carried into the incalculable

we are closer to the truth in our vulnerability than in our safe certainties

work hard & fly low

everything is psychosomatic

purgation    illumination    perfection

practise something and you'll get better at it

don't and you won't

an image around which I can constellate the practice

if you don't get the bum in (underpin the body with the sacrum) then you will not take root

and if you don't take root then neither will you bloom

if i am not my mind and i am not my body then what am i? 

i am my practice

practice reveals the bigger picture

sacrum is the weighted keel that keeps the mast – the spine – erect

my meditational practices and spiritual interests help me not to feel sorry for myself

confront ego head on and you will make problems

ego must be undermined: gently, subtly, persistently

sacrum/coccyx digs down under the self, tapping and ploughing the ground

those into practise have a feeling for the long haul

life is but a dream when ego rules the roost

wake to the cold light of day

the only thing that matters is that you practise

and if you do practise the chances are you have always practised

like a liquid drop that is heavy, and just touches earth

if you find yourself looking down during the form then the chances are your bum is sticking out

keeping the bum in is our way of practising courage – facing up to the world

our impeccability is a rejection of depression

empty of self but full of play

everything nowadays is tightly scheduled – by appointment – which leaves no time for the unexpected – for events of spirit

RELATIVITY

I like relativity and quantum theories
because I don’t understand them
and they make me feel as if space shifted about like a swan that
      can’t settle,
refusing to sit still and be measured;
and as if the atom were an impulsive thing
always changing its mind.


—David Herbert Lawrence

allow each of the myriad creatures (the things of your world) draw compassion from you

in this game we need the lightest of touches
certainly no hammer and tongs

surprise: a sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment, as through unexpectedness

sink and relax so the spirit can rise: bright, light, clear

but it mustn't be planned, it must just happen and take you by surprise, otherwise it will be the ego that rises pretending to be spirit

All the time, underneath, there is something deep evolving itself out in me.

it's all moods really – aspects of energy

the teacher says things not for the sake of argument but for the sake of contemplation and transformation

lost for words

ego is obsessed with health and safety – the avoidance of risk, danger and situations that require vigilance, care, attention and above all spirit

Being born and reborn is no joke, and being born into your own intrinsic self, that separates and singles you out from all the rest – it's a painful process.

internal work dissolves the self but leaves you out of sorts

and the more out of sorts you feel the deeper the work has gone

we live in a culture that privileges ego over spirit at every turn

taiji reveals that i am not my body

meditation reveals that i am not my mind

Vitally, the human race is dying. It is like a great uprooted tree, with its roots in the air. We must plant ourselves again in the universe.

vary the speed

some things cannot be worked on slow and others cannot be worked on quick

meditation: preparing to die

beware the phoney teacher – the one with the words but without the energy

it is not enough to sink passively with gravity

the legs and feet must actively pull you down using the front of the foot and the hamstrings

passive sinking is into the heel
active sinking is from the ball of the foot and toes

Where would adults be without children to elevate them?

teacher wants his students to practise so he can learn from them

warm & welcoming

a sound system

mind   body   spirit

this triune omits the most important and extensive aspect – our energy

One's action ought to come out of an achieved stillness: not to be a mere rushing on.

the teacher provides intimations of the internal

but it is only through your own solitary practice that these glimpses become a reality

spirit trusts in spontaneity

ego must control

poor students roll their eyes because they've heard it all before

we all start out mediocre students 

with practice we become good students 

without practice we become poor students

I seek to understand what terms the world and I are on.

think of the legs as flying buttresses with the hips as the fliers

unmake the mind

lateral not literal

for the teacher to open up and share the teaching she needs a pair of avid ears – a student eager not merely to listen but to work

We Are Flames Which Pour Out of the Earth

the mind should be clear and the breathing should be tranquil

still waters run deep

do the teacher proud

an internal teaching takes a lifetime to unpack

Think breath as anchor.

ego and spirit are mutually exclusive

ego – trickster and opportunist – produces semblances of spirit, but that is all they are – simulacra

smile into the sacrum

when the spirit is buzzing you are a different person

the purpose of meditation is to sober and quiet the mind thus rendering it susceptible to divine influence

I believe that if one man gains spiritually the whole world gains with him.

the in-breath of god is the sun/son – the gathering of energy into the most precious jewel

the out-breath of god is the holy spirit – a great outpouring of energy into the world

we are made in god's likeness so it is the same for us:

on the in-breath energy gathers in the heart

and on the out-breath a wave of good energy is released into our world

when you are wrenched out of your comfort zone and put on the spot, that should be when you are at your best

if not then your spirit needs wakening

spirit cuts through everything

we are irrepressible control freaks

this, in a nutshell, is our spiritual downfall

a compassionate universe whose laws are not competition and survival of the fittest but cooperation, artistry and thrift

let your insights shake you to the core 

otherwise they won't stick

god made us stewards of his world not creators of our own

what's important in life is not getting your own way but allowing the dao to get its

if you want your best energy to come out (and why shouldn't you?) it's so important that you don't really know what you are doing

directed by spirit rather than knowledge

emotion is not an activity of the individual but something that happens to him

stasis: the state of equilibrium or inactivity caused by opposing equal forces

a vessel in which spirit manifests

life a veritable string of pearls

each pearl an event of spirit – a modest miracle

strung together by the thread of mind-continuous

the daoist doesn't do anything

the daoist allows the dao to do through them

a medium through which energy flows

this is what we mean by softness

the purpose of music is to sober and quiet the mind thus rendering it susceptible to divine influences

the modern mind is riddled with anxiety

the only effective anxiolytic i know is meditation

die große Stille

into great silence

without a feeling for one's death life lacks depth

the most precious thing in the world is peace of mind

precious because rare

rare because everything human conspires against it

it takes decades of dedicated work to achieve

without peace of mind all decisions are mediated through anxiety and so fortuitous at best

with peace of mind you stand a fair chance of being in tune with the universe

inest virtus et mens interrita lethi

as you walk imagine the tail undermining the space in front

in time imagination becomes reality

ever get the feeling you haven't quite begun?

indecisiveness implies an unsure root

living | loving 

we search the point where these coincide

Sometimes, we have mere moments left before it’s time. And in the intensity of what’s lived in those moments is an infinite surplus of time. A grace, a Mercy.

the good teacher reprograms your conscience

the good student admits this

miracles never cease