Steve

You may be interested in this. This video explains what it's about

This is just to let you know that I like being a hermit so much, and visitors are such a pain in the ass, that I'm no longer offering a live in type school. People can do what they want with my on line, for sale videos.

Tao is not emptiness nor nothingness, it is the set of laws that govern the way the universe operates. When you name (classify things) you end up dividing reality into little bits and pieces, therefore the ten thousand things. Nameless refers to not thinking, which is a way of perceiving the eternal, it is getting to the root of things, the beginnings. Desires are an aspect of materialism, therefore those ruled by desires can see only the manifestations. Without desires, which comes way after enlightenment, a person can stop the influence of mate

Straw dogs stood at the temple entrance for a certain festival. Everybody was very respectful to the straw dogs, then at the end of the festival, for the grand finale, it culminated with the ritual burning of the straw dogs. Translation: The sage treats people with respect even though he knows that most of them are/will be burning in hell. The space between heaven and Earth refers to living things. They move around and change, and so the shape changes, waxing and waning, but in the bigger picture it's all the same old stuff.

Evidently links don't work here, so you'll need to do a search for Tien Shan Hermitage and then go to the retreats page. www.taohermitage.com

It is true that non thinking meditation is the key, but thoughts arise sometimes even when one is attempting non thinking. Reflections on ones actions is also natural. Meditation prunes away those who are in denial, because they can't face their dark side, so they quit meditating, therefore they do not become realized.

That's for sure, and it isn't what I was implying. Here's another way of putting what I said. No one who is into denial will become realized.

There are different types of desires, there are desires which feed egoism, and there are desires which keep you alive. The quickest path to self realization is via ruthless self honesty. Just kidding, actually it's the only path.

That would be a dream come true, but ... There must be only a handful of people in the whole world who are alive now who is as advanced as Mr. Yueng, and finding one of them, even if i was actively looking, and i'm not leaving the wilderness here, would be impossible. Even then, if I did find one they would probably already have a student. I do get a little info from time to time from some un-named immortal, which may be my guardian, but it's not like going to classes. For me to take on any known available teacher now would be taking a gigantic step downhill ... unless it was in some unr

How what goes? Trying to find a real student, or using a different browser? Is this forum having problems with links or is it just me?

Thanks, i just trued that and it didn't work for me. I'm using Safari though, so later I'll try it using a different browser.

Yes, I mentioned that in my previous post. they worked when I first wrote the post bet then I returned to check and they didn't work. Do any links work on this forum? Anyway, to see those pages you will need to copy the addresses and then past them into a browser window, or just do an internet search for Taoist Hermitage Ecuador, that should do it.

That is strange, it did the same thing to me too. It must be because I copied it off another forum. I checked these links, and they worked the first time, but do not work on returning to this post. I guess you'll have to copy and paste them into a browser to see them. www.taohermitage.com/index.html www.taohermitage.com/about.html

OK, I deleted the humorous first line

By an amazing fluke of luck, I was given something that is usually only given to a Chinese person who is a family member of the master. In this case, the master was/is an immortal. Due to this, you can be sure that I am one of the few white people in the whole world who has been given the methods used in the hidden Taoist spiritual path, to become one with the Way. I am also one of the only people in the world who is open to teaching the real Way to non Chinese persons who have the right stuff, which is in itself very rare. You know, you’ve seen paintings of dragons holding a pe