Today’s “Quote of the Day” comes from Lao Tzu:

“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.” 

When we care about what others think of us we box ourselves in, and make it impossible to be ourselves. Because of this we miss out on what life has to offer; we’re to worried about what others will think.

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 4,100 times in 2010. That’s about 10 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 90 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 235 posts. There were 14 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 766kb. That’s about a picture per month.

The busiest day of the year was July 18th with 62 views. The most popular post that day was Quote of the Day.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were cleandallas.com, cleandallas.wordpress.com, en.wordpress.com, counter.bestproceed.com, and ramblingtaoist.blogspot.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for yin yang, capoeira, инь янь, muay thai logo, and muay thai.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Quote of the Day August 2009

Not Just Kung Fu September 2009

Not Just Kung Fu September 2009

Quote of the Day August 2009

Not Just Kung Fu August 2009

Today’s “Quote of the Day” comes from the “Dalai Lama.”

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.

What we do matters whether right away or later down the road, our actions have consequences. If we do what’s right we can help create happiness, not just for ourselves but for those around us.

Tao LivingMeet the Meatby Derek Lin

Tao practitioners often say that the Tao is everywhere. One can learn from just about anything in one’s environment if one is observant. Sometimes all it takes is a slightly different way to look at things, and sudden clarity jumps you without warning.

I find this sort of understanding in the most bizarre places. One such source is a work of fiction from British author Douglas Adams. In the 80′s Mr. Adams wrote a radio play, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, that became a cult favorite. The play was a science fiction satire, featuring a befuddled earthling, Arthur Dent, who narrowly escaped Earth’s destruction by an alien construction fleet and then roamed the galaxy from one hilarious misadventure to another. The show became so popular that it eventually became a novel and a TV series.

In one episode, Arthur traveled with his friends to Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. His friends, although human-like in appearance, were not all from Earth and tended to be much more worldly than he was. Compared to their sophistication, Arthur was but a country bumpkin, easily bewildered by futuristic sights and sounds.

So, in his usual state of wide-eye wonderment Arthur took in the restaurant, which was rather like an Earth restaurant with a nice view, except in this case the view was neither cityscape nor a body of water, but the final moments of the universe – literally the ultimate spectacle!

How would the diners survive their meal, if everything was coming to an end? Here the clever author explained that an instant before the absolute end of the universe, the entire restaurant would be transported back in time with time travel technology, to begin another business day of meal preparations and reservation bookings. Up until that moment, patrons could enjoy sips of champagne and bites of entrees while looking out at the annihilation of the cosmos. With a live band and comedian MC, to boot!

Arthur and his friends found their table, and the waiter came by to ask them if they would like to “meet the Dish of the Day.” Arthur had no idea what this meant, but his companion Zaphod was enthused. “That’s cool,” he said, “we’ll meet the meat.”

Arthur was unprepared for what happened next. This half-ox, half-man creature came out to greet them and proceeded to recommend various parts of his body. He told them he had been force-feeding himself and exercising diligently to offer the most flavorful flesh for their consumption.

Is this bizarre or what? It turned out that advanced technology had made it possible to breed cattle that actually wanted to be eaten and were capable of saying so in no uncertain terms. This horrified Arthur, but his companions seemed rather nonchalant about it.

Finally, Arthur could contain himself no longer, and exclaimed how revolting he thought the whole thing was. This surprised his friends. They turned around to look at him and ask him what he would prefer instead. Surely not to eat an animal that didn’t want to be eaten? Wouldn’t that be too barbaric for words?

You have to marvel at this piece of audacious and outrageous imagination. True, the author’s intention in penning the above was probably to mine the situation for humor and nothing more, but in doing so he also provided us with much, uh, food for thought. I mean, imagine yourself in Arthur’s position. How would you feel about eating this creature who tells you how much he’s looking forward to filling your stomach? Would you not feel at least a little queasy?

It would be quite natural for you to be repulsed, just like Arthur. In fact, this situation feels almost like cannibalism. Why is that?

In general, most of us have an aversion against eating anything that is capable of communicating with us. That communication doesn’t have to be human speech either – a look, a touch – just about any kind of communication will do. That’s why we can’t bear the thought of eating our own pets. Having spent time with them, cared for them and felt the affection they return, we see them more as part of the family than a source of protein.

And yet, how can one argue against the logic of Douglas Adams? Given the choice between eating something that does not want to be eaten and something that does, how can one reasonably justify choosing the former for consumption?

For those of you who dismiss the above as an impossible absurdity, let me relate an experience of my own that is in some ways similar but involved no time travel or genetic engineering.

This goes back to the last time I had lobster, quite a while ago. I felt a craving for seafood, and hadn’t had lobster for years, so I decided to splurge. I went to a Chinese restaurant specializing in seafood to satisfy the urge, because true connoisseurs knew that the Chinese were the absolute best at preparing seafood, unsurpassed in terms of taste and value for the dollar.

I placed my order, sat back and waited. After a while my waiter approached holding a plastic bucket. That’s when the realization hit me. I hadn’t been to this type of restaurant for so long, I had forgotten that they always showed the customer the live creature first, to demonstrate freshness and to get the customer’s nod of approval. It was like a mini-ritual.

The waiter showed me the bottom of the bucket. Lying there was a live lobster, its claws rubber-banded together, moving feebly, no doubt uncomfortable out of water, yet unaware that its existence was about to come to an end. I nodded quickly and the waiter took it back into the kitchen.

About half an hour later, the same waiter placed a plate of steaming lobster parts on my table. A curious thing happened: I couldn’t get rid of the image of the live lobster in my head. In my mind I saw it still moving slightly, being placed on the chopping block and expertly hacked apart by the supremely experienced Chinese chef, then thrown into a boiling cauldron.

I had been raised to waste nothing and to finish my plate of food completely, so I ate and finished the lobster. But even before I took the first bite I realized that my craving had all but vanished. Sudden clarity descended upon me without warning…

I had met the meat.

Verily, the Tao is everywhere. One can learn from just about anything in one’s environment if one is observant. Sometimes all it takes is a slightly different way to look at things, and I find it in the most bizarre places. In this case, I found it… at the bottom of a plastic bucket, moving feebly.

Many people in the west have never heard of a religious movement know as I-Kuan Tao, translated “The Tao that unifies all with the one.” The I-Kuan Tao was founded by Huang De-huei in the 17th century in China, and grew in popularity in the 20th century. The growth in popularity was due to its vigorous promotion by its leaders Jhang Tian-ran and Sun Huei-ming. After WWII practitioners moved to Taiwan to avoid the Cultural Revolution of Communist China. There the movement flourished and spread, despite initial attempts by the government to suppress it. Soon there were millions of followers, hundreds of temples, and tens of thousands of family shrines. 

The I-Kuan Tao incorporates elements from Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism, and recognizes the validity of Christianity and Islam as well. Practitioners believe in one god above all other gods, called Ming Ming Shang Di (the God of Clarity), and revere several figures including Lao-tzu, Confucius, Sakyamuni Buddha, Jesus Christ, Mohammad, as well as important figures of I-Kuan Tao.

Followers must be initiated into the I-Kuan Tao. Initiates “receive the Tao” through an initiation ritual that is preformed by an enlightened master. Practitioners become vegetarians and receive the Three Treasures after they have become initiated. The Three Treasures are: The Mystic Portal, True Sutra, and Hand Seal. Not much detail is known to outsiders of the religion, due to the fact the initiates vow  not to discuss the three treasures with non-members.

Today’s “Quote of the Day” comes from Buddha.

You too shall pass away.
Knowing this, how can you quarrel?

Life is too short to spend your time angry, we only have a limited time to enjoy life and spread kindness to others. How can we accomplish this while we wallow in anger?

Today’s “Quote of the Day” comes from Lao Tzu.

Rare goods are merely weights that slow you down.

When we see an object of rarity we automatically place great value on it.  This attachment allows these objects to weigh us down. We would have peace within ourselfs, if not for the attachment that binds us. If we could rid ourselfs of the attachment we could achive inner peace.

Today’s “Quote of the Day” comes from an old Chinese proverb

If you are in a hurry you will never get there.

When we are impatient it tends to drag things along. We must go about things with a calm and patient mind, otherwise we will never get there.

Today’s “Quote of the Day” comes from “The Parent’s Tao Te Ching”

When you teach your children that certain things are good, they are likely to call all different things bad.

Be careful how you say things around your children, because what you say is how they see things in the future.

Today’s “Quote of the Day” comes from Tao Ox.

If you use bad ingredients in making tea it will be bitter, the same is true in life.

In life we choose who we surround ourselves with, whether these people are bad or good influences is the choice we make. If we surround ourselves with bad influences we will suffer the consequences of the bad choices we make and we will always taste the bitterness of suffering. However if we surround ourselves with good influences and make good choices we will know the sweetness of joy.