It is like a veil barely seen,
But if you use it, it never fails."

[Halcyon]

Thanks MV, i tried a google search but didn't get very far

Also, my copy (bought it the other day) is different to the translation you posted, how many different translations are there?

[Master Vigil]

Many! Which translation did you buy?

[Truthtraveler]

Originally Posted by Halcyon

Who or what is the Valley Spirit, the Mysterious Female - in fact, what is that whole part about?

I see the Valley Spirit as the depth of ourselves, the root of our truth and our emotions, the basic essence of who we are - and you could call it our soul. I view it as the flip side of our AWARENESS, of our consciousness, of our intellect.


This part of the Tao Te Ching inspired a short essay I wrote on the differences between the masculine and the feminine, if you care to read it.

The Enlightened Person Balances Masculinity and Femininity

[Master Vigil]

I see the Valley Spirit as the depth of ourselves, the root of our truth and our emotions, the basic essence of who we are - and you could call it our soul. I view it as the flip side of our AWARENESS, of our consciousness, of our intellect.

Very insightful. In taoist thought, the duality exists in everything. Our "mysterious feminine" is the passive, yin side to ourselves.