Tales of the Fat Monk – Details, episodes & analysis

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This is one of the "lost chapters" intended to appear earlier in the series but was skipped over.

Xiaoyao loses his way at evening in the deep mountains, but a chance meeting saves him from a freezing overnight sojourn.

The hermit takes the opportunity to try and teach Xiaoyao the arcane secrets of the River Diagram--the 河圖--which communicates its crucial message symbolically, using a structured pattern of black and white dots. The structure itself is based upon a magic square of fifteen.

This can be confusing unless you have the diagram in front of you (and maybe even then) so there are several options.
You can download the original pdf article with all the illustrations from this URL:
https://thefatmonk.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/9-2_river_diagram.pdf

You can refer to this wikipedia article for the illustration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_River_Map

or if you want more deeper reference for the relationship of the River Diagram and the verses quoted from the book "Understanding Reality" see this link (in Chinese):
https://wapbaike.baidu.com/tashuo/browse/content?id=9ecbf4e3de00c2d59ec0e147

SHOW NOTES:

Xiaoyao Xingzhe, the self-styled carefree pilgrim, has lived and worked all over the world, having crossed the Gobi in a decrepit jeep, lived with a solitary monk in the mountains of Korea, dined with the family of the last emperor of China, and helped police with their enquiries in Amarillo, Texas.

FAN MAIL is. a new feature now available to leave feedback on episodes, love or hate them. Look for the button in the top ribbon when you click on “Episodes.”

Visit the Fat Monk Website: https://thefatmonk.net/
for pdfs of all recorded chapters and a few more, as well as other bits of interest on Daoism, Buddhism and Neidan, with an emphasis (but not a limitation) on pre-twentieth century authors such as Huang Yuanji and Li Daochun.

If you would like to support the production costs of this podcast, you may do so at Ko-fi.

Check out the wonderful Flora Carbo and her music:
https://floracarbo.com/

Send us a Text Message.

This poem from 張伯端 Zhang Bo-Duan (author of the 悟真篇 Wu Zhen Pian: Understanding Reality, one of the most famous classics of Daoist alchemy) was explained by Master Nan during a seven day Zen retreat held in China.

心内观心觅本心

xīn neì guān xīn mì běn xīn

心心俱绝见真心

xīn xīn jù jué jiàn zhēn xīn

真心明徹通三界

Zhēn xīn míng chè tōng sān jiè

外道邪魔不敢侵

waì daò xié mó bù gǎn qīn

SHOW NOTES:

Xiaoyao Xingzhe, the self-styled carefree pilgrim, has lived and worked all over the world, having crossed the Gobi in a decrepit jeep, lived with a solitary monk in the mountains of Korea, dined with the family of the last emperor of China, and helped police with their enquiries in Amarillo, Texas.

FAN MAIL is. a new feature now available to leave feedback on episodes, love or hate them. Look for the button in the top ribbon when you click on “Episodes.”

Visit the Fat Monk Website: https://thefatmonk.net/
for pdfs of all recorded chapters and a few more, as well as other bits of interest on Daoism, Buddhism and Neidan, with an emphasis (but not a limitation) on pre-twentieth century authors such as Huang Yuanji and Li Daochun.

If you would like to support the production costs of this podcast, you may do so at Ko-fi.

Check out the wonderful Flora Carbo and her music:
https://floracarbo.com/

Send us a Text Message.

What ARE the "Perilous Realms," the "Unseen Lands' that Tolkien, Goethe, Coleridge, Wordsworth, C.S. Lewis and Henri Corbin have introduced to Western civilisation over the last century?
What is the difference between wooly-headed daydreaming and actively employed imagination? And why do scientists and authors such as Iain McGilchrist say things such as "fantasy is one thing but imagination is the only chance we have to reach reality. It is not a matter of putting fancy dress versions of the world in front of the world. It is clearing all that away so that for the first time we can see reality for what it is."

This bonus episode begins to introduce material that will be important for understanding Chapters 23 and 24 of the Fat Monk when they appear. The subject matter is a bit more difficult and dense, but well worth the effort (IMHO) of taking slowly and considering over an extended period of time.

Here is a link for those who would like to access the whole of which this episode is merely the first half of a précis.
http://tinyurl.com/publicsenseofnonsense


Another Friend, Haji Adbul Hadi, posted this on FB serendipetously:
This post is probably a bit heavy for FB.  However, as a friend once said, if only one person benefits from your post, then it was worthwhile making.

The Mithāl World, ‘Alam al-Mithāl in Arabic, is the intermediate world - between the soul/spiritual realm and the material/causal world.
It is very refined compared to this world - it does not consist of matter and yet is dimensional.
Ontologically, it is higher - more real - than our world.
There is a pre-established harmony between this world and that world.
It is usual to consider the material world we inhabit as the real one.  We tend to conceive of a ‘spiritual’ world in rather abstract, ethereal terms. But according to the Scottish physicists, Balfour Stewart and P.G Tait, “The very term ‘material world’ is misnomer. 
The world is a spiritual world merely employing matter for its manifestation.”

The French scholar, Henry Corbin, wrote extensively about the Intermediate (or Similitudinary) World. You can read his summary here: https://www.amiscorbin.com/bibliographie/mundus-imaginalis-or-the-imaginary-and-the-imaginal/
He called it the Mundus Imaginalis - but pointed out that this term does not imply it is merely ‘imaginary’.

It is also called the ‘Alam al-Ghayb - the Unseen World - the world outside our perception.

Rumi speaks of this in this passage from his Masnavi:

غیب را ابری و آبی دیگرست

آسمان و آفتابی دیگرست

ناید آن الا که بر خاصان پدید

باقیان فی لبس من خ

SHOW NOTES:

Xiaoyao Xingzhe, the self-styled carefree pilgrim, has lived and worked all over the world, having crossed the Gobi in a decrepit jeep, lived with a solitary monk in the mountains of Korea, dined with the family of the last emperor of China, and helped police with their enquiries in Amarillo, Texas.

FAN MAIL is. a new feature now available to leave feedback on episodes, love or hate them. Look for the button in the top ribbon when you click on “Episodes.”

Visit the Fat Monk Website: https://thefatmonk.net/
for pdfs of all recorded chapters and a few more, as well as other bits of interest on Daoism, Buddhism and Neidan, with an emphasis (but not a limitation) on pre-twentieth century authors such as Huang Yuanji and Li Daochun.

If you would like to support the production costs of this podcast, you may do so at Ko-fi.

Check out the wonderful Flora Carbo and her music:
https://floracarbo.com/

Send us a Text Message.

The Fat Monk and Xiaoyao visit the Hermit for a quiet talk, but find the Boatman and his friend--who Xiaoyao has never met--already there.

Tea is the main topic of the day, but in the course of the discussion, the Fat Monk's peculiar aversion to Zhuangzi is exposed.

It turns out the Boatman's friend is well-versed in all things Zhuangzi ...

SHOW NOTES:

Xiaoyao Xingzhe, the self-styled carefree pilgrim, has lived and worked all over the world, having crossed the Gobi in a decrepit jeep, lived with a solitary monk in the mountains of Korea, dined with the family of the last emperor of China, and helped police with their enquiries in Amarillo, Texas.

FAN MAIL is. a new feature now available to leave feedback on episodes, love or hate them. Look for the button in the top ribbon when you click on “Episodes.”

Visit the Fat Monk Website: https://thefatmonk.net/
for pdfs of all recorded chapters and a few more, as well as other bits of interest on Daoism, Buddhism and Neidan, with an emphasis (but not a limitation) on pre-twentieth century authors such as Huang Yuanji and Li Daochun.

If you would like to support the production costs of this podcast, you may do so at Ko-fi.

Check out the wonderful Flora Carbo and her music:
https://floracarbo.com/

Send us a Text Message.

"Music, Chess, Calligraphy, Painting" are the four arts whcih every refined person should become accomplished in.
But "Chess" does not mean Western chess, rather it is the sophisticated--but extremely simple--game of surrounding, known as 圍棋.
"Simple" because all you do is place a piece on any of 361 intersections on the board, aiming to surround your opponent.
"Sophisticated" because choosing the right place to put that piece involves thinking strategically on many fronts at once.

Not to mention all the ways the game of Go reflects the whole cosmos ...

SHOW NOTES:

Xiaoyao Xingzhe, the self-styled carefree pilgrim, has lived and worked all over the world, having crossed the Gobi in a decrepit jeep, lived with a solitary monk in the mountains of Korea, dined with the family of the last emperor of China, and helped police with their enquiries in Amarillo, Texas.

FAN MAIL is. a new feature now available to leave feedback on episodes, love or hate them. Look for the button in the top ribbon when you click on “Episodes.”

Visit the Fat Monk Website: https://thefatmonk.net/
for pdfs of all recorded chapters and a few more, as well as other bits of interest on Daoism, Buddhism and Neidan, with an emphasis (but not a limitation) on pre-twentieth century authors such as Huang Yuanji and Li Daochun.

If you would like to support the production costs of this podcast, you may do so at Ko-fi.

Check out the wonderful Flora Carbo and her music:
https://floracarbo.com/

Send us a Text Message.

Xiaoyao discovers a recently established study group now being conduceted by none other than Xiao Jing, assisted by Ling Ling and other past students from Shi Jie's restaurant.

Xiaoyao becomes obsessed with discovering the identity of the mysterious "Opener" for the group, and Ling Ling shows him her new "Wu Wei" tattoo.

SHOW NOTES:

Xiaoyao Xingzhe, the self-styled carefree pilgrim, has lived and worked all over the world, having crossed the Gobi in a decrepit jeep, lived with a solitary monk in the mountains of Korea, dined with the family of the last emperor of China, and helped police with their enquiries in Amarillo, Texas.

FAN MAIL is. a new feature now available to leave feedback on episodes, love or hate them. Look for the button in the top ribbon when you click on “Episodes.”

Visit the Fat Monk Website: https://thefatmonk.net/
for pdfs of all recorded chapters and a few more, as well as other bits of interest on Daoism, Buddhism and Neidan, with an emphasis (but not a limitation) on pre-twentieth century authors such as Huang Yuanji and Li Daochun.

If you would like to support the production costs of this podcast, you may do so at Ko-fi.

Check out the wonderful Flora Carbo and her music:
https://floracarbo.com/

Send us a Text Message.

While setting up a  Calligraphy and Arts exhibition at the  Monastery, the Fat Monk and friends discuss the amazing Fu Qingzhu, heroic anti-Manchu rebel, iconoclastic calligrapher who single-handedly transformed the art of writing as an art form, and Chinese doctor famous for his work on Chinese herbal gynaecology.

The Abbot shows off a piece by Fu Qingzhu in what appear to be the secret Fu characters known only to Daoist priests, and relates a strange and tragic story about Fu Qingzhu and his son.

What comes as a surprise to all is the winner of the exhibition prize, which can be viewed by going to the link at the end of the transcript.

SHOW NOTES:

Xiaoyao Xingzhe, the self-styled carefree pilgrim, has lived and worked all over the world, having crossed the Gobi in a decrepit jeep, lived with a solitary monk in the mountains of Korea, dined with the family of the last emperor of China, and helped police with their enquiries in Amarillo, Texas.

FAN MAIL is. a new feature now available to leave feedback on episodes, love or hate them. Look for the button in the top ribbon when you click on “Episodes.”

Visit the Fat Monk Website: https://thefatmonk.net/
for pdfs of all recorded chapters and a few more, as well as other bits of interest on Daoism, Buddhism and Neidan, with an emphasis (but not a limitation) on pre-twentieth century authors such as Huang Yuanji and Li Daochun.

If you would like to support the production costs of this podcast, you may do so at Ko-fi.

Check out the wonderful Flora Carbo and her music:
https://floracarbo.com/

Send us a Text Message.

If there is one name every single Chinese person knows, it is Zhuge Liang.

 Famous for his military strategies employed during the Warring States period, his exploits were immortalised in the Ming dynasty novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三國演義 Sān Guó Yǎn Yì), describing his almost prescient ability to anticipate the enemy’s moves and plan in advance.

 But there are very few remaining records of his actual writing. One is “Letter to My Son,” which Master Nan Huaijin describes here, emphasizing its importance to his students (who, with typical Nan Huaijin wit, he is not shy of reproaching).

 Like most profound documents, “Letter” appears bland on the surface; the real savour derives from its slow absorption and contemplation, one of the virtues of memorization.

 As one of my Chinese relatives, when asked why memorization is important, said “Why, because when you memorise, it goes down into your gut and then galou galou, you finally understand!”
(“galou galou” was his way of describing digestive noises).

SHOW NOTES:

Xiaoyao Xingzhe, the self-styled carefree pilgrim, has lived and worked all over the world, having crossed the Gobi in a decrepit jeep, lived with a solitary monk in the mountains of Korea, dined with the family of the last emperor of China, and helped police with their enquiries in Amarillo, Texas.

FAN MAIL is. a new feature now available to leave feedback on episodes, love or hate them. Look for the button in the top ribbon when you click on “Episodes.”

Visit the Fat Monk Website: https://thefatmonk.net/
for pdfs of all recorded chapters and a few more, as well as other bits of interest on Daoism, Buddhism and Neidan, with an emphasis (but not a limitation) on pre-twentieth century authors such as Huang Yuanji and Li Daochun.

If you would like to support the production costs of this podcast, you may do so at Ko-fi.

Check out the wonderful Flora Carbo and her music:
https://floracarbo.com/

Send us a Text Message.

This is a true story.

Not "based on a true story." Even the names have not been changed to protect the innocent. Everything happened exactly as described.*






* Well, except maybe the tall farmer.

SHOW NOTES:

Xiaoyao Xingzhe, the self-styled carefree pilgrim, has lived and worked all over the world, having crossed the Gobi in a decrepit jeep, lived with a solitary monk in the mountains of Korea, dined with the family of the last emperor of China, and helped police with their enquiries in Amarillo, Texas.

FAN MAIL is. a new feature now available to leave feedback on episodes, love or hate them. Look for the button in the top ribbon when you click on “Episodes.”

Visit the Fat Monk Website: https://thefatmonk.net/
for pdfs of all recorded chapters and a few more, as well as other bits of interest on Daoism, Buddhism and Neidan, with an emphasis (but not a limitation) on pre-twentieth century authors such as Huang Yuanji and Li Daochun.

If you would like to support the production costs of this podcast, you may do so at Ko-fi.

Check out the wonderful Flora Carbo and her music:
https://floracarbo.com/

Send us a Text Message.

A meeting with a stranger in a Hong Kong pub sets Xiaoyao on a path that will involve him in unexplainable occurences.

Cook demonstrates the stalk method of divination in using the Yi Jing, and the answer to Xiaoyao's question; an answer which he finds deeply disturbing.

Professor Ma explains the difference between "natural" and "supernatural."

SHOW NOTES:

Xiaoyao Xingzhe, the self-styled carefree pilgrim, has lived and worked all over the world, having crossed the Gobi in a decrepit jeep, lived with a solitary monk in the mountains of Korea, dined with the family of the last emperor of China, and helped police with their enquiries in Amarillo, Texas.

FAN MAIL is. a new feature now available to leave feedback on episodes, love or hate them. Look for the button in the top ribbon when you click on “Episodes.”

Visit the Fat Monk Website: https://thefatmonk.net/
for pdfs of all recorded chapters and a few more, as well as other bits of interest on Daoism, Buddhism and Neidan, with an emphasis (but not a limitation) on pre-twentieth century authors such as Huang Yuanji and Li Daochun.

If you would like to support the production costs of this podcast, you may do so at Ko-fi.

Check out the wonderful Flora Carbo and her music:
https://floracarbo.com/