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Chinese terms, what should and shouldn't be used...From: Max
Subject: General
Date/Time 2005-05-14 13:07:49
Remote IP: 69.86.147.111
MessageIsn't it rather discriminatory to say "some questions should not be asked", or "someone who speaks or reads chinese can not understand these terms". Basically you are saying "this is right thought/action", and "this is wrong thought/action".
Some questions shouldn't be asked. Like "What is Tao?" or "What does an Immortal feel?" or "Do you have an empty mind?"
My comment about Chinese:
"As for the chinese term of "heart" as opposed to "mind", this doen't change the meaning of text. All the old spiritual texts are written in special forms of Buddhist Chinese and Taosit Chinese -- all specialized fields that take years of training each. If a person speaks and writes Chinese and looks at those texts, they would be unable to read them. There is a reason it is translated "mind" instead of "heart" to preserve the best translation possible."
There are only a handfull of people that can read fluently anscient Buddhist Chinese and Taoist Chinese written hundreds if not thousands years ago. It takes at least 5 years of specialized studies to even scratch the basics of learning these forms of Chinese. These are the people who will translate anscient texts into modern Chinese, so people like Thomas Cleary will translate them into English.
If I say most Chinese people don't read anscient Chinese, is it a right thought/action, wrong thought/action or neither?
From http://www.yogichen.org/chenian/bk75.html
"The Chinese term "Hsin" has many meanings. It refers to the "heart" when it is used in the physical sense. It refers to the "mind," "will," or "wish" when it is used in the psychological sense. It means "center" when it is used geometrically. It means "soul" or "consciousness" when it is used in the spiritual sense. It means "essence" or "truth" when it is used in the philosophical sense. As it may mean something rather opposite, its relevant meaning depends on context and should be carefully discriminated and comprehended. For the purpose of inducing one’s thought into the whole truth, one should take the word as a whole with all its implications. But for other occasions, it should pertain to its appropriate meaning in each specific instance."
Thank you for sharing your views on your practices and experiences. In my case, I try not to attach myself to goals, intentions or experiences. I say I try because it's not exactly an easy thing to do.
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