Documentaries on Television

Repost from 2016:

This past week I was resting and trying to recover from symptoms of a cold.  I watched television, read, and played with CorelDRAW.  I enjoyed watching documentaries.

The "Magical Andes" was a spectacular tour of the Andes Mountains and the people who live there in South America.  This massive mountain range from Argentina to Columbia is 8,000 KM or 4,970 miles.  I have lived my whole life close to mountains.  I have toured, hiked, and camped in the San Gabriel mountains and San Bernardino mountains near Los Angeles, the Sierra and Cascade mountains in Northern California, and the Cascades in Washington and Oregon.  Views of mountains, up close and from afar, have been a dramatic experience in my life.  I don't think I will ever visit the Andes, but the Cascades (Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainer) will provide my fair share of mountain living.  This fine documentary film will take you directly into the Andes.

The business side of professional soccer and its impact on a working class community is shown in the documentary "Sunderland."  This team was loosing in 2017-2018, and dealing with failure is the challenging topic.

I enjoyed the doucmentary on "Design" featuring top design artists from around the world.

All of these fine documentaries are on Netflix, and probably on other television streaming applications a well.

Andes Mountains

The photograph above is of Mount Shasta, California. It was taken by Evi Shoemaker of Rancho Tehama, California. Mount Shasta is a 14,179 foot (4,322 m) stratovolcano. It is the second highest peak in the Casade Range, and the fifth highest peak in California. It is a member of the Cascade Volcanic Arc. It is located in Siskiyou County, California, in the United States of America. It is considered to be one of the Sacred Mountains on Mother Earth. 

When I was 65 years of age I once climbed to about 10,000 feet on this volcano.  Most of the time we visited the sourrounding forests below 8,000 feet.

Meeting Chang San-Feng on Mount Shasta

The Fireplace Records, Chapter 9

Meeting Along the Trail

"I first met Chang San-Feng above the forest, 

near the clear spring,
when gathering clouds darkened the day,
and Mt. Shasta was silent.

His long beard was black as emptiness,
ear lobes to his shoulders,
holding obsidian in his hand,
pointing to the sun,
eyes staring into infinity,
his long body clothed in silence.

We exchanged "hellos"
smiled and bowed,
a barbarian and an Immortal,
both panting from the climb,
laughing,
ten-thousand echoes
between our rocky minds.

After billions upon billions of heartbeats past
(for he must have been 888 years old),
I was so bold
as to ask the ancient one
for the sacred mantra of yore.
He lifted his whisk,
and brushed my face,
I could not speak,
my lips were stone,
ideas stopped - 
I was alone." 

-  Michael P. Garofalo, Red Bluff, California, 2003 

Gozo said, "When you meet a man of the Way on the trail, do not meet him with words or silence.  Tell me, how will you meet him?"
- The Gateless Barrier, Case 36

Layman Saihung, a good friend of Gozo, replied, "Maybe the man of Tao will greet me first with smiles and a Tai Chi hand salute. I'd smile and rattle the rings on my raised staff. How do I know he is a man of the Way?  Maybe I really don't want to meet this strange man. Maybe, no matter what I may do or not do, maybe I won't meet him. Do you enjoy befuddling me, Gozo!" 

Legends and Lore About Grand Master Chang San-Feng 

Meetings With Master Chang San-Feng 

Fireplace Records, Case 9  

One Old Daoist Druids Final Journey  

More often than not, Master Chang San-Feng and I met in my backyard garden in Red Bluff, California, from 2004-2017. He would show up and appear as a friendly old man who spoke softly and wisely.  

For example: 

After reaching for the needle at the bottom of the sea,
I looked up, one summer's eve,
to see old Chang San-Feng open the garden gate,
and join me for Tai Chi.  ...

Just his gentle voice could be heard at times, as if he was communicating through through plants or animals.  He would sometimes appear in my dreams.  

This was just one part of my Mystical Visions Training as a neophyte Daoist Druid from 2000-2010.  I also used the Voyager Tarot for interpretating artistic symbolism and mystical visions. Magikal and Shamanistic practices can also engender complex fantasies, visions, apparitions, appearances of unrealities and encouraged coincidences.  

Grand Master Chang San Feng is one of my religious fantasies.  

Master Chang is a Taoist and Chan Buddhist, a Spirit Being, an Immortal, Offering Lots of Light, an Influencer, Creative, Pure Jing, Immense Chi, The Uncarved Pillar Reborn, Again and Again, Delighted by Samsara, Intrigued by the Inconceivable.  He is secure and tranquil in samadhi, contributing good actions-works-expressions, bravely helping others, following the Precepts.  He encourages you to work at Becoming a Gentleman with Jen, discovering and daily applying the practices of qigong and taijiquan and healthy living, being grateful, becoming enlightened, right livelihood, and living akin to the Tao. These thoughts become spiritual dictums, hwa tuo capturing mantras, for some Taoists. Recurrent streams of these key themes are flowing into the Reservoir of the Daoist Canon and seasonal Taoist living and the Buddhist Sutras and Koans.   

Why are there so many strange earthly-psycho-metaphysical-profound experiences by hikers on Mount Shasta?  Does the altitude befuddle our brains? Does the impressive scenery around this rocky mountain, and the snow all around, and the wind drive us inward into a huddled stop? Resting, sitting, breathing steadily, sipping warm thermos tea, calming down, and dealing with breathing less oxygen at 10,000 feet.  

Master Chang and I never met again on Mt. Shasta.  
  

Related Links, Resources, References

Blue Cliff Record, Case ?  Entangling Vines, Case ?

Refer to my Cloud Hands Blog Posts on the topic of Koans/Dialogues.

The Daodejing by Laozi    Best? 

Pulling Onions  Over 1,043 One-line Sayings by Mike Garofalo

Chinese Chan Buddhist and Taoist Stories and Koans

Taoism

Buddhism

Fireplaces, Stoves, Campfires, Kitchens, Pots, Firewood

Chinese Art

Tai Chi Chuan and Qigong

Meditation Methods

Zen Koan Books I Use

Zen Koans, Testing Verses, Mondos, Dialogues, Stories
Bibliography, Quotations, Notes, Resources
Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo

The Fireplace Records By Michael P. Garofalo

First Day of Spring

"Last day of Winter,
leafless walnut trees─
form is emptiness.
First day of Spring,
clear sky to Mt. Shasta─
emptiness is form."

-  Michael P. Garofalo
   Cuttings: March

Complimentaries by Mike Garofalo

Concrete Poetry and Text Art

A Morning on Úytaahkoo or the "White Mountain"

Karen and I have been working at home all this week on home improvement and gardening projects.  Temperatures in the North Sacramento Valley have consistently been up to a high of 104F in the afternoon and down to a low of 65F in the early morning. 

I decided to go hiking today on the south facing slopes of Mt. Shasta.  I left early this morning a drove north on Interstate 5 up to Mt. Shasta City.  This is a lovely drive from about 300 feet above sea level in Red Bluff up thorough the Shasta-Trinity National Forest to 3,600 feet in Mt. Shasta City. It is about a 200 mile round trip drive from Red Bluff to Mt. Shasta City. 

I plan to hike from Bunny Flat (6,950 feet) up to Horse Camp Lodge (8,000 feet).  There is little snow left on Mt. Shasta this summer.  Mountain hiking is always a good physical challenge for my overall conditioning and for my feet. I do, however, intend just to sit many times in the shade and observe the mountain scenery.  

Afterwards, I will spend some time in the Mt. Shasta City for a late lunch and shopping at some New Age stores.  This is a popular tourist town in the summer months.  Then, I will spend some time in the shade along the Sacramento River near Dunsmir.

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.  Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.  The winds will blow their freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like falling leaves."
-  John Muir 

"My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing."
-  Aldous Huxley 

Mt. Shasta, California: Notes, Quotes, Photographs by Mike Garofalo.

Strange, unusual, and "other-worldly" events do happen on Mt. Shasta:

"I first met Chang San-Feng above the forest, 
near the clear spring,
when gathering clouds darkened the day,
and Mt. Shasta was silent.
His long beard was black as emptiness,
ear lobes to his shoulders,
holding obsidian in his hand,
pointing to the sun,
eyes staring into infinity,
his long body clothed in silence.
We exchanged "hellos"
smiled and bowed,
a barbarian and an Immortal,
both panting from the climb,
laughing,
ten-thousand echoes
between our rocky minds.
After billions upon billions of heartbeats past
(for he must have been 888 years old),
I was so bold
as to ask the ancient one
for the sacred mantra of yore.
He lifted his whisk,
and brushed my face,
I could not speak,
my lips were stone,
ideas stopped -
I was alone."
-  Michael P. Garofalo, Meetings with Master Chang San-Feng