December 2015

We enjoyed visiting with family and friends in California, Oregon, and Washington all during this past month of December.

Karen and I just returned today to Red Bluff after being in Oregon for 8 days.  Back to our normal home and work routines.

We are both in good health and wish the same for others.

Happy Holidays to All.  









 

A Carpet of Leaves

 Frost and Tomatoes Don't Go Well Together:

Two large Raywood Ash trees in our back yard can lay down many leaves on a windy day in December. 

Long Fence Line

Looking north from our home, at the circled end of the Kilkenny Lane cul-de-sac.  The smell of eucalyptus trees is potent and unique.  There are many eucalyptus trees on my property.  The fence line separates Debbie's property to the left (west) of the fence, and Ruth's property to the right (east) of the fence; and Slade's property is to the north of Debbie and Ruth's property.  Everything is fenced.  Cattle are raised on Slade's property. 

 

Daodejing, Laozi: Indexes, Selected Translations, Resources, Bibliography

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu circa 200 BCE

Indexes Selected Translations, Bibliography, Comments, Resources.  Compiled by Mike Garofalo. 
Version 2.1, October 2015

A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo for each one of the 81 Chapters (Verses, Sections) of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes over 25 different English language translations or interpolations for that Chapter, 5 Spanish language translations for that Chapter, the Chinese characters for that Chapter, the Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin transliterations (Romanization) of the Mandarin Chinese words for that Chapter, and 2 German and 1 French translation of that Chapter.  Each webpage for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching includes extensive indexing by key words, phrases, and terms for that Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization.  Each webpage on a Chapter of the Daodejing includes recommended reading in books and websites, a detailed bibliography, some commentary, research leads, translation sources, a Google Translate drop down menu, and other resources for that Chapter.   


Chapter 1, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

English Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Spanish Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey   

 

Dark and Dreary Day

Sipping coffee and thinking.
I look forward to walking with my dog this morning.
John will be working on our new back door and back entrance siding.  
Mick and April arrive here this afternoon. 
Outside: 45F, overcast, drizzling, sprinking, raining, a darker world.

We have been very busy lately with traveling and having visitors.  We were in Portland for a week before Thanksgiving Day.

November was a very busy month for Karen and I.  

We have repaired the entire south side of our house and the entire back porch.  Both have been painted.

Busy with part-time employment 3 days 8 hours per week, and hope to retire from this job in 12/18.  I still teach yoga/qigong 3 hours each week.

Pulled up dying summer vegetables, raked, spread manure.  Enjoyed working outdoors when it was sprinkling.  When it really started to rain I retreated to a shed or indoors.

"From December to March, there are for many of us three gardens -
the garden outdoors,
the garden of pots and bowls in the house,
and the garden of the mind's eye."
-   Katherine S. White

Last View of Their Swing
11/26/2015, Portland
By Mike Garofalo

 















Cold nights and wind have killed all the summer vegetables. 
2015 gone for them and us.

Quotations and Poems Representing the Month of December

Stoic Philosophy: Notes and Reflections

Stoicism: Bibliography, Hypertext Notebook, Resources, Research, Themes, Reflections

Research by Mike Garofalo.  250KB, November, 2015

In the last month, I have been steadily reading Hellenistic philosophers (300 BCE - 200 CE).  I've read all of Marcus Arelius and Epictetus.  I'm now reading Seneca and Cicero.  I've read many commentaries and scholarly works about the Stoics and Greco-Roman Hellenistic Ethical viewpoints.  

I've focused recently on using Stoic practices, maxims, exercises, and skills development for improving my daily life. 

Chi Kung and Aging

The Anti-Aging Benefits of Chinese Qigong (Chi Kung) Exercises
Gentle Exercise, Breathing, and Meditation

Scientific Research  Many Reports on the Effect of Qigong on Improving the Health of the Elderly

"Qigong can do wonders to rejuvenate the elderly. In fact, more than 50 percent of the people who begin tai chi and qigong in China do so after the age of 60, when the realities of aging can no longer be pushed aside. Already, hundreds of millions of people over the age of 60 have found qigong to be uniquely effective."
-  Bruce Frantzis, Qigong for Seniors

Anti-Aging Benefits of Qigong   by Kenneth Sancier, Ph.D.

Qigong for the Elderly

"This report shows that regular qigong practice could relieve depression, improve self-efficacy and personal well being among elderly persons with chronic physical illness and depression"
-  Effect of a Qigong Program on Elderly Persons with Depression, International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Qigong (Chi Kung):  Styles,Bibliographies, Research, Resources, Links, Lessons, Benefits, Quotations.  Website by Mike Garofalo.

A review of clinical trials of t’ai chi and qigong in older adults reported in the March 2009 issue of the Western Journal of Nursing Research notes that qigong improves physical functioning, limits fall risk, alleviates symptoms of depression and anxiety, and lowers blood pressure in older adults.

"Why Every Elderly Citizen Should Do Qigong: Qigong can treat many diseases.  Qigong can prevent many diseases.  Qigong can extend life.  Qigong can improve the quality of life.  Qigong can prevent accidents."

"According to T'ai Chi and Qigong enthusiasts, the discipline can prevent many ailments, including high blood pressure, tuberculosis, and diabetes, and US scientists agree that T'ai Chi can offer some important fitness benefits, particularly for older adults." 
-  Modern Maturity, V. 35 June/July 92 p. 60-62

Qigong (Chi Kung): Recommended Reading, Bibliography, Resources, Links, Quotations.  Research by Mike Garofalo, Qigong Instructor

"The average person uses only five to ten percent of his or her 15 billion brain cells; yet studies show that Qi Gong activates 90 percent of the human brain by suffusing it with stimulating bioelectric currents.  This results in significant memory improvement, learning, and enhancement of the physiological functions controlled by the brain.  Studies also show that practicing Qi Gong increases the level of essential neurotransmitters in the blood.  Deficiency of these elements can cause Parkinsons, Alzheimer’s, chronic depression, and insomnia."
-  Lee Holden

According to the February 2009 issue of The Journal of Nursing, “evidence-based research supports the argument that qigong improves cardiovascular-respiratory function and lipid profile, decreases blood sugar, and relieves anxiety and depression.”

An Evidence-Based Review of Qi Gong by the Natural Standard Research Collaboration, 2010

The Healing Promise of Qi: Creating Extraordinary Wellness Through Qigong and Tai Chi.  By Roger Jahnke, O.M.D..  Chicago, Contemporary Books, 2002.   Index, notes, extensive recommended reading list, 316 pages.  ISBN: 0809295288.  VSCL.  
 
The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing.  By Kenneth S. Cohen.  Foreword by Larry Dossey.  New York Ballantine Books, 1997.  Index, notes, appendices, 427 pages.  ISBN: 0345421094.  One of my favorite books: comprehensive, informative, practical, and scientific.  VSCL.  

We Give Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving Day!!

T   hanks for time to be together, turkey, talk, and tangy weather.
H  for harvest stored away, home, and hearth, and holiday.
A  for autumn's frosty art, and abundance in the heart.
N  for neighbors, and November, nice things, new things to remember.
K  for kitchen, kettles' croon, kith and kin expected soon.
S  for sizzles, sights, and sounds, and something special that about.
    That spells THANKS for joy in living and a jolly good Thanksgiving.                 
-   Aileen Fisher, All in a Word

"They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty.  For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercising in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion.  All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees).  And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc.  Besides they had about a peck of meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to that proportion.  Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports.”
-   William Bradford, 1621 

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln, declared the last Thursday of November to be
a National Day of Thanksgiving.

November: Quotations, Saying, Poetry

Months and Seasons

Neo-Pagan Holidays

Broadsword From in Chen Taijiquan

Chen Style Tai Chi Chuan Saber (Dao, Broadsword) Form.  23 Movement Form.

Chen Style Taijiquan Broadsword Form, List of 23 Movements (PDF)

This 23 Movement Single Broadsword (Dao) Form was Created by Chen Zhaopei (1893-1972), 18th Generation Chen Style Taijiquan Grandmaster, in the 1930's.   

   "The Chen-style Single Broadsword Routine is a kind of the Chen-style Taiji short weapons.  There are thirteen movement in the routine, so it is called the 'thirteen broadswords.'  From 1930 to 1938, the famous Taijiquan master, the Chen-Family descendent of the eighteenth generation, Chen Zhaopei had added nine movements at the basic of original routine during teaching Taijiquan in Nanjing city.  So it became the popular Taiji Single Broadsword routine in Chenjiagou village. 
    The Chen-style Taiji Single Broadsword routine is short and refined, the usages of the forms are clear.  There are thirteen kinds of rolling, closing, pricking, blocking, cutting, hacking, scooping, cross-cutting, twisting, shaking, supporting, slicing and tilting.  They really reflect the characteristics of the Chen-style Taiji Single Broadsword, combining hardness and softness in harmony, equaling stress the quickness and slowness, dodging and transfers, relaxing and nimble, springing and shaking, sticking to each other without being separated, twine to neutralize the force.  It remains the momentum of liking a fierce tiger and cutting forcefully to the Hua Mountain.  It's short weapon, but it can be used as a long weapon."
-   Chen Zenglei, Chen Style Taijiquan, Sword and Broadsword, 2003, p. 322   

The Real Purpose of Philosophy

     "True philosophy doesn't involve exotic rituals, mysterious liturgy, or quaint beliefs.  Nor is it just abstract theorizing and analysis.  It is, of course, the love of wisdom.  It is the art of living a good life.  As such, it must be rescued from religious gurus and from professional philosophers lest it be exploited as an esoteric cult or as a set of detached intellectual techniques or brain teasers to show how clever you are.  Philosophy is intended for everyone, and it is authentically practiced only by those who wed it with action in the world toward a better life for all.
     Philosophy's purpose is to illuminate the ways our soul has been infected by unsound beliefs, untrained tumultuous desires, and dubious life choices and preferences that are unworthy of us.  Self-scrutiny applied with kindness is the main antitdote.  Besides rooting out the soul's corruptions, the life of wisdom is also meant to stir us from our lassitude and move us in the direction of an energetic, cheerful life.
     Skilled in the use of logic, disputation, and the developed ability to name things correctly are some of the instruments  philosophy gives us to achieve abiding clear-sightedness and inner tranquility, which is true happiness.
     This happiness, which is our aim, must be correctly understood.  Happiness is commonly mistaken for passively experienced pleasure of leisure.  This conception of happiness is good only as far as it goes.  The only worthy object of all our efforts is a flourishing life.
     True happiness is a verb.  It's the ongoing dynamic performance of worthy deeds.  The flourishing life, whose foundation is virtuous intention, is something we continually improvise, and in doing so our souls mature.  Our life has usefulness to ourselves and the people we touch.
     We become philosophers to discover what is really true and what is merely the accidental result of flawed reasoning, recklessly acquired erroneous judgments, well-intentioned but misguided teachings of parents and teachers, and unexamined acculturation.
     To ease our soul's suffering, we engage in disciplined introspection in which we conduct thought experiments to strengthen our ability to distinguish between wholesome and laxy, hurtful beliefs and habits."
-  Sharon Lebell, The Art of Living, 1997, p 84



Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness  By Epictetus.  An new interpretation, rephrasing, reorganization, and interpolation by Sharon Lebell.  Harper One, 1997.  126 pages.  ISBN: 978-0061286056.  This interesting and valuable text is unconventionally arranged.  There are no references to the standard numbered sections in the classic texts attributed by Arrian to Epictetus: Enchiridion or Discourses.  It is a useful popular handbook that captures the spirit of Epictetus and Stoic principles.  $8.44 paperback.  VSCL. 

Stoicism: A Hypertext Notebook by Mike Garofalo

Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life  By A. A. Long.  Clarendon Press, 2004.  328 pages.  ISBN: 978-0199268856.   

The Inner Citadel: The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius  By Pierre Hadot.  Translated by Michael Chase.  Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1998.  Index, notes, 351 pages.  Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Series.  ISBN:  978-0674007077.  VSCL.  

The Shortest Answer

"The shortest answer is doing."
-  George Herbert

"No one is wise by birth.  Wisdom results from one's own efforts."
-  Krishnamacharya    

"Will is character in action."
-  William McDougall 

Will Power: Quotes, Sayings

Stoicism

How to Live a Good Life 

Not a Clean Glass of Water to Drink

I watched an interesting Netflix documentary about the inventor Dean Kamen called Slingshot.  Slingshot is a unique, relatively inexpensive, water purification system.  The lack of pure drinking water is the major worldwide issue of the 21st Century.

Governor Jerry Brown of California has issued a directive that home owners in California can only water their yards once a week in 2016.

"We're all downstream."
-  Jim and Margaret Drescher

"In order for something to become clean, something else must become dirty."
-  Imbesi's Conservation of Filth Law

"By 2025, at least 3.5 billion people - about half the world's populations - will live in areas without enough water for agriculture, industry, and human needs...  Worldwide, water quality conditions appear to have degraded in almost all regions with intensive agriculture and in large urban and industrial areas."
-   World Resources Institute, October 2000

The Water Project

Water - Quotations 

Seeing into the Core

"A friend's son was in the first grade of school, and his teacher asked the class, "What is the color of apples?"  Most of the children answered red.  A few said green.  Kevinn, my friend's son, raised his hand and said white.  The teacher tried to explain that apples could be red, green or sometimes golden, but never white.  Kevin was quite insistent and finally said, "Look inside."  Perception without mindfulness keeps us on the surface of things, and we often miss other levels of reality."
-  Joseph Goldstein, Insight Meditation

"It takes a little talent to see clearly what lies under one's nose, a good deal of it to know in which direction to point that organ."
-  W. H. Auden    

"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see."
-  Edgar Degas   

The Five Senses

Vision, Perception, Observing, Seeing

 

Lovely To See You Again

Music from the Moody Blues, 1969.

"A wonderful day for passing my way.
Knock and my door and even the score
With your eyes.

Lovely to see you again my friend.
Walk along with me to the next bend.

Dark cloud of fear is blowing away.
Now that you're hear, you're going to stay
'cause it's

Lovely to see you again my friend.
Walk along with me to the next bend.

Tells us what you've seen in faraway forgotten lands.
Where empires have turned back to sand.

Wonderful day for passing my way.
Knock and my door and even the score
With your eyes.

Lovely to see you again my friend.
Walk along with me to the next bend."

Wild Goose Qigong Exercise System

Dayan (Wild Goose) Qigong Exercises

Bibliography, Links, Quotes, Notes, List of Movements
Research by Mike Garofalo

The Wild Goose Qigong form is one long continuous sequence of movements, much like a Taiji form.  There are many aspects of the Wild Goose Qigong system as presented by Dr. Bingkun Hu of San Francisco.  

"Wild Goose Qigong claims that “there are no intentional movements without awareness. Wild Goose Qigong advocates “wu-wei” (or “doing nothing”) and “tuo-yi” (“reduce one’s awareness to the minimum”). A good example is Wild Goose-1 (the first 64 Movements). We often tell our beginning learners that the movements in this set of qigong are supposed to describe the daily activities of a wild goose. There are three parts to this qigong.  Part One is “The Goose Wakes Up”. It stretches itself, it brushes up its wings and shakes them. It plays innocently.  A made-up story is even included: “Then the goose looks at the moon, which is reflected in the water and tries to scoop it up."  Part Two is “The Flying Goose”.  Flapping its wings, the care-free wild goose skims over a smooth lake.  It looks at the water and dips down to drink the water.  Then the goose is playing with he “qi”.  It tries to grasp the qi.  It holds and rotates the qi-ball.  It pushes out the dirty qi, and tries to receive the fresh qi from its lower back.  In Part Three, the goose is first flying up into the sky. Now it is flying over the water.  Then it is looking for some food.  After that, it is looking for its nest. At last, the goose goes to sleep.  When beginning, learners are encouraged to be pre-occupied with the daily activity of an innocent wild goose, when they are imagining that they are “flapping their wings” beside shimmering lake under a full moon, their heart beat will be naturally slow down, and their mind will gradually be quieting down too. At the same time, they will be more responsive to the instructor’s words on how to relax themselves through the shifting of body weight. Wild Goose Qigong is a medical qigong. We practice it because of its health benefits. When we have better qi flow, our blood circulation will improve. We will have more oxygen supply to our brain. Our mind will be more alert. We will get stronger, and we will have more physical strength, etc.."
-   Bingkun Hu, Ph.D., A Safe and Delightful Approach to Good Health   

Theory Decides What We Can Observe

The ancients often though of the objects in our world being composed of a combination of air, earth, fire, water, and the void/ether - the Four Elements Theory.  Chinese thinkers theorized about the Five Elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water.   The Greek Epircureans were materialists who thought objects were composed of atoms.  Some speculated about Eight Elements.  In the 21st century, we talk about 118 Elements. 

"In the end, it's probably impossible to tease out whether the heads or tails of science, the theory or the experiment, has done more to push science ahead." (DS, p36).  


"It is theory that decides what we can observe."
-  Albert Einstein

"Consider what effects, that might conceivably have practical bearings, we conceive the object of our conception to have. Then, our conception of these effects is the whole of our conception of the object."
-  Charles Sanders Pierce

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements  By Sam Kean.  Little, Brown and Company, 2010.  400 pages.  ISBN: 978-0316051644.  VSCL.  Subjects: Chemistry, Periodic Table, Science, Elements.  This book is an interesting, informative, and well written book I read a few years ago.  

The modern sciences of physics and chemistry have discovered or synthesized 118 Elements.  This fascinating subject can be studied through the graphical model of the Periodic Table of Elements first conceived in 1869 by the Russian chemist, Dmitri Medneleev.  Read the "Disappearing Spoon" for the fascinating story of the Table of the Elements. 

   

Taijiquan Sword Form, 32 Movements

32 Sword Form, Simplified, Yang Style, Taijiquan Jian.

A webpage by Michael P. Garofalo. 

This popular webpage includes a comprehensive bibliography, scores of links to webpages; an extensive listing of the names and name variations for each movement in English, Chinese, French, German, and Spanish; a detailed analysis of each posture and movement sequence with explanations and numbered illustrations and detailed instructions; selected quotations; comments on 20 Taijiquan sword techniques; a comprehensive media bibliography; a chart of performance times; recommendations for starting to learn this form at home one your own with instructional DVDs, books and practice methods; and, a comparison of the 32 and 55 sword forms in the Yang style. 

This is the standard, simplified, orthodox, 1957, 32 Taiji Sword Form, in the Yang Style of T'ai Chi Ch'uan. 

32 Sword Form Pamphlet by Geoffrey Hugh Miller.  Adapted from information and graphics found on the 32 Sword Form webpage by Michael P. Garofalo.  22 pages, 9/7/2015, PDF Format.  Excellent job by Mr. Miller.  This is a handy practice tool.  

Read about the Taoist magical sword finger hand sign:
"The sword finger hand sign is to draw your own magic power to the fingers and output a beam of energy for doing Taoist magic.  This beam of magical power isn’t just an imaginary thing, it’s a real visible beam if you can see it. Some of my students can see the beam of energy beams out like a long laser from the tip of the finger and extend all the way to the wall or somewhere far away. The beam is a beam a the magic power from one doing the handsign. This beam of power can be used for drawing FUs in the air, killing evils, doing magic in magic battles, healing or even saving lives!  This is like a multi-usage tool, which can be a pen, a chisel, a phone, or even a drill, it all depends on how you use it and what adaptor you put on it to make it function differently. The most commonly seen usage of this handsign in Tin Yat Lineage is by drawing Taoism FU in the air or on the incense. This allow you to “carve” the Taoism FU into the object or in the air to perform magic." 

32 Taijiquan Simplified Sword Form

20 T'ai Chi Ch'uan Sword Techniques

55 Classical Yang Taiji Sword

Cloud Hands Taijiquan



 

The Wild Horse Jumps Over the Mountain Stream 



  "Mike, I wonder if you could give your thoughts on something.  For years I’ve been practicing 3. The Swallow Skims Across the Water with the left hand moving in a similar fashion to 5. Block and Sweep to the Left i.e. the little finger side of the hand brushing the left hip before raising above the head.  I’ve recently got a book by Li Deyin which has his daughter Faye Yip performing it slightly differently.  She points her fingers backwards with the back of the hand brushing the hip and mentions it in the essential points for the movement.  Looking at videos on the internet they all seem to be similar to Faye Yip.  Would you mind if I asked how you practice?"
-  A question from Simon Ellis, UK, 9/2/2015


Simon, I have found that the details of bodily positions for any Taijiquan movement vary somewhat according to the following standards: 

1.  Competition standards.  If you are preparing to compete in a Taijiquan event, then carefully study the standards for the forms you are performing.  In the case of the 32 sword form, check out books and DVDs by Li Deyin or his heirs. 
2.  Your teacher's standards.  If you are working closely with a Taijiquan teacher, then follow their instructions.  This simplifies your learning, and shows respect for the teacher.  Since I learned the 32 sword from Dr. Paul Lam, I practice this form in a manner fairly close to his instructions.   
3.  Your personal standards.  If you have been practicing for many years, mostly alone, then more variations in bodily positions will likely emerge.  Sensibly, as we age, we make adaptations in our Taijiquan form work to safely accommodate our declining physical abilities. 

As for how I practice, I'm rather unconcerned about details, a bit careless, playful, free, and seldom do things exactly the same way.  I just like skimming across the water, and leave the details about how to flap my wings to others.  Call me a lazy dilettante Daoist, with a penchant for ziran.  I don't even practice with a sword or saber anymore─ I only wield my sturdy cane.  As I recall, the front of my left hand crosses my waist while going to 3c; and, more important, I still make that magical Taoist sword finger hand sign with my left hand while doing this form. 

I think that modeling your performance on the standards set by Master Faye Yip's 32 Sword form instructions and demonstration would result in much grace, improved strength, and a beautiful style.   
Best wishes!  Mike.  9/8/2015 

 

November Gardening Chores

Much needed rain the past two days.  However, not heavy rain in the valley.  Snow in the mountains.  Highs of 52F and lows of 45F. 

Red Bluff, North Sacramento Valley, California, USA

USDA Zone 9

Typical Weather for Our Area

Red Bluff, California.  Natural History Studies at our Home and Gardens

The Spirit of Gardening

Removing dead and non-productive summer vegetable crops.
Turn in composted steer manure and compost into the cleared vegetable garden.
Ordering from seed and garden catalogs. 
Planting potted trees and shrubs. 
Putting winter crops in the ground and harvesting greens: onions, lettuce, radishes, garlic, beets, chard, cabbage.
Placing cold sensitive potted plants in protected areas or indoors.
Planting bulbs.
Prune and mulch dormant perennials.
Prune fruit trees.
Storing and repairing tools. 
Cleaning, storing, repairing and removing gasoline from equipment.
Fertilize with 20-9-9 or 16-16-16. 
Trees without leaves need little or no watering.  
Reduce or eliminate watering, watering as needed, depending upon rainfall, normally 3.1 inches in November.
Picking pumpkins, squash, colored corn, and other crops for Thanksgiving decorations.
Pruning grape vines. 
Picking and storing peppers. 
Raking leaves and add to compost piles and mulch layers.
Lawn care: aerate soil and fertilize.   
Digging holes and post holes in cooler weather. 
Burning dead trees and shrubs in burn pile. 
Watering potted plants. 
Reading gardening books and catalogs. 

November: Quotes, Lore, Poems

 

Beholding Hieroglyphics

"I live so much in my habitual thoughts that I forget there is any outside to the globe, and am surprised when I behold it as now--yonder hills and river in the moonlight, the monsters. Yet it is salutary to deal with the surface of things. What are these rivers and hills, these hieroglyphics which my eyes behold? There is something invigorating in this air, which I am peculiarly sensible is a real wind, blowing from over the surface of a planet. I look out at my eyes. I come to my window, and I feel and breathe the fresh air. It is a fact equally glorious with the most inward experience. Why have we ever slandered the outward?"
-  Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), Journal Vol. 4, 1852

"Look hard at what pleases you and harder at what doesn't."
-  Colette    

"It is easy to suppose that few people realize on that occasion, which comes to all of us, when we look at the blue sky for the first time, that is to say: not merely see it, but look at it and experience it and for the first time have a sense that we live in the center of a physical poetry, a geography that would be intolerable except for the non-geography that exists there - few people realize that they are looking at the world of their own thoughts and the world of their own feelings." 
-   Wallace Stevens, The Necessary Angel 

 

Spirituality and Nature

 

A scene along the Sacramento River near Red Bluff, California.  The Sacramento River is less than three miles due east of my home.  The smaller volcanic cones in the background are about 10 miles northeast of Red Bluff.  The area north of Red Bluff is forested with deciduous "blue" oaks (Quercus douglassii).  Our area is considered to be the beginning of the volcanic Cascade Mountain range, starting with Mt. Lassen.  Mt. Shasta is 100 miles north of Red Bluff.  Volcanic mountains and cones are essential to the "hieroglyphics" of our place on this earth. 

Seeing - Quotes and Poems

Mt. Shasta (14,179 feet high): Lore and Information

 

Karen Garofalo, Reiki Master, Red Bluff, CA

Karen Garofalo, Reiki Master, Third Degree 

In the Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki Tradition
Valley Spirit Center
Red Bluff, California

Schedule appointments with Karen by telephone.  

Reiki: Bibliography, Quotations, Information, Resources 
Karen's Reiki Homepage

Reiki Research Group, Gratitude Center in Red Bluff, California

Karen's husband, Mike Garofalo, has studied the Chinese energy art of Chi Kung for over 30 years, and has taught Chi Kung (Qigong) and Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan) since 2000.   You can make arrangements to study with Mike in Red Bluff. 

Both Karen and Mike are active gardeners. 

 

Can Inanimate Realms Show the Way

A monk asked, "Can inanminate things expound Dharma?"
Daopi said, "The jade dog roams at night, never knowing the daylight."

"Zen Master Yunmen Wenyan (864-949 CE) once took his staff and struck a pillar in the hall, saying, "Are the three vehicles and twelve divisions of scripture talking?"
He then answered himself by saying, "No, they're not talking."
Then he shouted, "Bah!  A wild fox spirit!"
A monk asked, "What does the master mean?"
Yunmen said, "Mr. Shang drinks the wine, and Mr. Li gets drunk."

"In the works of Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman in particular, nature is portrayed as a beneficent living force that can, if studied and understood through careful and intentional reflection, offer enduring lessons about what it means to be human. In “Self-Reliance,” and the main ideas behind Thoreau’s “Walden”, as well as “Leaves of Grass”, the respective authors are deeply reverent of nature, and it is through their intimate relationship with the natural world that they construct their own identities and their philosophies about how to live a right life in the natural world. For Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman, nature is viewed as possessing all the knowledge that man needs to know, if only he is attentive and willing enough to study its messages and apply them to his life."
-  Nicole Smith, The Role of Nature in Transcendental Poetry

Yunmen said, "A true person of the Way can speak fire without burning his mouth.  He can speak all day with moving his lips and teeth or uttering a word.  The entire day he just wears his clothes and eats his food, but never comes in contact with a single grain of rice or thread of cloth.
When we speak in this fashion it is jut the manner of our school.  It must be set forth like this to be realized.  But if you meet a true patch-robed monk of our school and try to reveal the essence through words, it will be a waste of time and effort.  Even if you get some great understanding by means of a single word you are still just dozing."
 
"Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings."  Translated by Any Ferguson.  Boston, Wisdom Publications, 2000, p. 262.  

Way of the Short Staff.  By Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.  A comprehensive guide to the practice of the short staff, cane, jo, walking stick, gun, zhang, whip staff, 13 Hands Staff, and related wood short staff weapons.  A detailed and annotated guide, bibliographies, lists of links, resources, instructional media, online videos, and lessons.   Includes use of the short staff and cane in martial arts, self-defense, walking and hiking.  Separate sections on Aikido Jo, Cane, Taijiquan cane and staff, Jodo, exercises with a short staff, selected quotations, techniques, selecting and purchasing a short staff, tips and suggestions, and a long section on the lore, legends, and magick of the short staff.  Includes "Shifu Miao Zhang Points the Way."  Published by Green Way Research, Valley Spirit Taijiquan, Red Bluff, California.  Updated on a regular basis since October, 2008.  Filesize: 265Kb.  Related to Mike's popular webpage on the Staff.

"Zhaozhou, who had been in poor health, asked his friend Miao Zhang, "Do the bees have Buddha nature?"  Miao Zhang smiled and said, "The roses are so fragrant today, and the cherries so sweet.  Let's walk in the garden and leave our crutches behind." 

    Gathering together in an orchard of blooming sweet lime trees, the students waited for their esteemed teacher, Kasyapa.  Slowly walking down the dirt path, relying on his danda walking staff for balance, Kasyapa joined his students.  He sat quietly for a long time, enjoying the fragrance of the lime blossoms.  Finally, he raised his danda staff.  Everyone stared at Kasyapa - serious, intent, focused, and silent.  Only Shifu Miao Zhang smiled, and then lifted his cane and pointed at a lime blossom.  Kasyapa pointed his danda at Shifu Zhang.  Another transmission was completed.  The sacred thread remained unbroken."
- Shifu Miao Zhang Points the Way

 

 

Zen Master Hakuin (1686-1768) painted a Dragon Staff with a horsehair whisk attached.  He gave the above painting to a lay student who passed the Zen koan, "What is the sound of one hand clapping." 

Lately, during Stoic Week exercises, I have read the words of Hellenistic Stoics reminding us to follow nature, be true to our nature, live in accordance with our nature, study nature, accept the limitiations placed on us by our appearance in the natural world, align ourselves with Nature and Fate (Zeus, Gods, Immanent).  My hypertext notebook on Stoicism reflects some of my reading and research on various "Stoic Spiritual Exercises."

I take off at daybreak, doing a long walk, my cane in my hand, energized in the chill of Autumn.  

I'm Telling You the Story that She is Thinking

"Take a deep breath of all the stories that live here. A re-ligious act, to be true to the origin of the word “re-ligios”- to re-tie, re-link - is to find ways to re-connect, re-turn, re-imagine.  All of those "Sorcorer" words.”
-  Spider Woman Speaks, 2004

In the colder and darker season of the year, we are allowed to say,

“Ts' its' tsi' nako, Thought-Woman,
The Spider named things and as she named them they appeared.
She is sitting in her room thinking of a story now
I'm telling you the story she is thinking.”
-  Keresan Pueblo introduction

The Hands of the Spider Woman by Lauren Rain

The image above is of the string figure called The Apache Door (Jayne SF12) known to many string players.  A different Navaho string figure, with a criss-crossing web pattern, is called Many Stars (Jayne SF51), which I re-named "Spider Web" or "Spider Grandmother's Web" (Jayne SF51).       

Strings on Your Fingers by Mike Garofalo.  String figures and tricks from many lands.  

Spider Grandmother weaves the Grand Cosmic Web and then spins off the planets and stars in the Navaho myths.  Zuni myths say the Spider Grandmother gave the art of string figures into the hands of the children.  Spider Grandmother is a powerful earth spirit being, the primary Creatrix of the cosmos and mind, a source of boundless imagination and the creation of the new.  An archaic Goddess of Weaving is essential to a pleasant life for all our people. 

Many Stars, Son-thlani, (Caroline Jayne SF51)or Spider Grandmother’s Web is one of my favorite Navaho string figures to make.  I usually do the Spider Grandmother's Web (Jayne SF51) string figure first, for ritual purposes, to remind myself of my debts to all the people who have helped me learn in various ways.  The pattern is a reminder of our shared real world web of re-lationships and re-connecting with others, the productive Cosmic Web or Matrix symbolized as the Cosmic Web of Spider Grandmother.  

Hands, Fingers, Feeling, Touching by Mike Garofalo 

The first picture, taken around 1978, shows a small group of children learning and playing string figures, string games, and string tricks.  This was a crafts activity for children in a public library.  Physical education in improving manual dexterity and memory.  The teacher is Mike Garofalo.  

The second picture, taken in 1990, shows a brief demonstration and talk by me.  Afterwards, each child gets their own private string to take home to play with.  Then we do some manual dexterity and memory improvement practices together.  

 

Yoga Class, Red Bluff, CA

I teach yoga classes at the Tehama Family Fitness Center, a large fitness facility just north of the Dignity Health Hospital (St. Elizabeths), in Red Bluff.  

I have taught yoga, qigong, and tai chi Chuan in Red Bluff since 2000.  Here are my qualifications.  

I teach the Yoga and Qigong class on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Information about my Yoga Classes

Valley Spirit Yoga

Qigong (Chi Kung): Chinese Yoga



These three classes feature an eclectic blend of Hatha Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, and Chinese Chi Kung Yoga.  All these Internal Arts Exercise methods emphasize flexibility, full range of motion, staying grounded and balanced, cultivating inner mental and physical energies, coordinated breathing patterns, a calm composure, concentration, and will power.  Hatha style Yoga includes many strength building postures, balancing exercises, both dynamic and longer static stretching postures, inversions, Warrior poses, standing and mat work, prop usage, and mental improvement recommendations.  Vinyasa style (Flow Style, Astanga, Power) Yoga emphasizes longer flowing movement sequences, dynamic stretching exercises, clear intentions, set routines, vigorous exercises, and sweating.  Chi Kung (Qigong, Dao Yin, Tai Chi) includes gentle and graceful flowing exercises and standing dynamic stretching exercises, energy (Chi or Qi) work, Taoist longevity practices, martial applications, and traditional exercise routines like the Animal Frolics, Brocades, or Dragons.  We will also introduce participants to numerous ideas and techniques for reducing stress, lifting one’s mood, improving concentration, enjoying the moment, cultivating kindness and beauty, thinking clearly, contentment, tranquility, and exploring the integration of minds and bodies.  Relatively fit persons of all ages are welcome, and alternative and safe postures will be taught.  Are you interested in a lifetime exercise system that is good for your body, fun, lifts your spirits, creates more energy in you, contributes to longevity, and expands your mind?  Try Yoga with Mike!  Bring your best efforts and encourage others.

Because You Can Loose It

Here are some photos of our backyard gardens in November a few years ago.  Back then, we were harvesting all of our remaining pepper plants.  

Our winter vegetable crops are coming along fine: Swiss chard, lettuce, cabbages, onions, garlic, and kale.  

Back then, we must of had some beneficial rain.  The weeds and grass were quite a lush green.  Daytime temperatures were then from 50F to 65F.  

"Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where I can walk undisturbed."

-  Walt Whitman
 

"I wake up some mornings and sit and have my coffee and look out at my beautiful garden, and I go, 'Remember how good this is. Because you can lose it.' "

-  Jim Carrey

 

"Everyone can identify with a fragrant garden, with beauty of sunset, with the quiet of nature, with a warm and cozy cottage."  

-  Thomas Kincade

 

"Complexity excites the mind, and order rewards it.  In the garden, one finds both, including vanishingly small orders too complex to spot, and orders so vast the mind struggles to embrace them."

-  Diane Ackerman

 

"Beauty surrounds us, but usually we need to be walking in a garden to know it."
-  Rumi

 "Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are."
-  Alfred Austin


A Winter Vegetable Garden in Northern California

The Winter Vegetable Garden in Warm Climates

The Spirit of Gardening:  Quotes, Sayings, Poems, Information.  Over 3,500 quotations arranged by 200 topics.  Compiled by Mike Garofalo. 

Months and Seasons: Quotes, Sayings, Poems, Information.  Compiled by Mike Garofalo.  

November: Quotes