This one is simple and golden.
But the site is filled with awesome thinkers and doers, each reporting how they organize themselves to do their work. I like that I can look down the selections by Occupations, like artists and mathematicians, and by Habits, like Nap-takers, haha, that's me, and Procrastinators, haha Ha!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Feel the earth, do nothing extra
(Took the following out of my email response to brother bobby, Judge Bob, riffing off Mt. Shasta sodas at the old Pack Saddle store near our house at the edge of town:)
A simple cycle of four phrases jumped out at me from a TaiChi book quite a few years ago, and I have been using them ever since. They are "Breathe. Relax. Feel the earth. Do nothing extra."
You were supposed to stand and follow those commands in preparation for a certain movement, called the Grand Chi. I thought, cool! and tried out the Grand Chi. But I found that the words themselves without the movement were their own Pure Gold (maybe that's a good translation for Grand Chi, haha) and your body and mind respond and teach you how to use them.
I started experimenting with the word cycle, like I have done forever with affirmations or practices. Mom and I enjoyed sharing and comparing such things and what was working for us, but this was after that so probably about 14 years ago. Anyway, this little cycle of word prompts opened up for me in a powerful way and I have used it ever since. The commands are their own coach. They work anywhere, excellent for calming oneself in a busy moment, as a refocusing tool to clear the chatter or anxiety of the moment.
Because cycle works so well, it has earned my Top Honors as my opener for centering prayerwork: I attend to each command with as much gentle awareness as I can muster at that moment. Just that first set throws a lot of preoccupations out the door and renews. I kind of "coast" or float on the clean silence that is generated within from completing the set and holding them as a harmonic chord. By repeating the cycle when it seems needed, I continue to slough off the "extra" baggage that is not necessary, going deeper, more refined in awareness, and reach a place of pure Float, suspended Being. ahhh. (It can't help but be holy, can't help but be In God.)
Of course, you can be sure my think-think-thinker Self pops her head in after a bit to take over. But just as often my contemplation will take me to lofty heights of pure gratitude, of Grace and "Seeing anew". Either way is good, fine. In all cases, once I realize I have left the wordless repose to either rejoin the ThinkFactory or be in some wondrous, exquisite Joy, I take a note of where I've come to, and either I am complete, or I go for another round. (I think this cycling process may be the same as what Thomas Keating calls "Jacobs ladder" where you experience the fruits of your efforts and have to leave that sweet space and "Start Again").
For a meditative centering prayer, I aim to sustain 4 full minutes of that pure being, finding that can fully replenish your whole self and feed your spirit like nothing else. It takes at least 20 minutes sitting to get 4 minutes. If you are lucky. I mostly fail, haha, but go wonderful places in trying, and when I DO catch 4 minutes, the next thing I know it has been 20 more, of full and glorious atOnement. ahhh. And even though I do "mostly fail" the effort is no failure at all. It is like what happens when you are reading a Great Book, and after putting it down it expands throughout your day in fresh insight and understanding. A particular Grace seems to lift you in Order and glide you through the kind of tangled crunch of imperatives that show up often in the afternoon. So even failing, you thrive!
Anyway, the interesting thing is that there is actually a sense of "feeling the earth", as if a fish might suddenly realize his suspension afloat an ocean of water, one can sense the anchored pull of the planet deep from the center of the world. It was a big help for me when Lauren was in China and Tibet -- my 16-year-old baby so very far away!!! -- I found comfort and connection that we were joined in the Deep by the pull of the mighty earth, and from that grounding I could telegraph my heart's love across the vast global arc to my darling at the "Rooftop of the World". Above and Below, we were connected.
Over the years, I have observed that my sense of the pull is much different in different locales. That's why I bring it up here: Shasta is the deepest pull I have experienced, about twice deeper than the next deepest, which is anywhere in the view of my own mountain, aboriginal name Avikwitch for Steep Slope, now called Mt. San Jacinto.
I realized several years back that, "Oh no!" I couldn't "feel the earth" here in Oregon. It didn't pull deep at all here at home or anywhere else. What had I done?!!! Moved to a place where I could not feel that pull, and now I am stuck here! Bummer.
But just this year, I realized why: here the "energy" rises up, like springwater, it pushes up all the time, like every green shoot, it streams upward constantly, in a flow that disperses right about hand level, as if you are ambling through a field of wild mustard. This is a new perception for me, and have to see where it takes me over these next many years.
OK, OK, probably said Enough, haha, woo-woo level reaching "Rronnkk-Rronnkk" levels.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Pythagorean Shrine
This lovely Pythagorean Triple Scattershot image created by Trigonometrist Michael Taylor, charts the ??location??results?? (haha, whooo outta my league) of every calculation for this:
"... Pythagorus’s Theorem works for powers of two but not for higher powers. In 2007, mathematician Sam Daoud plotted Pythagorean triples for right-angled triangles with non-hypotenuse side-lengths up to 4500 – a staggering total of 11730 value pairs. What is remarkable is that there are some obvious and some less-obvious patterns which are explainable. For example, whenever the legs (a,b) of a Pythagorean triple appear in the plot, all integer multiples of (a,b) must also appear in the plot. This produces the appearance of lines radiating from the origin. There are also sets of parabolic patterns with a high density of points and all their foci at the origin:"
I tell you, that Greek was in some deep understanding, look at the dance of pattern applied in a new orchestration. He was already strumming the tune.
I also love the code itself, 93 pages of microsoft word, here was the end of it, filling the screen after I opened the file in Notepad. I love the 21st Century and 2700-year-old Isle of Samos Man, whose birth was foretold by the Apollo's messenger, the Pythia of Delphi.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Marry a Mandarin
Why did you have no child? Why not now?
What I'm going to intrude into your life and say next fits with my thesis that we are in a >Divinely Groomed< Marriage of American Civilization with the beautiful Bride named China, and a world triumph of Good might be their offspring.
Of course, there are many, many possibilities of how the world and all peoples may express themselves, but this is one that has momentum all its own. The Chinese are learning English because it is the great language for Law. They are also mastering our European strings and orchestras more deeply than are we. And their excellence in mathematics and abstract study is a Joy and wonderful gift to the future.
Can you imagine, dear friend, having two half Asian boys, two sons to raise into your old age? math and engineering and electronics and aviation and physics and philosophy and poetry and awe.
Yes! Marry a Mandarin soon, friend. Have a son and raise him well.
What I'm going to intrude into your life and say next fits with my thesis that we are in a >Divinely Groomed< Marriage of American Civilization with the beautiful Bride named China, and a world triumph of Good might be their offspring.
Of course, there are many, many possibilities of how the world and all peoples may express themselves, but this is one that has momentum all its own. The Chinese are learning English because it is the great language for Law. They are also mastering our European strings and orchestras more deeply than are we. And their excellence in mathematics and abstract study is a Joy and wonderful gift to the future.
Can you imagine, dear friend, having two half Asian boys, two sons to raise into your old age? math and engineering and electronics and aviation and physics and philosophy and poetry and awe.
Yes! Marry a Mandarin soon, friend. Have a son and raise him well.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
The day before Halloween . . .
 |
| Synchronicity wrapped him fittingly in the obits. | <><>
 |
| The flash of immortal peach-red that is caught in flight is where the flicker gets its name. |
 |
| His tail begins in a heiroglyph. |
It gave me a chance to meet the lady in the little frame house right there, her door was open anyway, and I asked her for some newspaper so I could carry this treasure home.
It was such a gift because I have loved these gorgeous woodpeckers ever since I met them in Idyllwild, at Helen Bell's cabin, when I'd take care of her on the weekends.
Monday, November 1, 2010
In Argument, Version II
"What a waste of Reformation Sunday!"
That was my first thought, laughing all the way down the hill after church. A lost opportunity, where instead of breaking free and fearless, we were reminded to follow the tribe, obey their rules and be afraid of each other. I could not stand Ms. _________ talk, and it brought up the worst of what this last decade has ushered in, grounded in the ways of Caesar and not in God.
I was laughing at how much I was in alignment with Martin Luther's mood so long ago, it was like I was celebrating my own private Argue-with-Somebody Day. First there was that God-awful sermon. (if you want my mean plainspeaking review it is the previous post)
Then, a highlight was Susann's sharing with the actual points Luther posted and what we hear when we read them. It was inspiring to consider that such a move would have been "against God", and what responsibility he took on by doing it. Also, he showed a fearlessness in trusting in the discourse with his fellows on this topic of God's favor and word.
A free-thinking, adventuresome Man of Faith. (A toast to this man, Praise God for such a one, clink!)
Then we went into a breeze-thru the last chapters of this Bible study that we hadn't finished (Revelations starts Next week for our 11 am group), and actually it was to good affect. The last item covered was the Trinity, and I made a huge discovery, haha.
It says the Trinity is not actually mentioned in the Bible, but is implied. Hmmm. Well, many ways of perceiving the Godhead are described in both Old and New Testaments, and more could be implied by the Gospel stories in particular.
The One possible implied Lord God that I am fond of is going for what Lao-Tsu named "an infant before it knows how to smile". An Infinite Infant, always expanding and made new, always in wonder. But that wouldn't fit with this other image, the Trinity, that also is not in the Bible. Like I said, hmmm. In argument, yes, thank you Mr. Luther, for daring to respectfully show the way.
That was my first thought, laughing all the way down the hill after church. A lost opportunity, where instead of breaking free and fearless, we were reminded to follow the tribe, obey their rules and be afraid of each other. I could not stand Ms. _________ talk, and it brought up the worst of what this last decade has ushered in, grounded in the ways of Caesar and not in God.
I was laughing at how much I was in alignment with Martin Luther's mood so long ago, it was like I was celebrating my own private Argue-with-Somebody Day. First there was that God-awful sermon. (if you want my mean plainspeaking review it is the previous post)
Then, a highlight was Susann's sharing with the actual points Luther posted and what we hear when we read them. It was inspiring to consider that such a move would have been "against God", and what responsibility he took on by doing it. Also, he showed a fearlessness in trusting in the discourse with his fellows on this topic of God's favor and word.
A free-thinking, adventuresome Man of Faith. (A toast to this man, Praise God for such a one, clink!)
Then we went into a breeze-thru the last chapters of this Bible study that we hadn't finished (Revelations starts Next week for our 11 am group), and actually it was to good affect. The last item covered was the Trinity, and I made a huge discovery, haha.
It says the Trinity is not actually mentioned in the Bible, but is implied. Hmmm. Well, many ways of perceiving the Godhead are described in both Old and New Testaments, and more could be implied by the Gospel stories in particular.
The One possible implied Lord God that I am fond of is going for what Lao-Tsu named "an infant before it knows how to smile". An Infinite Infant, always expanding and made new, always in wonder. But that wouldn't fit with this other image, the Trinity, that also is not in the Bible. Like I said, hmmm. In argument, yes, thank you Mr. Luther, for daring to respectfully show the way.
In Argument (rude first disgorge) version I
Review: Sunday's sermon was shallow drivel of the most dangerous sort
Ms. ______'s lecture was a chattering of word-bombs (Groupthink, Code Pink words -- like Diversity and Fairness -- that generate a culturally-conditioned response, a Pavlovian reflex). I resent that our pulpit would be used for such a shallow talk, glittering with these charged call-outs that mock thoughtfulness. And I figure I reject her full-buildout notions of how Fairness will be imposed in her dream world.
I must say, she began beautifully however, sly one that she is. She begins with a lovely story of Estonia and the singing line of freedom-standers. Best part of her talk and Susann says we shall rent the film of it, very good. But then she takes a magician's leap, a bait-and-switch actually, to equate Estonia's condition to the Corporate hold on the world today.
I missed the bridge that connects this cruel enslavement of peoples by Stalin to Corporations today. How do you get from there to that? Their roots are sharply distinct from each other, rising on either side of a chasm. Besides that, the assumption that corporate structures are in themselves a force for evil is not one I share and won't get tricked into assuming with you, Ma'am.
Right then and there, if no one would have cared or noticed me, I would have walked out. But it would have been rude here, among such good people I have come to cherish and respect, and I would embarrass some for Drama? no. I will stay, as an anthropological study of the Now, and observe how this kind of pestilence enters into the Holy Temples, even this gentle, loving place.
OK, so we're into the evil of corporations, and I wonder if that includes the Nature Conservancy, very influential corporation after Unions (20 of the top 25 donors to all campaigns over twenty years), the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that gets so much of its money to ensure the we are all AIMED correctly. (You wanna get political in this sanctuary? I'm not planning on leaving. Shall we really talk?)
And then the fast-talking spinmeister hurls out a biggie, a Mother of all Word-bombs: "Haiti", and it works like a charm. We are surely triggered to fall into God-sad dispair and sense of failure, and so we don't notice how she quickly asserts evil corporate culpability to their tragedy, so fast that we skip across the ridiculous assumptions and logic. ("wait a minute. Is Ms. ______ seriously charging that the dysfunction of this ex-French colony is because some corporation wants to grow bio-designed grain on it's hillsides? Seriously?") I would love to enjoy a faith-based, Christ-based, prayer-based discussion on the wretched roots of Haiti's condition, but it is wrong to use their name as a scaredoll to support your Leftist view and get a cheap communal grunt. Ewww.
Finally, this lipsticked carnival barker at our precious pulpit hauls out her battlecry, so that we all know what she is talking about: Justice. Yes, I have heard this call before in other churches. Those churches weren't as well-grounded as this one, and they succumbed to the Political Dialectics of the Day, Man-to-Man, just what I need to go to church for, haha, don't get enough of that everywhere else I go. No, Sir, I'm not leaving. Here I stand in devotion to the Highest God, and I reject your cheap incitement to feel superior.
The Lord is our Justice, and I will rest in Him. And I have learned the hard way that Righteous Angry Judgement is inevitably Wrong (wasted energy and a long path back) and must be tempered by Love and Respect and Sisterhood. So I've learned to not trust those who waggle such mob-think tools at me.
Although, haha, as you hear from my words, this whole thing flared up my own righteous judgement, so I see I must temper and not be so unkind...give me a bit of time. (Update: See my kinder report in next post)
Let our churches not succumb to the fashions of the day. Let us listen to the Lord.
Ms. ______'s lecture was a chattering of word-bombs (Groupthink, Code Pink words -- like Diversity and Fairness -- that generate a culturally-conditioned response, a Pavlovian reflex). I resent that our pulpit would be used for such a shallow talk, glittering with these charged call-outs that mock thoughtfulness. And I figure I reject her full-buildout notions of how Fairness will be imposed in her dream world.
I must say, she began beautifully however, sly one that she is. She begins with a lovely story of Estonia and the singing line of freedom-standers. Best part of her talk and Susann says we shall rent the film of it, very good. But then she takes a magician's leap, a bait-and-switch actually, to equate Estonia's condition to the Corporate hold on the world today.
I missed the bridge that connects this cruel enslavement of peoples by Stalin to Corporations today. How do you get from there to that? Their roots are sharply distinct from each other, rising on either side of a chasm. Besides that, the assumption that corporate structures are in themselves a force for evil is not one I share and won't get tricked into assuming with you, Ma'am.
Right then and there, if no one would have cared or noticed me, I would have walked out. But it would have been rude here, among such good people I have come to cherish and respect, and I would embarrass some for Drama? no. I will stay, as an anthropological study of the Now, and observe how this kind of pestilence enters into the Holy Temples, even this gentle, loving place.
OK, so we're into the evil of corporations, and I wonder if that includes the Nature Conservancy, very influential corporation after Unions (20 of the top 25 donors to all campaigns over twenty years), the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that gets so much of its money to ensure the we are all AIMED correctly. (You wanna get political in this sanctuary? I'm not planning on leaving. Shall we really talk?)
And then the fast-talking spinmeister hurls out a biggie, a Mother of all Word-bombs: "Haiti", and it works like a charm. We are surely triggered to fall into God-sad dispair and sense of failure, and so we don't notice how she quickly asserts evil corporate culpability to their tragedy, so fast that we skip across the ridiculous assumptions and logic. ("wait a minute. Is Ms. ______ seriously charging that the dysfunction of this ex-French colony is because some corporation wants to grow bio-designed grain on it's hillsides? Seriously?") I would love to enjoy a faith-based, Christ-based, prayer-based discussion on the wretched roots of Haiti's condition, but it is wrong to use their name as a scaredoll to support your Leftist view and get a cheap communal grunt. Ewww.
Finally, this lipsticked carnival barker at our precious pulpit hauls out her battlecry, so that we all know what she is talking about: Justice. Yes, I have heard this call before in other churches. Those churches weren't as well-grounded as this one, and they succumbed to the Political Dialectics of the Day, Man-to-Man, just what I need to go to church for, haha, don't get enough of that everywhere else I go. No, Sir, I'm not leaving. Here I stand in devotion to the Highest God, and I reject your cheap incitement to feel superior.
The Lord is our Justice, and I will rest in Him. And I have learned the hard way that Righteous Angry Judgement is inevitably Wrong (wasted energy and a long path back) and must be tempered by Love and Respect and Sisterhood. So I've learned to not trust those who waggle such mob-think tools at me.
Although, haha, as you hear from my words, this whole thing flared up my own righteous judgement, so I see I must temper and not be so unkind...give me a bit of time. (Update: See my kinder report in next post)
Let our churches not succumb to the fashions of the day. Let us listen to the Lord.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)