Dao De Jing by Lao Zi, Chapter 12

"The five colors
blind our eyes.
The five notes
deafen our ears.
The five flavors
dull our taste.
Racing, chasing, hunting,
drives people crazy.
Trying to get rich
ties people in knots.
So the wise soul
watches with the inner
not with the outward eye,
letting that go,
keeping this."
-  Translation by Ursula K. Le Guin, 2009, Chapter 12 


"The five colors combined the human eye will blind;
The five notes in one sound the human ear confound;
The five tastes when they blend the human mouth offend.
Racing and hunting will human hearts turn mad,
Treasures high-prized make human conduct bad.
The holy man attends to the inner and not to the outer.
He abandons the latter and chooses the former."
-   Translated by D. T. Suzuki and Paul Carus, 1913, Chapter 12  

"Color's five hues from the eyes their sight will take;
Music's five notes the ears as deaf can make;
The flavors five deprive the mouth of taste;
The chariot course, and the wild hunting waste
Make mad the mind;
And objects rare and strange,
Sought for,
Men's conduct will to evil change.
Therefore the sage seeks to satisfy the craving of the belly,
and not the insatiable longing of the eyes.
He puts from him the latter, and prefers to seek the former."
-   Translated by James Legge, 1891, Chapter 12     


"The five colors
   make a man's eyes blind;
Horseracing and hunting
   make a man's mind go mad;
Goods that are hard to obtain
   make a man's progress falter;
The five flavors
   make a man's palate dull;
The five tones
   make a man's ears deaf.
For these reasons,
   In ruling, the sage
       attends to the stomach, not to the eye.
Therefore,
   He rejects the one and adopts the other."
-  Translation by Victor H. Mair, 1990, Chapter 12  

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu 

Ripening Peaches: Daoist Studies and Practices

 

Qigong Classes in the Beautiful North Sacramento Valley

Study with Mike Garofalo in Beautiful Red Bluff, California

Beginning T'ai Chi Ch'uan Options:  Yang 24, Chen 18, Sun 24, Cane 18

Beginning Chi Kung Options: Eight Brocades, Animal Frolics

Valley Spirit Center

Lectures, Private Lessons, Classes, Consulting,
Workshops, Questions and Answers

Reasonable Hourly Rates

Instructor:  Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.

Excellent Recreational Opportunities for Persons of All Ages in the North Sacramento Valley
The Perfect Weekend Getaway for You, Friends and Family
Beautiful Scenery, Pleasant Weather, and Clear Skies for the Outdoor Enthusiast
Activities: Sight Seeing, Walking, Shopping, Spas, Reading, Relaxing, Internal Arts Studies
The Valley Spirit Center includes extensive gardens for Tai Chi practice and a Sacred Circle
A Full Array of Services and Excellent Accommodations in Redding or Red Bluff

Contact Mike: Email or Phone 530-200-3546

My Daily Tai Chi Chuan and Chi Kung Training Program

Private Lessons and Weekend Training is available!!

Mike teaches the Eight Section Brocade Qigong, Five Animal Frolics Qigong, Five Elements Qigong, Magic Pearl Qigong, Dragon Qigong, Temple Qigong, Muscle-Tendon Transformation Qigong, Dragon Qigong, Meditative Walking and Standing, Standard 24 Movement Yang Style Taijiquan, Chen Style Taijiquan 18 Movement Form, and cane weapon practices and forms.  Information and handouts are available online. 

Valley Spirit Qigong Website

Cloud Hands Blog

Cloud Hands: Taijiquan Website

Yoga Classes

Train at the Valley Spirit Center

Nearby cities: Chico, Orland, Corning, Los Molinos, Red Bluff, Cottonwood, Anderson, Redding.  Chico is 40 miles south of Red Bluff, and Redding is 40 miles north of Red Bluff.  Sacramento is 130 miles south of Red Bluff.  San Francisco is 175 miles southwest of Red Bluff.  Eureka is 180 miles west of Red Bluff.   


Enjoy the weekend in beautiful Tehama County!  There are many nice motels in Red Bluff.  There are many recreational opportunities in our area.  The quaint town of Red Bluff features Victorian style homes, many antique shops, and beautiful parks along the Sacramento River.  There are many fine restaurants, motels, and cultural events in both Chico and Redding.    

Soak up some country atmosphere!  Come to Red Bluff and learn Qigong and Tai Chi Chuan.  

Contact Mike or Karen Garofalo by Email

                        Sundial Walking Bridge in Redding, California.

Figs for Breakfast

We are blessed with a bountiful supply of fresh figs.  We have planted six different varieties of figs, and enjoy the produce from twelve fig trees.   

The common fig (ficus carica) thrives in the hot and dry summer season in Red Bluff, California.  

     



The fruit of a fig is pollinated by a unique insect, the Fig Wasp.  

"In an orchard there should be enough to eat, enough to lay up, enough to be stolen,  and enough to rot on the ground."
-   James Boswell   


The ants and birds eat to their hearts content.  We all steal the fruit from these ancient trees. 


Trees:  Quotes, Poems, Sayings

Eastern Mysticism

"For the Eastern mystic, all things and events perceived by the senses are interrelated, connected and are but different aspects or manifestations of the same ultimate reality.  Our tendency to divide the perceived world into individual and separate things and to experience ourselves as isolated egos in this world is seen as an illusion which comes from our measuring and categorizing mentally.  It is called avidya, or ignorance, in Buddhist philosophy and is seen as the sate of a disturbed mind which has to be overcome:

'When the mind is disturbed, the multiplicity of things is produced, but when the mind is quieted, the multiplicity of things disappears.'

Although the various schools of Eastern mysticism differ in many details, they all emphasize the basic unity of the universe which is the central feature of their teachings.  The highest aim for their followers - whether they are Hindus, Buddhists or Taoists - is to become aware of the unity and mutual interdependence of all things, to transcend the notion of an isolated individual self and to identify themselves with the ultimate reality.  The emergence of this awareness - known as 'enlightenment'- is not only an intellectual act but is an experience which involves the whole person and is religious in its ultimate nature.  For this reason, most Eastern philosophies are essentially religious philosophies."

-  Fritjof Capra, The Tao of Physics, 25th Anniversary Edition, p. 24  

Nature Mysticism:  Resources, Quotes, Notes

Gardening and Mysticism

Tai Chi Fan

There are many T'ai Chi Ch'uan exercise forms which make use of a fan.   Most are shorter forms, under 25 movements, but some, like the famous Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan Form have over 50 movements.  Most are done slowly and softly, but some include vigorous and fast movements.  The majority favor the Yang Style of Tai Chi Chuan.  

Tai Chi Fan: Bibliography, Links, Resources, Notes, Lore, Quotations. Research by Mike Garofalo.  I welcome any comments, suggestions, additions, or ideas regarding this webpage.

One of the most popular Tai Chi Fan forms was created by Professor Li Deyin (1938-).  It has 52 movements.  I includes slow and gentle movements in the first half of the form, then the second half is much more vigorous.  This Tai Chi Fan form is for athletic and intermediate Tai Chi students. 

Here are some instructional resources for learning the Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan Form.  

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan. Routine 1, created by Grandmaster Li Deyin (1938-). Instructional DVD, 65 minutes, by Master Jesse Tsao. Tai Chi Healthways, San Diego, California. "The most popular Tai Chi Fan form ever practiced in China. The routine was created by Grandmaster Li Deyin, Jesse Tsao's teacher since 1978. There are 52 movements in the whole routine based on the characteristic Tai Chi posture with the fan's artistic and martial functions. Master Tsao presents demonstrations at the beginning and end. He teaches step-by-step in slow motion, in English. There are plenty of repetitions of movements in both front and back view. It is a good reference for home study, or a resource for instructor's teaching preparation." Cost: 35.00 US. Demonstration.

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan Instructional DVD by Professor Li Deyin. Narration in English. "A fan routine, created by Professor Li, which combines the gracefulness, centrality and continuity of Taiji with the power, speed and fierceness of Wushu. It is designed as an addition to the exercises for health, and has received massive interest and support throughout the world. In this DVD, Professor Li provides in-depth teaching with Mrs. Fang Mishou performing detail demonstration." Vendor 1. Cost: $35.00 US.

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan, Form 1. List of 52 movement names, directions, instructions, and notes by Mike Garofalo.

I compiled the following list of UTube demonstrations of this Tai Chi fan form a couple of years ago.  Some of the videos may no longer exist.  

Tai Chi Kung Fun Fan, Form 1. UTube Video, 4:02 min. Lady in white on a stage in Japan. My favorite! "First Form of the Xiyangmei Taiji Kungfu Shan (Taiji Shan). Recorded in Tokyo, Japan when the group headed by Li Deyin went to give an exhibition in 2006." 

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan, Form 1. UTube Video, 3:59 min. Three performers in white outfits.

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan, Form 1. UTube Video, 3:59 min. Demonstrated by Patty Lee. Lady in a yellow outfit in a field with a backdrop of mountains.

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan, Form 1. UTube Video, 4:02 min. Lady in black practicing in a dance studio. What is the song used in many of these videos (by Jackie Chan)??

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan, Form 1. UTube Video, 3:42. A group of Master Fay Li Yip's students performing outdoors.

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan, Form 1. UTube Video, 3:53 min. A group in black outfits performs outdoors in Madrid, Spain. Some members need more group practice.

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan, Form 1. UTube Video, 5:57 min. Two ladies in red outfits perform outdoors in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan, Form 1. 中國太極功夫扇

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan, Form 1. UTube Video Subject Search.

Advice for Young People

Advice for Young People

"Young people need compassion and guidance, not obscure mysticism.
Here are some guidelines for young people:

Remember that you are always your own person. Do not surrender your
mind, heart, or body to any person. Never compromise your dignity for
any reason.

Maintain your health with sound diet, hygiene, exercise, and clean
living. Don't engage in drugs or drinking.

Money is never more important that your body and mind, but you must
work and support yourself. Never depend on others for your livelihood.

Choose your friends and living situation carefully, for they will
influence you. Find a mentor you can trust, one who can answer your
every question, but never give up responsibility for your own life. No
one lives your life for you.

A good education is always an asset.

Emotions are transitory and are not a good way to make decisions.

Every day, you must make decisions. Everything you do will have
irrevocable effects upon your life. Before you go down any path,
consider carefully. Rivers very rarely reverse course.

Know evil, but do not do evil yourself. Remember, there is a way
out of the delusions of life. When you weary of the world, find someone
who will show you Tao."

-  Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao: Daily Meditations
 

Lifestyle Advice for Wise Persons

Floating Down to Die

The cottonwood tree is slowly loosing its leaves, or should I say that the leaves are one by one letting go to float down to their death.  

"When the still air and still in summertime
A leaf has had enough of this, it seems
To make up its mind to do; fine as a sage
Its drifting in detachment down the road."
-  Howard Nemerov, Threshold

 

Summertime: Quotes, Poems, Sayings, Lore, Chores

"The foliage has been losing its freshness through the month of August,
and here and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first gray hair
amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many."
-  Oliver Wendell Holmes

When I return from the gym at around 7:20 pm, after teaching yoga or taijiquan, I enjoy walking around in the garden, watering, and just sitting outdoors.  The air has cooled somewhat and the sun is very low in the western horizon.  The leaves of many plants are beginning to perk up again after a cool drink and less sunshine and heat.  

“That beautiful season - the Summer!
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light;
and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.”
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Inebriate of Air - am I -
And Debauchee of Dew -
Reeling through endless summer days -
From inns of Molten Blue.”
- Emily Dickinson, No. 214, St. 2, 1860

August: Poems, Quotes, Lore

"Gardening helps us realize somatically, viscerally, the laws of growth and gradual unfolding.  We can't pull the plants up to make them grow, but we can help facilitate and midwife their blooming, each in his own way, time, and proper season.  I have learned a little about patience and humility from my gardens.  It's so obviously not something I'm doing that creates this miracle!  I also like to reflect upon and appreciate the exquisitely, evanescent, transitory, and poignant nature of things in the garden. 
If you love the Dharma, you have to farm it.

Go to a garden
And just stand in it.
Breathe in the air, the fragrances,
the light, the temperature,
the music of the different plants, insects, birds, worms,
   caterpillars, grasshoppers, and butterflies.
Inhale the prana (cosmic energy) of all the abundantly
   growing things.
Recharge your inner batteries.
This is the joy of natural meditation."
-  Lama Surya Das, "Awakening to the Sacred," 1999

    

The colorful gate pictured above is located at the entrance to our Sacred Circle Garden in Red Bluff, California.  The color green symbolizes Earth, yellow symbolizes Air, red symbolizes Fire, and blue symbolizes Water. This photograph was taken two years ago.  Some of the plants have nearly doubled in size since then.  

Gardening: Quotes, Poems, Sayings, Lore

Dhammapada Sutta (The Sayings of the Buddha)

Meetings with Master Chang San-Feng

Master Chang’s Pepper Talk

Coming through the
clear and cloudless skies
whereabouts known
the master comes walking to my home.
Smiling, herbs in hand,
stepping over dry wheat, star thistle, bindweed, dry land,
startling and scattering a guinea hen band,
onward walks that tall and dignified man.
He strolled past the fence and
into the gardened land.

”I see your peppers green, yellow and red,
spicy hot, like a sharp fajing strike
from that old fellow Chen Wang-ting’s
hidden fist’s bite.”

“Listen, a woodpecker knocks,
your garden becomes more mysterious,
the six sealings are all leaky,
the four closings are all openings.
Step back, raise your arms in joy,
play Cloud Hands in realms of cloudlessness.”

“Plant the seeds of progress with practice
daily, sun after sun, at dawn
to be done, by you,
the chosen one.”

“Do not neglect fasting the mind,
and, for you, fasting the flesh,
until you are as fast as the Tameless White Tiger,
lean as Xuan Wu’s Snake General,
still and strong as the Black Tortoise,
and worthy of Lao Tzu’s wisdom.”

“Become graceful, gentle, manly, clean.
Court the Jade Maiden, fairest Grace,
Go to Her for your fate to spin,
Weaving beauty till the end.”

“Let the Yellow Dragon stir
the waters of your blood and brain,
build up your bones, break bad habits,
root deeper into the earth, fill youself with energy,
strengthen your spirit, and lengthen your days.”

“Take these herbs with tea,
my friend in the five realms;
I’m going now,
flying west to the sea.”

I picked up the herbs and an acorn squash,
looked up,
and a single cloud passed by
in the clear gray cloudless sky.

-  Michael P. Garofalo
   Valley Spirit Garden
   Red Bluff, California
   August 23, 2011

Meetings with Taoist Master Chang San-Feng

Above the Fog

Ripening Peaches: Daoist Studies and Practices

Pulling Onions

Dao De Jing by Lao Tzu, Chapter 10

"creative spirit
vital soul
wondrous bodymind

can you combine these into one phase
and gently hold onto it

one phase one part one moment

can you commune with
and direct the elemental force of life
and enter into the rebirth of gentleness
and be like a newborn  
 
can you wash and cleanse your mystic inner vision
while clearing it of the refuse left behind you
     ordinary sight

is it possible for you to stay out of your own way
while being your own leader

can you stomp the earth
look to the heavens while being receptive
passive
possessed of quietude

can you be knowledgeable and clever
and regard it as whimsical 

create and nourish
let all creation be the worlds
not your own

have fun when you work
work when you have fun

be a leader without appearing to be
and you will personify fine uncarved wood
in the hands of a master carpenter

can you guess who this master is."

-  Translated by the Reverend Venerable John Bright-Fey, 2006, Chapter 10

The Whole Heart of Tao: The Complete Teachings from the Oral Tradition of Lao-Tzu.  By John Bright-Fey.  Birmingham, Alabama, Crane Hill Publishers, 2006.  376 pages.  ISBN: 1575872471.  The Reverend Venerable John Bright-Fey, Sifu Fey, is the 12th generation lineage holder of the Blue Dragon Order of Esoteric Zen Buddhism, a distinct line of knowledge descended directly from Shaolin Temple. Sifu Bright-Fey teaches at the New Forest Center for Contemplative Living, Birmingham, Alabama.  This version of the Tao Te Ching is both a translation by a Chinese scholar and a fascinating interpolation based on his religious training.  He uses a schema of interpretation for lines in each of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching based on the concepts of the Taoist Mind (mindset and world view), Taoist Body (day to day concerns of living), Taoist Hand (training techniques by a Cultivator of the Tao, spiritual disciplines) and Taoist Heart (core and cherished beliefs) [p.21-].  His rigorous experiential approach resonates with my training in Taijiquan, Qigong, gardening, spiritual practices, and ritual.   

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, Chapter 10

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Faceless Obscurity

"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 

"Easter Wisdom, Modern Life: Collected Talks, 1960-1969."  By Alan Watts.  Novato, California, New World Library, 1994, 2006. 

Wuxing (Five Elements) - Table of Correspondences

I continue my research into the Chinese Five Elements Theory (Wuxing). 
There are many books and webpages with a Table of Correspondences for the Five Elements. 
Mine is located at:  http://www.egreenway.com/qigong/fiveelements.htm

Compare this Five Elements Table with the ones I prepared five years ago for the Eight Trigrams. 

I used the Eight Trigrams schema and Western Four Element schema for the design of my Sacred Circle Garden. 

Walking Practice Suggestion

"Begin by walking your normal walk a little more slowly. Become aware of your breath, breathing through you nose, and count the number of steps that you go with your inhale. Count the number of steps that you go with your exhale. Continue for several minutes in this way, blending your breathing with your walking, and your walking with your breathing.

Drop your shoulders and keep your back straight. Let the tension in your body fall to your center, where it blends with your breathing. Let your breathing sink to your center as your muscles relax. Use the same kind of breathing pattern as you practiced in lying-down meditation: relax on the inhale, set the hara as the start of the exhale. Practice bringing this rhythm into your walking. To set the hara for walking, place your hand on your lower abdomen (below your navel). Keeping your knees slightly flexed, tuck your tailbone ever so slightly forward. This should have the effect of rocking your hand slightly inward, creating a sense of roundness in your lower abdomen. Don't tuck too much, otherwise walking will be uncomfortable. With the slightest tuck, imagine your center becoming a perfectly round globe, which then becomes the center of your walking motion.

Allow the number of steps that go with each breath to increase as feels natural; as your body relaxes, your breathing will tend to slow down. In particular, let your exhale lengthen, growing two or three times as long as your inhale. Don't force your breath to lengthen; simply invite it to stretch out. Continue to breathe with your walk, allowing your body to move evenly from your center.

Feel your feet touch the earth. Feel the stability of each step as your weight rolls from heel to toe, from heel to toe.

Keep your head erect. Don't watch your feet or the ground as you walk. Let you eyes take in all that is around you, keeping your vision as broad as possible. Rather than focusing narrowly on each object with the center of your eye, see everything all at once by using peripheral vision. Take in the sounds, the smells, the beautiful, the not-so-beautiful; take in everything evenly - and be caught in none of it. If you find your attention wandering off, come back to your breath and blend it back with your step. Come back to your center. Come back to your feet feeling the earth. Come back to your senses.

Continue to walk. Enjoy your breath, body and mind - moving in this simple harmony, alive in this moment, and awake to what this moment offers."
- Ginny Whitelaw, Body Learning, (Berkeley Pub. Co., 1998), p. 56.


Walking Meditation

Walking Quotations

Walking in the Garden

General Index to the Cloud Hands Website

Standing Meditation, Zhan Zhuang, Standing Like a Post

Standing Meditation - General

The Sunny Garden Is Producing as Expected

Back in May of 2011, I worked hard to establish a new garden area in full sun for growing vegetables.  We planted it with tomatoes, peppers, squash, melons, beans, and other crops.  The south portion is used for our compost pile, while the center and north portions of the "Sunny Garden" are used for crops.  Here is how it looks today:

Back in May it looked like this:

When I work on improving this garden in the Spring of 2012, I plan to add drip irrigation lines and provide more space between the plants. 

Sunny Garden Project

Roads Go Ever On

"Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains of the moon.

Roads go ever ever one
Under cloud and under star
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
An horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known."
-  J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

Walking Quotations 

Lately, because of an infected toe, a recurring problem, I must abstain from walking for a few days.  I do very much miss my walks at daybreak in the cool summer morn. 

Five Elements Qigong

I've been studying a number of books and Internet resources about the subject of the Chinese Five Elements Theory.  The Five Elements are more often referred to as the Five: Movers, Energies, Transformations, Phases, Powers and Forces. The Five Energies are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. 

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

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

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