I Tripped at the Hole

Repost from August, 2020:

"Astronomers reached across intergalactic space to a giant galaxy known as Messier 87, in the constellation Virgo. There, a black hole about seven billion times more massive than the sun is unleashing a violent jet of energy some 5,000 light years into space."
- New York Times, April 10, 2019

Oil drillers dig holes into the earth that release gas and oil energies.  Not the same as the astronomer's "Black Holes"; but names vary as realities and our living interactions and language games vary or are sustained with others.    

Today, I will dig a hole into our back yard black soil, along our vertical trellis, and then plant a third evergreen clematis vine.  The plant will flourish in that black hole.

Last week a dermatological surgeon incised a squamous tumor from in my left hand, and covered the wound with 10 stitches.  Healed well, and I can return to lifting more than 10 pounds today.  It was a red hole in my flesh for a brief time.  

I've looked down into that multicolored hole called the Grand Canyon and the green Columbia Gorge, big holes in the earth, all with powerful energy producing Rivers flowing Down, down, down ...

The dead human beings are often buried in black holes.  

The Universe expands and contracts in ways to tax and challenge our and my scientific imagination and understanding.  

Yin and Yang, Emptinesses and Energies.  

 

Quintain Poetry: Four New Rhyme Schemes

Here are four rhyme schemes for those writing quintain poems.

I do research into Quintain Poetry.

Bellingham Quintain

AAAAA

Examples:

AAAAA Bellingham Q #1517, 1580, 1586, 1632, # 1643, 1697, 1814, 1908

Bellingham Quintain Rhyme Scheme Prosody

A. raking rust colored leaves
A. from under a sweet gum tree
A. tossed by a November breeze
A. scattered randomly---
A. my head drips sweat free
- Mike Garofalo, # 1517

Cayucos Quintain

AAABB 

Cayucos Q # 423, 765, 1243, 1459, 1759,  # 1807, 1810, 1892, 2142, 2508

Cayucos Quintain Rhyme Scheme Prosody

A Northern lights
A in the Pullman night
A an unusual sight—
B students gather for the colored show
B standing on muddied snow.
- Mike Garofalo

Coos Quintain

ABCBB

Examples:

ABCBB Coos Q #669, 1213, 1577, 1767, 1784, # 1984

Coos Quintain Rhyme Scheme Prosody

A. We don't really know Why
B. The Seasons come and go.
C. Always on schedule.
B. Ready for a Show!
B. They just Do It! You know!
- Mike Garofalo, # 1767

Mendocino Quintain

AABCC 

AABCC Mendocino Q # 69, 538, 1225, 1869, 1980,
        # 2267, 2491, 2743

Mendocino Quintain Prosody

A The Fates changed trucks in Crescent City
A Carried their Precious to Yachat's gritty
B Guarded the Sacred with scabbard knives.
C They ran, those Fates, chased by destinies,
C Fearing free will, trapped by realities.
- Mike Garofalo

Also called an Envelope Quintain, Pepperwood

Bundled Up - Quintains: Volume 1, 1 - 1,000

Bundled Up - Quintains: Volume 2, 1,000 - 1,500

Bundled Up - Quintains: Volume 3, 1,500 - 2,000

Bundled Up - Quintains: Volume 4, 2,000 - 2,500

Bundled Up - Quintains: Volume 5, 2,500 - 3,000

 

Quintain Poetry Research

Quintain Poetry Rhyme Schemes

Quintain Sonnet Forms

 

the scissors of my decisions

more to come ...

Quintain Poem Rhyme Schemes. Research by Michael P. Garofalo.

Rhyme Schemes for Quintains

By Michael P. Garofalo

 

Q = Quintain Rhyme Scheme
Quintains, Pentastichs, Tankas, Quintillas
End of Line rhyme
Sorted by Rhyme Pattern

AAAAA Bellingham Q #1517, 1580, 1586, 1632, 1643, 1697, 1814, 1908
AAABB Cayucos Q # 423, 1744, 1759, 1807, 1810, 1892
AAABC Ferndale Q #824, 1742
AABAA Forks Q #477, 1801, 1858, 1866
AABAB Illwaco Q # 1648, 1740
AABBA Limerick Q #577, 927, 1113, 1642, 1652
AABBB Eureka Q #7, 1554, 1584, 1883, 1960
AABBC Astoria Q # 1616, 1680, 1803
AABCC Mendocino Q # 1869, 1980
AACBB Envelope Pepperwood Q #1213, 1617, 1806
ABABA Sicilian Q #702. 1107, 1611
ABABB English Q #726, 1197, 1498
ABACC Inverness Q # 1788, 2131
ABBAA Spanish Q #1464, 1465, 1485, 1575, 1666, 1800, 2211
ABBBA Queets Q #1609, 1743, 1776
ABBBB Newport Q # 1667, 1674, 1669
ABBCB Ventura Q #1000, 1618
ABBCC Yachats Q # 1781, 1804, 1505
ABCBA Envelope Q #288, 1806
ABCBB Coos Q #669, 1213, 1577, 1767, 1784, 1984
ABCCA Brookings Q #1113, 1967, 1974
ABCCC Fortuna Q #1460, 1777, 1865, 1955
ABCDA Crapsey Q #170, 214, 280, 1191, 1489, 1499
ABCDC Monchielle Q #1594
ABCDE Concrete Q #1203, 1441, 1473
ABCDE Didactic Q #1551, 1852
ABCDE Free Verse Q #4, 1730, 1861, 1867, 1877, 2081
ABCDE Gogyohkas Tanka Q # 1661, 1504, 1760, 1762
ABCDE Imagist Q # 1716, 1723, 1751
ABCDE Minimalist Tanka Q #141, 222, 1769
ABCDE Pentastich Q #194, 585, 597, 1730, 2011
ABCDE Prose Poem Q #1455, 1561, 1672, 1867, 1877
ABCDE Tankas Traditional Q #603, 604, 2021, 2031
ABCDE Wakas Q #603, 902, 1022, 2041
!@ #@! Shape/Concrete Q #1441, 1203
X$&eG Typographical Q #187, 189, 470, 1012, 1203, 1553, 1940
xxxxx Free Verse Q # 4, 1730, 1861, 1867, 1877, 2081
xxxxx Iambic Pent Q # 1960, 1980,
xxxxx If-SwitchQ # 1505, 1939, 1955, 1967
xxxxx Ms. Ai Q # 21, 1328, 1520, 1723, 1912, 2019, 2518, 2915, 2974

Quintains - Research

Poetry - Research

Quintain Poetry Rhyme Schemes

Bundled Up: Volume 1
1,000 Quintain Poems

 

Q = Quintain Rhyme Scheme
Quintains, Pentastichs, Tankas
End of Line Rhyme
Sorted by Scheme Title

Astoria Q = AABBC
Bellingham Q = AAAAA
Brookings Q = ABCCA
Cayucos Q = AAABB
Concrete Q = !@ 5 @!
Coos Q = ABCBB
Crapsey Q = ABCDA
Didactic Q = ABCDE
English Q = ABABB
Envelope Q = ABCBA
Envelope Pepperwood Q = AACBB
Eureka Q = AABBB
Ferndale Q = AAABC
Forks Q = AABAA
Fortuna Q = ABCCC
Free Verse Q = ABCDE
Free Verse Q = xxxxx
Gogyohkas Tanka Q = ABCDE
Iambic Pent Q = xxxxx
If-SwitchQ = xxxxx
Ilwaco Q = AABAB
Imagist Q = ABCDE
Inverness Q = ABACC
Limerick Q = AABBA
Mendocino Q = AABCC
Minimalist Tanka Q = ABCDE
Monchielle Q = ABCDC
Ms. Ai Q = xxxxx
Newport Q = ABBBB
Pentastich Q = ABCDE
Prose Poem Q = ABCDE
Queets Q = ABBBA
Shape/Concrete Q = !@ #@!
Sicilian Q = ABABA
Spanish Q = ABBAA
Tankas Traditional Q = ABCDE
Typographical Q = X$&eG
Ventura Q = ABBCB
Wakas Q = ABCDE
Yachats Q = ABBCC

 

Quintains - Research

Poetry - Research

Bundled Up: Volume 1
1,000 Quintain Poems

Quintain Poetry Rhyme Schemes

By Michael P. Garofalo

Updated January 16 2026

 

The March for War??

I heard that MAGA lackeys
are paid to walk from
Oklahoma to Chicago;
they Walk for War
in support of bombing, ICE, and pedophilia.

A few boneheads showed up and walked one mile
in the MAGA Walk for War;
the lackey walkers were never paid by Trump,
the few who walked were spit upon,
women threw snowballs on maga shoes.

Women's Lives Matter.
White Lives Matter.
Black and Brown Lives Matter.

Jonathan Ross, the ICE murderer's
last words to the innocent woman he killed were
"fucking bitch!"

American Women Need to Woke!

Renee Good murdered in Minnesota by
an incompetent and evil ICE thug.
January 7, 2026

The Real Walk for Peace is On in 2026.

Poetry by Michael P. Garofalo
1998 - 2026

 

Dao De Jing 43 Tao Te Ching

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter 43

"The softest of stuff in the world
Penetrates quickly the hardest;
Insubstantial, it enters
Where no room is.
By this I know the benefit
Of something done by quiet being;
In all the world but few can know
Accomplishment apart from work,
Instruction when no words are used."
-  Translated by Raymond B. Blakney, 1955, Chapter 43  

"As the soft yield of water cleaves obstinate stone,
So to yield with life solves the insoluble:
To yield, I have learned, is to come back again.
But this unworded lesson,
This easy example,
Is lost upon men."
-  Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 43  

"That which offers no resistance,
overcomes the hardest substances.
That which offers no resistance
can enter where there is no space.
Few in the world can comprehend
the teaching without words,
or understand the value of non-action."
-  Translated by John H. McDonald, 1996, Chapter 43   

天下之至柔, 馳騁天下之至堅. 
無有入無間.
吾是以知無為之有益. 
不言之教.
無為之益, 天下希及之. 
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching Chapter 43 

t'ien hsia chih chih jou, ch'ih ch'êng t'ien hsia chih chih chien.
wu yu ju wu chien.
wu shih yi chih wu wei chih yu yi.
pu yen chih chiao.
wu wei chih yi, t'ien hsia hsi chi chih.
-  Wade-Giles Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 43  

"The softest substance of the world
Goes through the hardest.
That-which-is-without-form penetrates that-which-has-no-crevice;
Through this I know the benefit of taking no action.
The teaching without words
And the benefit of taking no action
Are without compare in the universe."
-  Translated by Lin Yutang, 1955, Chapter 43  



"The softest thing in the world can overcome the hardest.
The shapeless can penetrate the seamless.
Thus I know the value of not acting.
Few understand the wordless teaching of non-action."
-  Translated by Ned Ludd, Chapter 43    



"The world’s weakest drives the world’s strongest.
The indiscernible penetrates where there are no crevices.
From this I perceive the advantage of non-action.
Few indeed in the world realize the instruction of the silence, or the benefits of inaction."
-  Translated by C. Spurgeon Medhurst, 1905, Chapter 43 


 
"Lo más blando del mundo
vence a lo más duro.
La nada penetra donde no hay resquicio.
Por esto conozco la utilidad del no-interferir.
Pocas cosas bajo el cielo son tan instructivas como las lecciones del silencio,
o tan beneficiosas como los frutos del no-interferir.
Pocos en el mundo llegan a comprenderlo."
-  Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Capitulo 43

"The non-existent can enter into the impenetrable.
By this I know that non-action is useful.
Teaching without words, utility without action-
Few in the world have come to this."
-  Translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao, 1904, Chapter 43


"What is of all things most yielding
Can overwhelm that which is of all things most hard.
Being substanceless it can enter even where is no space;
That is how I know the value of action that is actionless.
But that there can be teaching without words,
Value in action that is actionless,
Few indeed can understand."
-  Translated by Arthur Waley, 1934, Chapter 43  

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 includes a Google Translate option menu for reading the entire webpage in many other languages.  Each webpage for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching [246 CE Wang Bi version] includes extensive indexing by key words, phrases, and terms (concordance) 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, links, research leads, translator sources, and other resources for that Chapter.  

     A Top Tier online free resource for English and Spanish readers, researchers, Daoist devotees, scholars, students, fans and fellow travelers on the Way. 

Chapter 43, 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

Process Philosophy

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey  

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

 

Gardening and Contentment

"I've made an odd discovery, every time I talk to a savant I feel quite sure that happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet, when I talk with my gardener, I'm convinced of the opposite."
- Bertrand Russell, mathematician and philosopher

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise and Respected Persons

Happiness

The Spirit of Gardening

Astoria, Oregon

 

Finished reading the book "Astoria: Astor and Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire; A Tale of Ambition and Survival on the Early American Frontier."  By Peter, Stark.  Eco, 2015, 400 pages.  

From 1804-1814, John Jacob Astor sent an overland party to the Columbia River form St. Louis.  They developed a new route from the upper Snake (Mad) river overland through the Blue Mountains of Oregon.  It later became part of the Oregon Trail from 1840-1870.  He also sent three ships from New York down and around the tip of South American and up to Hawaii and then to a new settlement for trading furs at a port in Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River.    

Fascinating account of this business venture to take furs from the Northwest Pacific Coast to sell for a high markup in profit in Canton, China.  Nearly half of the men that signed on for this "Astoria" adventure died in the dangerous quest.  

Astoria

Astoria   Northwest Oregon Coastal town and Port on the Columbia River.

Population 9,500   A small town with many tourist attractions.  There are many motels, restaurants, cafes, grocery, museums, theaters, historical sights, marina, docks, hospital, gas, stores, services, supplies. 

Clatsop County   Population 38,000   The Clatsop County Courthouse is in Astoria.  Astoria is the largest city in Clatsop County. 

Astoria Images  

"Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state of Oregon and was the first American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains.[7] The county is the northwest corner of Oregon, and Astoria is located on the south shore of the Columbia River, where the river flows into the Pacific Ocean. The city is named for John Jacob Astor, an investor and entrepreneur from New York City, whose American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site and established a monopoly in the fur trade in the early nineteenth century. Astoria was incorporated by the Oregon Legislative Assembly on October 20, 1876.  he city is served by the deepwater Port of Astoria. Transportation includes the Astoria Regional Airport. U.S. Route 30 and U.S. Route 101 are the main highways, and the 4.1-mile (6.6 km) Astoria–Megler Bridge connects to neighboring Washington across the river."

Columbia River Maritime Museum

Museums in Astoria

Astoria Lodging

Fort Astoria (1811-1825) History

Astoria Food 

Astoria   History1    History2

Astoria Column Historical Tower

Charter Boat Services in Astoria 

Lower Columbia River: Astoria to Portland, Ilwaco to Vancouver

Long Beach Peninsula  

Lewis and Clark Historic Sites

Clatsop County, Oregon  Population 38,000 

Fort Clatsop  Camp of Lewis and Clark in the Winter of 1805.  Video: Winter Story

Fort Steven's State Park  A World War II military base defending the Columbia River. 

Northwest Coastal Oregon Travel Guide: Astoria to Cape Lookout.  By Mike Garofalo. 

Clatsop People

 

Living in America - James Brown

 

James Brown (1933-2006)

I Live in America: San Fran, Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, WA!

'Somewhere along the Way, You must find out who you are!'

Watch and listen to James Brown, "Living in America"

Flag Up for Fourth of July!

Who Gathers and Chops Firewood for the Cook's Kitchen?

 The Fireplace Records, Chapter 8

Huineng Chopping Bamboo
Ink on paper by Liang Kai
Circa 1200 CE

Who Gathers and Chops Firewood for the Cook's Kitchen?
When he leaves, somebody new will take his place. 

Huineng (638-713 CE) was an hardworking monk who quietly followed all the Temple lifestyle rules.  His job was to gather firewood to use in the kitchen or elsewhere at the Temple.  He pulled a little cart and gathered sticks, driftwood, wood donations, and downed limbs.  He sawed, split up, and cut up dried wood to give to the cooks in the Temple kitchen or others tending fires.  He did this humble task well for many years.  

Huineng is remembered for emphasizing the power of simple useful work activities as a valid path to enlightenment (e.g., gardening, Temple maintenance, cooking, chores, firewood working, samu = work, transcribing, etc.)  Huineng became enlightened while chopping up bamboo.  He later became a leading Zen Master featured in many stories.  

Also, we all have roles, duties, work, and responsibilities to others and to ourselves. This is an underlying reality.  

"The kitchen was a hell of heat.  Woks large enough to bathe a child in sat on roaring, wood-burning brick stoves.  Young monks fed the insatiable fires, while others stirred the boiling rice.  Some chopped vegetables or prepared them for pickling. They were all under the direction of a senior priest, who was known only as "the Old Cook.""
- By Deng Ming Dao;, Chronicles of Tao, p. 166
The Kitchen of a Daoist Temple Monastery in the Huashan Mountains of China, circa 1930's.  

Somebody is still chopping wood for a fireplace stove, or providing you with the electricity or gas or coal for you kitchen ovens and stoves and cooking appliances.  

Without the fire in the kitchen for cooking we could not survive. 

So, who chops the firewood for your kitchen stove?

Comments, Sources

Refer to Cases ??? in Koan Classics.  OK. find any?  

Refer to my Cloud Hands Blog Posts on the topic of Koans/Mondos/Tests

The Daodejing by Laozi  

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

Chinese Chan Buddhist and Taoist Stories and Koans 

Fireplaces, Campfires, Stoves

The Fireplace Records By Michael P. Garofalo

Trump Red Hat Rebels Crash the Congress Doors: January 6, 2021

 

 

Attack on the U. S. Capitol

Cape Lookout State Park, Coastal Northwest Oregon, Trip Day 3

 Cape Lookout State Park, Coastal Northwest Oregon

Cabin Camping Trip, Day 3, December 11, 2024, Wednesday

Near the town of Tillamook, Oregon, Netarts Bay and Three Arch Rocks

We left our Netarts Cabin at Cape Lookout State Park today. We drove home, via Oregon 6, to Portland.

Nice weather. Clear skies. Around 50 degrees F.

The Dusk Before Darkness

Where moving shadows born of sunshine rays,
Lighter and darker marks in the corners all days,
Unreadable messages from Solar Scribes for me.
Some subtle shadows drawn on moonlit trees,
Blurred and fleeting pockets of mystery to me,
Lost in the blackness of the nighttime breeze.

Night-Time creeping in, crickets chirping up a din.
No moon, No stars, No city street lights;
Darkness setting slowly and comfortably in.
A few frogs croaking love songs in the dark,
Moths fluttering into a white hot lantern
on a crazy addicted deadline lark,
Bats flapping by for breakfast, eating fluttering bugs.
Surf side sounds rumble over the invisible dunes,
Crabs and razor clams will crawl about at low tide soon,
Turtles will waddle up the shore, dig, lay eggs,
Guided by the moon, reproduction, life and doom,
In the restless dark and foamy gloom.

My flashlight sliced a path through the woods,
My cane balanced my wobbly walk for good.
Hearing the hoot of an owl in the canopy,
I walked along as slowly as I could,
Listening to the mysterious snoring damp woods.

Hera and Hypnos tried to lure me to sleep.
But 30 knot winds kept me awake,
And saved me from Nyx's minions from Hades Lake.
Chaos gave birth to Darkness and Day,
Erebus and Hemera - another way to Say,
Gods named and ancient myths for today.
Nighttime gods and goddesses mourning,
Following the Black Way to the Thanatos Graves.

My yurt at Cape Disappointment shook in the Winter storm,
I sat on the covered yurt porch, bundled up and warm;
Dark rain, cold campground so dark, everyone inside today.
The campground nearly empty these bitter January days.
The uninviting dark wet night keeps them all away.
Silence reigned that dreary soaked day,
Even keeping all of the animals hiding away.

Coming Dawn, rosy reds, sunshine slides West overhead;
Leaving Dusk, darkening pinks, sun gone down, it is said:
Reminders of the Dead.

The incandescent lamp!
Only one lamp in my yurt, not very bright,
Yet it allows me to read and write all night,
Supported by an electric Coleman lantern light.
The whole world works by electric lights.
Day and night, day and night, Month after Month,
For Year after busy Year, lighting bright the night sky;
In factories and stores and homes worldwide.
Work, work, work ... earning a living - we try.
Is such serious night pollution really wise?
Did the Milky Way disappear in the bright city sky?
Are circadian rhythms distorted and altered by and by?
Will some species become extinct from the loss of Night?

Turn off the lights, cuddle in the covers,
Start to slumber, sink into sleep,
Enjoy the darkness of the dreamless
La Petite Mort, alone, in darkness steeped.

Pacific Coast Memories: U.S. Highway 101 and 1.
At the Edges of the West.
By Michael P. Garofalo
Docu-Poems, Haiku, Concrete Poetry, Photographs, Songs

Four Days in Grayland

 

Images from the Internet of the Oregon Coast

Yaoshan's "For the Time Being"

 

The Fireplace Records, Chapter 17

Yaoshan's "For the Time Being"

When Mary awoke in the morning, it was snowing heavily.  The northeast area of Vancouver, Washington, was under a heavy blanket of cold and wet Winter weather.  She brewed some coffee.  She lit some kindling and started a fire in her lovely brick fireplace.

Mary enjoyed reading poetry.  It took her mind off her concerns about her employment duties as a manager of a larger local supermarket.  

Mary read poetry from all around the world translated into the English language.  Lately, she had favored reading metaphysical poetry, and Taoist, Neopagan, and Zen Buddhist tales, riddles, and poetry.    

Today she read a poem quoted from the Shobogenzo by Eihei Dogen, Zen Master (1200-1253):

Yaoshan, an old Buddha, said:
For the time being, I stand astride the highest mountain peaks.
For the time being, I move on the deepest depths of the ocean floor.
For the time being, I’m three heads and eight arms.
For the time being, I’m eight feet or sixteen feet.
For the time being, I’m a staff or a whisk.
For the time being, I’m a pillar or a lantern.
For the time being, I’m Mr. Chang or Mr. Li.
For the time being, I’m the great earth and heavens above."

She thought about what "for the time being" meant to her today. 
She was enthralled by being here, at the present, for the time being, just reading ancient poetry.
She thought of all the objects in her environment for the time being.
For the time being, she was listening to and feeling a cracking hot fireplace.
For the time being, I’m Mary.  

A Student's Considerations:

The study of the subject of "Time" takes us deep into the complexities of science, metaphysics, history, theology, psychology, linguistics, calendars, philosophy, poetry, feelings, management, scheduling, etc. 

For the time being, what must I do, accomplish, achieve, or not do?
For the time being, we are always just here and now, Present in the Present.

Related Links, Resources, References

Koans: BOS 03, Yaoshan and Mazu

Dogen says, " Mind Here and Now is Buddha" [Soku Shin Ze Butsu #6 Book 1]

Time Movement Change Transformation Mortality

Process Philosophy

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

Koan Database Project

Brief Spiritual Lessons Database Project: Subject Indexes

Time in Dogen's Thoughts:

Each Moment is the Universe: Zen and the Way of Being Time. By Dainin Katagiri. Shambhala, 2008, 256 pages. VSCL, Paperback.

Being-Time: A Practitioner's Guide to Dogen's Shobogenzo Uji. By Shinshu Roberts. Wisdom 2018, 321 pages. VSCL, Kindle E-Book.

Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen's Shobo Genzo. Translated, edited, comments, notes by Kazuaki Tanahashi. Shambhala, 2013, 1280 pages, Hardcover.

Sparks: Brief Spiritual Lessons and Stories
Matches to Start a Kindling of Insight
May the Light from Your Inner Fireplace Help All Beings
Taoist, Chan Buddhist, Zen Buddhist, Philosophers
Catching Phrases, Inspiring Verses, Koans, Meditations
Indexing, Bibliography, Quotations, Notes, Resources
Research by Michael P. Garofalo

The Fireplace Records
By Michael P. Garofalo

Chen Style Taijiquan Broadsword Dao 23 Form

Back on June 14, 2010, I was working with a friend on the Chen Broadsword Form, 23 Movements.  

This popular Chen broadsword form was created in the 1930's by Chen Zhaopei (1893-1972). 

List of Movements of Chen Dao Broadsword 23 Form.  1 page. 

List of Movements in Five Languages 

Bibliography, Resources, Links

Here are two instructional resources that I am using to learn this form:

Chen Style Taijiquan: Sword and Broadsword.   By Chen Zhenglei.  Translated by Zhang XinHu, Chen Bin, Xu Hailiang, and Gregory Bissell.  Tai Chi Centre, 2003.  367 pages.  ISBN: 7534823218.   This book is in English.  Detailed descriptions, with photographs, of the first form, sword form and broadsword form.  An excellent companion to Chen Zenglei's instructional DVDs, with English narration.  Review by Herbert O. Rich: "This is the first translated volume of Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei's three-volume set entitled "A Compendium of Taiji Boxing and Weapons".  Chen Zhenglei is famed as a 19th generation Grandmaster of traditional Chen Style Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan). He is known to Taijiquan enthusiasts the world over for his skill and ability in teaching.  This book is a detailed instruction manual for the basic set (or form) of the Laojia ("old frame") Chen style, as well as the single broadsword and straight sword forms.  Profusely illustrated, it describes basic theory, physical requirements, postural movements, Qi circulation, and self defense applications for each of the postures of the form."  The 23 movement broadsword form is described in detail, with many black and white photographs, on pages 322-360.  VSCL. 

Traditional Chen Family Tai Chi Broadsword.  Instructional videotape or DVD by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye.  70 minutes.  Detailed instructions, repetitions, and demonstrations.   Jiang's Tai Chi Videos.  He teaches the 23 movement form developed by Chen Zhaopei in 1933.  "By Jiang Jian-ye. This classic weapon routine enhances fajin, relaxed explosive release of force, and silk reeling energy. Jiang, who studied intensively in China, demonstrates the 23-movement form from the back at the beginning of the tape and multiple times, back and front, at the conclusion. Teaching of the movements uses multiple repetitions and camera angles an reviews of segments.  70 Min.  $39.95."  - Wayfarer Catalog.  Traditional Chen Family Tai Chi Broadsword.  Instruction and demonstration by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye.  Available in VHS and DVD media formats.  70 minutes.  Shifu Jiang demonstrates and carefully and slowly teaches the 23 movement form.  He teaches the form in a step-by-step and movement by movement manner.  Each movement is repeated from 3-5 times, slowly and at normal speed.  Each movement is show from front, back and side views.  Jiang's Tai Chi Videos.  VSCL.  

Best Taijiquan Books by Andrew Townsend

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 type font. 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."

Best Wishes for a Happy and Productive New Year in 2026

Best wishes to all, from Karen and I, for a productive, happy, and decent New Year in 2026. 
May you enjoy good health, and enjoyable exercise.
May your family and friends thrive.
May a more peaceful and cooperative world emerge.
May you prosper in your work and communities.
May your gardens thrive.
May you learn about truth and virtue from great books and universities.

"What can be said in New Year rhymes,

That’s not been said a thousand times? 

The new years come, the old years go,
We know we dream, we dream we know. 

We rise up laughing with the light,
We lie down weeping with the night. 

We hug the world until it stings,
We curse it then and sigh for wings. 

We live, we love, we woo, we wed,
We wreathe our prides, we sheet our dead. 

We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear,
And that’s the burden of a year."

The Year by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I am very sorry for all the hard-working people
whose jobs are in peril from the crazy, dangerous,
unhinged, failed, and insulting policies of our 
currently failed President Trump.  His crudeness,
and insults have caused massive boycotts of 
travel to America and loss of revenue from
boycotted products.  Impeach that foolish
pervert felon NOW!!