The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience
- 16,
- 213–225
- doi:10.1038/nrn3916
- Published online
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Tag: China
道
Tao or Dao (/taʊ/, /daʊ/; Chinese: 道; pinyin: 
Dào (help·info)) is a Chinese concept signifying ‘way’, ‘path’, ‘route’, or sometimes more loosely, ‘doctrine’ or ‘principle’. Within the context of traditional Chinese philosophy and religion, The Tao is the intuitive knowing of “life” that of which cannot be grasped full-heartedly as just a concept but known nonetheless through actual living experience of one’s everyday being.
Cosmologically, Tao signifies the primordial essence or fundamental nature of the Universe. In the oldest surviving text of Taoism, theTao Te Ching, Laozi explains that Tao is not a ‘name’ for a ‘thing’ but the underlying natural order of the Universe whose ultimate essence is difficult to circumscribe due to it being non conceptual yet evident in one’s being of aliveness. The Tao is “eternally nameless” (Dao De Jing-32. Laozi) and to be distinguished from the countless ‘named’ things which are considered to be its manifestations, the reality of life before its descriptions of it.
The concept of Tao differs from conventional (western) ontology: it is an active and holistic conception of Nature, rather than a static, atomistic one. It is worth comparing to the original Logos of Heraclitus, c. 500 BC. The teachings began from Laozi that gave rise to a religion (Wade–Giles, Tao Chiao; Pinyin, Daojiao) and philosophy (Wade–Giles, Tao chia; Pinyin, Daojia) referred to in English with the single term Taoism.
The word “Dao” (道) has a variety of meanings in both ancient and modern Chinese language. Aside from its purely prosaic use to mean road, channel, path, doctrine, or similar,[1] the word has acquired a variety of differing and often confusing metaphorical, philosophical and religious uses. In most belief systems, Dao is used symbolically in its sense of ‘way’ as the ‘right’ or ‘proper’ way of existence, or in the context of ongoing practices of attainment or of the full coming into being, or the state of enlightenment or spiritual perfection that is the outcome of such practices.[2]
Some scholars make sharp distinctions between moral or ethical usage of the word Dao that is prominent in Confucianism and religious Daoism and the more metaphysical usage of the term used in philosophical Daoism and most forms of Mahayana Buddhism;[3] others maintain that these are not separate usages or meanings, seeing them as mutually inclusive and compatible approaches to defining the concept.[4] The original use of the term was as a form of praxis rather than theory – a term used as a convention to refer to something that otherwise cannot be discussed in words – and early writings such as the Dao De Jing and the I Ching make pains to distinguish between conceptions of Dao (sometimes referred to as “named Dao”) and the Dao itself (the “unnamed Dao”), which cannot be expressed or understood in language. Liu Da asserts that Dao is properly understood as an experiential and evolving concept, and that there are not only cultural and religious differences in the interpretation of Dao, but personal differences that reflect the character of individual practitioners.[6]
Dao can be roughly thought of as the flow of the Universe, or as some essence or pattern behind the natural world that keeps the Universe balanced and ordered.[7] It is related to the idea of qi, the essential energy of action and existence. Dao is a non-dual concept – it is the greater whole from which all the individual elements of the Universe derive. Keller considers it similar to the negative theology of Western scholars,[8] but Dao is rarely an object of direct worship, being treated more like the Hindu concepts of karma or dharma than as a divine object.[9] Dao is more commonly expressed in the relationship between wu (void or emptiness, in the sense ofwuji) and yinyang (the natural dynamic balance between opposites), leading to its central principle of wu wei (non-action, or action without force).
Ch’an (Zen) Buddhists regard the Dao as synonymous with both the Buddhist Path (marga) and the results of it; the Eightfold Path and Buddhist enlightenment (satori).
Noted Christian author C.S. Lewis used the word Tao to describe “the doctrine of objective value, the belief that certain attitudes are really true, and others really false, the kind of thing the Universe is and the kind of things we are.”[26] He asserted that every religion and philosophy contains foundations of universal ethics as an attempt to line up with the Tao—the way mankind was designed to be. In Lewis’ thinking, God created the Tao and fully displayed it through the person of Jesus Christ. Christianity, then, would be the path that lines human beings up with the Tao most effectively.
Also the Greek word used in N.T. for the Way is ὁδός (hodos). Here the Way refers to the path of righteousness and salvation as revealed through Christ.
In Chinese translations of the New Testament, λόγος (logos) is translated with the Chinese word dao (道) (e.g. John 1:1), indicating that the translators considered the concept of Tao to be somewhat equivalent to logos in Greek philosophy.
Dao is written with the Chinese character 道 in both Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese. It typifies the most common Chinese character classification of “radical-phonetic” or “phono-semantic” graphs, which compound a “radical” or “signific” (roughly providingsemantic information) with a “phonetic” (suggesting ancient pronunciation).
Dao 道 graphically combines the chuo 辶 (or 辵) “go” radical and shou 首 “head” phonetic. Furthermore, dao 道 is the phonetic element indao 導 “guide; lead” (with the cun 寸 “thumb; hand” radical) and dao 檤 “a tree name” (with the mu 木 “tree; wood” radical).
The traditional interpretation of the 道 character, dating back to the (121 CE) Shuowen Jiezi dictionary, was a rare huiyi 會意 “compound ideogram” or “ideogrammic compound“. The combination of chuo 辶 “go” and shou 首 “head” (numbers 162 and 185 in the Kangxi radicals) signified a “head going” or “to lead the way”.
Dao is graphically distinguished between its earliest nominal meaning of dao 道 “way; road; path;” and the later verbal sense of “say”. It should also be contrasted with dao 導 “lead the way; guide; conduct; direct; “. The Simplified character 导 for dao 導 has si 巳 “6th of the 12 Earthly Branches” in place of dao 道.
The earliest written forms of dao are bronzeware script and seal script characters from Zhou Dynasty (1045–256 BCE) bronzes and writings. These ancient dao characters more clearly depict the shou 首 “head” element as hair above a face. Some variants interchange the chuo 辵 “go; advance” radical with the xing 行 “go; road” radical, with the original bronze “crossroads” depiction written in the seal character with two 彳 and 亍 “footprints”.
Yu the Great (Chinese: 大禹; pinyin: Dà Yǔ, c. 2200 – 2100 BC)[1] was a legendary ruler in ancient China famed for his introduction of flood control, inaugurating dynastic rule in China by founding the Xia Dynasty, and for his upright moral character.[2][3]
The dates proposed for Yu’s reign precede the oldest known written records in China, the oracle bones of the late Shang dynasty, by nearly a millennium.[4] No inscriptions on artifacts from the supposed era of Yu, nor the later oracle bones, make any mention of Yu; he does not appear in inscription until vessels dating to the Western Zhou period (c. 1045–771 BC). The lack of anything remotely close to contemporary documentary evidence has led to some controversy over the historicity of Yu. Proponents of the historicity of Yu theorise that stories about his life and reign were transmitted orally in various areas of China until they were recorded in the Zhou dynasty,[5] while opponents believe the figure existed in legend in a different form – as a god or mythical animal – in the Xia dynasty, and morphed into a human figure by the start of the Zhou dynasty. Many of the stories about Yu were collected in Sima Qian‘s famous Records of the Grand Historian. Yu and other “sage-kings” of Ancient China were lauded for their virtues and morals byConfucius and other Chinese teachers.[6]
Yu is one of the few Chinese rulers posthumously honored with the epithet “the Great“.
法輪功真相
Li Hongzhi introduced the Teachings of Falun Gong to the public in Changchun, China in 1992. The teachings cover a wide range of topics ranging from spiritual, scientific andmoral to metaphysical. Since its inception, Falun Gong has been one of the fastest growing qigong (Pinyin: qìgōng) schools in Chinese history.[citation needed]
The teachings of Falun Gong are based on the principles of zhēn 眞, shàn 善 and rěn 忍 (which translate approximately as truthfulness, benevolence, and forbearance)[1]articulated in the two main books Falun Gong[2] and Zhuan Falun.[3] Falun Gong is an introductory book that discusses qigong, introduces the aforementioned principles, and provides illustrations and explanations of exercises for meditation. Zhuan Falun is considered the central and most comprehensive exposition on the teachings of Falun Gong.
According to the book Falun Gong, “Fǎlún” (Buddha Fǎ) is a great, high-level cultivation way of the Buddha School (different from Buddhism), in which assimilation to the supreme nature of the universe, Zhen-Shan-Ren, is the foundation of cultivation practice.”[4] In this concept, “cultivation” refers to upgrading one’s xīnxìng (mind-nature) through abandoning negative attachments and assimilating oneself to “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance”. “Practice” refers to the five meditative exercises that are said to purify and transform one’s body. Cultivation is considered essential, and the exercises are said to supplement the process of improving oneself.[5][6]
Some aspects of Falun Gong’s teachings are considered implausible and peculiar by observers, and Falun Gong’s conservative and moralistic views on subjects such as sexuality have attracted controversy.
Falun Gong or Falun Dafa (literally, “Dharma Wheel Practice” or “Law Wheel Practice”) is a Chinese spiritual practice that combines meditation and qigong exercises with a moral philosophy centered on the tenets of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance(Chinese: 真、善、忍). The practice emphasizes morality and the cultivation of virtue, and identifies as a qigong practice of the Buddhist school, though its teachings also incorporate elements drawn from Taoist traditions. Through moral rectitude and the practice of meditation, practitioners of Falun Gong aspire to better health and, ultimately, spiritual enlightenment.
Falun Gong was first taught publicly in Northeast China in 1992 by Li Hongzhi. It emerged toward the end of China’s “qigongboom”—a period which saw the proliferation of similar practices of meditation, slow-moving exercises and regulated breathing. It differs from other qigong schools in its absence of fees or formal membership, lack of daily rituals of worship, its greater emphasis on morality, and the theological nature of its teachings. Western academics have described Falun Gong as a qigong discipline, a “spiritual movement”, a “cultivation system” in the tradition of Chinese antiquity, or as a form of Chinese religion.
Although the practice initially enjoyed considerable support from Chinese officialdom, by the mid- to late-1990s, the Communist Partyand public security organizations increasingly viewed Falun Gong as a potential threat due to its size, independence from the state, and spiritual teachings. By 1999, government estimates placed the number of Falun Gong practitioners at 70 million.[1] Tensions culminated in April 1999, when over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered peacefully near the central government compound in Beijing to request legal recognition and freedom from state interference. This demonstration is widely seen as catalyzing the persecution that followed.
On 20 July 1999, the Communist Party leadership initiated a nationwide crackdown and multifaceted propaganda campaign intended to eradicate the practice. It blocked Internet access to websites that mention Falun Gong, and in October 1999 it declared Falun Gong a “heretical organization” that threatened social stability. Human rights groups report that Falun Gong practitioners in China are subject to a wide range of human rights abuses: hundreds of thousands are estimated to have been imprisoned extrajudicially, and practitioners in detention are subject to forced labor, psychiatric abuse, torture, and other coercive methods of thought reform at the hands of Chinese authorities.[2] As of 2009 at least 2,000 Falun Gong practitioners had died as a result of abuse in custody.[3]Some observers put the number much higher, and report that tens of thousands may have been killed to supply China’s organ transplant industry.[4][5] In the years since the persecution began, Falun Gong practitioners have become active in advocating for greater human rights in China.
Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi has lived in the United States since 1996, and Falun Gong has a sizable global constituency. Inside China, some sources estimate that tens of millions continue to practice Falun Gong in spite of the persecution.[6][7] Hundreds of thousands are estimated to practice Falun Gong outside China in over 70 countries worldwide.[8][9]
Uploaded on May 22, 2011
1999年4月25日發生了震動世界的法輪功萬人北京上訪事件，事件真相被中共封鎖至今已有15年，”4.25法輪功萬人上訪真相”仍作為被禁的關鍵詞，被中共嚴密封鎖和抹黑。
那一天，一萬多名法輪大法修煉者從四面八方來到北京國務院信訪辦公室所在地和平請願。從清晨到夜晚，歷時十多個小時，無暴力、無口號、無擾民、無垃圾、善意平靜，創造了在中共幾十年極權統治下不曾有過的官民成功對話、圓滿解決問題的獨有範例，也為
Falun Dafa 60min exercise in video (1-4) from Punu Se on Vimeo.
genetically modified corn in China’s northeast
By Dominique Patton
BEIJING (Reuters) – Farmers are illegally growing genetically modified corn in China’s northeast, said environmental non-profit Greenpeace on Wednesday, in a report that may generate further distrust of the government’s ability to ensure a safe food supply.
Beijing has spent billions of dollars to develop GMO crops that it hopes will ensure food supplies for its 1.4 billion people but has not yet approved commercial cultivation amid deep-seated anti-GMO sentiment. The new findings seem to confirm concerns that Beijing will be unable to supervise the planting of GMO crops once commercial cultivation is permitted, leading to widespread contamination of the food chain with GM varieties.
In its report, Greenpeace said 93 percent of samples taken last year from corn fields in five counties in Liaoning province, part of China’s breadbasket, tested positive for GMO contamination.
back into the Dark Ages
Published on Dec 16, 2015
“It could plunge medicine back into the Dark Ages.” Overuse of antibiotics on Chinese pig farms has led to a strain of bacteria becoming resistant to the last effective antibiotic we had. And it’s spreading. Could this be the start to the post-antibiotic era? Find out more on this episode of China Uncensored.
Nearly half of all seafood consumed globally comes from aquaculture
Nearly half of all seafood consumed globally comes from aquaculture, a method of food production that has expanded rapidly in recent years. Increasing seafood consumption has been proposed as part of a strategy to combat the current non-communicable disease (NCD) pandemic, but public health, environmental, social, and production challenges related to certain types of aquaculture production must be addressed. Resolving these complicated human health and ecologic trade-offs requires systems thinking and collaboration across many fields; the One Health concept is an integrative approach that brings veterinary and human health experts together to combat zoonotic disease. We propose applying and expanding the One Health approach to facilitate collaboration among stakeholders focused on increasing consumption of seafood and expanding aquaculture production, using methods that minimize risks to public health, animal health, and ecology. This expanded application of One Health may also have relevance to other complex systems with similar trade-offs.
Access to nutritious foods of animal origin, including aquatic animals, was crucial in the evolution of hominids and early human brain development [1•]. Aquatic animals contain essential nutrients, such as iodine and omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs), that are generally limited in other animal foods. While, historically, consumption of seafood has been important for humans, overfishing and other factors (e.g., population growth, pollution, ocean acidification) have greatly decreased wild fish stocks and damaged marine resources [2•]. In response to declining marine resources and an increasing demand for seafood, aquaculture has grown dramatically in the past four decades. In 2011, aquaculture accounted for nearly half of all seafood consumed by humans [3], and global aquaculture production continues to increase at a rate of 6 % per year [4].
The China Study
Eight principles of food and health:
- Nutrition represents the combined activities of countless food substances. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
- Vitamin supplements are not a panacea for good health.
- There are virtually no nutrients in animal-based foods that are not better provided by plants.
- Genes do not determine disease on their own. Genes function only by being activated, or expressed, and nutrition plays a critical role in determining which genes, good and bad, are expressed.
- Nutrition can substantially control the adverse effects of noxious chemicals.
- The same nutrition that prevents disease in its early stages can also halt or reverse it in its later stages.
- Nutrition that is truly beneficial for one chronic disease will support health across the board.
- Good nutrition creates health in all areas of our existence. All parts are interconnected.
The China Study is a 2006 book by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., and his son, Thomas M. Campbell II, M.D. It examines the relationship between the consumption of animal products and illnesses such as cancers of the breast, prostate, and large intestine, diabetes, coronary heart disease, obesity, autoimmune disease, osteoporosis, degenerative brain disease, and macular degeneration.[1] The book had sold 500,000 copies as of January 2011, making it one of America’s best-selling books about nutrition.[2]
“The China Study” of the title is taken from the China-Cornell-Oxford Project, a 20-year study conducted by the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, Cornell University, and the University of Oxford, described by The New York Times as “the Grand Prix of epidemiology.” T. Colin Campbell was one of the project’s directors. The study examined mortality rates, diets, and lifestyles of 6,500 people in 65 rural counties in China, and concluded that people with a high consumption of animal-based foods were more likely to suffer chronic disease, while those who ate a plant-based diet were the least likely.[2] The study was conducted in China because it has a genetically similar population that tends to live in the same way in the same place and eat the same foods for their entire lives.[3]
The authors conclude that people who eat a plant food/vegan diet—which avoids animal products such as beef, pork, poultry, fish, eggs, cheese, and milk—will minimize or reverse the development of chronic diseases. They also recommend adequate amounts of sunshine to maintain sufficient levels of vitamin D, and dietary supplements of vitamin B12 in case of complete avoidance of animal products and to minimize the usage of vegetable oils. They criticize low-carb diets, such as the Atkins diet, which include restrictions on the percentage of calories derived from complex carbohydrates.[4]