Tag: stillness

The Daoist Shop-Front - Seduce Me With Your Wares!

UK: Qianfeng Daoism – A Few Flowers Bloomed! (5.9.2025)

The above are two recent email responses I wrote following a respectful and lucid request for knowledge and instruction. Daoism is very misunderstood both within and outside of China – but ironically this a cross we have to bear. Daoism has nothing to do with money. Indeed, the fabled “pay wall” is a contradiction to the very essence of authentic Daoist teaching. The basic rule should be that if a Daoist “teacher” demands money before they instruct you – they possess nothing worth instructing you in. You might be conditioned to feel good when purchasing something – but Daoist wisdom feels good because there is no greed involved in any of its structure, formulation, or transmission.

Continue reading

Greek Bird

Daoism Email: Birds Sing in China – Birds Sing in Greece! (14.7.2025)

We do not charge money when sharing knowledge – and as long as we can afford the hosting fees – this website will remain open and free to use for everyone! Even if a time comes when this is no longer possible – I hope the articles will have been copied and passed on as is for the general benefit of humanity. Remember, breathing costs nothing, and being aware of breathing costs nothing – so there is no profit margin! Away with all the charlatans of the world and those who try to sell you your own bodily processes! A cultivated wisdom sees through this kind of inherent ignorance which is a sign of the times.

Continue reading

Defining ‘Emptiness’ (Sunnata) and ‘Nothingness’ (Akincanna)! (5.2.2023) 

What does this mean? Dull nothingness (akincanna) is a thought form with a non-descript content. In other words, a thought is generated which is defined by the usual boundaries and parameters that constitute the average structured ‘thought’ form – but the meditator misunderstands this ‘non-descript’ content and mistakenly grasps it as being the empty mind ground. The trap here is that a manifest ‘thought’ (and stream of thought) is masquerading as the psychic fabric from which all structured thought arises – and which pre-exists all thought. This state is mistaken as complete and perfect enlightenment and those trapped within it start misleading others down the wrong path.

Continue reading

China: History Classic (Shujing) and the Concept of ‘Time’! (22.9.2022)

Seldom does the West Treat non-Westerners with respect. Since 1945 and the rise of US dominance, this anti-intellectual approach has become far more prevalent, powerful and normalised! Racism is an ever threatening ogre lurking in the darkness – but in this short extract (in 1971) – Clae Williams ‘revitalises’ the ground breaking translation work of James Legge, who began the translation of the Chinese ‘Five Classic’ texts in the mid to late 1800s! Although both cultures (the West and East) are still learning about one another, Legge was able to ‘see beyond’ his own socio-economic and cultural conditioning, and ‘see into’ or profoundly ‘glimpse’ how the ancient Chinese people developed a distinct cultural view of the world! The following extract is an ‘Introduction’ written by the American ‘Clae Williams’ in 1969, his modernisation of the work of James Legge, with much of its content deriving from the ample notes left behind in the James Legge Library. The ‘Shujing’ (書經) or ‘Document Classic’ is often referred to in China as the ‘Book of History’ as the ‘Documents’ concerned are ‘Historical’ in nature recording Chinese history from around 2205 – 771 BCE. It is an interesting attempt by non-Chinese people to contextualise the Chinese cultural perception of the world!

Continue reading

Plotinus: The Concept of ‘Time’ Reconsidered! (21.9.2022)

The Christians then further added to this confusion (entirely of their own making) by superimposing the Germanic term ‘Soul’ over their misinterpretation of the Greek philosophical term ‘Psyche’! Plotinus (and most genuine Greek philosophers) never used or even knew of the Christian conflation of ‘Psyche-Soul’. Certainly, Plotinus NEVER used the Christian term ‘Soul’, but he did continuously use the Greek philosophical term ‘Psyche’, which refers to the ‘breath of life’, ‘the animating principle of existence’ – or that ‘spark’ which sets in motion all the conditions that grant psychological (thought) and physical (existence)! Plato’s 4th Century BCE text entitled ‘Definitions’ a manual of philosophical terms (translated by DS Hutchinson, 1996) used within his ‘Academy’ School of Philosophical Study – defines the Greek term ‘Psyche’ to mean the following:

a) That which moves itself.

b) The cause of vital processes in living creatures.

I would argue that the Greek term ‘Psyche’ implies so much more than the narrow Christian term ‘Soul’, and even if there are elements of the Greek ‘Psyche’ which overlap with the Christian ‘Soul’ – this in no way validates (or accepts) the Christian doctrine of being true anymore than it invalidates the Greek philosophical message!

Continue reading

1 2 3