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July 1,  Saturday,  2006

Home work projects from 5 am - 9.  Watering, mow backyard, cleanup.   

Teach Taijiquan and yoga from 10-12:15.  

Garage cleanup project.  

Sitting in your garden is a feat to be worked at with unflagging
determination and single-mindedness - for what gardener worth
his salt sits down. I am deeply committed to sitting in the garden.”
- Mirabel Osler

Here is a view of our sitting area in front of our home in Red Bluff, California.
The large potted plants by the garden seats are Tuscan Rosemary. We look from
the front of our house towards the east. This sitting area is in the shade after 2 pm.



“To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure
is the most perfect refreshment.”
- Jane Austen

Here is a view, looking to the southeast, from the front of our home. The background
planting includes Leyland and other cypress trees, pines, redwoods, bay laurel,
white birches, pyracanthas, oaks, sweet gums, and a variety of flowers behind a few
lawn edges. Although we have 5 acres of land, we only have two small areas with
a lawn - it front of the house and a smaller lawn in back of the house.

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July 2,  Sunday,  2006

Walking and Taijiquan practice at dawn.  

Watering and house cleanup.

Pick Karen up at Redding Airport at 1 pm.  She returned from visiting her sisters and family
in Indiana.  She has been in Indiana since June 16th.  

Lunch and shopping in Redding with Karen.  

"The secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all
the details of daily life, and in elevating them to art."
-  William Morris

Wudang Kung Fu
http://www.atlantamartialarts.com/styles/wudang.htm

"Qigong breathing can regulate the heart, and relaxes the body
Studies in California and Shanghai on the regulation of respiration by a group of qigong experts showed that conscious control of breathing can lead to indirect control of heart function, which is normally regulated only by the autonomic nervous system. Qigong and some types of meditation were also able to produce the type of heart-variability pattern normally seen during deep, relaxed, sleep (which refreshes the mind and the body).

Qigong improves oxygen supply to the brain
The same researchers also demonstrated that qigong deep breathing and breath-holding exercises produced a large increase in oxygen-content in the blood of the capillaries of the forebrain. Having a focused, relaxed mind is a requirement in qigong. It is not surprising that the studies also found that mental and physical stress, which leads to vasoconstriction, reduced the benefit of the practice.

Qigong and tai chi improves blood flow to the hands
Studies in California and Illinois (US) showed that when qigong and tai chi movements are coordinated with deep breathing, the blood flow to the palms is greatly increased, consistent with the teaching that combining regulation of body movement and respiration during qigong/tai chi practice increases blood circulation."
-  Research on Qigong, by Dr. Amir Farid Isahak.  

http://healthatlarge.blogspot.com/2006/06/research-on-qigong.html

"According to modern medical research between 70 and 85% of all illness leading people to doctors is caused by stress (Kaiser Permenente twenty year study). The United States annual health care costs exceed one-trillion dollars each year. This means that effective stress management techniques, if provided to people en masse through education, business, healthcare, etc. in an aggressive national campaign to train our citizens in such techniques, could save our nation alone hundreds of billions in health care costs year after year.

Tai Chi and Qigong have been proven over many centuries, including in emerging modern medical research to be powerful stress reduction technologies. The results of this are found in studies like the one at UCLA indicating that Tai Chi practitioners doubled their immune resistance to viral infection. Many studies also show Tai Chi can provide cardiovascular benefit, lowering high blood pressure, and providing an effective gentle rehabilitation therapy for those with heart disease."

Global health & personal health are more closely related than one might think at first glance. Holistic solutions are simple and make a great deal of sense, once we look into the heart of possibility, unclouded by cynicism that tells us we are victims of “what is.” We are not victims. By allowing our minds to explore possibility we imagine, “image-in” a new more expansive reality that could make our lives not only healthier, but more exciting and profound. Einstein wrote, “imagination is more important than knowledge,” and those words were never more true than they are today. Dare to imagine what is possible, and the veil separating reality from that vision becomes thinner with every new person willing to step beyond the walls of limitation.

-  Simple Solutions to Global Problems: Tai Chi and Qigong, By Bill Douglas

http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Simple-Solutions-to-Global-Problems-----Tai-Chi---Qigong/48637

"Chunyi Lin explains that Spring Forest Qigong exercises help to normalize, balance, and support the energy systems that feed healthy organs and support overall health. I've found that a regularly practiced program is an effective shield against illness. Spring Forest Qigong not only produces significant health benefits afterwards, but actually feels healing and energizing while you're doing it."

Susan M. Lark, MD,
writing in The Lark Letter,
A Woman's Guide To Optimal Health & Balance

Spring Forest Qigong

http://www.learningstrategies.com/Qigong/

"Like yoga, Qigong teaches you to balance energy in your body."

Deepak Chopra, M.D.

12 benefits of qigong, here:

1. Well-being and improved health. Qigong emphasizes the whole body, whole system health. While it is true that qigong will often cure specific ills, this is not the primary reason for practice. It is not only a matter of adding years to your life, but life to your years.

2. Clear and tranquil mind. When the mind is at peace, the whole universe seems at peace. World peace begins with you; it is your responsibility to find a peaceful heart and mind. Then you can heal and transform others just through your presence. If you have a tranquil mind, you will make better decisions and have the skill to know when act and when to be still.

3. Deeper, more restorative sleep. Qigong will help you find the deep relaxation and mental quiet necessary for sleep.

4. Increased energy, including sexual vitality and fertility. Qigong people have more energy; it can reverse energy and restore youthfulness.

5. Comfortable warmth. Qigong is great for cold hands and feet. Circulation improves, and the body generates more internal warmth when it is cold.

6. Clear skin. The skin, like the intestines, is an organ of elimination. According to Chinese medicine, as your qigong improves, your body eliminates toxins, and the skin becomes clear.

7. Happy attitude. There is an old Tibetan saying, “You can tell a Yogi by his or her laugh.” Correct and moderate qigong practice usually creates an optimistic and joyous disposition.

8. More efficient metabolism. Digestion improves, and hair and nails grow more quickly.

9. Greater physiological control. This means that aspects of the body that were imbalanced or out of control begin to normalize, for example, breathing rate, heart rate, blood pressure, hormone levels, and states of chronic inflammation or depletion.

10. Bright eyes. The qigong master’s eyes are said to glow in the dark, like a cat’s. The eyes also appear bright because the spirit and soul are luminous and the heart is open.

11. Intuition and creativity. Intuition and creativity generate each other and come from the same source, an awakened brain and being, an ability to think with the gut, to feel with the mind.

12. Spiritual effects. Advancement in qigong is often accompanied by a variety of spiritual experiences. For example, synchronicity, meaningful coincidences, become more common. When the qi is abundant, clear, and flowing, the senses perceive and are permeated by a sweetness. 

The Twelve Benefits of Qigong
Adapted from The Essential Qigong Training Course, by Ken Cohen (Sounds True, 2005).

http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/bms/2817

The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing.  By Kenneth S. Cohen.
Foreword by Larry Dossey.  New York Ballantine Books, 1997.  Index, notes, appendices, 
427 pages.  ISBN: 0345421094.  MGC.  One of my favorite books: comprehensive,
informative, practical, and scientific.  

The Way of Qigong.  By Ken Cohen.  5 audiocassettes, 6 hours.  Boulder, Colorado, Sounds True,
1993.  ISBN: 1564552578.  MGC.    

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July 3,  Monday,  2006

Free Play all day.  

"I you want to follow the doctrine of the One,
Do not rage against the World of the Senses.
Only by accepting the World of the Senses
Can you share in the True Perception."
-   Seng-ts'an

Spiritual University News
http://www.if4.us/university/

Train yourself in doing good that lasts and brings happiness. Cultivate generosity, the life of peace, and a mind of boundless love.

-   Buddha

Embracing the Tree

http://nothingness23.blogspot.com/2006/04/back-to-wider-tai-chi-embracing-tree.html

Xuan Wu Dadi (Dark Lord of the North) Lord Xuan Wu (variously called The Dark Lord of the North, The Lord of True Martiality, the North Lord Xuan Wu, Lord Black, The Lord of Black Martiality, etc.) is one of the most widely revered Gods of traditional China, ranking in popularity behind only Guan Yin and Guan Gong. The God is usually depicted in black robes, holding a sword and sometimes wearing a jade belt. His long black hair flows freely down his back. Lord Xuan Wu is always depicted with a tortoise and a snake, sometimes beneath one of his feet. He is revered as a powerful God, able to control the elements (worshipped by those wishing to avoid fires), and capable of great magic. He is particularly revered by martial artists, and is the 'patron saint' of Wudang Mountain in China's Hubei Province, where he allegedly attained immortality. The name "wudang" roughly translates as "only Xuan Wu deserves it."

Joss House: Taoist Temples of California

http://josshouse.blogspot.com/2006/06/xuan-wu-dadi-dark-lord-of-north.html

nanyan gong 南巖宮

(South Cliff Palace)



South Cliff Palace is a cliff-embedded temple at Wudang shan 武當山(Mount Wudang), which is located in Junxian, Hubei. Mount Wudang, also known as Taihe shan 太和山 (Mount Taihe [Great Harmony]), is home of the Zhenwu 真武 (Perfected Warrior) cult. Zhenwu, also known as Xuanwu 玄武 (Mysterious Warrior) and represented as an entwined snake-turtle, is the guardian of the north. Mount Wudang is also believed to have been the place where Zhang Sanfeng 張三丰 (14th c.?) engaged in Daoist cultivation and created the internal martial arts, such as Taiji quan 太極拳 (Yin-yang Boxing). 

http://www.daoistcenter.org/Sites.html

July 4,  Tuesday,  2006

4th of July Holiday in America.  

I hope all our soldiers can return home very soon.  Invading Iraq never made
much sense in the first place to me, and now the facts show the reasons given for
invading Iraq were incorrect.  All it does is satisfy the sunshine patriots, who 
are not paying for the war they want, not fighting in the war they want, and find
some solace in revenge for the Islamic terrorist attack of 9/11, and in killing 
Moslems - a favorite pastime of right-wing fundamentalist Christians for centuries.  

Frankly, I could care less about democracy in Iraq ... when Americans leave, a civil war
will most likely take place in Iraq and a new ruthless dictator will take charge again.  Another 
dictator, just like Sadaam Hussein, the guy President Reagan gave money to 
so he could stay in power and kill Iranians.  

The War on Terror is just another terrorist adventure.  God Bless America, Allah Bless
the Middle East ... the same old nonsense.  And God stands by and does nothing ... 
no new revelations, no new insights, no attempt to guide the true believers to a peaceful 
solution.  God seems to mind his own business as usual, and ignore the fools on 
this earth preaching their 57 versions of religious and political nonsense.  

World War II offered me sufficient proof that God/Allah is dead.  

Walking and Taijiquan at daybreak.   Outdoor construction project.  

Home work projects: Green Room improvement project with Karen's help.  

"To be able to be unhurried when hurried;
To be able not to slack off when relaxed;
To be able not to be frightened
And at a loss loss for what to do, 
When frightened at at a loss;
This is the learning that returns us 
To our natural state and transforms our lives."
-  Liu Wenmin

July 5,  Wednesday,  2006

Walking and Taijiquan at dawn.  

Home improvement projects working with Karen.  

Gym:  weightlifting, spin class, teach Yogalates for Lauren in July from 6-6:45 pm.

1) The slower the better. With each session, your movements will become more fluid, beautiful, and confident. "Yue man yue hao." This means "the slower the better" in Chinese!
2) Each time your foot touches the ground, or leaves the ground, you imagine it getting bigger and bigger until it rivals the size of the Universe itself. Your steps can become lower and larger as long as you remain in control of your balance. No wobbling!
3) Your hands should move in a circular fashion. The circle of perfection without cracks or grooves in your imagery. But don't beat yourself up over that, time will bring this perfect geometry.
4) The movements should resemble water and so assimilate that into your practice.
5) Probably the most important visualization that you can perform during this practice, is the idea of your body, hands, head, feet, all of the circumference of your body, gradually becoming as large as the Universe. It is the same idea as the "Diao Tian Qi" (Falling from Heaven Qi) healing practice, previously taught by Master Lao, where you imagine your hand becoming as large as the Universe and filling with energy. This imagery should be expanded to the whole body until you feel as if your are strolling through the Universe itself. Your foot is the Milky Way, and your head and other extremities expand even beyond what your mind can grasp. This helps to "break the connection" of the rational mind, allowing it to focus on the senses of your body and igniting the electrical impulses needed to perform physical movement. But the mind is no longer needed to put together the jigsaw puzzle containing the many pieces of these separate actions.
6) The more you relinquish control of the mind and let it settle downwards into the Dan Tian, and merge with the heart and its five "windows," the more capable you are of making the medicine of healing energy in the cauldron of your body.
Walking the Circle to Find the Path
By Master Lao
http://www.universal-tao.com/article/walking.html

Universal Tao Articles.   There are 176 articles related to Taoism at this website.  
http://www.universal-tao.com/article/index.html

July 6,  Thursday,  2006

My recent reading list includes:

Circling the Sacred Mountain: A Spiritual Adventure Through the Himalayas..  
By Robert Thurman and Tad Wise.  New York, Bantam Books, 1999. 352 pages.
ISBN: 0553378503.  MGC.  

Beautiful Heart, Beautiful Spirit.  Shing-ling-mei Wudang Qigong.  By Master Qing Chuan Wang
and Katherine Orr.  Kaneohe, Hawaii, 2005.  240 pages.  ISBN: 9780976517801.   MGC.

Quantum Soup: A Philosophical Entertainment.   By Chungliang Al Huang.  New York, 
E.P. Dutton, 1983.  133 pages.  ISBN : 0525480706.   MGC.  

Solo Training 2.  The Martial Artist's guide to Building the Core for Stronger, Faster and
More Effective Grappling, Kicking and Punching.  By Loren W. Christensen.  Hartford, 
Connecticut, Turtle Press, 2005.  Index, 333 pages.  ISBN: 188033688X.  MGC.  

The Complete Book of Chinese Health and Healing: Guarding the Three Treasures.  
By Daniel Reid.  Illustrated by Dexter Chou and Jony Huang.  Boston, Shambhala, 
1995.  Appendices, index, 484 pages.  ISBN: 1570620717.  MGC.  

The Art of Worldly Wisdom.  Baltasar Gracián.  Translated by Joseph Jacobs.  Boston, 
Shambhala, 1993, 2001.  132 pages.  ISBN: 1570628793.  MGC.    

Best Karate: Heian, Tekki.   By Masatoshi Nakayama.  Tokyo, KKodansha International, 
1979.  Glossary, 143 pages.  ISBN: 0870113798.  MGC.  

Budo Secrets: Teachings of the Martial Arts Masters.   Edited by John Stevens.  Boston,
Shambhala, 2001.  Bibliography, 115 pages.  ISBN: 1570624461.  MGC.  

July 7,  Friday,  2006

Work on home improvement projects from 5 am to noon.  Read, listen to music, make love and relax during the heat of the day.  

July 8,  Saturday,  2006

Work on home improvement projects from 5 am to 9am.  Teach Tai Chi and Yoga at TFFC.  Read, listen to music, make love and relax during the heat of the day.  

1. Death is annihilation.
2. The living have not yet been annihilated (otherwise they wouldn't be alive).
3. Death does not affect the living. 
4. So, death is not bad for the living. 
5. For something to be bad for somebody, that person has to exist, at least.
6. The dead do not exist. 
7. Therefore, death is not bad for the dead. 
8. Therefore death is bad for neither the living nor the dead. 

-  Epicurus (341-271 BCE), Letter to Menoeceus

http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/epicur.htm#SH5d

The most well-known Epicurean verse, which epitomizes his philosophy, is lathe biōsas λάθε βιώσας (Plutarchus De latenter vivendo 1128c; Flavius Philostratus Vita Apollonii 8.28.12), meaning "live secretly", "get through life without drawing attention to yourself", i. e. live without pursuing glory or wealth or power, but anonymously, enjoying little things like food, the company of friends, etc.

"God either wants to eliminate bad things and cannot, or can but does not want to, or neither wishes to nor can, or both wants to and can. If he wants to and cannot, he is weak -- and this does not apply to god. If he can but does not want to, then he is spiteful -- which is equally foreign to god's nature. If he neither wants to nor can, he is both weak and spiteful and so not a god. If he wants to and can, which is the only thing fitting for a god, where then do bad things come from? Or why does he not eliminate them?"--Epicurus (from "The Epicurus Reader", translated and edited by Brad Inwood and L.P. Gerson, Hackett Publishing, 1994, p. 97)

Epicurus - Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicurus

"The wealth required by nature is limited and is easy to procure; 
but the wealth required by vain ideals extends to infinity."

Epicurean Philosophy Online  

Epicurean History

Per Thomas Jefferson, Letter to William Short

I take the liberty of observing that you are not a true disciple of our master Epicurus, in indulging the indolence to which you say you are yielding. One of his canons, you know, was that "that indulgence which prevents a greater pleasure, or produces a greater pain, is to be avoided." Your love of repose will lead, in its progress, to a suspension of healthy exercise, a relaxation of mind, an indifference to everything around you, and finally to a debility of body, and hebetude of mind, the farthest of all things from the happiness which the well-regulated indulgences of Epicurus ensure; fortitude, you know is one of his four cardinal virtues. That teaches us to meet and surmount difficulties; not to fly from them, like cowards; and to fly, too, in vain, for they will meet and arrest us at every turn of our road. Weigh this matter well; brace yourself up;

Syllabus of the doctrines of Epicurus

Physical.—The Universe eternal.

Its parts, great and small interchangeable.

Matter and Void alone.

Motion inherent in matter which is weighty and declining.

Eternal circulation of the elements of bodies.

Gods, an order of beings next superior to man, enjoying in their sphere, their own felicities; but not meddling with the concerns of the scale of beings below them.

Moral.—Happiness the aim of life.

Virtue the foundation of happiness.

Utility the test of virtue.

Pleasure active and In-do-lent.

In-do-lence, is the absence of pain, the true felicity.

Active, consists in agreeable motion; it is not happiness, but the means to produce it.

Thus the absence of hunger is an article of felicity; eating the means to obtain it.

The summum bonum is to be not pained in body, nor troubled in mind.

i.e. In-do-lence of body, tranquillity of mind.

To procure tranquillity of mind we must avoid desire and fear, the two principal diseases of the mind.

Man is a free agent.

Virtue consists in 1) Prudence. 2) Temperance. 3) Fortitude. 4) Justice.*

To which are opposed, 1) Folly. 2) Desire. 3) Fear. 4) Deceit.

Epicurus, My Master
By Max Radin (1880-1950)

This work is a fictional narration "recounted" by Atticus in the last year of his life. Originally published by University of North Carolina in 1949 (copyright expired). 

Our Master Epicurus saved us from fear and the shadow of fear. That would have been enough in all conscience. But more than that, he taught us that life was a whole which could be fully grasped in the mind of any enlightened man. 

Work on home improvement projects from 5 am to noon.  Read, listen to music, make love and relax during the heat of the day.  

The pleasures of the senses grow a little more choice and refined: those of imagination are turned upon embellishing the scenes he chooses to live in; ease, conveniency, elegancy, magnificence, are sought in building first, and then in furnishing houses or palaces: the admirable imitations of nature are introduced by pictures, statues, tapestry, and other such achievements of arts. And the most exquisite delights of sense are pursued, in the contrivance and plantation of gardens; which, with fruits, flowers, shades, fountains, and the music of birds that frequent such happy places, seem to furnish all the pleasures of the several senses, and with the greatest, or at least the most natural perfections.

Upon the Gardens of Epicurus, or...
Of Gardening in the Year 1685
by Sir William Temple (1628 - 1699)

Original English Text. 

Work on home improvement projects from 5 am to noon.  Visit CUESD work and talk with bosses.  Teach spin and Yogilates at TFFC.  Watering in the evening.  

Work on home improvement projects from 5 am to noon.  Read, listen to music, make love and relax during the heat of the day.  

"When we get out of the glass bottle of our ego,
and when we escape
like squirrels in the cage of our personality
and get into the forest again, we shall shiver
with cold and fright.
But things will happen to us
so that we don't know ourselves.
Cool, unlying life will rush in,
and passion will make our
bodies taut with power.
We shall laugh, and
institutions will curl up
like burnt paper."
-  D. H. Lawrence, Escape 

For those safe, sane and consenting adults who enjoy the overflowing lust and thrills of wild, unconventional and creative sex games, like I do, here are some equipment resources:

Mr. S and Madame S.    San Francisco  

The BDSM Store  Michigan  

Extreme Restraints  

Something Sexy Planet

Watering and yard work from 5 am to 9 am.  
Business in Chico in the afternoon.  

“Now seeds are just dimes to the man in the store
And the dimes are the things that he needs,
And I’ve been to buy them in seasons before
But have thought of them merely as seeds;
But it flashed through my mind as I took them this time,
“You purchased a miracle here for a dime.”
- Edgar A. Guest, A Package of Seeds

“This very act of planting a seed in the earth
has in it to me something beautiful. I always do it
with a joy that is largely mixed with awe.”
- Celia Thaxter

Green Way Wisdom - Seeds   

Work on home improvement projects from 5 am to noon.  Work for CUESD in the afternoon.  Lift weights and then Teach yoga at TFFC.  

I think I broke or dislocated my right middle finger.  I need to go in for an xray.

Katelyn Alice Flinn, born on July 13, 2006, 2:15 p.m., 
Born in Providence Hospital, Portland, Oregon
Parents: Alicia June Garofalo Flinn and Sean Flinn
Maternal Grandparents: Blanche Karen Eubanks Garofalo and Michael Garofalo

Our first grandchild!  

Work on home improvement projects from 5 am to noon.  Read, listen to music, make love and relax during the heat of the day.  

Browne was a keen botanist, and the central chapter of The Garden of Cyrus contains many of his astute botanical observations; in total over 140 plants are mentioned. Botany was a much favoured pastime of alchemists, not only because plants possessed medicinal properties useful to the physician, but also because plant-life demonstrated nature's organic ways. It may also be noted that many flowers are indeed cinque-foiled, that is consisting of five petals. Page after page of detailed descriptions of plants, speculations upon germination and growth, considerations upon embryology, generation and heredity -- the alchemy of nature and transformation are placed at the heart of the Discourse.

If ever there were a literary example of a physician 'seeking truth in the light of nature' as exhorted by Paracelsus this central chapter with its many sharp-eyed observations on plant-life Cyrus is it. The Swiss alchemist-physician Paracelsus's encouraging of fellow physicians to 'seek truth in the Light of Nature' is in fact a dualistic concept in which both the apprehending of Nature's esoteric arcana and the beginnings of modern biological research are inextricably linked. In Browne's day these two pursuits were quite indistinct from each other.

From the detection of nature's arcana the alchemist-physician penetrated Nature's secrets to apprehend a fundamental tenet of alchemy - the Universal Spirit of Nature, the anima mundi or World-Soul responsible for all phenomena and which binds all life together. Browne first wrote upon the existence of the anima mundi in Religio Medici (The Religion of a Doctor) of 1643 thus:

Now besides these particular and divided Spirits, there may be (for ought I know) an universal and common Spirit to the whole world. It was the opinion of Plato, and is yet of the Hermeticall philosophers; if there be a common nature that unites and ties the scattered and divided individuals into one species, why may there not be one that untyes them all? 

Garden of Cyrus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_Cyrus

3. Jardín Para Filósofos (A Garden For Philosophers)

oil on canvas, 28 x 40 in., 1996

Work on home improvement projects from 5 am to 9 am.  Teach Tai Chi and Yoga at TFFC.  Read, listen to music, make love and relax during the heat of the day.  

Philosopher's Garden  Mazes and Gardens.  

http://www.soekershof.com/philogardens.html

Gardening is a kind of meditation. Well, that is how we experience our work. While working we think but not always -in fact: almost never- about the work itself. Let's say; we think about life. After, before and in between work we live our life; have a chat here and there, read a book, drink a glass of wine etc. etc.. And the next day, during the work, we think about what we've experienced, heard or read. Sometimes it results in a deep thought, a comparative, a proverb, aphorism or whatever. 

Pablo Picasso quotation: ART WASHES AWAY FROM THE SOUL THE DUST OF EVERYDAY LIFE. P

Work on home improvement projects from 5 am to 3 p.m.  Read, listen to music, write, snooze, make love and relax during the heat of the day.  

"I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.   Y

• Look in the mirror. The face that pins you with its double gaze reveals a chastening secret.

• Everyone admits that love is wonderful and necessary, yet no one agrees on just what it is.

• It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between.  Y

• There are well-dressed foolish ideas just as there are well-dressed fools.

• After all, coffee is bitter, a flavor from the forbidden and dangerous realm.  Y

We live on the leash of our senses.   Y

• There is no way in which to understand the world without first detecting it through the radar-net of our senses.   Y

• Look at your feet. You are standing in the sky. When we think of the sky, we tend to look up, but the sky actually begins at the earth.  Y

• If a mind is just a few pounds of blood, urea, and electricity, how does it manage to contemplate itself, worry about its soul, do time-and-motion studies, admire the shy hooves of a goat, know that it will die, enjoy all the grand and lesser mayhems of the heart?

• Imagine the brain, that shiny mound of being, that mouse-gray parliament of cells, that dream factory, that petit tyrant inside a ball of bone, that huddle of neurons calling all the plays, that little everywhere, that fickle pleasuredome, that wrinkled wardrobe of selves stuffed into the skull like too many clothes in a gym bag."

- Diane Ackerman, 1956-

"The above is a diagram depicting the use of sacred movements from the fifth century Taoist Rite of the Great Bear Polar circle. In Taoist practice, such sacred movements enhance the dancers to resonate with the circle of the cosmic forces. This embraces the central Taoist concept of human as microcosm mirroring the macrocosm.

Taiji Quan movements evolved from this ancient lumbering gait of a bear, unfortunately due to the linguistic drift and misinterpretation, the Great Bear Polar Circle remains hidden for most practitioners. If one retraced to an older practice of the Five Animal frolics, one can still see the original lumbering Gait of a black bear frolic swaying side to side. If Taiji Quan did evolve from the Five animal frolics then the Taiji form must contain within its structure a Bear movement. It is my most sincere wish that you could discover it for yourself the Bear movement within the Taiji Form.

Such discovery re-connects me to the ancient Complete Reality Sect of Taoist Ritual and opens my eyes to the depth of Taiji practice. That the very functioning of the Taiji form is a Shamanistic journey of recreating the Heavenly drama of the Ursula Major constellation which contained the Big Dipper.

With the Great Bear Rite as part of my practice of Taiji movements, this transported my consciousness to a level that is universal. My body became part of the Cosmo. The movements took on a numinous quality. Sometime, when I practiced late at night I could almost hear the song of the stars. Suddenly, the meaning of Taiji—Supreme Ultimate revealed to me as the universal movements of unifying between human and the whole of the Universe. At that moment, my body became utterly transparent and different part of the body lights up.

From my own meager experience of the Grand Ultimate—Taiji, I entered the vast field of Taoist Alchemical cultivation. It is this transformation from the profane physical movements into the sacred Taoist rite that the power of the Great Bear Step becomes so necessary.

For the future of Taiji Quan, I sincerely wished that other players and practitioners joined me in developing Taiji in the context of Taoist Inner Alchemy."

Written by Sat Chuen Hon

Founder of Dan Tao

July 5, 2001

Added to Bagua webpage.  

Work for CUED 8:30 - 12:30 am.  Read, listen to music, write, and relax during the heat of the day (107 degrees F).  Weightlifting, teach spin, and teach Yoailates at TFFC.  Watering in morning and evening.  Take Karen to Redding train station for her trip to Portland.  

Work on home improvement projects from 5 am to noon.  Read, listen to music, write and relax during the heat of the day (108 degrees F).  Lift weights, and then teach yoga at TFFC.  Watering in morning and evening.   

Qigong for Health with Liping Julia Zhu.  
San Francisco, Muir Beach, Green Gulch Zen Farm.  
August 12, 2006, Saturday, 9:30 - 5 p.m..  
Qigong (Chi Kung) widely known for its healing effects and spiritual empowerment, combines movement, meditation and breathing to regulate and enhance the flow of the body!s vital energy, improve blood circulation, and strengthen the immune system. This full-day workshop will introduce you to three Qigong exercizes for healing, and some basic theory.  

For more information:

Qidragon Yahoo group at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/qidragon/

Liping Julia Zhu. She was our translator, along with Master Xu, for this event. She is an accomplished qigong teacher and award winning taijiquan performer.

http://www.qidragon.com/

Added many quotes to the Spirit of Gardening website.  

Created a new webpage:  Advice for Living the Good Life.  

Work on home improvement projects from 5 am to 7:30.  Work for CUESD from 8:30 - 12:30 am.  Read, write, listen to music, and relax during the heat of the day.  Lift weights, take spin class, and teach Yogilates at TFFC.  Watering in morning and evening.   

Work on home improvement projects from 5 am to noon.  Read, listen to music, and relax during the heat of the day.  Lift weights, and then teach yoga at TFFC.  Watering in morning and evening.   

Work on home improvement projects from 5 am to noon.  Read, listen to music, and relax during the heat of the day.  Watering in morning and evening.   

Work on home improvement projects from 5 am to 9 am.  Teach Tai Chi and Yoga at TFFC.  Read, listen to music, and relax during the heat of the day.  Watering in morning and evening.   

Work on home improvement projects from 5 am to noon.  Read, listen to music, and relax during the heat of the day.  Watering in morning and evening.   

Work on home improvement projects from 5 am to noon.  Read, listen to music, and relax during the heat of the day.  Pick up Karen at Redding train station.  Lift weights, teach spin and then teach yogilates at TFFC.  Watering in morning and evening.  Make love.  

Attend Summer Teaching and Leadership Conference in Chico,
8:30 - 4.  Technology emphasis.

Teach Yoga and lift weights at TFFC at night.  

Attend Summer Teaching and Leadership Conference in Chico,
8:30 - 4.  Technology emphasis.

Gym:  Weightligting, Spin class, teach yogilates.      

Drive to Portland

Attend Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan Workshop led by Master Yang Jun at Reed College in Portland.     

Attend Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan Workshop led by Master Yang Jun. 

The Eight Extraordinary Channels: Taoist Cosmology and the Eight Extraordinary Channel Pairings

By David Twicken, DOM, LAc

This article is the first of a three-part series on the Eight Extraordinary Channels and Taoist cosmology.

One of the most interesting aspects of Chinese medicine and qi gong is the Eight Extraordinary Channels, which is considered the most constitutional of the acupuncture channel network. The following article is an excerpt from a new book, Eight Extraordinary Channels. It presents classic Taoist models supporting the Eight Extraordinary Channel parings and corresponding trigrams presented by Xu Feng of the Ming dynasty. Xu Feng did not present a supporting theory for the relationships, and for centuries, this has remained a mystery.

The classic parings are the chong-yin wei, du-yang qiao, ren-yin qiao, and dai-yang wei channels.

The He Tu and Luo Shu diagrams are two foundational models of the eight branches of Tao; He Tu is considered the oldest of the Taoist cosmological diagrams and the origin of the Luo Shu. These two cosmological diagrams reveal an energetic unfolding pattern of the Eight Extraordinary Channels and the origin of "coupled pairs."

The theoretical basis supporting the classic Eight Extraordinary Channel pairs begins with Taoist cosmology. The following presents a brief summary of this cosmological-energetic view. Refer to my previous articles on I Ching acupuncture for background information. 

From:  http://nothingness23.blogspot.com/2006/04/eight-extraordinary-channels-taoist.html

Attend Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan Workshop led by Master Yang Jun at Reed College in Portland.  

Pulling Onions:

Organized religions are a business, and I don't have any need for their services.    

Many stumble along with a "Can't do" approach to life.  

-  Pulling Onions, by Mike Garofalo

Mick, April and I visit Fort Stevens State Park near Astoria and stay overnight in Astoria. 

Feedback from Readers in July 2006:

"Thank you!" effusively for your amazingly well researched Yi Chuan web pages. Indeed, for those with eyes to recognize what you've done, the Standing Meditation information alone that you've gathered together is bodhisattvic work of the highest order, in my view. I was in the process of trying to uncover more information in that regard — beyond the usual texts which I own - i.e. Warriors of Stillness, and The Way of Energy, so on.  I had some small success, but your site goes far, far beyond anything I could have uncovered on my own except over years. ...
You are to be praised, sir! I mean that sincerely. I've only briefly scanned your other pages, but they, too, are daunting. Your "master librarian" skills are much in evidence, as is your obviously long Zen training and the fruition thereof. I find your site delightful and instructive on many, many levels. Really, I'm humbled before it. ...
Again, my gratitude for the Yi Chuan material which I download and print out and put in a special book. I have barely scratched the surface, yet the journey ahead beckons delightfully. Your life, as reflected through your Web creative work, is a testamonial to what Buddha Dharma unfolds in those ripe and ready and willing.  All best!
-   Mickey Disend, Power Hypnosis
http://www.powerhypnosis.com