Cloud Hands: March 2022

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Respecting Others

"In his "The Happiness Purpose," Edward DeBono has some harsh words for love. He finds it unreliable and difficult to produce on demand. "The ideal of love," writes DeBono, "is to be replaced by the more reliable practice of respect."
This is not to eliminate love. Love is still a bonus. But respect becomes the foundation. And DeBono goes on to enumerate reasons to chose respect over love. Respect is durable. It acknowledges another's dignity, while love puts demands on it. Love can be a hunger, a need, a temporary madness, whereas respect is understanding and appreciation.
There is much more to this DeBono treatise on happiness. Most of it is common sense. The required elements are humor, dignity and respect. DeBono makes me wonder why I hadn't come up with this answer long ago. The inconsistency of love is a fact of life. There are people I can't love, people I've loved and now I don't. All that is quite understandable. And I can see that respect is a different story. There is no excuse for not having respect for another person. I may be incapable of love. But I am capable of respect.
When DeBono speaks of respect as the basis for happiness, he is not breaking new ground. Respect is no less than justice; and as far back as the Greeks, justice has been recognized as one of the cardinal virtues. "Heaven and earth may pass away," writes Amiel, "but good ought to be, and injustice ought not to be. Such is the creed of the human race."
It is not that we must love, although that is a wonderful thing to do. But we must have justice. That sits easier with me. If I cannot love, how can I be obliged to love? Obligations bring with them the ability to carry them out. I do not need to love or even like people whom I am obliged to respect.
I like DeBono's ideas. Respect myself, respect others, respect society. This is a manifesto I can live with."
- George Sheehan, M.D, (1918-1993).

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

How to Boost One's Immune System

How to Boost One's Immune System

1. Daily moderate cross training exercises.
2. Adequate rest, relaxation, and sleep.
3. Proper diet and adequate protein.
4. Vitamin C supplementation.
5. Reduce stress, overdoing, overreaching, overachieving, unrealistic objectives.
6. Maintain cleanliness and sanitary conditions.
7. Adequate water intake.
8. Maintain an upbeat, positive, and realistic attitude.
9. Take all prescribed medicines on schedule.
10. Don't smoke or drink alcohol.
11. Develop and maintain positive social relationships.
12. Stimulate and engage your thinking processes.
13. Use effective vaccines and avoidance tactics to prevent communicable diseases.

There is plenty of evidence that Tai Chi, Yoga, Chi Kung, and Walking all can boost one's immune system. However, claims by advocates of each of these mind-body exercise systems seem to ignore the fact that regular moderate exercise of just about any type will improve functioning of the immune system, combined with the other healthy living practices listed above. I find little evidence that any one mind-body exercise system is "the best." The bottom line, for me, is daily moderate cross training exercises.

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Legends of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe

I have enjoyed reading the following book:

Legends of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe. By Roy I. Wilson. Cowlitz Tribe, 1998. 401 pages.

Mr. Wilson suggests to us, or maybe just to Cowlitz Peoples, that we personally identify with aspects of these legends and stories:

"As you read these ancient stories you might possibly recognize yourself as a Coyote, Bear, Cougar, Beaver, or some other type of Animal Person. Your community is the legend, and the legend is your community; also, you are the legend, and the legend is you. As you read these legends see if you can recognize yourself in these stories. Look and find other members of your community in these legends. When you look at the legends with the understanding that you are the legend and the legend is you, then you will look for each of the animal characteristic within yourself. It will be at this point that these legends will become more that just stories. They will become a guide to the way you live your life. At the end of each legend, or versions of a legend, you will find a section titled "LESSONS." An attempt is made here to give the basic teaching or purpose of the legend, along with other lessons that the legend teaches us. It is here that the basic understandings of the animals becomes important in order that we might understand these animal characteristics in our own individual lives and be able to interpret the legend personally, that is, to be able to make a personal application of it to our own lives."
- Roy I. Wilson, p. 13

Native Legends of Oregon and Washington. Collected by Franz Boas. 1893.

Cowlitz Indian Tribe

"The Cowlitz Indian Tribe is a growing force in community building in what are now Clark, Cowlitz, Lewis and parts of Pierce, Skamania and Wahkiakum Counties, a vast territory occupied by numerous Cowlitz villages prior to non-Cowlitz exploration and seizure. Today, an elected Tribal Council is composed of professionals adept at managing multiple programs and projects. Tribal members engage in a rich cultural practice of old Cowlitz lifeways such the Smelt, Salmon and River Ceremonies. They join coastal tribes in Canoe Journeys on major waterways. They drum and sing at ceremonies throughout the year and as called upon for funerals, naming ceremonies, healings and celebration. The Cowlitz Pow-Wow is one of the largest in southern Washington. The Cowlitz Tribe is a significant employer and contributor to local economies." A large Indian Casino and Hotel, ilani, near the town La Center, part of a Cowlitz Indian Reservation town near the Lewis River.

The Lower Cowlitz people, with over 30 settlements and long houses, lived along the Cowlitz River from current Longview on the Columbia River north to Toledo. The Upper Cowlitz lived in the area from Mossyrock to Packwood and up into Yakima territory over White Pass.

Cowlitz Indian Tribe History "The name Cowlitz means "seeker" in a spiritual sense, according to some Cowlitz living today. Place Names of Washington also spells the name as "Ta-wa-l-litch," which meant "capturing the medicine spirit," referring to the Cowlitz practice of sending their youths to the river' s prairies to seek their tomanawas, or spirit power."

The Cowlitz River flows from the canyons behind the southeast side of Mt. Ranier down the broad Cowlitz River Valley, almost prairie like at times, flowing west past the Clowlitz Farm near Toledo, then flowing south to the Columbia River at Longview/Kelso/Ranier. The Toutle River meets the Cowlitz near present day.

Cowlitz People - Wikipedia

Cowlitz Indian Tribe Official Website

Lower Cowlitz Language

"Lower Cowlitz is a Salishan language of Washington state, related to Chehalis. The people's original name for themselves was Stl'pulmsh-- Cowlitz was the name of the river whose banks they lived on. The Upper Cowlitz, whose traditional homelands are located further up the same river, are a Sahaptin tribe who spoke a dialect of the unrelated Yakama language. Neither Cowlitz Salish nor Cowlitz Sahaptian are spoken as first languages today, but the Cowlitz tribes are working on reviving their traditional languages, as well as the Chinook Jargon trade language that was used extensively in this region."

Being Cowlitz: How One Tribe Renewed and Sustained Its Identity. By Christine Dupres. Seattle, University of Washington Press, 2014. Bibliography, 160 pages. FVRL.

The Cowlitz tribe completed a yearly cycle where they inhabited locations during certain seasons and harvested seasonal crops, in preparation for cold winter months. The season started in spring, when the Cowlitzes left their cedar houses along the river and streams by traveling via canoe and horseback to harvest camas bulbs, roots, barks, and grasses to make mats, fishnets, and basketry. Followed by the arrival of summer, where they would move into the higher country to pick and harvest seasonal berries. Lastly, followed by the return to fall, where the Cowlitzes would return to their cedar homes along the river to harvest Salmon, for the upcoming season. Generally, hunting and fishing were practiced all year round, but only roots and fruits had to be harvested seasonally."

Cowlitz People Annual Activities Cycle Fishing, hunting, gathering, foraging, resources for food and clothing.

Thursday, March 24, 2022

The Chinese Five Elements

I've been a student of the classical 'Elements' for over three decades. Depending on the tradition studied there are from four to eight Elements.

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 developed in 1869.

I have studied a number of books and Internet resources about the subject of the Chinese Five Elements Theory. The Five Elements are more often referred to as the Five Movers, Five Energies, Five Transformations, Five Phases, Five Powers or Five. The Five Energies are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water.

I prepared a brief 2 page document about a gentle five movement Qigong set based on the Five Elements. The document is titled: The Five Elements Qigong and Internal Training Methods. It will be used by our Valley Spirit Qigong Study Group in Red Bluff, California. It is a read only PDF document. The "Internal Training Methods" refer to visualizations, meditations, Taoist readings, mystical practices, and feng shui that will be discussed in our Study Group; and which are only hinted at in the brief list of correspondences under each of the Five Elements.

I highly recommend the new book by Dr. Steven Liu and Jonathan Blank called "Secrets of the Dragon Gate: Taoist Practices for Health, Wealth, and the Art of Sexual Yoga." The variety of creative practices and methods for health and well being are very useful and explained clearly.

Five Elements Qigong: Bibliography, Links, Resources, Lessons, Quotations

Classical Five Elements

A Cloud Hands Blog Repost from 2013

Monday, March 21, 2022

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 67

Dao De Jing by Laozi
Chapter 67

"All in the world call me great; but I resemble the unlikely.
Now a man is great only because he resembles the unlikely.
Did he resemble the likely, how lasting, indeed, would his mediocrity be!
I have three treasures which I cherish and prize.
The first is called compassion.
The second is called economy.
The third is called not daring to come to the front in the world.
The compassionate can be brave;
The economical can be generous;
Those who dare not come to the front in the world can become perfect as chief vessels.
Now, if people discard compassion and are brave;
If they discard economy and are generous;
If they discard modesty and are ambitious, they will surely die."
- Translated by D. T. Suzuki and Paul Carus, 1913, Chapter 67

"While being recognized and proclaimed as great by consensus of all people,
Yet the Tao is indescribable.
Being indescribable by common standards,
It is great.
Were it so describable,
Its greatness would have long ago vanished.
From it, three great treasures are possessed,
To be embraced, guarded and kept secure.

The first is Tzu,
Characterized by gentleness, compassion, mercy and nurturing love.
The second, Chien,
By renunciation, frugality and economy which limits possession to no more than that which is truly needed.
When encompassing the third,
One rejects the need for worldly preeminence.

Possessing the first,
Is to possess courage.
Being frugal,
It is possible to be generous.
No longer needing preeminence,
One becomes a leader.

Forsaking these,
Endeavoring to be courageous without compassion,
Endeavoring to possess without renunciation,
Endeavoring to lead all without following behind,
Is to surely court destruction.

Through gentleness, compassion, mercy and nurturing love,
The Sage wins in attack,
Is impregnable in defense.
Truly, heaven arms with love those whom it would not see destroyed."
- Translated by Alan B. Taplow, 1982, Chapter 67

"All in the world may think that Dao is unlike to be so superior,
that nothing in the world can compare to it.
If it were comparable to anything, it would be inferior.
If it is not superior, it would not be Dao.
I have three treasured strategies to which I hold fast and embrace them all:
the first is Mercy;
the second is Economy of Force;
and the third is Dare Not to Take Initiative Before the World.
Because of Mercy, one can be courageous.
Because of Economy of Force, one can have superior force.
Because of Dare Not To Take Initiative Before the World,
one can be the master of instruments.
Alas!
Nowadays, rulers want to be brave without being merciful;
want to have superior force without knowing economy of force;
and want to take initiative without being able to be resistant.
They will surely die in the war.
Mercy helps one to win when on the offensive;
to consolidate when on the defensive.
If one guides oneself by mercy Heavens will protect him."
- Translated by Tang Zi Chang, Chapter 67

天下皆謂我道大似不肖.
夫唯大, 故似不肖.
若肖, 久矣其細也夫.
我有三寶.
持而保之.
一曰慈.
二曰儉.
三曰不敢為天下先.
慈故能勇.
儉故能廣.
不敢為天下先.
故能成器長.
今舍慈且勇.
舍儉且廣.
舍後且先.
死矣.
夫慈以戰則勝.
以守則固.
天將救之.
以慈衛之.
- Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 67

tian xia jie wei wo dao da si bu xiao.
fu wei da, gu si bu xiao.
ruo xiao, jiu yi qi xi ye fu.
wo you san bao.
chi er bao zhi.  
yi yue ci.
er yue jian.
san yue bu gan wei tian xia xian.
ci gu neng yong.
jian gu neng guang.
bu gan wei tian xia xian.
gu neng cheng qi zhang.
jin she ci qie yong.
she jian qie guang.
she hou qie xian.
si yi.
fu ci yi zhan ze sheng.
yi shou ze gu.
tian jiang jiu zhi.
yi ci wei zhi.

- Pinyin Romanization, Daodejing, Chapter 67

"Everyone under heaven calls my TAO great,
And unlike anything else.
It is great only because
It is unlike anything else.
If it were like anything else
It would stretch and become thing.
I have three treasures
To maintain and conserve:
The first is compassion.
The second is frugality.
The third is not presuming
To be first under heaven.
Compassion leads to courage.
Frugality allows generosity.
Not presuming to be first
Creates a lasting instrument.
Nowadays,
People reject compassion
But want to be brave,
Reject frugality
But want to be generous,
Reject humility
But want to come first.
This is death.
Compassion:
Attack with it and win.
Defend with it and stand firm.
Heaven aids and protects
Through compassion.
The accomplished person is not aggressive.
The good soldier is not hot-tempered.
The best conqueror does not engage the enemy.
The most effective leader takes the lowest place.
This is called the TE of not contending.
This is called the power of the leader.
This is called matching Heaven's ancient ideal."
- Translated by Stephen Addiss and Stanley Lombardo, 1993, Chapter 67

"Compassion, frugality and ruling ... 
Everywhere, they say the Way, our doctrine,
Is so very like detested folly;
But greatness of its own alone explains
Why it should be thus held beyond the pale.
If it were only orthodox, long since
It would have seemed a small and petty thing! 
I have to keep three treasures well secured:
The first, compassion; next, frugality;
And third, I say that never would I once
Presume that I should be the whole world's chief. 
Given compassion, I can take courage;
Given frugality, I can abound;
If I can be the world's most humble man,
Then I can be its highest instrument. 
Bravery today knows no compassion;
Abundance is, without frugality,
And eminence without humility:
This is the death indeed of all our hope. 
In battle, 'tis compassion wins the day;
Defending, tis compassion that is firm:
Compassion arms the people God would save!"

- Translated by Raymond Blakney, 1955, Chapter 67

"Todo el mundo dice que yo soy grande,
grande sin parecerme a nada.
Sólo porque no me parezco a nada,
puedo ser grande.
Si me pareciese a algo,
tiempo ha que me hubiera vuelto pequeño.
Yo poseo tres tesoros
que conservo con gran estima.
Uno es amor;
el segundo, sobriedad;
el tercero, no atreverme a ser el primero.
El amor permite ser fuerte;
la sobriedad, generoso;
el no atreverse a ser el primero,
permite llegar a ser señor de todos los asuntos.
Hoy en día se es valiente sin amor,
se es generoso sin sobriedad,
se es el primero sin situarse detrás;
esto es la muerte.
Con el amor,
se vence en el combate,
se es sólido en la defensa.
El cielo le fortalecerá,
como si el amor fuera para él una muralla."
- Translated by Juan Ignacio Preciado, 1978, Tao Te Ching, Capítulo 67

All the world says that my Tao is great and does not seem to resemble the ordinary.
It is precisely because it is great that it does not resemble the ordinary.
If it did resemble, it would have been small for a long time.
I have three treasures. Guard and keep them:
The first is deep love,
The second is frugality,
And the third is not to dare to be ahead of the world.
Because of deep love, one is courageous.
Because of frugality, one is generous.
Because of not daring to be ahead of the world, one becomes the leader of the world.
Now, to be courageous by forsaking deep love,
To be generous by forsaking frugality,
And to be ahead of the world by forsaking following behind.
This is fatal.
For deep love helps one to win in the case of attack,
And to be firm in the case of defense.
When Heaven is to save a person,
Heaven will protect him through deep love."
- Translated by Wing-Tsit Chan, 1963, Chapter 67

"All in the world may think that Dao is unlike to be so superior,
that nothing in the world can compare to it.
If it were comparable to anything, it would be inferior.
If it is not superior, it would not be Dao.
I have three treasured strategies to which I hold fast and embrace them all:
the first is Mercy;
the second is Economy of Force;
and the third is Dare Not to Take Initiative Before the World.
Because of Mercy, one can be courageous.
Because of Economy of Force, one can have superior force.
Because of Dare Not To Take Initiative Before the World,
one can be the master of instruments.
Alas!
Nowadays, rulers want to be brave without being merciful;
want to have superior force without knowing economy of force;
and want to take initiative without being able to be resistant.
They will surely die in the war.
Mercy helps one to win when on the offensive;
to consolidate when on the defensive.
If one guides oneself by mercy Heavens will protect him."
- Translated by Tang Zi Chang, Chapter 67

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 67, 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

A Philosopher's Notebooks

Virtues and a Good Life