Early morning. Moon
lit clouds. I scatter rose
petals near the creek.

~ * ~

Martial artists, I've noticed, tend to be really good at understanding the value of tension - and its relationship to relaxation: How it is the intelligent dynamic between the two that creates the context for skillful action. Tension is not a bad thing! The cells and organs of our body require a certain level of tension to hold their form. A tension/release dynamic is what allows our heart to beat; and the lymph system to function. The trick is to find the perfect amount of tension: not too much, and not too little.

What is a problem - especially in our sedentary society - is stagnation, which often is experienced as a kind of dis-ease which we might then call "tension." But these sensations are simply emissaries of our body's innate intelligence, encouraging us to move. The way to feel more relaxed, more at ease, is in this case to increase the level of tension/contraction - which then allows the stagnant energy to flow.

Tension at the level of mind is also a good thing, when skillfully employed. Read more...

Consulting the Yijing (I Ching) is not something I do regularly. As with other divination techniques -- Runes, Tarot, etc. - I have fun playing with it, occasionally, but in general prefer accessing intuitive information in more direct ways. But every now and again I do consult this ancient Chinese Oracle, and this morning was one of those times.

The hexagram that emerged was #62 - Predominance of the Small. The version of the text I was using was Liu I-ming's The Taoist I Ching (translated by Thomas Cleary), which offered the following gloss on this hexagram:

Being fulfilled but acting empty; inwardly strong, outwardly yielding; inwardly firm, outwardly flexible.

read more ...

I begin my essay introducing the Taoist "Three Treasures" with the following overview:

The Three Treasures -- Jing, Qi and Shen - are substances/energies that we cultivate in qigong and Inner Alchemy practice. Though there is no exact English translation for Jing, Qi and Shen, they are often translated as Essence, Vitality and Spirit. The qigong practitioner learns to transform Jing into Qi into Shen - the so-called "path of transmutation" - and also to transform Shen into Qi into Jing - the "path of generation" or "path of manifestation." The Three Treasures can be thought of also as three different frequencies, or as existing along a continuum of frequency.

Notice the similarities between that description of the Three Treasures, and this description, by Olga Louchakova (excerpted from Kundalini Rising: Exploring The Energy Of Awakening), of what in Hindu (and other) contexts is called Kundalini or Shakti:

Read more...