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Posted by Steve on 2/18/2009, 9:49 am, in reply to "Figurative-ing out Steve"
69.138.195.x
: Steve--If by 'out-of-sync' you mean some sort
: of maladjustment with nature, I don't buy it.
: Bao Pu--Do you also have a beef with modern
: environmentalists who say similarly that we
: aren't living in harmony with Nature? What
: do they mean when they say things like this?
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I don't know what the environmentalists see, Bao Pu. I only know what I see. When I f*uck with the environment, I'm making a very critical error in judgment. I'm acting contrary to my best interests.
'Harmony with Nature' means nothing to me. Imo it's a bullshit concept.
You and I are nature. We cannot be out of harmony with ourselves.
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: Steve--'Potential not realized' is Dao too.
: When I fail to realize potential, that's Dao.
: 'Not Dao' or 'lacking Dao' challenge me to
: consider what it means to project my own
: demands and expectations onto the universe.
: Bao Pu--Encountering these expressions
: in ancient (or even modern) Chinese should
: also perhaps challenge you to consider what
: Dao really meant to them. It seems to me, and
: I could be wrong, that Steve has this
: conception of what "Dao" means, and that
: anyone who believes otherwise is mistaken and
: needs to be corrected or enlightened. (Or else
: Steve wouldn't jump all over anyone who utters
: such a view on this forum.) The fact that the
: Chinese themselves used the word in ways which
: don't fit Steve's view doesn't seem to bother
: him. You mentioned that these expressions in
: the ancient texts might (must?) be figurative.
: I'd still like to hear more about that. Are
: figurative uses allowable?
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You know, Bao Pu, you fancy yourself a scholar, and questions like "what did Dao mean to the ancient Chinese" are important to you. I get that, and have no problem with it.
Try to understand, however, that for some of us the 'exact' understanding of long-dead Chinese guys is not the juicy bit. Not the pearl we go diving for.
For you, it seems to be a largely intellectual exercise. For me, it's largely a touchy-feely thing.
Can we agree that both approaches are okay?
Re: "Or else Steve wouldn't jump all over anyone who utters such a view on this forum."
As I recall, Bao Pu, it was you who once noted that the primary usefulness of these forums isn't in agreeing with everything that everyone says. In stroking each others' Big Fat Egos.
I think you're being defensive, defending the scholarly treasure trove you've amassed over time. And that's perfectly fine. I get defensive too (maybe even now, lol).
But, you know...anything and everything that comes to us is perfectly okay.
In my philosophy, at least. :)
Steve
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"The Tao is basically utterly open. Utter openeness has no substance. It ends in endlessness, begins in beginninglessnes".
-Li Daoqun
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