When the communist came to power in 1949, the taoist masters retreated into the deep mountains as they repeatedly had done in the past 2,500 years. The taoist thought then would hide for decades , like the ebbing along the sea shore . It might sound sad , however, with so immense a power grasped in their hands, the masters are forbidden to interfere the development of human affairs or history. Just like a small group of zoologists who study the behavior of chimpanzee in a huge forest , no matter how bloody and pitiful they find the quarrels among these living things ,with appearance so similar to us , they must stay indifferent and not to intervene.
The masters never worry about whether communism can conquer China in any cultural senses; nor do they, like the Buddhists , think that most of the people can be rescued . They know that the bounce of taoism , like a rising tide ,is inevitable ; yet even this fact is not their concern .What they are eager to find , same as thousands years ago, is whether one from ten thousands of people , a guy to whom the secret of "qi" be taught , and the continuation of the legacy of Tao. [/size][font=Lucida Console][size=4]
Full Version: Communism and taoism
Great topic!
This is so true. My Master and Grandmaster experienced this during the cultural revolution at Wudangshan. My Master, being the youngest one to be accepted at Wudangshan, hid from the red guard. However, because of their ages, my Master being six at that time and Grandmaster being almost 100 nobody really bothered them much. That is some strategy, huh?! So they were able to practice and cultivate until my Master attained the level the was satisfying to my Grandmaster Li and was sent out to the West to teach the rest of us.
So the lineage at Wudangshan continues.....
Wudangspirit
When the communist came to power in 1949, the taoist masters retreated into the deep mountains as they repeatedly had done in the past 2,500 years. The taoist thought then would hide for decades , like the ebbing along the sea shore . It might sound sad , however, with so immense a power grasped in their hands, the masters are forbidden to interfere the development of human affairs or history. Just like a small group of zoologists who study the behavior of chimpanzee in a huge forest , no matter how bloody and pitiful they find the quarrels between these living things ,with appearance so similar to us , they must stay indifferent and not to intervene.
The masters never worry about whether communism can conquer China in any cultural senses; nor do they, like the Buddhists , think that most of the people can be rescued . They know that the bounce of taoism , like a rising tide ,is inevitable ; yet this fact is even not their concern .What they are eager to find , same as thousands years ago, is whether one from ten thousands of people , a guy to whom the secret of "qi" be taught , and the continuation of the legacy of Tao.[size=3]
This is so true. My Master and Grandmaster experienced this during the cultural revolution at Wudangshan. My Master, being the youngest one to be accepted at Wudangshan, hid from the red guard. However, because of their ages, my Master being six at that time and Grandmaster being almost 100 nobody really bothered them much. That is some strategy, huh?! So they were able to practice and cultivate until my Master attained the level the was satisfying to my Grandmaster Li and was sent out to the West to teach the rest of us.
So the lineage at Wudangshan continues.....
Wudangspirit
QUOTE(exorcist_1699 @ Feb 4 2008, 09:59 AM) 
When the communist came to power in 1949, the taoist masters retreated into the deep mountains as they repeatedly had done in the past 2,500 years. The taoist thought then would hide for decades , like the ebbing along the sea shore . It might sound sad , however, with so immense a power grasped in their hands, the masters are forbidden to interfere the development of human affairs or history. Just like a small group of zoologists who study the behavior of chimpanzee in a huge forest , no matter how bloody and pitiful they find the quarrels between these living things ,with appearance so similar to us , they must stay indifferent and not to intervene.
The masters never worry about whether communism can conquer China in any cultural senses; nor do they, like the Buddhists , think that most of the people can be rescued . They know that the bounce of taoism , like a rising tide ,is inevitable ; yet this fact is even not their concern .What they are eager to find , same as thousands years ago, is whether one from ten thousands of people , a guy to whom the secret of "qi" be taught , and the continuation of the legacy of Tao.[size=3]
This is a topic I have thought of often.
Do I retire from the world and find my little space where I can forget about the petty squabbles of humanity or do I take what I have learned and try to make the world a better place?
Is it selfish for me to run off and leave the children to argue and fight? Or do I try to teach them to play together nicely?
Or would my interfering be just part of the problem and I would only get tangled in the web?
Personally I prefer to be in the world neck deep in the mire because occasionally you will find gold in the goodness of people.
Do I retire from the world and find my little space where I can forget about the petty squabbles of humanity or do I take what I have learned and try to make the world a better place?
Is it selfish for me to run off and leave the children to argue and fight? Or do I try to teach them to play together nicely?
Or would my interfering be just part of the problem and I would only get tangled in the web?
Personally I prefer to be in the world neck deep in the mire because occasionally you will find gold in the goodness of people.
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