July 2006

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Tao in the Tao Te Ching.

20 Jul, '06 in Life

Tao is referred to in many ways in the Tao Te Ching. There are different shades of meanings in the various translations of this great work, which, with over 100 translations, is perhaps the most translated Chinese text in the English language. Here is one translation of the first stanza, describing Tao:
The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao;
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.
The named is the mother of ten thousand things.
Ever desireless, one can see the mystery.
Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations.
These two spring from the same source but differ in name;
this appears as darkness.
Darkness within darkness.
The gate to all mystery.

At Amazon: Tao Books

Tao (the Way, or one’s doctrine).

20 Jul, '06 in Life

The concept of Tao is based upon the understanding that the only constant in the universe is change, (ie. I Ching, the “Book of Changes”) and that we must understand and be in harmony with this change. The change is a constant flow from non-being into being, potential into actual, yin into yang, female into male. The symbol of the Tao, called the Taijitu, is the yin yang confluently flowing into itself in a circle. More in Wikipedia or at the Amazon bookstore: Tao Books

Pharaoh’s Gem.

20 Jul, '06 in Life

An Italian archaeologist accidentally found that the central gem in Tutankhamun’s regal necklace is not amber, but a mere piece of yellow glass. Kinda cheap for the famous Egyptian pharaoh, best known for his splendid golden mask. Except that piece of glass is much older than civilization. Where did it come from, StarGate? Kind of. Scientists now think a meteorite much larger than the Tunguska event fell from the sky and exploded over the Sahara in prehistoric times. The tremendous heat of the 1000 A-bomb sized fireball melted large chunks of desert sand into perfect glass. The memory of such an apocalyptic event may have made sand-glass gems a desirable symbol, meant to emphasize the pharaoh’s heavenly powers.” More here

TDI.

20 Jul, '06 in Diving

I have posted pictures on my photo site from the diving courses that I did last week. I went to Hurghada (Egypt) to do 2 technical diving courses with TDI, Advanced nitrox and decompression procedures.

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TAO.

20 Jul, '06 in Life

I removed the overkill app WordPress and installed a light weight blog software that does everything that I need for my blogging needs. So far so good.

Update 2009-02-12: went back to WordPress