Good Intentions (taoism)

[Scarlett Wampus]

The emperor of the South Sea was Lickety, the emperor of the Northern Sea was Split, and the emperor of the Center was Wonton. Lickety and Split often met each other in the Land of Wonton, and Wonton treated them very well. Wanting to repay Wonton's kindness, Lickety and Split said, "All people have seven holes for seeing, hearing, eating and breathing. Wonton alone lacks them. Let's try boring some holes for him." So every day they bored one hole, and on the seventh day Wonton died.

- from Chuang Tzu Chapter 7

[Quagmire]

Good one Scarlett

For me, Chuang Tzu is the Jimi Hendrix of Taoism; love to listen to him, don't always get the symbolism.

[Scarlett Wampus]

Jimmy Hendrix? LOL! I wouldn't have expected that comparison. I get your meaning though.

The symbolism he uses can definitely be difficult to understand. He plays with the meaningless/irrational as well as meaning/rationality too (non-dual mind has that quality) so that can make it even more confusing. Example: -

Master Lieh was on a journey and was having a meal by the side of the road. There he saw a hundred-year-old skull. He pulled away the weeds and pointed at it, saying, "Only you and I know that you have never died and that you have never lived. Are you truly distressed? Am I truly happy?"

Heh.

With that Wonton story Wonton himself represents chaos apparently so... I think of it like a story of lost innocence.

[zenzero]

Go With The Flow
A Taoist story tells of an old man who accidentally fell into the river rapids leading to a high and dangerous waterfall. Onlookers feared for his life. Miraculously, he came out alive and unharmed downstream at the bottom of the falls. People asked him how he managed to survive. "I accommodated myself to the water, not the water to me. Without thinking, I allowed myself to be shaped by it. Plunging into the swirl, I came out with the swirl. This is how I survived."

[Francine]

Originally Posted by Quagmire

Good one Scarlett

For me, Chuang Tzu is the Jimi Hendrix of Taoism; love to listen to him, don't always get the symbolism.

Yeah, what does "Excuse me while I kiss this guy" really mean?

[zenzero]

Friend Francine,
Just checked Jimi said:
"Scuse me while I kiss the sky" and not guy.
Love & rgds

[methylatedghosts]

Francine, it's "excuse me while I kiss the sky"

(he's off his nut on drugs - hence the "purple haze")

[ChrisP]

Originally Posted by methylatedghosts

Francine, it's "excuse me while I kiss the sky"

What he said. Purple Haze is a strain of marijuana. It's said to mess you up.

[Francine]

Originally Posted by ChrisP

What he said. Purple Haze is a strain of marijuana. It's said to mess you up.

I thought purple haze referred perhaps to a visual distortion that was a side effect of LSD.