Mt. Ranier, Washington

Stratovolcano, 14,411 Feet (4,392M)

Cascades Mountain Range, Western Washington

Due East of Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, and Puget Sound

Mt. Ranier - Wikipedia

Cascade Volcanic Arc

Karen and I have traveled all around this immense and dramatic mountain many times since 2010.  

Cascade Volcanic Arc

Mt. Adams, Washington

Stratovolcano, 12,281 Feet (3,743 M) 

Cascade Mountain Range, Southwestern WA

Near Yakima, Packwood, Klickitat, and Goldendale WA

Mt. Adams - Wikipedia

Cascade Volcanic Arc

Karen and I have traveled all around this immense and dramatic mountain many times since 2016.  

Cascade Volcanic Arc

Mr. Hood, Oregon

Stratovolcano, 11,240 Feet (3,425 M)

East of Portland, Vancouver, Gresham, Troutdale, Sandy OR

Cascades Mountain Range, Northwestern Oregon

Mt. Hood, Oregon - Wikipedia

Cascade Volcanic Arc

We can view Mt. Hood from many locations in Vancouver and Portland, Washington.

Karen and I have traveled all around this dramatic mountain many times since 2001.  

                                            

                            

Cascade Volcanic Arc

Taijiquan and Seeing

 "Looking and seeing are two different things. In tai chi we see without looking. When we look, we focus our gaze on some point. As we do that, there are subtle changes in our facial muscles which affect all our muscles. We see what we're looking at but miss the rest. Imagine having to deal with multiple opponents. The ideal is to see as if you're looking from behind your head so that your vision broadens. An easy way to understand it is by holding your arms at your side as if making a cross with your body. Can you see your hands with your peripheral vision? If you can, that's what your seeing should feel like. As you do that, you will notice that things get quieter and softer, more relaxed, and seem to slow down."
- Joe Eber, Facebook Post 

"Eyelids relaxed:  The eyelids should be relaxed like a curtain. As the eyelids relax, the mind is able to calm down and release the tension of the body’s muscles. The facial muscles also need to be soft and relaxed. As always, your outlook should be aware but not focused. Another reason to curtain the eyes is to hide your intention from others. In a martial arts’ sense, this is used for effective defense and offense.

Center the vision:  Set the eyes straight ahead but do not focus outward onto anything in particular. I tell my students to see, without looking; likewise to hear, without listening. By not focusing on any one thing, we cultivate awareness of all things. A centered vision helps to engage our peripheral vision so that we get a better sense of what is going on all around us. This also encourages awareness of our internal environment; our sense of feeling, balance, movement, and posture. A centered vision pertains to seeing both within and without."
-  William Ting, Essential Concepts of Tai Chi  

"What is the color of your head from the standpoint of your eyes?  You feel that you head is black, or that it has not any color at all.  Outside you see your field of vision as an oval because your two eyes act as two centers of an ellipse.  But what is beyond the field of vision?  What color is it where you can't see?  It is not black, and this is an important point; there is no color at all beyond your field of vision.  This little mental exercise gives us an idea of what is mean by the character hsüan.  Although its dictionary definition is "dark, deep, obscure," it actually refers to this kind of no color that is the color of your head - as far as your eyes are concerned.  Perhaps we could say that the invisibility of one's head, in a certain sense the lack of a head, is the secret of being alive.  To be headless, or have no head in just the same sense I am talking about, is our way of talking about the Chinese expression wu hsin, or "no mind."  As a matter of fact, if you want to see the inside of your head all you have to do is keep your eyes open, because all that you are experiencing in the external, visual field is a state of your brain."
-  Alan Watts, Swimming Headless, 1966 

Vision, Seeking, Sensations, Perceptions, Looking  By Michael P. Garofalo

Seeing, in solo Taijiquan practice, refers mostly to being visually aware of one's immediate physical environment your moving within.  With home indoor practice, that involves awareness of tripping hazards, walls, chairs, etc.  Adjustments are made accordingly.  Take in the big picture of where you are practicing - outdoors or indoors.  A wider angle of vision is preferred.

Some aspects of seeing in Taijiquan practices involve carefully looking at an imaginary opponent, your hands, or in a specific direction.  Looking is a focused kind of seeing, and the field of vision is more circumscribed.  

January Gardening Chores

Location:  Vancouver, Washington   USDA Zone 8a

January Gardening Tips and Ideas
From Michael P. Garofalo

January Gardening Tips from Tsugawa Nursery

Here are my gardening chores for January:

Applying manure to the empty vegetable garden.
Mulching with fallen leaves.
Panting a Fuyu Persimmon and Columnar Apple Tree
Pruning back roses and dead plants
Raking up fallen leaves in the back yard.
Finishing the back yard wood shed.
Improving the side porch, weeding, reorganizing.

Taking care of indoor plants.
Reading gardening books.
Helping Karen.

Here is where I shop in the Vancouver, Washington, area: 

Tsugawa Nursery, Woodland, Washington

Yard'n Garden Land, Salmon Creek, Highway 99 and 102nd Street, Vancouver, Washington

Shorty's Garden Center, Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver, Washington

Lowes, 76 Street and 117th Ave (Lewisville Highway 503), N.E. Vancouver, Washington

Home Depot, Andresen and Paden Parkway, N.E. Vancouver, Washington

January Gardening Chores  
Red Bluff, North Sacramento Valley, California, USA
USDA Zone 9 

Typical (Average/Normal) Seasonal Weather for Our Area   Normally, in January, we have high daytime temperatures of 54ºF, low nighttime temperatures of 37ºF, and get 4.2 inches of rain.

Red Bluff Gardening Notebooks of Karen and Mike Garofalo

January Gardening Activities and Chores in Red Bluff
USDA Zone 9

Pruning leafless trees and shrubs.
Adding compost, ashes and fertilizer to the vegetable and flower gardens.
Taking cuttings from dormant figs, grapes, and other shrubs.
Spraying dormant fruit and other trees.
Weeding and mowing where needed.
Burning piles of gardening cuttings.
Fixing wood and metal fences.
Placing cold sensitive potted plants in protected areas outdoors or indoors.
Sharpening and oiling garden tools.
Protect tender plants from frosts.
Checking for and repairing any leaks in sheds.
The soil is usually too wet and cold for much garden digging.
Indoor activities: sorting seeds, planning, reading, writing, etc.
Caring for indoor plants.
Weeding the winter garden.
Watering potted plants as needed.
Adding Ironite and other soil supplements.
Fertilizing under trees and shrubs. 
Keeping tools and equipment out of the rain and moisture. 
Browsing seed and garden catalogs.
Reading gardening, botany, and agricultural books.
Planning garden improvements for the new year.
Fixing any leaking roofs or rain gutters. 
Keep a journal.  Write a poem.
Take a slow walk in the garden.  

January Gardening Chores and Tips for Other U.S.A. Zones


Oak Hill January Tips - Georgia

Oregon State University January Tips

Earth Wise Creations January Tips - Zone 9

Seasonal Garden Chores - Links

Top Garden Projects for January by Ed Hume in the Pacific Northwest

52 Weeks in the California Garden by Richard Smaus

The Gay Gardener - Monthly Chores

Monthly Gardening January Tips from Ortho 

Monthly Garden Tasks in an English County Garden

Winter Rose Care

The Garden Helper Tips for January - Northern U.S.

Fruits and Nuts - January Tips - Virginia

Gardening Tips - January - New York Botanical Garden

Master Gardeners Tips  

Merry Christmas

The Spirit of Gardening

Daodejing, Laozi, Chapter 55

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter 55

"He who contains virtue in abundance resembles a newborn child
 wasps don't sting him beasts don't claw him
 birds of prey don't carry him off
 his bones are weak and his tendons are soft and yet his grip is firm
 he hasn't known the union of sexes and yet his penis is stiff so full of essence is he
 he cries all day yet ever gets hoarse
 so full of breath is he who knows how to breath
 endures who knows how to endure is wise
 who lengthens his life tempts luck
 who breathes with his will is strong
 but virility means old age this isn't the Way
 what isn't the Way ends early"
 -  Translated by Bill Porter (Red Pine), 1996, Chapter 55   

"One who is filled with goodness is like a freshly-born infant.
Wasps, scorpions and snakes will not bite her.
Wild beasts will not attack her, nor will birds of prey pounce on her.
Her bones may be fragile and her skin soft,
But her grasp is firm.
She does not recognize the union of male and female
For she knows it only as an undivided whole.
This is the essence of perfection.
She can how All day and not get hoarse.
This is perfect harmony.
Knowing harmony is faithfulness.
Knowing faithfulness is salvation.
Trying to extend one's life-span is dangerous and unnatural.
To manipulate one's energy with the mind is a powerful thing
But whoever possesses such strength invariably grows old and withers.
This is not the way of the Tao.
All those who do not follow the Tao will come to an early end."
-  Translated by John R. Mabry, Chapter 55   

"The one who has virtue in its fullness
Is like a newborn babe.
Hornets and snakes do not sting him.
Savage beasts don't attack him.
Birds of prey don't pounce on him.
His bones are soft and his muscles weak
But his grasp is firm.
He knows nothing yet of mating
But his organ stirs
For his vigor is at its height.
He will cry all day
But his voice will remain loud.
For his harmony is at its height.
If you know harmony you know what is constant.
If you know what is constant you are enlightened.
If your mind forces your breath you misuse your strength.
You misuse your strength.
What expands too much is bound to collapse.
This is not the way of Tao.
What goes against Tao soon declines."
-  Translated by Agnieszka Solska, 2005, Chapter 55  

含德之厚.
比於赤子. 
蜂蠆虺蛇不螫.
猛獸不據.
攫鳥不搏.   
骨弱筋柔而握固. 
未知牝牡之合而全作.
精之至也. 
終日號而不嗄.
和之至也.
知和曰常.
知常曰明. 
益生曰祥. 
心使氣曰強. 
物壯則老.
謂之不道.
不道早已. 
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 55

han de zhi hou.  
bi yu chi zi.
du chong hui she bu shi.
meng shou bu ju.  
jue niao bu bo.
gu ruo jin rou er wo gu.
wei zhi pin mu zhi he er zui zuo.
jing zhi zhi ye.
zhong ri hao er bu sha.S
he zhi zhi ye.
zhi he yue chang.
zhi chang yue ming.
yi sheng yue xiang,
xin shi qi yue qiang.
wu zhuang ze lao.
wei zhi bu dao.
bu dao zao yi.
-  Pinyin Romanization, Daodejing, Chapter 55

"One who possesses the fullness of De can be compared to a newborn baby.
Bees, scorpions and poisonous snakes will not sting him.
Hunting birds and ferocious animals will not grab him.
His bones are weak, his muscles are soft, yet he can grasp objects with great strength.
He has no knowledge of sexual intercourse, yet his penis becomes enlarged: so extreme is his life force.
He can yell all day, yet he doesn't get hoarse.
There is ultimate harmony in his expressiveness.
This harmony of expressiveness is said to be constant;
Knowing this harmony is said to be obvious.
Increasing life is said to be lucky.
Using the mind to control the natural energy of life is said to show strength.
A living creature who who pretends to be stronger than they are will quickly age.
This may be described as one who doesn't follow Dao.
Don't follow Dao and you'll come to an early end."
-  Translated by Nina Correa, 2005, Chapter 55   

"He who has in himself abundantly the attributes (of the Tao) is like an infant.
Poisonous insects will not sting him; fierce beasts will not seize him; birds of prey will not strike him. (The infant's) bones are weak and its sinews soft, yet its grasp is firm.
It knows not yet the union of male and female, and yet its virile member may be excited;
showing the perfection of its physical essence.
All day long it will cry without its throat becoming hoarse; showing the harmony (in its constitution).
To him by whom this harmony is known, the secret of the unchanging Tao is shown,
And in the knowledge wisdom finds its throne.
All life-increasing arts to evil turn;
Where the mind makes the vital breath to burn,
False is the strength, and o'er it we should mourn.
When things have become strong, they then become old, which may be said to be contrary to the Tao.
Whatever is contrary to the Tao soon ends."
-  Translated by Andre Gauthier, Chapter 55  

"He who embodies the fullness of integrity is like a ruddy infant.
 Wasps, spiders, scorpions, and snakes will not sting or bite him;
 Rapacious birds and fierce beasts will not seize him.
 His bones are weak and his sinews soft, yet his grip is tight.
 He knows not the joining of male and female, yet his penis is aroused.
 His essence has reached a peak.
 He screams the whole day without becoming hoarse;
 His harmony has reached perfection.
 Harmony implies constancy;
 Constancy requires insight.
 Striving to increase one's life is ominous;
 To control the vital breath with one's mind entails force.
 Something that grows old while still in its prime is said to be not in accord with the Way;
 Not being in accord with the Way leads to an early demise."
 -  Translated by Victor H. Mair, Chapter 55

"El que ha sido dotado de plena es como un niño.
Nigún insecto venenoso le clava su aguijón;
Ninguna bestia salvaje le ataca;
Ningún ave de rapiña cae sobre él.
Sus huesos son frágiles; sus tendones, débiles; pero su abrazo es fuerte.
No conoce la unión de varón y hembra, mas posee la plenitud de su sexo.
Vitalmente, es perfecto.
Puede gritar sin quedar ronco:
Porque posee la armonía,
Y el que conoce esta armonía conoce lo duradero.
Conocer lo duradera es acercarse a la claridad.
Vivir intensamente conduce a la desdicha.
Dejando palpitar al corazón, nos acercamos a la muerte."
-  Translated into Spanish by Caridad Diaz Faes (2003) from the English translation by Ch'u Ta-Kao (1904), Capítulo 55


"Who is rich in character
Is like a child.
   No poisonous insects sting him,
   No wild beasts attack him,
   And no birds of prey pounce upon him.
His bones are soft, his sinews tender, yet his grip is strong.
Not knowing the union of male and female, yet his organs are complete,
   Which means his vigor is unspoiled.
Crying the whole day, yet his voice never runs hoarse,
   Which means his natural harmony is perfect.
To know harmony is to be in accord with the eternal,
And to know eternity is called discerning.
But to improve upon life is called an ill-omen;
To let go the emotions through impulse is called assertiveness.
For things age after reaching their prime;
That assertiveness would be against Tao.
And he who is against Tao perishes young."
-  Translated by Lin Yutang, 1955, Chapter 55 


"The man who is saturated with Virtue is like a little child.
Scorpions will not sting him, wild beasts will not seize him, nor will birds of prey pluck at him.
His young bones are not hard, neither are his sinews strong, yet his grasp is firm and sure.
He is full of vitality, though unconscious of his sex.
Though he should cry out all day, yet he is never hoarse.
Herein is shown his harmony with Nature.
The knowledge of this harmony is the eternal Tao.
The knowledge of the eternal Tao is illumination.
Habits of excess grow upon a man, and the mind, giving way to the passions, they increase day by day.
And when the passions have reached their climax, they fall.
This is against the nature of Tao.
And what is contrary to Tao soon comes to an end."
-  Translated by Walter Gorn Old, 1904, Chapter 55  

Chapter 55 of the Tao Te Ching

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching

English Language Translators' Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List


Tao Te Ching English Language Corncordance by Gerold Claser.  An excellent English language concordance providing terms, chapter and line references, and the proximal English language text.  No Chinese language characters or Wade-Giles or Pinyin Romanizations.  Based on the translation by John H. McDonald. 

Heart-Mind Connections

 "Research in the relatively new discipline of neuro-cardiology has confirmed that the heart is a sensory organ and acts as a sophisticated information encoding and processing center that enables it to learn, remember, and make independent functional decisions that do not involve the cerebral cortex. Additionally, numerous studies have demonstrated that patterns of cardiac signals to the brain affect autonomic regulatory centers and higher brain centers involved in perception and emotional processing.\."
-  Thomas R. Verny, M.D., The Embodied Mind, Pegasus Books, 2021, p. 125.

"Common Heart Expressions

Follow your heart.
He had a big heart.
If you find it in your heart.
My heartfelt sympathies on you loss.
Wear one's heart on one's sleeve.
He died of a broken heart.
His heart is in the right place.
Eat your heart out.
She was a lighthearted person.
She had a change of heart.
Her heart was not in it.
He has a heart of gold.
He was a heartless villain.
A bleeding heart.
A faint heart.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
With an aching heart.
She is all heart.
Open one's heart to.
Pour open's heart out to.
With a heavy heart."

-  Thomas R. Verny, M.D., The Embodied Mind, Pegasus Books, 2021, p. 116, and Mike Garofalo.

"Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts.  This is the secret of success."
- Swami Sivananda

"Your heart is full of fertile seeds, waiting to sprout."
- Morihei Ueshiba

"A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge."
Thomas Carlyle

Tai Chi Chuan, Chi Kung, Nei Gung, and Yoga Masters all mention the role of our hearts and lungs in our brief lives.  

Chinese medical theorists and martial artists (Heart-Mind Boxing) point to the Heart or Middle Dantian or Hsing-Ming (Heart-Mind) as a locus for energy and consciousness. Breathing techniques involving the lungs is also a constant point of emphasis.

"The nearest equivalent to the English term for mind in the classical period is xin 心, which originated as a picture of the heart in human beings and animals and directs body’s behavior. Since ethical guidance in Chinese thought arises from both the cognitive function of the mind and the affective states attributed to the heart, xin is frequently translated as “heart-mind”. This translation will be used here. The xin is credited with thinking si 思, understanding míng 明, knowing zhi 知, intention zhi 志, felt moods and/or emotions qing 情, and desire yu 欲. Xin plays a central role in Chinese ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics; and philosophical disputes often turn on how different schools or Masters portray the role of xin. How it arrives at ethical guidance is a central point of contention between those who treat the guidance as internal (Mengzi) to those who treat xin as navigating an external normative structure and those who advocate emptying or ignoring the xin and taking guidance from some other organ or authority."
Mind (Heart-Mind) in Chinese Philosophy

I have more doubts about the efficacy of the Lower Dan Tien, and its role as an energy source, reservoir, and generator.  See my post titled:
Dantian: A Baffling Legacy.  The area below and behind our belly button is primarily used for digestion, elimination, the female reproductive organs (womb), and some big muscles involved with leg movement and balancing. Digestion is critical for life and has its own biochemistry and automatic functioning.  However, A TCM "Dantian" is invisible and undetectable to modern medical anatomy.

I've never heard any Chi Kung or Tai Chi Chuan teacher talk about sending Chi energy from the heart and lungs out to the arms, hand, legs, feet, or brain; or Chi energy circulation to and from the Middle Dantian or Heart area. This seems remiss to me.  

I have heard both taijiquan and qigong teachers talk about their large bellies as the Dantian source of their power and a chi resovoir.  Men don't have a womb for reproduction, but I guess they envy a woman's power.  People who eat too much and don't exercise, as they age, accumulate fat: men morso in the abdomen and women in the hips. Since the lower Dantian is invisible and non-existent, people can still imagine what they want to imagine about "It" as with other supernatural entities.  

Heart and vascular diseases are the highest cause of death in the world. Far fewer die of kidney or bowel or excretory diseases.  If your heart or lungs fail you die quickly.  If your lower intestine is diseased you die far less quickly.  The heart and lungs never rest; but, you can live a week without water and a month without food. Which is more important to immediate good health and life?  

Yoga masters and Indian doctors speak about the Heart Charkra (Anhata) in a similar way. Yoga practitioners practice a variety of breathing exercises (Pranayama). 

"The middle dantian is located at the center of the chest and is most closely related to the heart chakra, or Anahata. It’s associated with the thymus gland and is considered to be the seat of qi.  “Qi is more subtle and less dense of an energy than jing, and as you elevate through the dantians, you also evolve through the purity of consciousness and subtlety of energy, just like you would in looking at the chakras,” says Soffer. “Qi, like prana, is as ubiquitous in the body as it is in nature. It’s the basis of form and function for universal energy.” According to practitioners, the middle dantian is the spark of all living things. The energy in this dantian is considered unique when compared with the other two. “The energy here is created from the food and fluids we consume and the air we breathe, and is appropriately located around the upper abdomen, where we consume, digest, and distribute energy throughout the body,” explains Ali Vander Baan, a licensed acupuncturist and founder of Yintuition Wellness in Boston. According to Soffer, when a person’s essence (jing) is properly cultivated, their life force rises to support the middle dantian and the opening of the heart. “This is a common occurrence on the path of enlightenment, to become open-hearted, loving, compassionate, and a source of good for the world around you,” explains Soffer."
- What are Dantian

When I teach Tai Chi Chuan, Qigong, Nei Gong, and Yoga I place much more emphasis on strengthening the heart, improving the functioning of the heart, using the emotional-mental aspects of the heart, having the heart and desire for training, having a big and kind heart, and heartfelt understanding; and proper breathing methods and exercises. Sending energy from the heart and lungs to all parts of our body via blood and the circulatory system is my focus.  Blood and nerves transmissions seem a more understandable anatomical and physiological concept to me.  I place little or no emphasis upon the Lower Dantian except for centering and balance in the lower back and hip areas. 

Welcoming Santa

Repost from December 22, 2014, from Red Bluff:

Last night, Karen and I listened to Christmas music on Sirius Radio, enjoyed a few cocktails with our delicious Mexican food dinner, and chatted about the good old times we had during many a winter holiday season.  Wonderful memories of fun times with family and friends!  


Winter Solstice and Yule Celebrations

One Old Druid's Final Journey

"Reclaim Santa Claus as a Pagan Godform. Today's Santa is a folk figure with multicultural roots. He embodies characteristics of Saturn (Roman agricultural god), Cronos (Greek god, also known as Father Time), the Holly King (Celtic god of the dying year), Father Ice/Grandfather Frost (Russian winter god), Thor (Norse sky god who rides the sky in a chariot drawn by goats), Odin/Wotan (Scandinavian/Teutonic All-Father who rides the sky on an eight-legged horse), Frey (Norse fertility god), and the Tomte (a Norse Land Spirit known for giving gifts to children at this time of year). Santa's reindeer can be viewed as forms of Herne, the Celtic Horned God. Decorate your home with Santa images that reflect His Pagan heritage.    Honor the Goddess as Great Mother. Place Pagan Mother Goddess images around your home. You may also want to include one with a Sun child, such as Isis with Horus. Pagan Goddess forms traditionally linked with this time of year include Tonantzin (Native Mexican corn mother), Holda (Teutonic earth goddess of good fortune), Bona Dea (Roman women's goddess of abundance and prophecy), Ops (Roman goddess of plenty), Au Set/Isis (Egyptian/multicultural All Goddess whose worship continued in Christian times under the name Mary), Lucina/St. Lucy (Roman/Swedish goddess/saint of light), and Befana (Italian Witch who gives gifts to children at this season)."
-   Selena Fox, Celebrating the Winter Solstice     

 

Freethinkers

 

The "Four Horsemen"

Of Contemporary Free Thought

 

Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris

The "Four Horsemen" of Free Thought in 2009

 

                

   

            

 

The Great Agnostic: Robert Ingersoll and American Freethought. By Susan Jacoby. 2013.

The God Argument: The Case against Religion and for Humanism.  By A. C. Grayling.  2014

The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason  By Sam Harris. 2005. 

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens.

The God Delusion. By Richard Dawkins. 2008. 

Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon. By Daniel Dennett. 2006.

Bertrand Russell on God and Religion. 1944.

I have enjoyed and benefitted from reading three books by the fine writer, humanist, and scholar: Sarah Bakewell. 

How to Live, or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer.

At the Existentialist Cafe: Freedom, Being and Apricot Cocktails.

This week, I have enjoyed reading her newest book:

Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry and Hope. Penguin Press, 2023, 454 pages. VSCL.

Greek Ideas about Living a Good Life

 Ten Golden Rules for Living the Good Life

  
“1. Examine life, engage life with vengeance; always search for new pleasures and new destines to reach with your mind.
 2.  Worry only about the things that are in your control, the things that can be influenced and changed by your actions, not about the things that are beyond your capacity to direct or alter. 
 3.  Treasure Friendship, the reciprocal attachment that fills the need for affiliation. Friendship cannot be acquired in the market place, but must be nurtured and treasured in relations imbued with trust and amity. 
 4.  Experience True Pleasure. Avoid shallow and transient pleasures. Keep your life simple. Seek calming pleasures that contribute to peace of mind. True pleasure is disciplined and restrained. 
 5.  Master Yourself. Resist any external force that might delimit thought and action; stop deceiving yourself, believing only what is personally useful and convenient; complete liberty necessitates a struggle within, a battle to subdue negative psychological and spiritual forces that preclude a healthy existence; self mastery requires ruthless cador. 
 6.  Avoid Excess. Live life in harmony and balance. Avoid excesses. Even good things, pursued or attained without moderation, can become a source of misery and suffering. 
 7.  Be a Responsible Human Being. Approach yourself with honesty and thoroughness; maintain a kind of spiritual hygiene; stop the blame-shifting for your errors and shortcomings. 
 8.  Don’t Be a Prosperous Fool. Prosperity by itself, is not a cure-all against an ill-led life, and may be a source of dangerous foolishness. Money is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the good life, for happiness and wisdom. 
 9.  Don’t Do Evil to Others. Evildoing is a dangerous habit, a kind of reflex too quickly resorted to and too easily justified that has a lasting and damaging effect upon the quest for the good life. Harming others claims two victims—the receiver of the harm, and the victimizer, the one who does harm. 
 10.  Kindness towards others tends to be rewarded. Kindness to others is a good habit that supports and reinforces the quest for the good life. Helping others bestows a sense of satisfaction that has two beneficiaries—the beneficiary, the receiver of the help, and the benefactor, the one who provides the help.” 

-   By M. A. Soupious and Panos Mourdoukoutas, The Ten Golden Rules: Ancient Wisdom from the Greek Philosophers on Living the Good Life, 2009. 

Family Health Issues

My wife, Karen, is scheduled today, 11/19/23, for urological/gynecological surgery today at Legacy Hospital in Vancouver. We check in at 5:30 am this morning. Surgery around 9 am. She and all of us are very concerned and hope for the best outcome.  She will stay at the hospital overnight.

I had a cardio-conversion procedure done at Peace Health Hospital in Vancouver on 11/22/23. Thus far, my serious and scary symptoms of atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter have abated; and, I feel fine and can walk and exercise again.

We are both over 75 years of age.  We try to face and adjust to our medical problems in a positive, constructive, and practical manner.  We don't complain at lot, and try to laugh off some of our nagging problems of old age.  On the whole, we are happy and grateful people.

Personal Cultivation in the Past

"If we look beyond Platonic sources, we will be reminded that Socrates "took care to exercise his body and kept it in good condition" by regular dance training.  "The body," he declared, "is valuable for all human activities, and in all its uses it is very important that it should be as fit as possible.  Even in the act of thinking, which is supposed to require least assistance from the body, everyone knows that serious mistakes often happen through physical ill-health."  Socrates was not the only ancient philosopher to celebrate physical health and advocate somatic training and refinement.  Before him, Cleobulus, a sage "distinguished for strength and beauty, and acquainted with Egyptian philosophy, " "advised men to practice bodily exercise."  Aristippus (hedonistic pupil of Socrates and founder of the Cyrenaic school) claimed "that bodily training contributes to the acquisition of virtue," while Zeno, founder of the Stoics, likewise urged regular bodily exercise, claiming that "proper care of health and one's organs of sense" are "unconditional duties."  Though rating mental pleasures above bodily ones, Epicurus still affirmed "health of body and tranquility of mind" as the twin goals of philosophy's quest for "a blessed life.""
-  Richard Schusterman, Body Consciousness, 2008, p 17


“Recognition of somatic training as an essential means towards philosophical enlightenment and virtue lies at the heart of the Asian practices of hatha yoga, Zen meditation, and T’ai Chi Ch’uan.  As Japanese philosopher Yuasa Yasuo insists, the concept of “personal cultivation,” or shugyō (an obvious analogue of “care of the self’), is presupposed in Eastern thought as “the philosophical foundation” because “true knowledge” cannot be obtained simply by means of theoretical thinking, but only through ‘bodily recognition or realization’ (tainin or taitoku).  From its very beginnings, East-Asian philosophy has insisted on the bodily dimension of self-knowledge and self-cultivation.  When the Confucian Analects advocate daily examining one’s person in the quest for self-improvement, the word translated as “person” is actually the Chinese word for body (shen 身). Arguing that care of the body is the basic task and responsibility without which we cannot successfully perform all our other tasks and duties, Mencius claims, “The functions of the body are the endowment of Heaven.  But it is only a Sage who can properly manipulate them.”  The classic Daoist thinkers Laozi and Zhuangzi similarly urge the special importance of somatic care: “He who loves his body more than dominion over the empire can be given the custody of the empire [Laozi, C17].”  “You have only to take care and guard your own body .. and other things will of themselves grow sturdy;” the Sage is concerned with the means by which to keep the body whole and to care for life”; “being complete in body, he is complete in spirit; and to be complete in spirit is the Way of the Sage (Zhuangzi).”
-  Richard Schusterman, Body Consciousness, 2008, p.18 

Body Consciousness: A Philosophy of Mindfulness and Somaesthetics.  By Richard Shusterman.  New York, Cambridge University Press, 2008.  Index, bibliography, 239 pages.  ISBN: 9780521858908.  Theory.  VSCL.   
 

The Three Treasures

The Three Treasures

My Body
Feelings, Emotions, Body-Self, Past-Present, Id-Ego,
Physical Health, Unconscious Dimensions, Breathing, 
Eating, Moving, Sleeping, Digesting, DNA, Sexuality,
Drinking, Vitality, Brain, Immediate Environment.

My Mind
Thoughts, Emotions, Experiences-Reflections, Ego, Goals
Past-Present-Future, Language Culture, Heart-Mind, Attitudes,
Beliefs, Opinions, Histories, Will, Hope, Memories, Spirit,
Brain-Body interactions with mundane environment.

My Actions
What I Do Today. My Behaviors and Character. 
Family Life.  Social and Community Interactions.  
Purposeful activity towards the Future.  Moral-Ethical Acts.
Practices, Exercises, Play.  My employment or work.  

The Three Treasures are intertwined, integrated, interconnected, involved, and interwoven in some way all the time; all to the benefit of well-being and good health.  They can become disconnected and conflicting which produces poor bodily health, mental confusion, and useless, evil, or self-destructive acts.  Balance, clear purpose, and reflection are some essentials.  

We can separate these aspects of Being-In-The-World intellectually when reflecting; when Acting and Doing they are integrated.  

The Living Body is the foundation of Mind and the means of flourishing Actions.  Consciousness requires a Living Body.  

I don't find it scientifically plausible to accept notions of our having consciousness after death, having an invisible immortal soul, being ghostly beings, having immortal supernatural lives in fanciful heavens or hells, or other imaginary religious memes about our "after-lives."  

Qigong routines are intended to nourish, refresh, rejuvenate, and reenergize our Living Bodies.  Seeking immortality, spiritual rebirth, or special magical super-powers via Qigong, ascetism, or prayers do not seem reasonable to me.  Seeking and cultivating good health and longevity - Yes!  

- By Michael P. Garofalo,  9/2022

Cultivating Longevity (Yang Sheng Gong)

The Longevity Plan. By John D. Jay and Jane Ann Day, wth Matthew LaPlante. 2018, 304 pages. 1. Eat good food. 2. Master your mind-set. 3. Build your place in a positive community. 4. Be in motion. 5. Find your rhythm. 6. Make the most of your environment. 7. Proceed with purpose. John D. Jay, M.D., Cardiologist, Electro-physiologist.

Books by Tom Bisio      Books by Eva Wong       Books by Livia Kohn

Books by Ken Cohen     Books by Yang Jwing-Ming

Three Treasures - Wikipedia

"In long-established Chinese traditions, the "Three Treasures" are the essential energies sustaining human life:

• Jing 精 "nutritive essence, essence; spirit, sperm, seed; extract; refined, perfected"
• Qi 氣 "breath, spirit; air, vapor; vitality, energy, force; vigor; attitude"
• Shen 神 "spirit; soul, mind; god, deity; supernatural being"

This jing-qi-shen ordering is more commonly used than the variants qi-jing-shen and shen-qi-jing.

The Three Treasures or Three Jewels (Chinese: 三寶; pinyin: sānbǎo; Wade–Giles: san-pao) are theoretical cornerstones in traditional Chinese medicine and practices such as neidan, qigong, and tai chi. They are also known as jing, qi, and shen (Chinese: 精氣神; pinyin: jīng-qì-shén; Wade–Giles: ching ch'i shen; "essence, breath, and spirit")."

"The Three Treasures or Three Jewels (Chinese: 三寶; pinyin: sānbǎo; Wade–Giles: san-pao) are basic virtues in Taoism. Although the Tao Te Ching originally used sanbao to mean "compassion", "frugality", and "humility", the term was later used to translate the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha) in Chinese Buddhism, and to mean the Three Treasures (jing, qi, and shen) in Traditional Chinese Medicine."
-  Three Treasures in Taoism

Guarding the Three Treasures.  By Daniel P. Reid.  Simon, 1993, 484 pages.

The Three Treasures.  By Jong Kook Baik.  2019, 397 pages.