[MD] Taoism

[Dwaipayan Lahiri]

Greetings Marsha,

On Jan 3, 2008, at 4:23 AM, MarshaV wrote:

>
>>>> Re: 'Nine Nights with the Taoist Master' by Waysun Liao.
>
> Greetings,
>
> It seems that this book, and philosophy, is written from the man's
> perspective to men.  While there is great wisdom, there is no advice
> for women. It is stated:
>
> "It's as if the Yang power must return into the Yin power, and the
> Yin must become the Yang power." (p.156)
>
> But it seems all the teaching is to help men return to and regain  
> Yin power.
>

Again I think you are making the mistake of projecting your ideas  
about the gender of Yin and Yang onto this matter.
Yin and Yang are gender-less. The represent duality and opposites of  
all kinds. Of which, male and female are but a infinitesimal fraction.


> "It is not enough just to connect Te back to Tao.  You must also
> practice the power of weakness.  This means to condition yourself to
> be humble, to be empty, to be low, to allow the subtle, invisible,
> yet ever almighty powerful Tao particle to flow into your body, to
> charge up your entire body as 'Tao body.'" (p. 158)
>
> This does not seem to be advice for women to help them reconnect to
> Yang power.  There is something vital missing.


While it is true the women are more Yin in nature, that doesn't mean  
that they lack "Yang". Similarly, men are more Yang but don't  
necessarily lack Yin. The practice of Tai Chi Chuan (a very vital  
taoist practice) or Ba Gua or simply Chi Gung is about balancing the  
Yin and Yang within oneself.  Yang power doesn't need reconnecting  
with. It is developed and harnessed. Similarly with Yin.

I know it is very hard to separate concepts that have snuck into our  
psyche and marked their grooves. But I hope you can drop all  
judgement and simply feel the power of this book. In my class (Tai  
Chi, Taoist meditation) there are both men and women and we all  
strive to balance and augment each other's practice. The Tao is not  
the exclusive domain of any one gender.

>
> I will continue to read in hopes of finding the other side of this  
> wisdom.
>

Regards,

Dwai

> Marsha
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> Shoot for the moon.  Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars...
>
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