- Listener
THESKATER777
Age: 17
Joined On: Nov 22, 2006
Occupation: Vocalist, Flatland Skate Artist
final &farewellkissx3
crack whore avenue
Life Sold Separately
Da Boonies aka HAWAII
mahleeahh
Mansfield, Texas
Hey.
The name's Gabe.
Yes, I party alot. But chances are you don't know me.
Come on in and say hi anyway.
I only add the pretty ones...♥
Analytical Paragraph
Richard, after having learned a plethora of new words from the fellow boys at school, is more than eager to share his new vocabulary. In fact, he pays no attention to the words’ meaning, rather preoccupied with the desire to share his knowledge. When these words turn out to be curse words, and Richard is chastised for writing them, he still finds a sense of pride that many of the neighbors are amazed and surprised to see these slurs written by such a young boy. So too can his thirst for knowledge be compared to that of a schoolboy running home, eager to share what he has learned. Richard propels himself solely on the self-determination that he is forced to rely on for almost all the years of his life. In Black Boy, Richard Wright increases in his academic vigor, and demonstrates his readiness to learn as he progresses into an older and more experienced man. His passage from childhood to adulthood has—it its own mysterious way—enabled Richard. He teaches himself to seek out his own opportunities along the way, building a future on the intellect he manages to acquire.
Research Paper
Today there are hundreds of modern-day religious institutions in place, with varying numbers of followers that range from a few thousand to billions. In the case of the ancient Chinese, one such institution known as Taoism (also known as Daoism) has suffered a major decline in practitioners and believers. Taoism, a religion that has existed since over 600 BC, is in danger of dying out. Without a more serious and devoted approach to its practice, religious Taoism will be nothing more than a memory over the next few decades, and will be reassigned to the category of countless “spiritual” practices that come and go as quickly as the latest weight-loss fad. In this essay, many of Taoism’s principles will be explained along with its rich history and impact on both Chinese and Western society. Additionally, its decline shall be examined along with the negative implications of failing to preserve this important belief system. If Taoism is not revived as a religion within the following years, it will face utter extinction. First, in order for Taoism to be examined, one must understand the underlying basics behind it. Taoism is believed to have been founded during the Zhou Dynasty by a Chinese philosopher named Lao Tzu (though numerous accounts argue that the man was in fact a symbolic figure in the place of numerous Chinese philosophers working together during the period) (Lin). It is a religion widely rooted in ancient beliefs and morals tied similarly to many of the other religions that sprang up from China in early years. Many more Tao concepts began spreading, becoming integrated and accepted during the Han Dynasty (260 BC—220 BC). At the core of Taoism’s foundations are three values known as the “Three Jewels of the Tao” namely compassion, humility, and moderation. Taoists also strongly practice and emphasize the concept of “wu wei” or “non-action” which asserts that one must accept the course of nature in order to achieve a more harmonious place in life. (Robinson) Though Taoism is traditionally polytheistic in nature, there are a wide variety of interpretations of its texts—one of the most notable being the “Tao Te Ching.” This book provides the foundations of the entire Tao faith within a compilation of written works believed to have been written by Lao Tzu himself, though, as noted, his true identity remains a mystery. Indeed there are three different approaches to Taoism, as discussed in the Tao Te Ching: “Philosophical Taoism,” “Folk Taoism,” and “Religious Taoism,” each with its own unique distinction. Philosophical Taoism does not adhere to the polytheistic views of traditionalists, and instead focuses on interpreting Lao Tzu’s statements. Folk Taoism involves less interpretation and relies more on icons and statues of the many significant Taoist figures, praying toward them for strength and inner clarity. Religious Taoism combines the two, while oriented toward the pursuit of achieving balance within nature—most commonly achieved through meditation and silent reflection ("Taoism and the Philosophy of Tai Chi Chuan."). Taoism achieved extremely popular status in China during the Han Dynasty (260 BC—220 BC) and continued its success until the Confucian reformation of China in the mid-1800s. By this point in time, Taoism had already made its impact on many aspects of Chinese life, and had captivated the minds and beliefs of countless regional populations. Under the Han Dynasty’s own Zhang Daoling—an active advocator of Taoism—the religion spread rapidly throughout China’s many provinces, appealing to intellectuals and philosophers alike with natural concepts that were easy to understand among the less educated peasant population as well (Fotopoulou). Zhang became known as the first of the “Three Celestial Masters.” The number was more of a symbolic figure due to the fact that there were numerous Northern and Southern Celestial masters, all believing to have received visions from Lao Tzu. Nonetheless, these Taoist “masters” greatly improved the religion’s status among China, increasing in rank until 440 BC when it was adopted as an official state religion of China (“History of Taoism”). With a collection of over 5,000 texts in the Tao Te Ching, along with scattered Taoist libraries throughout the provinces, carefully assembled by Taoist scholars, the religion slowly became ingrained into China’s historical records. This shows the success that a religion can achieve when it is practiced by a nation’s leaders. Without the publicity and recognition that can be gained by using rulers as an example, Taoism lost favor among the people. Taoism today requires more public figures that practice its concepts—something that is nowadays hard to come by. As China’s government shifted from Taoist to Confucianist to Communist (most commonly recognized as atheistic in concept), very few leaders remained to exemplify modern Taoism. For many years prior to reform, Confucianism and Taoism had achieved a certain sense of balance. Though their concepts were fundamentally different, since Taoism leans more toward abstract self choice while Confucianism emphasizes right and a wrong values, China’s government saw no option of retaining both. What Confucianists aimed to do was to cement their own beliefs, not necessarily to destroy others. The problem with this was that Taoism became seen as a threat, leading to full-scale purges of its material (C. Yu). The era of religious Taoism saw its end during the 18th century, as the Qin Dynasty imposed a series of religious reforms that were oriented toward Confucian beliefs, excluding and rejecting Taoist culture as a whole. Books were burned, and by the early twentieth century, only one copy of the “Tao Te Ching” remained—equivalent to there being only one last copy of the Christian Bible or the Hebrew Torah. Taoism lost so much favor during China’s new growth, that its modern religious use became entirely endangered. All historical persecution and opposition aside, there still remains fundamental issues in securing Taoism’s status as a full-fledged religion by today’s standards. It can be said for almost all religions that there exists a pre-established place of worship led by religious officials who teach the beliefs of the institution. Contrary to many sources, however, there is no official place of worship for Taoist believers (though followers throughout China have built small Taoist towns). Additionally, no designated “priests,” “rabbis,” or other equivalents exist within the religion. The entire faith relies on written word and open discussion (Cleary). Because of this, Taoism was devastated by book burnings and destruction of libraries during the movements in the early 19th century (tripling the damage done during prior anti-Tao movements). The “New Life” movement came into effect during the early 19th century, with rippling consequences across China, as it encouraged Confucian students to destroy Taoist statues and related buildings, burning texts so as to erase the concept entirely. The Chinese government meanwhile did little to stop the destruction, issuing small fees and punishments while at the same time making no effort to recover lost documentation. Without the basic principles and laws of the religion being readily available to the people, it’s not hard to see why the faith lost its previous high rate of converts. Clearly, dependency on written literature (as opposed to organized congregation) hurt Taoism’s chances of cementing its nation-wide status (LittleJohn). It is a wonder that any copies of Taoist texts remain, seeing as the “New Life” movement was followed by the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). This movement was aimed at completely eradicating Taoism as a cultural religion, and it succeeded in destroying many ancient Chinese scriptures and converting Taoist temples into military structures. By the end of the Cultural Revolution, nearly all of the 300 Taoist buildings constructed within China had been closed or converted. Only a select few remain to this day. With such few traces of the original “golden age” of Tao, devoted scholars are hard-pressed in reconstructing and recovering Taoist artifacts. Rare manuscripts became even rarer, and with all the reprinting that—to this day—still needs to be done, Taoism lies poised on the brink of fading out completely. Without popular role models, state-mandated places of worship, available texts, religious officials, temples or libraries, Taoism faces a grim future. Taoism today has been mainstreamed in efforts to increase its popularity among the public. Since Taoist teachings cannot singlehandedly convert entire generations of families that have already adopted other more conventional religions, Taoism has been bent to include followers of different faiths. New books on Taoism describe it as able to be practiced on top of one’s own beliefs. One of the biggest problems with these different Taoist approaches is the fact that there are very few specific outlines that would otherwise be used in uniting Taoism’s followers. The beauty of Taoist concept lies in the fact that many of its values may be interpreted individually, rather than collectively as a whole—leading to a much more actively-involved practice of Taoism. Unfortunately, it is the very same open-endedness that prevents Taoist followers from forming a collective agreement on its ways and teachings (Slingerland). Just in the same way a vague law can be interpreted to suit certain political objectives, so too can a religion be distorted to fit the means of its followers. This complicates the survival of Taoism’s traditional roots and beliefs as broad localized interpretations begin to weaken its religious foundations. One can be Catholic and Taoist, Islamic and Taoist, Hindu and Taoist, etc. without any discrepancy in what one believes. In reality, this simply cannot be true under the traditional religious guidelines that created the concept of the Tao. Taoism is at its heart, largely polytheistic, (though many of these deities are real-life former Celestial Masters) (Zhuangzi). The entire concept of the Taoist pantheon becomes overlooked as it expands its roots to Western populations, more content to retain their faiths and reserve Taoist as a “spiritual” side-dish, since many of Lao Tzu’s teachings were enigmatic: “The form of the formless, the image of the imageless, {Tao} is called indefinable and beyond imagination. Stand before it and there is no beginning. Follow it and there is no end.” (Tzu, Lao). So what can be done to revive this fallen religion? Most of the responsibility lies in the power of the Chinese government. Without Taoist popularity in Eastern nations, there can be no hope for global expansion. It is best to start at the source. For too long have Chinese officials disregarded Taoism, tried to dismiss and erase it entirely from record, content to allow other religious factions to continually persecute and destroy Taoist communities. If the government allocates money for the rebuilding of Taoist archives and buildings, hopefully a change may be allowed to take place as Taoism’s foundations become strengthened. One beauty of the web is that Taoism cannot conceptually be erased now that its teachings have spread to free domain. Through the increase of Taoist advocators, global reconstruction of its shattered history, and recovery of its traditional past, hopefully Taoism can once again rise as a major religious power. If action is not taken, soon its followers will continue to fade into obscurity, shoved into brief paragraphs of a textbook along with other “folk” religions and ancient customs no longer deemed useful in today’s busy society. One may ask: why go through such efforts in revitalizing a religion that holds no bearing on one’s own personal life? Perhaps it is the simple act of preserving the past that ensures a free future. Or maybe it is for the thousands of people who benefit from the inspirations of organized religion today. Taoism must be preserved for its rich culture, its ancient historical value, and its spiritual value. If efforts are not made now to preserve others’ religion, someday our very own faiths may be threatened…and who will come to our aid then?
Trick List
Specialist: Flatland
Stance: Regular
Shoes: DVS
Tricks:
Spacewalk
Nose Manual Nollie Flip
Handflip
Hardflip
Ollie North
Switch Backward Stance
Double Sex Change
Wall to Caveman
Wall Fingerflip Caveman
Wall Sideflip Caveman
BAM Flip Caveman
Impossible Caveman Board Stall
Stall to Casper to One Foot Board Stance
Shove It
Switch Pop Shove It
Regular Pop Shove It Reverse Switch
540 Spin
360 Nollie Frontside Shove
Flamingo
One Foot Truck-Stand
Pogo
540 Casper Spin
Truck-Stand Kick/SideFlip
Running Truck-Stand
Kickflip
Varial Kickflip
Kickflip to Truckstand
Kickflip to Primo
Primo Spin
Primo to Casper
Primo Flip (Basic)
Tre Flip
Sal Flip
Split-Side Primo to Regular Stance
Boardslide
Shove to 50-50 Grind
Stall to Half-Cab Impossible
Rocket Truckstand
Tower Truckstand
Old School Mullen Truckstand
540 Frontside Shove It (Bigspin)
Slasher 180 switch flip
Switch Varial Kickflip to Manual
180 Frontflip to Nose Manual
Underflip
musicanagirl13
hey lets be friends
posted Jan 31
renxlovesxchrist
haha thats funny. :] i have snowboarded for a while
now. i love it. i used to skate. but not much anymore.
:[ so are you in high school,?
posted Dec 12
hexdiedxforxyou
:] how are you sweeet heart.
posted Dec 12
hexdiedxforxyou
you are.. a d o r a b l e. :] lets be friends.
posted Dec 05
renxlovesxchrist
thanks :] so have you ever snowboarded before?
posted Nov 26
…
yeah they are my fav is a7x whats ur fav.do u celebrate
thanksgiving
posted Nov 26
renxlovesxchrist
hii im cecelia. but they call me rene .. you prolly
already know this but i thought i\'d tell you that your
really cute and i wanna steal all of your shades. :]
lol
posted Nov 21