"The question that the plants have asked me is this: Are you willing to give up ego, hierarchy, power, dignity, self-importance, moral superiority? Are you willing to give up control, to hand yourself over to the process? Are you willing to see the world as miraculous and filled with spirits?

I think the plants love us. I have no idea why. We certainly have done nothing -- at least recently -- to deserve it. I think that they want us to be human beings again."

From "Soul, Spirit and Right Relationship: A Conversation with Steve Beyer"

link

Keeping a space clean helps keep the energy strong

My friend Julia's blog posts on cleaning your own space. Keeping a space neat and clean has a powerful effect on one's own internal energy.

New warrior-mind training = "the dark side"?

The pentagon's new warrior mind training.

Grief

RFK's speech after the assasination of MLK:
"My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He once wrote: "Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."

RFK unintentionally misquoted Aeschylus in a revealing way. I will have more to say about grief, as emerging from body and brain, in a later post.

My great great grandfather and grandmother were "electric" healers in the 1880s

Found this in the WAUKESHA FREEMAN archives
Nov 20, 1879

An advertisement .... For my great-great-grandfather Hubbell Fox, a civil war veteran, and great great grandmother Mary Rowe, a Wisconsin - frontier midwife

(my grandmother Mary L Kerr's maternal grandparents)

"Those desiring medical treatment
in the new system—Electric and Mag-
netic—will find Dr. Hubbell Fox prepared
to receive patients at his residence,
Vine Cottage, Grand Avenue.
Aside from a medical education as
taught in the Homoeopathic and Electric
schools of practice. Dr. Fox has
made a special study of the medical
use of electricity, (is a graduate of the
Philadelphia El.ectropathic Institution),
is also thoroughly versed -m Hygeo
Therapeutics and makes use of the
Turkish, Electric, Medicated or Plain
baths when applicable. Dr. H. will be
assisted by Mrs. Mary Fox, who 'will
continue her practice as heretofore.
Particular attention given to treating
diseases of women. Patients from
a distance or those desiring; board will
receive careful'attention as to proper
diet, etc. Calls in a general practice
promptly attended to."

Ba Gua artist Zhang Yi Zhong describes his diet

Zhang Yi Zhong's Thoughts on Diet

Zhang Yi Zhong believes that in order to have a strong. energetic basis for the practice of internal martial art one must maintain a well managed diet. He feels the the foundation for qi in the body is diet, and thus those who are practicing the "qi arts" should be very concerned about diet. The strength of your energy and the health of your body will be a direct reflection of your diet. Zhang maintains a very strict diet which he has devised base on years of personal research and experimentation. The following are some guidelines that he recommend concerning diet (this is an excerpt taken from a "Dietary Information Guide" printed in the Tai Chi Natural Healing Club Newsletter which is produced by Zhang Yi Zhong group in Santa Cruz, California):

1. Eat whole, natural, unprocessed foods. Whole foods are found in as close to their whole natural state as possible. Vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, legumes and fruits can be prepared with very little altering or processing, retaining nutritional benefits. These foods can be creatively and attractively prepared to please the most discriminating palate.
   
   
2. Eat for Minerals and Vitamins. The vitamins and minerals obtained from the foods you eat work to maintain the proper functioning of the internal organs. They are essential for normal metabolism. The relaxation and rotation of the waist and abdomen in the Tai Chi practice nurtures the internal organs. Vitamins and minerals also nurture the "vital organs." Good food sources for minerals and vitamins are vegetables (especially green), whole grains, sea vegetables, seeds, nuts, and unrefined salt.
   
   
3. Eat early in the day. Give your system a little time to wake up before you "breakfast." A main meal of the day around 10-12:00, or "brunch" will give you the nourishment you'll need to move through the day. A lighter meal later in the day should be sufficient for the evening "wind down." Eat several hours before you go to bed. This gives the organs time to rest and regenerate during your sleeping hours. If you eat right before bed much of your body will still be working all night digesting food.
   
   
4. Eat lightly, chew well. No matter how wholesome your diet is, it is important to not over eat. Overeating burdens the organs, making digestion, assimilation, and elimination inefficient as well as uncomfortable. Chewing well not only lets you savor the taste of good food, but aids in the digestion and assimilation of food The enzymes in the saliva mix with the food and start the digestive process immediately.
   
   
5. Eat Alkaline. Clean blood and good circulation are important factors of preventative and abundant health The pH of the blood is slightly alkaline. Keeping the acid/alkaline balance of the blood relatively stable and slightly alkaline provides the best environment for the cellular building blocks to function effectively. Foods that lean toward acid in the body are meat and refined foods, especially refined carbohydrates. See #2 for foods that lean towards alkaline.

Make any changes in your diet gradually. Be sensitive to your body. Understanding why and what you're doing and experimenting slowly and carefully is the most sensible and safe way to make lasting changes!"

How old style martial arts teachers taught

Zhang Yi Zhong was born just West of Shanghai, China, in 1921. When Zhang was in his early twenties, World War II had just ended and with the Japanese withdrawal from Taiwan, the Chinese government sent Zhang t to Taiwan and take things over from the Japanese. Zhang's first exposure to the internal martial arts in Taiwan came from Wang Shu din's teaching of Chen Pan Ling's integrated Tai Ji system.

When asked about the teaching styles of Chen Pan Ling and Wang Shu din, Zhang said that neither of these gentleman provided a great deal of detail in their teaching. He said that both teachers were highly skilled and very strong, however, they did not analyze and provide details about what they were doing, they just did it. Asking questions of the teacher was discouraged. Zhang said that if you asked a question, the teacher would become angry, so you really had to be clever to figure things out. Zhang said that these teachers would show the movements of the forms and give a small bit of explanation, but it was up to the student to practice hard and explore his or her own realizations about the movements and techniques.

An old man with a young body -- a Ba Gua master

Pictured to the left, Sun Zhi Jun (in a photo taken many years ago) is doing Ba Gua "extended mud walking." Notice the extension of the legs and the low stance.






Here is a link to a beautiful video of Master Sun Zhi Jun (pictured above) as a much older man of 74, walking the Ba Gua circle. In the video, it is easy to see how limber and strong he is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndY4jMB9w6U

What are the physiological processes at work? An interesting, and, hopefully, productive mystery.

Thinking about the 10 principles of Tai Chi -- from Yang Chen Fu

Is there any way to connect these 10 principles to aspects of Buddhist practice?

Here, I mean to connect Tai Chi to the actual experience of sitting meditation [either concentrative meditation or mindfulness meditation] as much as to the particular stated precepts . Zen Buddhism, which descends in part from Chinese Taoist sages (the lineage from which the first Tai Chi masters probably emerged), is probably closest to Tai Chi, so it may be the best place to start.

(From the Yang family site)

What are the 10 essential of tai chi chuan ?

Following are the Ten Essentials of Tai Chi Chuan Orally transmitted by Yang Chengfu Recorded by Chen Weiming Translated by Jerry Karin

1. Empty, lively, pushing up and energetic¹
   

   'Pushing up and energetic' means the posture of the head is upright and straight and the spirit is infused into its apex. You may not use strength. To do so makes the back of the neck stiff, whereupon the chi and blood cannot circulate freely. You must have an intention which is empty, lively (or free) and natural. Without an intention which is empty, lively, pushing up and energetic, you won't be able to raise your spirit.

2. Hold in the chest and pull up the back
   

   The phrase 'hold in the chest' means the chest is slightly reserved inward, which causes the chi to sink to the cinnabar field (dan1 tian2). The chest must not be puffed out. If you do so then the chi is blocked in the chest region, the upper body becomes heavy and lower body light, and it will become easy for the heels to float upward. 'Pulling up the back' makes the chi stick to the back. If you are able to hold in the chest then you will naturally be able to pull up the back. If you can pull up the back, then you will be able to emit a strength from the spine which others cannot oppose.

3. Relax the waist
   

   The waist is the commander of the whole body. Only after you are able to relax the waist² will the two legs have strength and the lower body be stable. The alternation of empty and full all derive from the turning of the waist. Hence the saying: 'The wellspring of destiny lies in the tiny interstice of the waist. Whenever there is a lack of strength in your form, you must look for it in the waist and legs.

4. Separate empty and full
   

   In the art of Tai Chi Chuan, separating full and empty is the number one rule. If the whole body sits on the right leg, then the right leg is deemed 'full' and the left leg 'empty'. If the whole body sits on the left leg, then the left leg is deemed 'full' and the right leg 'empty'. Only after you are able to distinguish full and empty will turning movements be light, nimble and almost without effort; if you can't distinguish them then your steps will be heavy and sluggish, you won't be able to stand stably, and it will be easy for an opponent to control you.

5. Sink the shoulders and droop the elbows
   

   Sinking the shoulders means the shoulders relax open and hang downward. If you can't relax them downward, the shoulders pop up and then the chi follows and goes upward, causing the whole body to lack strength. Drooping the elbows means the elbows are relaxed downward. If the elbows are elevated then the shoulders are unable to sink. When you use this to push someone they won't go far. It's like the 'cut off' energy of external martial arts³.

6. Use Intent Rather than Force
   

   The taiji classics say, "this is completely a matter of using intent rather than force'. When you practice taijiquan, let the entire body relax and extend. Don't employ even the tiniest amount of coarse strength which would cause musculo-skeletal or circulatory blockage with the result that you restrain or inhibit yourself. Only then will you be able to lightly and nimbly change and transform, circling naturally. Some wonder: if I don't use force, how can I generate force? The net of acupuncture meridians and channels throughout the body are like the waterways on top of the earth. If the waterways are not blocked, the water circulates; if the meridians are not impeded the chi circulates. If you move the body about with stiff force, you swamp the meridians, chi and blood are impeded, movements are not nimble; all someone has to do is begin to guide you and your whole body is moved. If you use intent rather than force, wherever the intent goes, so goes the chi. In this way - because the chi and blood are flowing, circulating every day throughout the entire body, never stagnating - after a lot of practice, you will get true internal strength. That's what the taiji classics mean by "Only by being extremely soft are you able to achieve extreme hardness." Somebody who is really adept at taiji has arms which seem like silk wrapped around iron, immensely heavy. Someone who practices external martial arts, when he is using his force, seems very strong. But when not using force, he is very light and floating. By this we can see that his force is actually external, or superficial strength. The force used by external martial artists is especially easy to lead or deflect, hence it is not of much value.

7. Synchronize Upper and Lower Body
   

   In the taiji classics 'Synchronize Upper and Lower Body is expressed as: "With its root in the foot, emitting from the leg, governed by the waist, manifesting in the hands and fingers - from feet to legs to waist - complete everything in one impulse." * When hands move, the waist moves and legs move, and the gaze moves along with them. Only then can we say upper and lower body are synchronized. If one part doesn't move then it is not coordinated with the rest.

8. Match Up Inner and Outer
   

   What we are practicing in taiji depends on the spirit, hence the saying: "The spirit is the general, the body his troops". If you can raise your spirit, your movements will naturally be light and nimble, the form nothing more than empty and full, open and closed. When we say 'open', we don't just mean open the arms or legs; the mental intent must open along with the limbs. When we say 'close', we don't just mean close the arms or legs; the mental intent must close along with the limbs. If you can combine inner and outer into a single impulse^*, then they become a seamless whole.

9. (Practice) Continuously and Without Interruption
   

   Strength in external martial arts is a kind of acquired, brute force, so it has a beginning and an end, times when it continues and times when it is cut off, such that when the old force is used up and new force hasn't yet arisen, there is a moment when it is extremely easy for the person to be constrained by an opponent. In taiji, we use intent rather than force, and from beginning to end, smoothly and ceaselessly, complete a cycle and return to the beginning, circulating endlessly. That is what the taiji classics mean by "Like the Yangtze or Yellow River, endlessly flowing." And again: "Moving strength is like unreeling silk threads". These both refer to unifying into a single impulse*.

10. Seek Quiescence within Movement
    

    External martial artists prize leaping and stopping as skill, and they do this till breath (chi) and strength are exhausted, so that after practicing they are all out of breath. In taiji we use quiescence to overcome movement, and even in movement, still have quiescence. So when you practice the form, the slower the better! When you do it slowly your breath becomes deep and long, the chi sinks to the cinnabar field (dan1 tian2) and naturally there is no deleterious constriction or enlargement of the blood vessels. If the student tries carefully he may be able to comprehend the meaning behind these words.

http://www.yangfamilytaichi.com/about/study/#footnote-01

Dalai Lama on body and mind

Today, in a hotel ballroom in Boston, the Dalai Lama discussed mind, body and mindful awareness. The discussion took place at the Harvard Medical School conference on cultivating compassion and wisdom. Richard Davidson, the University of Wisconsin neuroscientist, kicked things off. He pointed out that in American culture, serious physical training through regular exercise is a good thing. Why not mental training?

The Dalai Lama paused for more than a few seconds. Scratching his forehead, he took up the comparison between exercise and mindfulness. There are, he said, two components to mindful awareness. First, there is the ability to maintain focused awareness. This is really just the ability to maintain a stable mental focus on an object without wavering in one's attention.

Underneath this simple ability to maintain focus, there is a deeper form of wisdom which comes from cultivating awareness of subtle mind states. To truly know onesself is to recognize these subtle mind states. But, he said (as he smiled) these mind states are actually subtle physical energies that we feel as body feelings. They are nearly formless but still physical feelings.

So, he said, concluding his reflection, our basic capacity for deep awareness is dependent on the ability to sense subtle body feelings

... and a sense of peace came over William James as he lay quietly in the Mt Auburn cemetery.