Well, only a few days remain in the life of my little cat-friend, Jade - or so it would seem. She has surprised me before - lending credence to the "nine-lives" mythology of her breed. But this time, a recovery would probably classify as a bona fide miracle. So we'll see ...

A couple days ago I brought home a bouquet of cut orchid stems - my current favorite among flowers. So vibrant, so vital, so animal-like. And they tend to last a really long time, for flowers - a month or six weeks, most likely, before the last blossom falls ...

As I was giving them a fresh cut, and putting them in a vase, it occurred to me that this particular bouquet of orchids will probably be around longer than will Jade - which, in that moment, felt quite strange. Read more...

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...

Well, yesterday it was autumn, but today it is WINTER! -- A good five inches of snow on the ground already, and up to a foot more forecasted, over the next couple of days. Where are the oak leaves, now?

White sky, white trees, white ground, white houses, white people walking white dogs, white black cat still mischievous, leaving white tracks everywhere ....

Typically I like being outside, first thing in the morning -- in all kinds of weather -- but today decided to enjoy my cup of tea (an oolong with flowery overtones) inside, warm & cozy.

Autumn

answered ...

-- emr

~ * ~

Not too long ago, I attended what turned out to be a fascinating presentation on the chakra system, by Swami Chandrasekharanand - a Hindu practitioner who traces his spiritual roots to Adi Sankaracarya. The former is teacher to Joan Harrigan, whose Kundalini Yoga Care program a friend had recently begun participating in.

Initially I had felt rather skeptical about the Kundalini Yoga Care program. The word "kundalini" - in a similar way to the word "tantra" - has high currency in today's spiritual marketplace; in inverse proportion, it often seems, to the authenticity and actual value of the programs they purport to describe. But when my friend returned, profoundly and visibly transformed by a week-long retreat with the Kundalini Yoga Care people, I had to conclude that something "real" was indeed going on. When I heard that Swami Chandrasekharanand would be arriving on my doorstep, as it were, I welcomed the opportunity to make the connection.

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Twice a year, I participate in an eight-day feast offering practice: lots of chanting, lots of visualization, lots of music (bells & damaru) and a bit of ritual dancing - all in a very ornate setting, replete with statues and thangkas, flowers and incense, and a steadily-growing mountain of feast-offering food and drink, displayed on silver platters and in crystalline pitchers.

The aesthetic is so completely different from what I tend to create for myself in my day-to-day living environment, that the contrast borders on the absurd: outrageous effulgence vs. a spacious, quiet, spare simplicity. I've wondered about this ...

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