Piling on the Adjectives

I am always amused by the rhetorical methods of people trying to explain a questionable, fuzzy, vague or specious concept.  They like to "pile on adjectives" or have a "capitalization frenzy" to try to make the concepts more sensible, viable, palatable or understandable. 

Take, for example, the words 'conscious' or 'consciousness.'  My ordinary understanding of these terms is sufficient for daily discourse.  People who are conscious are awake, responsive, breathing, likely speaking, aware of the world around them through their senses, moving around, working, etc.  Even animals can be conscious in many of these ways.  People who are asleep, in a coma, or dead do not exhibit many or all of these attributes of consciousness.  This rough and ready working knowledge of these words gets us by in daily life.  Professional psychologists, psychiatrists, brain researchers, lawyers, and philosophers also use these terms in highly specialized ways and need to write long, detailed, and careful discourses to explain and justify their unique usage of the terms. 

Amateur theologians and philosophers are prone to play other language games when speaking or writing. 

First, they like to capitalize the terms when writing, e.g., 'Conscious' or 'Consciousness.'  This makes the terms seem more important, special, precious, exalted, profound, serious, or meaningful.  Examples:  "Everything is Consciousness."  "Shiva is Consciousness."  "God is Good."  "I am That."  "There is One God."  "Everything is One."  "Allah is Everywhere."  Talking of gods or goddesses is not sufficient or impious when writing; we need to up the ante, to satisfy devoted monotheists, and write only about 'God', the 'One God.' 

Second, they like to pile on adjectives before the term under discussion.  This seems to help them make the vague and obscure terms seem glorified, understandable, reasonable, vivid, exciting, meaningful, viable, truthful, etc.  For example, "Shiva is Pure Consciousness" or "God has Eternal Consciousness."  The adjectives multiply and flourish the more they talk: True Consciousness, Blissful Consciousness, Pure Consciousness, Divine Consciousness, Supreme Consciousness, Everlasting Consciousness, Revealed Consciousness, Omniscient Consciousness, Onmipotent Consciousness, Non-Material Consciousness, Illuminated Consciousness, Non-Human Consciousness, Spiritual Consciousness, Astral Consciousness, Non-Dual Consciousness, God Consciousness, etc.  You get the idea. 

Ordinary folks are sometimes conscious of having blissful and wonderful experiences, but adept yogis are liberated from ordinary realms of experience and become One through the Divine Grace of True and Blissful Consciousness.  Adepts, masters and gurus have expanded consciousness, profound consciousness, liberated consciousness, holy consciousness, enlightened consciousness, deepened consciousness, godlike consciousness, purified consciousness, exalted consciousness, saintly consciousness, etc.  I'm not so impressed, but probably because of my impure, ignorant, worldly and unworthy consciousness. 

I patiently smile when someone begins piling on the adjectives, capitalizing terms, and exuberantly preaching.  I enjoy their optimism and poetic enthusiasm, mostly harmless, and go with the flow.  Imaginary realms are fun.  Pretending can be delightful.  Poetry is charming and sometimes inspirational.  Fictions are creative joys and a source of unending interest.  Stories about the many goddesses or gods are so varied and fascinating.  At another level, when it comes to judging the truthfulness of their claims, I begin to squirm in my seat and want to get outdoors for some fresh air.    

Tiger Frolics Chi Kung

The traditional Chinese Five Animal Frolics Qigong include the Tiger Frolic.  

1.  The Tiger Lunges and Attacks
Feet together.  Stand up straight.  Arms at sides.
Bring hands to waist level with tiger claw hands (fingers open and curled).
Step out to left side at a 45 degree angle with the left leg.  Step into a high lunge posture. 
As the left foot lifts and steps to the side, draw both hands up the body to above the head, lift the head, circling both arms up and down.
As the left foot comes to the floor, both hands, separated by a foot or so, claw downward to about waist level. 
Draw the arms back to the waist (as if pulling the captured prey close to your Tiger body) and the left foot is drawn back to beside the right foot. 
Do the same movement to the right side. 
Step out to right side at a 45 degree angle with the right leg.  Step into a high lunge posture. 
As the right foot lifts and steps to the side, draw both hands up the body to above the head, lift the head, circling both arms up and down.
As the right foot comes to the floor, both hands, separated by a foot or so, claw downward to about waist level. 
Draw the arms back to the waist (as if pulling the captured prey close to your Tiger body) and the right foot is drawn back to beside the left foot. 
Movement source citation:  Tiger Frolic #3, Big Lunge.  UTube Video, 1:34 minutes.  Performed by Anson Rathbone, 2007.  As taught by Deguang at NESA's Medical Qigong Class.


虎戏   Tiger Frolic   Hŭ Xì

Correspondences and Alchemical Associations for the Tiger:

Attributes:  Power, Courage, Ferocity
Element:  Metal 
Direction:  West 
Organ:  Lung  
Season:  Autumn  
Color:  White 
Yin Organ:  Lungs 
Yang Organ: Large Intestines 
Energetic Movements:  Contracting, Sinking, Letting Go  
Healing:  Liver and Gall Bladder; Nose, Bronchi, Sinus, Skin  
Healing Sound:  "hsssssss"  
Release: Grief, Sadness  
Encourage:  Strength (Yang);  Joy and Courage (Yin) 
Associations: Harvest, Dusk 
 
The assignment of alchemical and magickal correspondences to the Tiger vary amongst practitioners of the Five Animal Frolics, qigong theorists, and Taoist Alchemists.  The following authors have provided tables of correspondences:  Kenneth Cohen, Franklin Fick, Mike Garofalo, Alan Graham, Livia Kohn, Joseph Morales, Ken Morgan, Nancy Seeber, Yang Jwing-Ming, and Oberon Zell-Ravenheart. 
Readers should keep in mind that knowledge of these alchemical and magickal correspondences is of some usefulness to most practitioners.  The true Adepts and playful Wizards will need to pay very close attention to correspondences.  Theses associations have a long history in China and their meanings are part of the mental aspects of the Five Animals Frolics Daoyin practice.  Daily practice of the Frolics, often outdoors, is essential to embody these cosmic principles.     



"The 5 Animal Frolics (五禽戲, Wu Qin Xi) is a complete qigong system, and the most ancient qigong system still practiced today. According to Kenneth Cohen, author of The Way of Qigong,”As story has it (Daoist Legend) Hua Tuo [110-207 AD/CE] received this text as well as instruction in Five Animals from two recluses living in a cave on Mount Gong Yi.”  The “more recent” teachers whom are credited with spreading qigong (and Five Animal Qigong, in particular) are Madame Guo Lin (1906-1984) and Feng Zhiqiang (who learned this from his teacher, Hu Yao-zhen)*.  The series of exercises that comprise the Five Animal Frolics not only help to keep the body sprightly and strong, but it engages both the mind and spirit as well.  The Five Animal Frolics help to great depth to your practice by allowing your body to communicate in different ways."
-  Creating Joyous Practice with the Five Animal Frolics

Muscle Soreness Prevention Tips

All fitness enthusiasts must find ways to deal with delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).  Extra or harder workouts will cause some DOMS. 

Here are some excellent tips from a fitness expert, John Sifferman, on the subject of DOMS called "15 Ways to Prevent and Heal Muscle Soreness."

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, Chapter 43

Dao De Jing, Laozi
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 

"The most flexible wins out over the stiffest.
The shapeless can be omnipresent.
I know it is beneficial not use brute force.
The best in the world teach without preaching, and act without using force."
-   Translated by Thomas Z. Zhang, Chapter 43  

"The softest overcomes the hardest, by yielding.
Emptiness can enter where there is no space.
The value of non-action is in acting naturally.
Therefore the master teaches of what is beyond words.
And his acts carry no expectations."
-   Translated by David Bullen, 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 soft overcomes the hard;
The formless penetrates the impenetrable;
Therefore I value taking no action.
Teaching without words,
Work without action,
Are understood by no one."
-   Translated by Peter Merel, Chapter 43    
 

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu: Introduction, Bibliography, Commentary, Chapter Index  

Chapter 43 of the Dao De Jing by Laozi: Text and Commentaries  

Index of English Language Translators of the Tao Te Ching 

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices  

Chapter and Thematic Index to the Tao Te Ching

The Fragrance of Rock

"When speech comes from a quiet heart, it has the strength of the orchid, and the fragrance of rock."
-  Stephen Mitchell, Four Watercolors by Tao-chi  

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.  It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.  It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.  Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."
-  Melody Beattie

Simplicity: Quotes, Sayings, Poems

Heart

When I Walk, I Walk

"When I dance, I dance, when I sleep, I sleep; yes, and when I walk alone in a beautiful orchard, if my thoughts drift to far-off matters for some part of the time, for some other part I lead them back again to the walk, the orchard, to the sweetness of this solitude, to myself."
-  Montaigne

Walking: Quotes, Sayings, Lore

Meditation

The Two Realms Mingle

 

Here is how our front porch looks when decorated for Halloween Day.  Notice the five spherical white spectral (ghostly) visitors coming to "trick or treat" at our front door.   

"To all the ancient ones from their houses, the Old Ones from above and below. In this time the Gods of the Earth touch our feet, bare upon the ground. Spirits of the Air whisper in our hair and chill our bodies, and from the dark portions watch and wait the Faery Folk that they may join the circle and leave their track upon the ground. It is the time of the waning year. Winter is upon us. The corn is golden in the winnow heaps. Rains will soon wash sleep into the life-bringing Earth. We are not without fear, we are not without sorrow...Before us are all the signs of Death: the ear of corn is no more green and life is not in it. The Earth is cold and no more will grasses spring jubilant. The Sun but glances upon his sister, the earth..... It is so....Even now....But here also are the signs of life, the eternal promise given to our people. In the death of the corn there is the seed--which is both food for the season of Death and the Beacon which will signal green-growing time and life returning.In the cold of the Earth there is but sleep wherein She will awaken refreshed and renewed, her journey into the Dark Lands ended. And where the Sun journeys he gains new vigor and potency; that in the spring, his blessings shall come ever young!"
-  Two Samhain Rituals, Compost Coveners, 1980   

"Tonight as the barrier between the two realms grows thin,
Spirits walk amongst us, once again.
They be family friends and foes,
Pets and wildlife, fishes and crows.
But be we still mindful of the Wee Folke at play,
Elves, fey, brownies, and sidhe.
Some to trick, some to treat,
Some to purposely misguide our feet.
Stay we on the paths we know
As planting sacred apples we go.

This Feast I shall leave on my doorstep all night.
In my window one candle shall burn bright,
To help my loved ones find their way
As they travel this eve, and this night, until day.
Bless my offering, both Lady and Lord
Of breads and fruits, greens and gourd."
-  Akasha, Samhain Ritual  

Samhain, Halloween, The Day of the Dead

 

October: Poems, Quotes, Lore

 

Medicine Ball Exercises

Martial Arts, physical culture, and Qigong enthusiasts can benefit from using a medicine ball when doing exercises.  There are many routines developed by Taijiquan and Qigong masters using a medicine ball.  In addition, upper body strength is also improved by using Taijiquan weapons like the saber, sword, and staff. 

Medicine Ball Training and Exercises: Bibliography, Links, Resources .  Prepared by Mike Garofalo.  A general introduction to the use of medicine balls in exercise programs. 

I developed my own medicine ball routine called: Magic Pearl Qigong.

Magic Pearl Qigong, Part I, Movements 1-8 .   Instructions, Bibliography, Links, Handouts, Resources, Mythological Associations, Lore.  Prepared by Mike Garofalo. 

Magic Pearl Qigong, Part II, Movements 9-16 .   Instructions, Bibliography, Links, Handouts, Resources, Mythological Associations, Lore.  Prepared by Mike Garofalo.

The Magic Pearl Qigong can be a very vigorous physical culture routine if you increase the weight of the ball and the number of repetitions of each movement. 

 

The Silent Outgoing Self Takes a Walk

"I was the world in which I walked."
-   Wallace Stevens, Tea at the Palaz of Hoon

"Allow walking to occupy a place of stature equal with all the other important activities in your life. As difficult as that might seem, here's how to do it. Make it a practice. That's right. Turn your walking into a vehicle for personal growth as well as for fitness. This will add a higher level of integrity and intention to your approach because you will find that it is a way to deepen and upgrade your relationship to your body. Instead of merely giving your legs a good workout, you'll be practicing to relax more, to breathe better, to expand your vision, to open up your range of motion, to increase your energy, to feel and sense your body. The list is exciting - and endless. With all of this to look forward to, your walking program will take its place alongside everything in your life you value most, and you'll be amazed at how easy it is to schedule time for something you really love to do."
- Katherine Dreyer, Chi Walking, p. 56

 

Chi Walking: The Find Mindful Steps for Lifelong Health and Energy. By Danny Dreyer and Katherine Dreyer. New York, Simon and Shuster, Fireside Books, 2006. Index, 258 pages. ISBN: 0743267206.


"Walking I am unbound, and find that precious unity of life and imagination, that silent outgoing self, which is so easy to loose, but which a high moments seems to start up again from the deepest rhythms of my own body. How often have I had this longing for an infinite walk - of going unimpeded, until the movement of my body as I walk fell into the flight of streets under my feet - until I in my body and the world in its skin of earth were blended into a single act of knowing."
- Alfred Kazin, The Open Street

"If you look for the truth outside yourself,
It gets farther and farther away.
Today walking alone, I meet it everywhere I step.
It is the same as me, yet I am not it.
Only if you understand it in this way
Will you merge with the way things are."- Tung-Shan

 

     "Walking meditation means to enjoy walking without any intention to arrive. We don't need to arrive anywhere. We just walk. We enjoy walking. That means walking is already stopping, and that needs some training. Usually in our daily life we walk because we want to go somewhere. Walking is only a means to an end, and that is why we do not enjoy every step we take. Walking meditation is different. Walking is only for walking. You enjoy every step you take. So this is a kind of revolution in walking. You allow yourself to enjoy every step you take.
     The Zen master Ling Chi said that "the miracle is not to walk on burning charcoal or in the thin air or on the water; the miracle is just to walk on earth." You breathe in. You become aware of the fact that you are alive. You are still alive and you are walking on this beautiful planet. That is already performing a miracle. The greatest of all miracles is to be alive. We have to awaken ourselves to the truth that we are here, alive. We are here making steps on this beautiful planet. This is already performing a miracle. But we have to be here in order for the miracle to be possible. We have to bring ourselves back to the here and the now."
- Thich Nhat Hanh, Resting in the River

 

The Ways of Walking: Quotations, Facts, Methods, Spirituality, Meditative

• Ways of Walking
• Walking Meditation
• Walking Quotations
• Walking Bibliography
• Circle Walking: Bagua
• Walking the Labyrinth
• Garden Walking
• Walking Qigong
• Walking Staff   

Dao De Jing, Laozi, Chapter 44

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter 44

"Is the name or the man more precious?
Does the man or his goods count for more?
Does the gain or loss bring more pain?
Extreme economies entail great waste,
And excess holding heavy losses;
But a humbling is spared by few wants,
A miscarriage by knowing the limits;
Thus one can abide and endure."
-   Translated by Moss Roberts, 2001, Chapter 44    

"Fame or self: Which matters more?
Self or wealth: Which is more precious?
Gain or loss: Which is more harmful?
The more that things are desired, the more they will cost.
The more that things are kept, the more they will be missed.
If you are content with yourself, no one can deprive you.
Know when to stop, and you will never run into danger."
-   Translated by Ned Ludd, Chapter 44      

"What is more important to you
what others think of you or
what you think of your body, mind and spirit.
Is you natural energy, essence, and inspiration
worth more to you an acquired material things.
Is gaining more or less painful that losing.
Speaking with the mystery, refining your nature,
studying your emotions will inform you.
If you love well you will spend yourself well.
If you love too often you will exhaust yourself and die.
When the power of the Tao source of life flows into you from above
contentment and happiness abound.
When you know how to extend your love and live
in a way that does not impose itself on the universe
then you will flow into it
knowing when to move forward and backward
when to twist left or right
when it's time to float upward or settle downward
when it's best to move on or simply stand still.
Know these things and you will realize your limitlessness.
Be the sacred friend that joins the hands
of heaven and earth
accepting all the flaws and faults 
with and without your bodymind
bearing on your shoulders
the good and the bad all around you
and you will preserve the bodymind of the world."
-  Translated by John Bright-Fey, 2006, Chapter 44 

"A great name or self-knowledge:
To which of these does your heart respond?
Material goods or your natural virtues:
Which do you treasure more?
Profit or loss: which is more apt
To lead you toward destruction?
The love of excess lays Nature waste:
It spends the self and buys remorse.
Accumulation is the greatest loss.
Meet your needs and go no further,
And you will be a stranger to disgrace.
Recognize the limits of every situation,
And you'll be free from danger.
Thus can you fulfill the enduring harmony."
-   Translated by Brian Donohue, 2005, Chapter 44

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu: Introduction, Bibliography, Commentary, Chapter Index  

Chapter 44 of the Dao De Jing by Laozi: Text and Commentaries  

Index of English Language Translators of the Tao Te Ching 

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices  

Chapter and Thematic Index to the Tao Te Ching

Decaying Trees by the Sea

"The smell of the sea hugged the fog in the redwood trees,
All cool and dank, dimly lit and rank with green,
And in shadowed limbs the Stellar jays jabbered free,
And me, standing silently, an alien in this enchanted scene.

From behind the mossy grey stumps
the sounds of footsteps crunching fronds of ferns
caught my suddenly wary mind ...
What?

"Hello, old friend," said Chang San Feng.
"Master Chang, what a surprise," said I.
Master Chang sat on a stump, smiled, and said,

"Can you hear the Blue Dragon singing in the decaying tree;
Or is it the White Tiger roaring in the wilderness of your bright white skull?
No matter!  The answer is in the questioning; don't you Chan men see?

In the red ball flesh of this decaying tree
Sapless woody shards of centuries of seasons
Nourish the new roots of mindfulness sprouting. 
Yes, Yes, but how can it be?
The up-surging waves of life sprout forth from the decaying tree,
As sure as sunrise rolling over the deep black sea. 
Coming, coming, endlessly coming; waves of Chi. 

Tan Qian's raven roosts for 10,000 moons
     in the withered branches of the rotting tree;
     then, one day, the weathered tree falls,
     nobody hearing, soundlessly crashing
     on the forest floor, on some unknown noon. 

Over and over, over and over, life bringing death, death bringing life,
Beyond even the miraculous memories of an old Xian like me;
Watching, watching, sequestered from the strife,
Turning my soul away sometimes because I cannot bear to see. 

Even minds may die, but Mind is always free
Bounding beyond, beyond, far beyond you and me;
Somehow finding the Possibility Keys
And unlocking the Door out of the Voids of Eternities."

Master Chang somehow, someway,
slowly disappeared into the red brown heart of the decaying tree.

Then the squawk of the jay
opened my mind's eye to the new day -
Namaste ."  

-  Michael P. Garofalo
   Meetings with Master Chang San Feng   
   Remembering Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, California

First Rain

Yesterday morning, we awoke to the sound of rainfall.  This is our first rain since last May.  Wonderful!  

Ironically, and coincidentally, our home water well pump stopped working on Saturday.  On Monday morning the water pump repair serviceman from Heitmann company came and repaired the problem.  Some of the the electrical controlling box parts had burned out.  The unit was replaced for $340.  Now we have water again in our home.  Yes!!  

"If there is magic on the planet, it is contained in the water."
-  Loren Eisley

"Man is not an aquatic animal, but from the time we stand in youthful wonder beside a Spring brook till we sit in old age and watch the endless roll of the sea, we feel a strong kinship with the waters of this world."
-   Hal Borland, Sundial of the Seasons

Water: Quotes for Gardeners 

Calm Mind, Kind Heart, Being Present

"Empty your mind of all thoughts. Let your heart be at peace. Watch the turmoil of things, but contemplate their return. Each separate being in the universe returns to the common source. Returning to the source is serenity. If you don't realize the source, you stumble in confusion and sorrow. When you realize where you come from, you naturally become tolerant, disinterested, amused, kindhearted as a grandmother, dignified as a king. Immersed in the wonder of the Tao, you can deal with whatever life brings you, and when death comes, you are ready." -  Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 16, Translated by Stephen Mitchell The Three Step Practice "First, come into the present. Flash on what’s happening with you right now. Be fully aware of your body, its energetic quality. Be aware of your thoughts and emotions. Next, feel your heart, literally placing your hand on your chest if you find that helpful. This is a way of accepting yourself just as you are in that moment, a way of saying, “This is my experience right now, and it’s okay.” Then go into the next moment without any agenda." -  Pema Chodron, 2012

Religion in America

"An extensive new survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life details statistics on religion in America and explores the shifts taking place in the U.S. religious landscape.  Based on interviews with more than 35,000 Americans age 18 and older, the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey finds that religious affiliation in the U.S. is both very diverse and extremely fluid.

More than one-quarter of American adults (28%) have left the faith in which they were raised in favor of another religion - or no religion at all. If change in affiliation from one type of Protestantism to another is included, 44% of adults have either switched religious affiliation, moved from being unaffiliated with any religion to being affiliated with a particular faith, or dropped any connection to a specific religious tradition altogether.

The survey finds that the number of people who say they are unaffiliated with any particular faith today (16.1%) is more than double the number who say they were not affiliated with any particular religion as children. Among Americans ages 18-29, one-in-four say they are not currently affiliated with any particular religion."
-  Statistics on Religion in America, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life

I was very pleased to read that 25% of young adults are not currently affiliated with any particular religion. It is great to hear that more young people are thinking in an independent, open-minded, and free thinking manner.  

When I was 15 years old, I decided I was an atheist, and that I was no longer interested in the Catholic religion in which I was raised.  I wanted to be a Philosopher after reading public library copies of "The Story of Philosophy" by Will Durant, "Why I am Not a Christian" by Bertrand Russell, and "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones" by Paul Reps.  I was sent to Catholic schools from the 1st to the 12th grade.  I pretended to be a Catholic for three years until I was 18 years old in order to avoid hassles from my dictatorial father, extended family, narrow minded and bullying Irish Christian Brother teachers, noxious priests, and my social circles at that time.


My current views on organized religions are expressed elsewhere on a separate webpage.  I consider myself a philosopher with a variety of mystical and spiritual interests in Neo-Paganism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Mind-Body Movement Arts as an independent seeker.  "Atheism" seems too narrow a term to describe my outlook.  I am a free thinker, pluralist, non-theist, pro-science, rationalist, mystic, and philosopher. 

October Morning Mild

“The Wheel rolls more, and Autumn returns.
Cooler the rain; the Sun lower burns.
The coloring leaves presage the Year:
All things move into harvest’s sphere.
I vow to savor fruits first picked;
nor into grief shall I be tricked.
I vow to offer what once I spurned,
and face the Turning reassured.
- Asleen O’Gaea, Celebrating the Seasons of Life: Beltane to Mabon, p. 116.

Samhain, Halloween Celebrations

"O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away."
-   Robert Frost, October

October: Quotes, Poems, Sayings

The entrance to our front driveway features a seasonal display that Karen prepared.  Karen is petting our cat, King Tut, in the early morning hours.