Lao Tzu on The Ego

[Haruth]

The ego is a monkey catapulting through the jungle: totally fascinated by the realm of the senses, it swings from one desire to the next, one conflict to the next, one self-centered idea to the next. If you threaten it, it actually fears for its life. Let this monkey go. Let the senses go. Let desires go. Let conflicts go. Let ideas go. Let the fiction of life and death go. Just remain in the center, watching. And then forget that you are there.

From: Hua Hu Ching

[TheLorax]

I didn't recognize Hua Hu Ching so I looked it up.

Finding it on Amazon evoked two reactions, the second quickly following the first:

anger: Holy Cow! there are secret teachings of Lao Tzu! and nobody told me!? Damnit.

excitement: Holy Cow! There are secret teachigns of Lao Tzu! My insides are leaping for joy!


~
What did you think of these unknown teachings?

[Haruth]

Calm down, TheLorax...calm, down

The book isn't without controversy. Certain factions believe it can't be what it says it is: partly due to the cardinal virtues being wrongly attributed; partly due to the sexual content, although it has been noted that certain Daoist sects who promoted sexual intercourse before the practice was banned - hence it may be a Daoist tract, or simply a mistranslation of the intercourse between Kan (the moon) and Li (the sun); and partly due to a late dating attributed to the original document, though since it is asserted to be a later recording of the oral teachings of Lao Tzu, perhaps this should be expected...

It does contain some commendable points, but I suppose it depends how dyed in the wool you are about Lao Tzu and his teaching which will define how you find the 80 or so teachings outlined in the book.

[Blank Rune]

Old Lao Tzu had a pretty neat way of explaining the Ego, didn't he? It is interesting how he throws in the rest...basically the letting go of the carnal self.

I guess it could be said in many different ways, for example:
The Ego experience is a lot like when someone has had a bit too much to drink and believes they are someone they're not. Once they become sober again they are somewhat embarrassed. Eventually they learn who they are (more importantly who they aren't) and are less likely to engage in that "drunken" behavior again.

Selfishness, false pride, blinding desire...characteristics of the bad wolf. Love, hope, charity...characteristics of the good wolf. As the old American Indian saying goes, "Within a person there exists a good wolf and a bad wolf that are engaged in a fight to the death...do you know which one will win?...the one you feed". The bad wolf is representative of the carnal self and the good wolf of the spiritual self.

This parallels Paul's letter to the Romans which uses "life according to the spirit" and "life according to the flesh" to explain the bad behavior and the good behavior. The interesting thing here is he goes on to tell us that the good behavior strengthens the spirit (kinda like feeding the good wolf) and the bad behavior does the opposite (kinda like feeding the bad wolf). Well it gets better...he even talks about how strengthening this spirit (this being the same spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead) is important seeing it is this spirit that will raise the Christain from the dead at the resurrection.

So many ways to get past the shell and enter the place where we can get down to business, huh?

N.___________

[TheLorax]

Calm down, TheLorax...calm, down

The book isn't without controversy. Certain factions believe it can't be what it says it is: partly due to the cardinal virtues being wrongly attributed; partly due to the sexual content, although it has been noted that certain Daoist sects who promoted sexual intercourse before the practice was banned - hence it may be a Daoist tract, or simply a mistranslation of the intercourse between Kan (the moon) and Li (the sun); and partly due to a late dating attributed to the original document, though since it is asserted to be a later recording of the oral teachings of Lao Tzu, perhaps this should be expected...

It does contain some commendable points, but I suppose it depends how dyed in the wool you are about Lao Tzu and his teaching which will define how you find the 80 or so teachings outlined in the book.

Well my compass would be my own feeling towards the material, not along traditional Daoist principle. To be frank, I've pretty much read the Tao te ching as a go-to prose book. I don't know the technicalities of the philosophy. So far, much of it resonates.

Thanks for the synopsis of the controversial aspects; cutting right to the point!