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The practice of offering incense, with a bow, to the Taoist altar is called Baibai. As the incense burns, smoke rises, and ashes fall.

The ashes represent impure air that sinks; the smoke, pure air that rises. So the offering represents the separation of pure from impure - the refinement and purification of internal energies.

It also symbolizes the human body as being the meeting-place of Heaven and Earth: as the smoke rises, and the ashes fall, we make a connection with both earth and sky ... read more

Zombies: inconceivable, conceivable but not metaphysically possible, or metaphysically possible?

Sam Crane over at The Useless Tree takes this question -- drawn from a survey of professional philosophers -- as seed for a nascent Tao of Zombies.

To begin, he wonders: How would a Confucian respond to said question? -- Not metaphysically possible, given their emphasis on the inherent goodness of human nature:

"Would it be possible, then, for the goodness of Humanity to transform, or deform, into a returned-from-the-dead, mindless, flesh-eating monster? I think not. It would simply be beyond the bounds of Confucian ontology."

For Taoists, however -- metaphysically possible:

Please consider adding your name in support of this petition to the 110 Presidents and Prime Ministers negotiating in Copenhagen:

"We call on each one of you to make the concessions necessary to meet your historic responsibility in this crisis. Rich countries must offer fair funding, and all countries must set ambitious targets on emissions. Do not leave Copenhagen without a fair, ambitious and binding deal that keeps the world safe from catastrophic global warming of 2 degrees."

If you're inspired also to make some phone calls, here's how.

Earlier this year I wrote about my flotation tank experiences -- implying, toward the end of the essay, that this kind of experience might be comparable to Taoist dark retreats. But perhaps this isn't necessarily a valid comparison.

William Bodhri -- longtime student of Nan Huai-Chin -- has an interesting essay exploring the flotation-tank phenomena, in terms of the Abhidharma system of understanding consciousness. Unless one has a highly-developed meditation practice, what's likely to happen, he claims, is a sliding into the du-yin or "solitary consciousness":

Not too long ago, I witnessed a conversation between a spiritual teacher and one of her students, which went something like this:

student: "I feel worthless."

teacher: "Well, that's good - because you are worthless .... in exactly the same way that you're priceless and invaluable."

After a long moment - one of those in which you could almost feel people's minds, stunned and scrambling to regain their footing - she continued:

"You are without worth, without price, without any kind of value that can be identified - not because you are "bad" - but because there simply is no "you" as a thing, that can be placed on some kind of value-scale, to be measured in relation to conventional standards of worth."

Read more...

For a number of years, I lived just a stone's-throw away from Lake Monona, in Madison, Wisconsin. I loved to walk along the lake, visit my favorite pier, cross the small bridge to the long, narrow park whose willow trees defined the lake's rocky shore.

One day I saw something that struck me as both hilarious and also a bit sad. I wrote a poem which, as I recall, was about half the length of this one. I wish I could find it ... but anyway, here's the gist of what happened.

Caught

nearby ....

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More Fishing Tales

"Climate change has been caused over centuries, has consequences that will endure for all time and our prospects of taming it will be determined in the next 14 days. We call on the representatives of the 192 countries gathered in Copenhagen not to hesitate, not to fall into dispute, not to blame each other but to seize opportunity from the greatest modern failure of politics. This should not be a fight between the rich world and the poor world, or between east and west. Climate change affects everyone, and must be solved by everyone."

That's a passage from an editorial published this past Monday, simultaneously by 56 newspapers in 45 countries, in support of the vital work happening now at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.

If you haven't already, I'd really suggest tuning into this -- at the very least keeping abreast of its general contours. If you're inspired to join with others in public support of the clear vision and courageous action needed now to heal our planet, candlelight vigils are being held at locations all over the world, tonight. We can also, of course, be dedicating the energy of our practice to a globally beneficial outcome of this conference.

I. Western Science

How light becomes sight (the very brief version):

1. Light, in the form of photons, contacts receptor cells on the rods and cones of the retina of the eye.

2. Through various electrical and chemical processes, these impulses are transferred (at points being rendered upside-down, and crossing over, left to right, and right to left) along the optic nerve into the part of the brain called the thalamus.

3. These impulses then make their way to the visual area of the occipital lobe of the brain. This is where what we experience as "seeing" begins.

Read more...

Go to the Shine That's on a Tree

Then go to the earth and touch it keen,
Be tree and bird, be wide aware
Be wild aware of light unseen,
And unheard song along the air.

~ Richard Eberhart

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Ways Of Playing

Inner Smile
Walking Meditation
Aimless Wandering
Flower Gazing

Sight

I
look at you
in the first light of the morning
for as long as I can

~ W. S. Merwin