Visiting with Family

My daughter and her two daughters came to visit Karen and I on Saturday afternoon, 6/25.  We've been mostly hanging around our home and property and playing.  Nice summer days for family fun.  

Today, everyone is going up to the Shasta Caverns Tour above Shasta Dam. Lake Shasta looks nicer with the water levels up high.  I will stay at home, trying to mend my knees, watering, taking it easy, daydreaming.  

Wednesday we plan to visit Whiskeytown Lake.  

The Flinn's will leave Red Bluff for Vancouver, Washington, on this coming Saturday morning, 7/2.  

Busy with playing with grand-children, daughter, and their new Lab dog.  

Little time for reading and writing.  

Kenneth Rexroth's Comments on the Tao Te Ching

"In the Confucian writings Tao usually means either a road or a way of life. It means that in the opening verse of the Tao Te Ching, “The way that can be followed (or the road that can be traced or charted) is not the true way. The word that can be spoken is not the true word.” Very quickly the text drives home the numinous significance of both Tao and Te. Tao is described by paradox and contradiction — the Absolute in a worldview where absolutes are impossible, the ultimate reality which is neither being nor not being, the hidden meaning behind all meaning, the pure act which acts without action and yet the reason and order of the simplest physical occurrence.

It is quite possible — in fact Joseph Needham in his great Science and Civilization in China does so — to interpret the Tao Te Ching as a treatise of elementary primitive scientific empiricism; certainly it is that. Over and over it says, “learn the way of nature”; “do not try to overcome the forces of nature but use them.” On the other hand, Fr. Leo Weiger, S.J., called the Tao Te Ching a restatement of the philosophy of the Upanishads in Chinese terms. Buddhists, especially Zen Buddhists in Japan and America, have understood and translated the book as a pure statement of Zen doctrine. Even more remarkable, contemporary Chinese, and not all of them Marxists, have interpreted it as an attack on private property and feudal oppression, and as propaganda for communist anarchism. Others have interpreted it as a cryptic work of erotic mysticism and yoga exercises. It is all of these things and more, and not just because of the ambiguity of the ideograms in a highly compressed classical Chinese text; it really is many things to many men — like the Tao itself.

Perhaps the best way to get at the foundations of the philosophy of the Tao Te Ching is by means of a historical, anthropological approach which in itself may be mythical. There is little doubt that the organized Taoist religion, which came long after the Tao Te Ching but which still was based on it, swept up into an occultist system much of the folk religion of the Chinese culture area, much as Japanese Shinto (which means the Tao of the Gods) did in Japan. If the later complicated Taoist religion developed from the local cults, ceremonies and superstitions of the precivilized folk religion, how could it also develop from the Tao Te Ching or from the early Taoist philosophers whose works are collected under the names of Chuang Tzu and Lieh Tzu and who are about as unsuperstitious and antiritualistic as any thinkers in history? The connection is to be found I feel in the shamans and shamanesses of a pan-Asiatic culture which stretches from the Baltic far into America, and to the forest philosophers and hermits who appear at the beginnings of history and literature in both India and China and whose prehistoric existence is testified by the yogi in the lotus position on a Mohenjo-Daro seal. The Tao Te Ching describes the experiential or existential core of the transcendental experience shared by the visionaries of primitive cultures. The informants of Paul Radin’s classic Primitive Man as Philosopher say much the same things. It is this which gives it its air of immemorial wisdom, although many passages are demonstrably later than Confucius, and may be later than the “later” Taoists, Chuang Tzu and Lieh Tzu.

There are two kinds of esotericism in Oriental religion: the proliferation of spells, chants, rituals, mystical diagrams, cosmologies and cosmogonies, trials of the soul, number mysticism, astrology, and alchemy, all of which go to form the corpus of a kind of pan-Gnosticism. Its remarkable similarities are shared by early Christian heretics, Jewish Kabbalists, Tantric worshipers of Shiva, Japanese Shingon Buddhists, and Tibetan lamas. The other occultism (held strangely enough by the most highly developed minds amongst some people) is the exact opposite, a stark religious empiricism shorn of all dogma or cult, an attitude toward life based upon realization of the unqualified religious experience as such. What does the contemplator contemplate? What does the life of illumination illuminate? To these questions there can be no answer — the experience is beyond qualification. So say the Zen documents, a form of late Buddhism originating in China, but so say the Hinayana texts, which are assumed to be as near as we can get to the utterances of the historic Buddha Sakyamuni, but so say also the Upanishads — “not this, not this, not that, not that,” but so also say some of the highly literate and sophisticated technical philosophers (in our sense of the word) of Sung Dynasty Neo-Confucianism. So says the Tao Te Ching.

In terms of Western epistemology, a subject Classical Chinese thought does not even grant existence, the beginning and end of knowledge are the same thing —  the intuitive apprehension of reality as a totality, before and behind the data of sense or the constructions of experience and reason. The Tao Te Ching insists over and over that this is both a personal, psychological and a social, moral, even political first principle. At the core of life is a tiny, steady flame of contemplation. If this goes out the person perishes, although the body and its brain may stumble on, and civilization goes rapidly to ruin. The source of life, the source of the order of nature, the source of knowledge, and the source of social order are all identical — the immediate comprehension of the reality beyond being and not being; existence and essence; being and becoming. Contact with this reality is the only kind of power there is. Against that effortless power all self-willed acts and violent attempts to rule self, man, or natural process are delusion and end only in disaster.

The lesson is simple, and once learned, easy to paraphrase. The Tao is like water. Striving is like smoke. The forces of Nature are infinitely more powerful than the strength of men. Toil to the top of the highest peak and you will be swept away in the first storm. Seek the lowest possible point and eventually the whole mountain will descend to you. There are two ways of knowing, under standing and over bearing. The first is called wisdom. The second is called winning arguments. Being, as power, comes from the still void behind being and  not being. The enduring and effective power of the individual, whether hermit or  king or householder, comes from the still void at the heart of the contemplative. The wise statesman conquers by the quiet use of his opponents’ violence, like the judo and jujitsu experts.

The Tao Te Ching is a most remarkable document, but the most remarkable thing about it is that it has not long since converted all men to its self-evident philosophy. It was called mysterious at the beginning of this essay. It is really simple and obvious; what is mysterious is the complex ignorance and complicated morality of mankind that reject its wisdom.

-  Kenneth Rexroth, Classics Revisited, 1968


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 81, 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  

Starting My Retirement

Yesterday, I decided not to return to my part-time position with the Corning Union Elementary School District.  I will not be working during the 2016-2107 school year.  I have resigned and retired, effective June 30th, 2016.  I worked for this K-8 school district, with 2,200 students, for 16 years as the District Librarian or Technology and Media Services Supervisor.  

I retired when I was 70 years of age.  I have been gainfully employed since the age of 15 in libraries (city, county, school), teaching, management, factories, the US military, fitness trainer, supervision, web publisher, and information services.  54 years of working at all kinds of jobs.  Fortunately, I was always able to find some kind of employment.  

Overall, I am in fairly good health except for my injured right hip, right knee, and left knee.  While running on 3/13, I fell on my right side and injured my right hip and right knee.  While descending a stairway on 6/18, I stumbled and fell down and injured the bursa in my left knee.  Hopefully, with treatment, rest, yoga, and massage I will regain my former fitness and resume athletic activities.  

My wife, Karen, retired in 2014.  We are moving to Vancouver, Washington.  

We are selling our home and property in Red Bluff, California.  A 1909 square foot house, 4 bedrooms, and 2 baths.  5 acres of land, 2 wells, 2 ponds, extensive gardens and orchard.  Photographs.  Here is the Zillow listing.

Taijiquan Classes in Red Bluff

Note:  On July 1, 2016, I will stop teaching Taijiquan and Yoga/Qigong in Red Bluff.
I retired on 7/1/2016.  I will resume teaching in Vancouver and/or Portland area in the near future.
We are selling our home in Red Bluff, and moving to Vancouver, Washington.

Morning Outdoor Taijiquan Classes

Yang Style Taijiquan 24, 108, and 37 Forms, Cane, Push Hands, Qigong
Saturday, 7:30 am - 8:45 am

Saturday, 9:00 am - 10:15 am

Class Description

Fees:  $10-$25, Barter, Sliding Scale Options, Negotiated

Location: At the Valley Spirit Center, Red Bluff, CA

Evening Indoor Taijiquan Classes
Yang Style Taijiquan 24, 108, and 37 Forms, Cane, Push Hands, Qigong 

Tuesday 6:35 pm - 7:35 pm

Thursday  6:35 pm - 7:35 pm

Location: At the Tehama Family Fitness Center in Red Bluff

$5.00 per class, Free to TFFC Members

Evening Indoor Hatha Yoga and Qigong Classes
Monday 5:30 - 6:30 pm
Tuesday 5:30 - 6:30 pm
Thursday 5:30 - 6:30 pmLocation: At the Tehama Family Fitness Center in Red Bluff
$5.00 per class, Free to TFFC Members


No Taijiquan Class on 6/21 or 6/23, due to my left knee injury.  

Instructor:  Mike Garofalo, M.S.  

Taijiquan Class Content

Yang Style Taijiquan 24 Form   

Yang Style Taijiquan 37 Form

Yang Style Taijiquan 108 Form

Yang Style Taijiquan 36 "Eight Immortals" Cane Form

Push Hands

Qigong (Chi Kung) Practices

Home Base Restablished

Today, Karen, Katelyn, and I, drove south from Vancouver, Washington, 485 miles of driving, to Red Bluff, California.  We all arrived in good humor, safe and sound.  Steady, fast, and safe Interstate 5 travel.  

I am now at my main desktop workstation.  Surprisingly, it is relatively cool indoors with two small fans running in the house.  

From, June 8th to June 18th, we stayed at our family home in Vancouver, Washington.  

It was satisfying and a pleasure to see everyone- chat, sight see, dine, and shop with family and friends.    

I really enjoyed sitting on a balcony with views over trees of the complex cloud movements flowing overhead every day.  Cool weather!  Clean air.  Some rain! Sipping hot beverages and looking.  Lovely weather the entire vacation in Vancouver/Portland.  

Karen and I visited many cities in southwestern Washington.  We traveled on Washington State Road 4 and State Road 6.  The entire north side of the Cloumbia River Valley from Vancouver to Illaco is spectacular; and Wilapa Bay will be revisited by me in the near future.  

We helped our son and his wife move out of their rented home in Portland.  Their lease was up on June 15th, and the owner wants to sell.  

A delightful vacation for Karen and I.  

Unfortunately, for me, 0n 6/18, I fell down the last two steps of a stairway and fell hard on my left knee.  I will see my internal medicine physician on Monday morning 7/20, for my 4 month blood test results; however, my major concern now is getting Lassen Medical Center to promptly help me to begin healing my injured left knee.  I can walk.  But I sense that that the injury is more serious. This is a bad turn of events for my body.  A bad fall on 3/13 injuring my right knee and right hip; and, now, a second fall on 6/18 injuring my left knee.  I just can't believe this.  Double Darn Bad Shit ... I hope not.  We shall see.  

Reiki Master, Red Bluff, California

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:  530-200-0750

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. 

 

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 25

Dao De Jing, Laozi
Chapter 25

"Before creation a prescience existed,
Self-contained, complete,
Formless, voiceless, mateless,
Changeless,
Which yet pervaded itself
With unending motherhood.
Though there can be no name for it,
I have called it 'the way of life.'
Perhaps I should have called it 'the fullness of life,'
Since fullness implies widening into space,
Implies still further widening,
Implies widening until the circle is whole.
In this sense
The way of life is fulfilled,
Heaven is fulfilled,
Earth fulfilled
And a fit man also is fulfilled:
These are the four amplitudes of the universe
And a fit man is one of them:
Man rounding the way of earth,
Earth rounding the way of heaven,
Heaven rounding the way of life
Till the circle is full."
-  Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 25 


"There is a Being wondrous and complete. Before heaven and earth, it was.
How calm it is! How spiritual! 
Alone it standeth, and it changeth not; around it moveth, and it suffereth not; yet therefore can it be the world's mother.  
Its name I know not, but its nature I call Reason.  
Constrained to give a name, I call it the great.
The great I call the departing, and the departing I call the beyond.
The beyond I call home.  
The saying goes: "Reason is great, heaven is great, earth is great, and royalty also is great.
There are four things in the world that are great, and royalty is one of them.  
Man's standard is the earth.
The earth's standard is heaven.
Heaven's standard is Reason.
Reason's standard is intrinsic." 
-  Translated by Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki and Paul Carus, 1913, Chapter 25 

"Before the world was
And the sky was filled with stars . . .
There was a strange, unfathomable Body.
This Being, this Body is silent
and beyond all substance and sensing.

It stretches beyond everything spanning the empyrean.
It has always been here, and it always will be.

Everything comes from it, and then it is the Mother of Everything.
I do not know its name. So I call it Tao.

I am loath to call it 'greater than everything', but it is.
And being greater, it infuses all things moving far out and returning to the Source.

Tao is Great,
Tao, the Great!

It is greater than Heaven,
Greater than the Earth -
Greater than the king.
These are the four great things, and the ruler is the least of them.

Humanity is schooled by the Earth;
Earth is taught by Heaven,
And Heaven is guided by the Tao.

And the Tao goes with what is absolutely natural."
-  Translated by Man Ho Kwok, Martin Palmer, and Jay Ramsay, 1993, Chapter 25  

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 25, 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  

In Matters of Taste

"De gustibus non est disputandum, or de gustibus non disputandum est, is a Latin maxim meaning "In matters of taste, there can be no disputes" (literally "about tastes, it should not be disputed/discussed"). The implication is that everyone's personal preferences are merely subjective opinions that cannot be right or wrong, so they should never be argued about as if they were. Sometimes the phrase is expanded as De gustibus et coloribus... referring to tastes and colors. The phrase is most commonly rendered in English as "There is no accounting for taste" (or "There is no accounting for tastes")."
-  Wikipedia

Notebooks of an Old Philosopher

Hedonism, Epicureanism

Marcel Duchamp

Fajin Training with a Heavy Bag

Cultivating the Civil and Mastering the Martial: The Yin and Yang of Taijiquan. By Andrew Townsend. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, no publisher listed on titlepages, 2016. No index, brief bibliography, 424 pages. Small typefont. This volume is a huge compendia of information, comprehensive in scope, with good explanations, observations, insights, and summaries, etc.. This thick book includes some precise and detailed movement descriptions, sound Taijiquan teaching on many topics, and more than five hundred photographs and illustrations. A heavy reference volume for your desktop; ebook versions for your tablet or phone or Kindle. ISBN: 978-1523258536. VSCL. "Andrew Townsend has been practicing martial arts for more than forty years and began practicing taijiquan in 1990. Mr. Townsend is a certified taijiquan instructor and a senior student of Grandmaster Jesse Tsao. He is a retired college professor and has been actively teaching taijiquan for the past ten years. He lives and teaches in Ormond Beach, Florida."

Wild Hues to the Sultry Sun

In Red Bluff, we seldom have sultry summer days.  Our temperatures climb to 100F in the daytime, but the humidity is typically low at 17% to 40%.  

Our apricot trees have finished their fruiting season.  Now we have nectarines, plums, and figs ripening.  

"O most honored Greening Force, 
 You who roots in the Sun;
 You who lights up, in shining serenity, within a wheel
 that earthly excellence fails to comprehend. 
 You are enfolded
 in the weaving of divine mysteries. 
 You redden like the dawn
 and You burn: flame of the Sun."
 -  Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179), Viriditas 

"Now summer is in flower and natures hum
Is never silent round her sultry bloom
Insects as small as dust are never done
With glittering dance and reeling in the sun
And green wood fly and blossom haunting bee
Are never weary of their melody
Round field hedge now flowers in full glory twine
Large bindweed bells wild hop and streakd woodbine
That lift athirst their slender throated flowers
Agape for dew falls and for honey showers
These round each bush in sweet disorder run
And spread their wild hues to the sultry sun."
-  John Clare, June 

"Tell you what I like the best --
'Long about knee-deep in June,
'Bout the time strawberries melts
On the vine, -- some afternoon
Like to jes' git out and rest,
And not work at nothin' else!"
-  James Witcomb Riley, Knee Deep in June

The Spirit of Gardening

The Month of June

The Essence of Pleasure

"No pleasure endures unseasoned by variety."
-  Publilius Syrus  

"The essence of pleasure is spontaneity."
-  Germaine Greer

"Why not seize the pleasure at once, how often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparations."
-  Jane Austen

"Perhaps all pleasure is only relief."
- William Burroughs

"Man, Nietzsche contended, is a being that has leapt beyond the "bestial bounds of the mating season" and seeks pleasure not just at fixed intervals but perpetually.  Since, however, there are fewer sources of pleasure than his perpetual desire for pleasure demands, nature has forced man on the "path of pleasure contrivance."  Man, the creature of consciousness whose horizons extend to the past and the future, rarely attains complete fulfillment within the present, and for this reason experiences something most likely unknown to any animal, namely boredom.  This strange creature seeks a stimulus to release him from boredom.  If no such stimulus is readily available, it simply needs to be created.  Man becomes the animal that plays.  Play is an invention that engages the emotions; it is the art of stimulating the emotions.  Music is a prime example.  Thus, the anthropological and physiological formula for the secret of art: "The flight from boredom is the mother of all art." "
-  Rudiger Safranski, Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography, p. 23



Seven Pleasures: Essays on Ordinary Happiness  By Willard Spiegelman.  The seven simple pleasures discussed are: dancing, reading, walking, looking, listening, swimming, and writing.  If you included Taijiquan as "dancing" then all of these can be solitary activities.  Picador, 2010.  208 pages.  ISBN: 9780312429676. 

Pleasure and the Good Life: Concerning the Nature, Varieties, and Plausibility of Hedonism.  By Fred Feldman.  Clarendon Press, 2006.  240 pages.  ISBN: 978-0199297603.  VSCL. 

Pleasure and Enjoyment: Quotations, Sayings, Information

Hedonistic and Epircurean Philosophy

The Five Senses  

Play

Dao De Jing, Chapter 26

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter 26


"The heavy is the root of the Light.
The quiet the master of motion.
Therefore the wise man in all the experience of the day will not depart from dignity.
Though he be surrounded with sights that are magnificent,
he will remain calm and unconcerned.
How does it come to pass that the Emperor,
master of ten thousand chariots,
has lost the mastery of the Empire?
Because being flippant himself, he has lost the respect of his subjects;
being passionate himself, he has lost the control of the Empire."
-  Translated by Dwight Goddard, 1919, Chapter 26


"What is heavy acts as a starting point for lightness.
What is calm acts as a controlling influence over impetuosity. 
It is natural for a person of character to move about all day long without losing sight of his heavy baggage.
Although he may be surrounded by police, he takes a comfortable stance; as a result he seems to be clear and bright. 
How is it that a king has ten thousand chariots, yet as for his own body, he moves lightly in the world?
When he is light he then loses his roots.
When he is impetuous he then loses control."
-  Translated by Nina Correa, 2005, Chapter 26 

"The heavy is the root of the light.
The still is the master of unrest.
Therefore the sage, traveling all day,
Does not lose sight of his baggage.
Though there are beautiful things to be seen,
He remains unattached and calm.
Why should the lord of ten thousand chariots act lightly in public?
To be light is to lose one's root.
To be restless is to lose one's control."
-  Translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English, 1989, Chapter 26 

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 26, 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  

How to Be Happy

Happiness Activities

1.  Expressing Gratitude
2.  Cultivating Optimism
3.  Avoiding Over-Thinking and Social Comparisons
4.  Practicing Acts of Kindness
5.  Nurturing Social Relationships
6.  Developing Strategies for Coping
7.  Learning to Forgive 
8.  Increasing Flow Expectations
9.  Savoring Life's Joys
10.  Committing to Your Goals
11.  Practicing Spirituality
12.  Taking Care of Your Body (Psychological Methods)
13.  Taking Care of Your Body (Physical Activity)
14.  Taking Care of Your Body (Acting Like a Happy Person)
15.  The Hows Behind Sustainable Happiness: Positive Emotions,
       Optimal Timing and Variety, Social Support, Motivation, Effort,
       Commitment, and Habit.  

The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want  By Sonja Lyubomirsky.  New York, Penguin Books, 2008.  Index, extensive notes, appendix, 366 pages.  ISBN: 978-1594201486.  Ms. Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology at the University of California at Riverside, and a leader in the field of positive psychology.  

Professor Lyubomirsky analyzes what determines happiness.  Her research indicates that "happiness" is determined approximately 50% by our internal biological "Set Point", 10% by our circumstances in life, and 40% by our intentional activity.  Her explanations and suggestions are clear, reasonable, and grounded in psychological research.  Gaining effective use of our intentional activities is the focus of this book.  "This much happiness - up to 40% - is within your power to change."  

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

Virtues and a Good Life

An Old Philosopher's Notebooks

Pleasure

Reading

Epicureanism

Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee

I don't think Muhammad Ali was "the greatest" boxer ever, but certainly one of the best for a heavyweight.  I'm seldom impressed by a converted believer to some organized religion who now claims to "know the truth."  I'm also not impressed by people, like Thomas Merton and Muhammad Ali, who claim to adhere to a pacifist religion when their military draft notice comes.  All that aside, Muhammad Ali was, like millions of Americans and people all around the world, against the war in Vietnam; and, I admired him for speaking out for that position.  I am a ambivalent about the Nation of Islam, but compared to the violent racism of WASPs in America, they seem quite tame and mostly community improvement orientated.  Muhammad Ali's voice rebuking segregation in the Southern U.S., racism everywhere, and the need for better understanding and peace among people around the world were very influential and widely respected.  

Unfortunately, his ability to continue to positively influence and change the world was greatly hampered by his Parkinson's disease.  Fame and athleticism and fortune mean nothing to diseases.  We all felt sorry for the man in that respect, as we do for all people subjected to chronic suffering and disability.  

His smart-ass fighter's bravado was at times humorous, but mostly annoying to me; and, taunting is not now favored by many elite athletes.  

A few statements attributed to the late Muhammad Ali (1940-2016):

"The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life."

"Don't count the days. Make the day's count."

"No Viet Cong ever called me 'nigger.' "

"When I feel pain, that's when I start counting, because that's when it really counts."

"I know where I'm going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want."

Sun Style Taijiquan

Sun Lu Tang's Internal Martial Arts: Xingyiquan, Baguaquan, and Taijiquan.

Sun Style of T'ai Chi Ch'uan: Standard Competition 73 Movements Form. Research by Michael P. Garofalo. 

This webpage includes an introduction, information on the history of the Sun Taijiquan forms, a detailed bibliography, extensive links, references to video resources, a large collection of quotations about Sun Taijiquan, recommendations on the best media resources on the topic, and suggestions for learning the 73 competition Sun Taijiquan form. A detailed comparative list of the names of each of the 73 movements is provided, with source references, and the movement names are given in English, Chinese, Chinese characters, French, German, and Spanish. This webpage includes detailed descriptions of 40% of the 73 movements with black and white illustrations for each movement sequence along with commentary and comparisons. Many additional nomenclature lists and section study charts in the PDF format, photographs and graphics are also provided - over 1 MB of information. 

This webpage was the most detailed and complete document on the subject of the Sun Taijiquan Competition 73 Form available on the Internet in 2008.  I have not updated it since 2008; but the information will still be useful to players of this form.  

Cloud Hands Blog Usage Report

Cloud Hands Blog Name??

Why call this blog "Cloud Hands"?  What does "Cloud Hands" mean?

The title phrase "Cloud Hands" comes from Tai Chi Chuan practices.  One movement sequence in Tai Chi Chuan is called "Cloud Hands."  Variations of the name include "Waving Hands Like Clouds" or "Moving Hands Like Clouds."  

The movement sequence is from left to right, done two to four times, with both legs and arms moving fluidly, slowly, gracefully, and expressively.  

The ability to use the hands creatively, gracefully, beautifully, skillfully, and artistically is essential to nearly all arts.  The whole subject of Hands is hightly interesting to me.  

Clouds can form dramatic and changing sights in the sky.  They can be calm and beautiful, or awesome, or frightening.  The cloud cover changes throught the seasons are provides endless variety.  

Rolling clouds and rolling hands.  Flowing clouds, rivers of air and water, out of reach, out of hand; but mimicked, imitatated, pretended, played ... playing hands like clouds.  


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The Cloud Hands Blog has now served up over 700,000 page views of my daily blog posts to readers around the world 

In October of 2015, this blog had page views of 600,000.  In February of 2015, this blog had 500,000 page views.  

I have made over 2,411 posts to this Cloud Hands Blog.  My first post to the Cloud Hands Blog was made on October 26, 2005.

There were 20,450 page views of posts to the Cloud Hands Blog in the month of May, 2016.  There are 90 persons who follow my blog posts by automatic email.  

I have had some positive feedback and awards for the Cloud Hands Blog.


Thank you very much to all those persons that have read the posts to this blog. 


Last year, I added a Translate button at the top of the right sidebar so that non-English readers can read the post in the language of their choice, albeit within the limitations of automatic machine translations.

I use Blogger for a number of reasons.  First, blogging provides a permanent record of one's written contributions with backup files.  Second, your posts can be indexed in a variety of ways.  Third, it provides a useful and flexible structure for linking to other related websites and blogs.  Fourth, people can subscribe to your posts via an email blog aggregator.  Fifth, your posts and content links are added automatically and immediately to the Google and Bing indexes.  Sixth, you can display photos, graphics, and UTube embeds in your blog.  Seventh, web publishers can use their blog to create a alternative front-end index to their other websites and webpages.  Eight, it serves as my readily available online notebook.  Ninth, Blogger is a free application provided by Google.  

The nice aspect of any Blogger blog is the fact that all posts are thoroughly indexed by topics shown in the lower right side bar.  The blog has a search box at the top left hand corner of the blog that provides full access to the content of all my past posts.  Also, there are links in the right sidebar to other blogs and webpages by others that are worth exploring and reading.

My Cloud Hands Blog is primarily a online vehicle for referring people to my hundreds of webpages with specific, extensive, and focused content on subjects of interest to me, and updating my readers on the webpages I am currently creating or improving.  Links in each post point to relevant material in my webpages on a particular subject. A detailed alphabetical index to my many webpages can be found at Green Way Research.  

I have been creating webpages at the Spirit of Gardening website since 1999.  Over 33 million webpages have been served to people all around the world from the Spirit of Gardening website from 1999-2016.  I use BlueHost for hosting my webpages. 

I have been creating webpages at Green Way Research since 2001.  Each year over 1.3 million webpages are served up from the Cloud Hands website which includes Cloud Hands Taijiquan, Valley Spirit Qigong, Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices, A Philosopher's Notebooks, The Good Life, and One Old Druid's Final Journey. 

Over 4,000 persons have written to me since 2000 to tell me how these hundreds of webpages have provided them with enjoyment, inspiration, information, and insights; or, to ask me questions.  

My main webpage efforts in 2015 had been weekly work on the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu.  By June of 2016, I completed adding over 25 English language translations for each Chapter, 5 Spanish language translations, 2 German and 1 French translation for each of the 81 chapters of the Daodejing, and indexing by English, Wade-Giles, and Spanish language terms for all the Chapters.  Each Friday, I submit a post on the Daodejing to the Cloud Hands Blog.

I always respond to comments to one of my webpages.  However, readers seldom make comments.  

In 2016-2017, my reading, research, and writing will be focused on on Epicureanism, Hedonism, Utilitarianism, Hellenistic philosophy, embodied cognition, pragmatism, metaphors, fitness practices, self-help, and the senses. I focus on a more limited set of topics on this blog, and seldom comment on current events.

My wife, Karen, and I are very active gardeners.  Therefore, I post on this subject quite often.

Hopefully, posts to this blog will benefit my readers in some positive way, lead to discovering other mind-body fitness options they might explore, and providing a little insight on topics of mutual interest.  My views on developing a philosophy of life might not appeal to some - so be it.

Yes, I do repeat previous blog posts.  Few busy people have the time to post original material each day unless the blog is a steady source of income for them. Since I am 70 years of age, semi-retired, and still work two part-time jobs for 30 hours total each week, actively garden, and exercise six days a week, my time available for original creative writing is somewhat limited. 

Recent Feedback and Kudos from my Readers:

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

Best wishes for good health, contentment, and peace,
Mike Garofalo