Walks with Bruno

 In Vancouver, Washington, where we have lived since April of 2017, I walk on my suburban neighborhood streets with our dog Bruno.  

I have one route that takes Bruno and I 30 minutes to walk, another route that takes 45 minutes to walk, and a one hour route.  We walk along the edge of wide quiet suburban streets.  The large trees in our neighborhood and the mostly well kept property and landscaping are lovely.  People nod, salute, or say "hello" ... acknowledgement, friendliness, safety, peace.  Some people like the look of my people friendly Bruno dog. 

My dog constantly wants to go on a walkabout.  

I walk on Clark County trails, at local parks, along the Columbia, and home indoors on a treadmill.  In the photo below, my dog, Bruno, and I are walking at the nearby Orchards Community Park.  Lots of trees mean lots of cooler, foggier, rainy days in Southwestern Washington, west of the Cascades peaks like Hood, Adams, St. Helens, Rainer.  Orchards Park is adjacent to the I 205 Freeway, so it is far nosier walking here than in Red Bluff because of the surrounding automobile, truck, suburban, and PDX airport jet sounds.  Vancouver is the largest suburb north of Portland.  A busy and noisy area!

An Evidence of Leisure

"Today I have grown taller from walking with the trees."
-  Karle Wilson

"I like to walk about amidst the beautiful things that adorn the world."
-  George Santayana

How to Live a Good Life: Advice From Wise Persons

"I was never less alone than when by myself."
-  Edward Gibbon

"The walking stick serves the purpose of an advertisement that the bearer's hands are employed otherwise that in useful effort, and it therefore has utility as an evidence of leisure."
-  Thorstein Veblen, Theory of the Leisure Class

"... the brisk exercise imparts elasticity to the muscles, fresh and healthy blood circulates through the brain, the mind works well, the eye is clear, the step is firm, and the day's exertion always make the evening's repose thoroughly enjoyable."
-  Dr. David Livingstone


Currently, I am reading the books on pragmatism, Washington State, erotica, and the history of modern philosophy.  

On Desire: Why We Want What We Want  By William B. Irvine.  Oxford University Press, 2006.  322 pages. 

Walking - Quotations, Sayings, Poems, Lore

Solitude - Quotations  

Traveling, Camping and Hiking in Oregon

Pleasure, Satisfaction, Desire - Quotations



Nearly every Saturday morning, from 1998-2017, I walked four miles along a quiet paved country lane - Kilkenny Lane.  This was in a rural area about 8 miles south of Red Bluff, CA.  The photograph below, taken by Karen, was on a nice Spring day.  

The Concept of "Hunyuan"

"Hunyuan is an ancient, central concept of Daoist philosophy and meditation practice. Hun means undifferentiated unity, the state of mind and being that occurs when one does not divide the world into concepts. In other words, hun is equivalent to inner silence. Yuan means origin or original. The importance of Yuan is attested by the fact that it is the opening word of Qian, the first chapter of the Yi Jing (The Classic of Change). "Original [Yuan], Penetrating [Heng], Auspicious [Li], Correct [Zhen]." This mantric phrase may be interpreted as four stages in the creation or evolution of an idea or phenomenon; or it may represent the four seasons.

Yuan is the root or antecedent of any action. It is the creative spark or impulse, like a seed planted in Spring which is just ready to sprout. Heng is the Summer, and represents germination and development. The character heng originally meant a sacrificial cup used to make offerings to the Gods. Most commentators explain heng as tong, penetrating or reaching to the Gods. Li means to cut grain, to harvest or reap the benefits of what was grown. It is thus the Autumn season. Zhen, which originally included the character for tripod means steady and correct. It also means divination. Zhen is the winter season, when the energies of life retreat back into the ground and people return from the fields to their homes. The spark of yang is hidden in the yin. Winter is a time for inner work rather than outer work, a time to perfect one's character and prepare for the coming year by consulting oracles.

The character yuan was originally a composite of shang the word "above" with ren, the word "person." Hence, yuan means the upper part of a person's body, the head, or, as we say in English to go ahead, to be first. Interestingly, the Chinese character Dao also contains an element that means both head and first, shou. One of my Daoist teachers, the late B. P. Chan, defined Dao as "the path to the origin." We could also interpret this as returning to the origin. When the body Returns to the Origin, it renews itself with the energy of life, the all pervading qi of the universe. It becomes like an uncarved block of wood-- the Daoist symbol of a person uncorrupted by the stresses and worries of life. As Lao Zi says, "See the unbleached silk, embrace the uncarved block; reduce selfishness, lessen desire." (When the mind Returns to the Origin, it becomes simple and pure like a newborn babe, able to perceive the world with a fresh innocence.)

Hun with yuan becomes the concept Hunyuan, the Primordial State of Being. The term is synonymous with the word Dao itself and also with Taiji (the Undifferentiated, as in Taiji Quan, a martial art and healing art that blends yin and yang, suppleness with strength). Philosophy and personal cultivation are not separate categories in Daoist thought. Thus, Hunyuan is the Primal Being (God) or Beingness that both precedes and underlies all creation. It is also the spiritual state of a person who practices Daoist meditation."

- Hunyuan Qigong: Tracing Life to Its Roots
  An excellent essay by Master Kenneth Cohen, 2007


Hun Yuan Qigong

Hun Yuan Taijiquan

Months and Seasons of the Year

What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong

“I see trees of green
Red roses too
I see them bloom
For me and for you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

I see skies of blue
And clouds of white
The bright blessed day
The dark sacred night
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow
So pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces
Of people going by
I see friends shaking hands
Saying, "How do you do?"
They're really saying
"I love you" 

I hear babies cry
I watch them grow
They'll learn much more
Than I'll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world
Yes, I think to myself
What a wonderful world
Oh yeah."

Recorded by Louis Armstrong, Satchmo, 1967 

Cheerfulness

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

Dao De Jing, Chapter 27

 Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu

Chapter 27

"Good walking leaves no tracks
good talking reveals no flaws
good counting counts no beads
good closing locks no locks
and yet it can't be opened
good tying ties no knots
and yet it can't be undone
thus the sage is good at saving others
and yet abandons no one
nor anything of use
this is called cloaking the light
thus, the good instruct the bad
the bad learn from the good
not honoring their teachers
not cherishing their students
the wise alone are perfectly blind
this is called peering into the distance."
-   Translated by Red Pine, 1996, Chapter 27 

"Good travelers leave no trace nor track,
Good speakers, in logic show no lack,
Good counters need no counting rack.
Good lockers bolting bars need not,
Yet none their locks can loose.
Good binders need no string nor knot,
Yet none unties their noose.
Therefore the holy man is always a good savior of men, for there are no outcast people.
He is always a good savior of things, for there are no outcast things.
This is called applied enlightenment. 
Thus the good man does not respect multitudes of men.
The bad man respects the people's wealth.
Who does not esteem multitudes nor is charmed by their wealth, though his knowledge be greatly confused,
He must be recognized as profoundly spiritual."
-  Translated by Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki and Paul Carus, 1913, Chapter 27  



"The first assignment for Daisetz "Great Simplicity" T. Suzuki in 1898 was to help Paul Carus with the Tao Te Ching.  Dr. Carus knew no Chinese, but he wanted this translation to a scholarly one and he had Suzuki supply a character by character gloss, as best he could, but Suzuki found himself unable to check Carus's use of Teutonic abstractions.  "The Chinese are masters in reproducing the most subtle changes in their innermost feelings," Suzuki wrote of his first collaboration with Carus, "thus, in order to translate passages from Lao Tzu, I had to explain to Dr. Carus the feeling behind each Chinese term.  But being himself a German writing in English, he translated these Chinese ideas into abstract conceptual terms.  If only I had been more intellectually equipped then," he thought later, "I might have been better able to help him understand the original meaning."
In order to supply a corresponding Chinese text, Suzuki cut out the Chinese characters from Chinese and Japanese books, and pasted them in the proper places on the manuscript pages, which where then reproduced photographically [and then printed in 1913]."
-  "How the Swans Came to the Lake," by Rick Fields, 1981, p. 139 



"Good doers leave no tracks.
True words have no defects.
Skillful plans require no calculations.
Able closers need no locks and bars, yet none can open what they shut.
Real strength wants no cords, yet none can loose it.
It follows that the Holy Man when helping others, works in accordance with the unchanging goodness.
Hence, he rejects none.
He does the same when helping nature to develop.
Therefore, he rejects nothing.
This may be called “obscure perception.”
Thus a Good Man is the bad man’s instructor; the bad man the Good Man’s material.
Yet he does not esteem himself a teacher, nor does he love his material.
Although one may be wise, here he is deceived.
This is called “The Cardinal Mystery.”"
-  Translated by C. Spurgeon Medhurst, 1905, Chapter 27


"Translation," as T. S. Eliot wrote of the Fennollosa-Pound version of Noh plays, "is valuable by a double power of fertilizing a literature: by importing new elements which may be assimilated, and by restoring the essentials which have been forgotten in traditional literary method.  There occurs, in the process, a happy fusion between the spirit of the original and the mind of the translator: the result is not exoticism by rejuvenation."
-  "How the Swans Came to the Lake," by Rick Fields, 1981, p. 165


"A good traveler leaves no tracks, and a skillful speaker is well rehearsed.
A good bookkeeper has an excellent memory, and a well made door is easy to open and needs no locks.
A good knot needs no rope and it can not come undone.
Thus the Master is willing to help everyone, and doesn't know the meaning of rejection.
She is there to help all of creation, and doesn't abandon even the smallest creature.
This is called embracing the light.

What is a good person but a bad person's teacher?
What is a bad person but raw material for his teacher?
If you fail to honor your teacher or fail to enjoy your student, you will become deluded no matter how smart you are.
It is the secret of prime importance."
-  Translated by John H. McDonald, 1996, Chapter 27

  

"No translation of the Tao Te Ching is sufficient to understand the text, as the Chinese is subtle and frequently brilliant, carrying a different range of connotations than English, and the Tao Te Ching plays repeatedly on the double and extended meanings of words, which can only be appreciated in the Chinese, unless you have read a wide array of English translations (and perhaps a commentary or two), which will start to convey to you the range of each word's meaning in its given context. Then you can build on what you understand on your own."

-  Richard Carter

"Perfect activity leaves no track behind it;
Perfect speech is like a jade-worker whose tool leaves no mark.
The perfect reckoner needs no counting-slips;
The perfect door has neither bolt nor bar,
Yet cannot be opened.
The perfect knot needs neither rope nor twine,
Yet cannot be united.
Therefore the Sage
Is all the time in the most perfect way helping men,
He certainly does not turn his back on men;
Is all the time in the most perfect way helping creatures,
He certainly does not turn his back on creatures.
This is called resorting to the Light.
Truly, “the perfect man is the teacher of the imperfect;
But the imperfect is the stock-in-trade of the perfect man”.
He who does not respect his teacher,
He who does not take care of his stock-in-trade,
Much learning through he may possess, is far astray.
This is the essential secret."
-  Translated by Arthur Waley, 1934, Chapter 27  


善行無轍迹.
善言無瑕讁.
善數不用籌策.
善閉無關楗而不可開.
善結無繩約而不可解.
是以聖人常善救人, 故無棄人.
常善救物.
故無棄物, 是謂襲明.
故善人者, 不善人之師.
不善人者, 善人之資.
不貴其師, 不愛其資, 雖智大迷.
是謂要妙.-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 27


shan hsing wu ch'ê chi.
shan yen wu hsia chai.
shan shu pu yung ch'ou ts'ê.
shan pi wu kuan chien erh pu k'o k'ai.
shan chieh wu shêng yo erh pu k'o chieh.
shih yi shêng jên ch'ang shan chiu jên, ku wu ch'i jên.
ch'ang shan chiu wu.
ku wu ch'i wu shih wei hsi ming.
ku shan jên chê, pu shan jên chih shih.
pu shan jên chih, shan jên chih tzu.
pu kuei ch'i shih, pu ai ch'i tzu, sui chih ta mi.
shih wei yao miao.
-  Wade-Giles Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 27


"A good traveler leaves no trace.
A good speaker makes no slips.
A good accountant uses no devices.
A good door needs no bolts to remain shut.
A good fastener needs no rope to hold its bond.
Therefore the wise are good at helping people,
and consequently no one is rejected.
They are good at saving things,
and consequently nothing is wasted.
This is called using the Light.
Therefore the good teach the bad,
and the bad are lessons for the good.
Those who neither value the teacher nor care for the lesson
are greatly deluded, though they may be learned.
Such is the essential mystery."
-  Translated by Sanderson Beck, 1996, Chapter 27 

"Un buen caminante no deja huellas.
Un buen orador no se equivoca ni ofende.
Un buen contable no necesita útiles de cálculo.
Un buen cerrajero no usa barrotes ni cerrojos,
y nadie puede abrir lo que ha cerrado.
Quien ata bien no utiliza cuerdas ni nudos,
y nadie puede desatar lo que ha atado.
Así, el sabio siempre ayuda a los hombres,
por eso a nadie desampara.
El sabio siempre salva a las cosas,
por eso a ninguna descuida.
De él se dice que está deslumbrado por la luz.
Por esto, el hombre bueno no se considera maestro
de los hombres, sino que les enseña;
y el hombre que no es bueno estima como buenas las
riquezas que de los hombres obtiene.
No amar el magisterio ni la materia de los hombres,
y aparentar ignorancia, siendo iluminado,
Este es un principio esencial del Tao."
-  Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Capitulo 27

"The best action is free from marks either good or evil.
 The best words are free from stains either good or bad.
 The best calculator is free from calculation and measure.
 The best closure has no bolts, yet it cannot be opened.
 The best knot has no cord, yet it cannot be untied.
 Thus, the wise knows how to rescue men; hence, no one is excluded.
 He also knows how to rescue things; hence, nothing is excluded.
 This is called penetration to illumination.
 Therefore, the virtuous is the model for the unvirtuous.
 The unvirtuous is the origin of the virtuous.
 If one does not appreciate the virtuous or cherish the unvirtuous,
 Although one is intelligent, one is not free from confusion.
 This is called the indispensable wonder."
 -  Translated by Chang Chung-Yuan, Chapter 27 

A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo for each one of the 81 Chapters (Verses, Sections) of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes over 25 different English language translations or interpolations for that Chapter, 5 Spanish language translations for that Chapter, the Chinese characters for that Chapter, the Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin transliterations (Romanization) of the Mandarin Chinese words for that Chapter, and 2 German and 1 French translation of that Chapter.  Each webpage for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching includes extensive indexing by key words, phrases, and terms for that Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization.  Each webpage on a Chapter of the Daodejing includes recommended reading in books and websites, a detailed bibliography, some commentary, research leads, translation sources, a Google Translate drop down menu, and other resources for that Chapter.   

Chapter 27, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

English Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Spanish Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey  

Reflections on Spinoza

Baruch Spinoza, 1632-1677

Free Thought, Enlightenment and Religion  

Spinoza's Religion

The Philosophy of Baruch Spinoza

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise and Respected Persons

“When Einstein gave lectures at U.S. universities, the question students asked him most was: Do you believe in God? And he always answered: I believe in the God of Spinoza.

Baruch de Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher considered one of the great rationalists of 17th century philosophy, along with Descartes.

According to Spinoza, God would say: “Stop praying. I want you to go out into the world and enjoy your life. I want you to sing, have fun and enjoy everything I've made for you.

“Stop going into those dark, cold temples that you built yourself and saying they are my house. My house is in the mountains, in the woods, rivers, lakes, beaches. That's where I live and there I express my love for you.

“Stop blaming me for your miserable life; I never told you there was anything wrong with you or that you were a sinner, or that your sexuality was a bad thing. Sex is a gift I have given you and with which you can express your love, your ecstasy, your joy. So don't blame me for everything that others made you believe.

“Stop reading alleged sacred scriptures that have nothing to do with me. If you can't read me in a sunrise, in a landscape, in the look of your friends, in your son's eyes—you will find me in no book!

“Stop asking me, ‘Will you tell me how to do my job?’ Stop being so scared of me. I do not judge you or criticize you, nor get angry or bothered. I am pure love.

“Stop asking for forgiveness, there's nothing to forgive. If I made you, I filled you with passions, limitations, pleasures, feelings, needs, inconsistencies, and best of all, free will. Why would I blame you if you respond to something I put in you? How could I punish you for being the way you are, if I'm the one who made you? Do you think I could create a place to burn all my children who behave badly for the rest of eternity? What kind of god would do that?

“Respect your peers, and don't give what you don't want for yourself. All I ask is that you pay attention in your life—alertness is your guide.

“My beloved, this life is not a test, not a step on the way, not a rehearsal, not a prelude to paradise. This life is the only thing here and now—and it is all you need.

“I have set you absolutely free, no prizes or punishments, no sins or virtues, no one carries a marker, no one keeps a record.

You are absolutely free to create in your life. It’s you who creates heaven or hell.

“Live as if there is nothing beyond this life, as if this is your only chance to enjoy, to love, to exist. Then you will have enjoyed the opportunity I gave you. And if there is an afterlife, rest assured that I won't ask if you behaved right or wrong, I'll ask, ‘Did you like it? Did you have fun? What did you enjoy the most? What did you learn?’

“Stop believing in me; believing is assuming, guessing, imagining. I don't want you to believe in me, I want you to believe in you. I want you to feel me in you when you kiss your beloved, when you tuck in your little girl, when you caress your dog, when you bathe in the sea.

“Stop praising me. What kind of egomaniac God do you think I am? I'm bored with being praised. I'm tired of being thanked. Feeling grateful? Prove it by taking care of yourself, your health, your relationships, the world. Express your joy! That's the way to praise me.

“Stop complicating things and repeating as a parrot what you've been taught about me. Why do you need more miracles? So many explanations?

“The only thing for sure is that you are here, that you are alive, that this world is full of wonders.””

Facebook Post by John Stitely, 11/30/2020

Spinoza was a Rationalist and not a Pragmatist.  I do think he might agree with some of the above reinterpretations and highlights of his free thought and religious views.  Epicureans might also support the above viewpoints. William James is maybe closer to Spinoza in acknowledging the role of religion in people's spiritual and social lives.  God, for Spinoza, was Nature and it lacked meddling miracles and anthropomorphic personality.  

 

 

Donald Trump Deserves Our Disrespect

 “In my life, I have watched John Kennedy talk on television about missiles in Cuba. I saw Lyndon Johnson look Richard Russell squarely in the eye and and say, "And we shall overcome." I saw Richard Nixon resign and Gerald Ford tell the Congress that our long national nightmare was over. I saw Jimmy Carter talk about malaise and Ronald Reagan talk about a shining city on a hill. I saw George H.W. Bush deliver the eulogy for the Soviet bloc, and Bill Clinton comfort the survivors of Timothy McVeigh's madness in Oklahoma City. I saw George W. Bush struggle to make sense of it all on September 11, 2001, and I saw Barack Obama sing 'Amazing Grace' in the wounded sanctuary of Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

"These were the presidents of my lifetime. These were not perfect men. They were not perfect presidents, god knows. Not one of them was that. But they approached the job, and they took to the podium, with all the gravitas they could muster as appropriate to the job. They tried, at least, to reach for something in the presidency that was beyond their grasp as ordinary human beings. They were not all ennobled by the attempt, but they tried nonetheless.

"And comes now this hopeless, vicious buffoon, and the audience of equally hopeless and vicious buffoons who laughed and cheered when he made sport of a woman whose lasting memory of the trauma she suffered is the laughter of the perpetrators. Now he comes, a man swathed in scandal, with no interest beyond what he can put in his pocket and what he can put over on a universe of suckers, and he does something like this while occupying an office that we gave him, and while endowed with a public trust that he dishonors every day he wakes up in the White House.

"The scion of a multigenerational criminal enterprise, the parameters of which we are only now beginning to comprehend. A vessel for all the worst elements of the American condition. And a cheap, soulless bully besides. We never have had such a cheap counterfeit of a president* as currently occupies the office. We never have had a president* so completely deserving of scorn and yet so small in the office that it almost seems a waste of time and energy to summon up the requisite contempt.

"Watch how a republic dies in the empty eyes of an empty man who feels nothing but his own imaginary greatness, and who cannot find in himself the decency simply to shut up even when it is in his best interest to do so. Presidents don't have to be heroes to be good presidents. They just have to realize that their humanity is our common humanity, and that their political commonwealth is our political commonwealth, too. Watch him behind the seal of the President of the United States. Isn't he a funny man? Isn't what happened to that lady hilarious? Watch the assembled morons cheer. This is the only story now."

-   Charles Pierce

Donald does like playing golf and grabbing women and lying.