Finny wrote:
Is there a need to be so absolutist and dogmatic?
Is dantian ONLY a term from daoist practice? Because we have numerous examples here of the term being used in CIMA practice.. is that 'wrong'? Could both not be 'correct'? ie could there not be both a 'daoist' 'energetic' 'conceptual' dantian, and a physical, developed anatomical dantian that is located around the exact spot the 'conceptual' dantian is located?
If a Dai practitioner states what Jon did above, is it necessarily wrong?
IMHO it's not really a question of being dogmatic or not. And I am sorry if it seems so or if I come of like that. The problem, IMO, is the confusion around certain concepts, the confusing nature of these things. Having an own way, an own opinion on how things work is certainly more than ok. It means that these concepts were developed in a practical manner and everyone should have their own ways to describe what they have developed from their own standpoint inside their own art. What concerns me is that when people enlighten certain things they tend to disregard other things. Personally, I love to hear and read about how things work in different styles. But IMHO, you should also understand the origin of the terms and concepts you use. If you just replace a meaning with something else, you lose something valuable and useful that other people have discovered. So even if you have your own opinion about Dantian and use the term differently than the original meaning of the term, you should still understand what was originally meant with Dantian and what is generally meant by Dantian. IMHO, if you don't understand the origin of a concept, you should not use the term, or at least you should acknowledge that you don't. I would like to see different ideas and concepts living side by side, and preferably distinguished by different names. It's easier that way because you always end up putting in values into words from your own ideas of a concept. Chinese tend to use a word or a term in many different ways depending on context. But western languages just doesn't work the same way, so for us it's, IMHO, better to distinguish things by different labels.
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[rant]
OT: To everyone who only wants to practice, fight or believe that all of this is intellectual nonsense or over thinking, you should just STFU, stay out of the discussion completely and let people who are interested in terms, concepts and culture discuss what they like to discuss. The BS OT nonsense can be fun to some extent, but if it's disrespectful to the starter of a serious topic or anyone who enjoy such a conversation, you are just acting like a dick.
[/rant]