Butterflies have wings and fly; we have mind and our thoughts fly. So far so good. Difficulties arise from believing that those thoughts actually get us somewhere. Trusting in what you think will lead to difficulty. When you think the dream is real, nightmares are more likely.
Granted the mind can make us crazy, but it isn’t really the mind’s fault, it is the trust we place the mind’s thought. We believe that the ‘cover’ we see is the whole ‘book’ (of reality). Continue reading ‘Butterflies have wings; we have minds’
People have long drawn a distinction between mind and body. A sense of free will, whether explicit or implied – “if I can think it, I can do it” – is too tempting to resist. This ‘mind-body’ duality is misleading for it neglects to take biology in account for how we think. Of course that makes the ‘mind-body’ duality all the more tempting because it allows us to see ourselves in a superior light, i.e., we’re not mere animals, we’re sapient and thus ’superior’. The Chinese word Xin may offer a more accurate notion of mind and body. Continue reading ‘Mind in Body in Mind in Body…xin’
I just came across this little diagram I drew up a few years back. It’s not a bad way to ponder some elemental issues using a minimum of words. It point to the synergy that exists between these elements. At the center is ‘meaning’ / need. I’d probably add fear to that core. Need & fear make the world go round. Now, for more words there is always this of course.
This is pretty easy to notice when, as a neutral outsider, we observe other people’s passion induced blindness. ‘Puppy love’ is an easy example of passion’s blindness. ‘Puppy love’ exemplifies the passion of attachment. This ‘positive’ passion is the emotional energy that drives us to reflexively embrace that which we need (i.e., what makes us feel comfortable, secure, strong, etc.). On the flip side is hate. This ‘negative’ passion is the emotional energy that drives us to reflexively avoid that which we fear (i.e., what makes us feel uncomfortable, insecure, weak, etc.).
Either passion dampens the opportunity to stumble upon the undiscovered, the mystery, the indistinct and shadowy. Our things and our ideals are the treasures to which we both passionately cling and fear to lose. The passion that connects us to them prevents discernment from penetrating the four quarters… or so it seems.
I began to notice how I was seeing the world when I took up astrology while living in Japan. I realized that up until then I’d been judging the world by who I thought, or wished, I was. Astrology opened a window onto the world; things were unique in there own right. Not only that, but suggested a rational reason why. Alas that rational eventually stretched credulity. Sure, at the most fundamental level of non locality , everything is connected. But to go from such mysterious sameness to the detailed cause and effect of astrology? It all began to look more like a symptom of the human need to have answers. In doing people’s horoscopes, it was fascinating how those who believed in astrology ‘bought’ my presentation hook line and sinker. Those who had no pre-belief were never convinced. I began to realize that we only see what we already want to see, which eventually evolved into my sense that we only learn what we already know. (I admit this is a very odd notion, but what can I say?) Continue reading ‘Seeing the world ‘out there’’
Tai Chi at the beach
Anyone having trouble with Tai Chi? I have just uploaded a video that shows the form in both mirrored and frontal image which may help. My wife has managed to learn the basic movements by just watching the video. When used along with Cheng’s book I reckon it should be even more effective. Go ahead, try it out!
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