Comments on: Even a little progress is freedom from fear http://www.centertao.org/blog/2009/03/25/even-a-little-progress-is-freedom-from-fear/ taoism, taoist thought, buddha, yoga, tai chi, shakuhachi, Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:38:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: carl http://www.centertao.org/blog/2009/03/25/even-a-little-progress-is-freedom-from-fear/comment-page-1/#comment-37013 carl Sat, 19 Nov 2011 19:15:28 +0000 http://www.centertao.org/?p=2490#comment-37013 I’ve come to respect fear much more now. In my youth, fear was just something I always felt I had to push back on, and eliminate if possible. Now I see fear as the backbone of life itself. Without fear, there is no life. Fear is the wellspring of the survival instinct and need. Each living thing is born with its innate quotient of fear. Too much fear is as problematic as too little fear; fear can be our friend or our enemy. The balance between, the middle way, is the path evolution marches on. That said, it is clear most are born with more fear, not less. Is that Nature being conservative? Fear is the source spring of need in all life; in humans, need + thought = desire. No wonder all religions take issue with desire, and the road to ruin to which it can lead. <a href="http://www.centertao.org/tao-te-ching/dc-lau/#chapter-64" rel="nofollow">Therefore the sage desires not to desire</a>. I have regarded the Bhagavad Gita as a necessary base-line one needs to embrace to make hatha yoga (or any other ‘yoga’) truly Yoga, and not just a physical gymnastic-like exercise. I taught Hatha Yoga for a while but soon stopped for most of the students were uninterested in any base-line; a ‘cool’ exercise was what they sought. Of course, it isn’t really the Bhagavad Gita per se, but the ‘taoist’ message it conveys. This is why I ended up in Taoism; it is the best ‘ism’ I’ve run across that conveys <a href="http://www.centertao.org/tao-te-ching/dc-lau/#chapter-43" rel="nofollow">The teaching that uses no words</a>. I’ve come to respect fear much more now. In my youth, fear was just something I always felt I had to push back on, and eliminate if possible. Now I see fear as the backbone of life itself. Without fear, there is no life. Fear is the wellspring of the survival instinct and need. Each living thing is born with its innate quotient of fear. Too much fear is as problematic as too little fear; fear can be our friend or our enemy. The balance between, the middle way, is the path evolution marches on.

That said, it is clear most are born with more fear, not less. Is that Nature being conservative? Fear is the source spring of need in all life; in humans, need + thought = desire. No wonder all religions take issue with desire, and the road to ruin to which it can lead. Therefore the sage desires not to desire.

I have regarded the Bhagavad Gita as a necessary base-line one needs to embrace to make hatha yoga (or any other ‘yoga’) truly Yoga, and not just a physical gymnastic-like exercise. I taught Hatha Yoga for a while but soon stopped for most of the students were uninterested in any base-line; a ‘cool’ exercise was what they sought. Of course, it isn’t really the Bhagavad Gita per se, but the ‘taoist’ message it conveys. This is why I ended up in Taoism; it is the best ‘ism’ I’ve run across that conveys The teaching that uses no words.

]]> By: Wayne http://www.centertao.org/blog/2009/03/25/even-a-little-progress-is-freedom-from-fear/comment-page-1/#comment-36961 Wayne Sat, 19 Nov 2011 02:06:59 +0000 http://www.centertao.org/?p=2490#comment-36961 This is the quotation that guides my life. Glad to see it resonates with someone else. This is the quotation that guides my life. Glad to see it resonates with someone else.

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