silent thunder

I love the Corral Castle. I happened upon the story of Edward Leedskalnin some thirty years ago while researching a character for a play. What a fascinating man. I spent many long hours fascinatedly reading up on his life and his work, where I could find it. Edward built the Corral Castle, entirely by himself using the simplest of tools (a few key unique ones he fashioned himself), in tribute to the woman he loved, who left him at the altar in his homeland of Latvia when he was a young man. He was crushed and would carry the torch for her, the rest of his life, never marrying another and eventually dedicating his life to shaping the monument of his love. For a time he lost himself in books and the library, where he claims, eventually he happened upon an understanding and proclaimed to have figured out how the Egyptians were able to work stone the way they did. He moved to Canada. He contracted Tuberculosis from which he recovered, no small accomplishment in the late 1800's. Having moved to Florida and consulting survey maps, he decided upon and purchased what was considered an odd plot of land by the relal estate crowd, but it was just what Ed was seeking, a particular type of stone. He would spend the rest of his life carving and placing the monuments in his castle. He worked by himself usually by night, always spurring any offers of assistance, and was a distinct oddity to his neighbors. The gate to his castle weighs several tons and was so perfectly balanced on the post which ran through it's core, that a young girl could open it with one hand. Several times Edward was approached by the Army Corp of Engineers, inquiring as to his methods for moving massive stones by himself, a diminutive man of 100=110 lbs, with minimal tools. One time, he was beaten and hospitalized, but recovered and never shared his methods. When the bearings in his main gate doorway needed replacing. The Army Corp of Engineers arrived with a team of engineers and a full spec of construction gear. They were able to rehang the door with considerable difficulty on its pivot with new bearings, but those with experience at the castle claim it has never worked as smoothly as the original hang. Partially through his construction, Edward soured on its location and decided to move it all some 10-20 miles away to another site. Neighbors reported offering to help load massive stones when they sat near his truck, during the move. He always refused any aid and the following morning, the neihbors would scratch their heads as the massive stones would be loaded in the truck overnight. He wrote a paper on magnetism, which I could not comprehend, but it seemed central to his process. I read and reread it dozens of times. It's just beyond me. I have a theory that magnetic fielding of the earth is unique to each meter, the magnetically sensitive gland in the brain of a salmon allows it to follow the current or flow of magnetism to its birth place, because of this unique 'magnetic fingerprint'. So if one can find this frequency, could it be possible to generate a magnetic resonance of a stone to cause its polarity to match that of the local earth field, causing the same bouyant resistance that we use to float massive trains on magnetic cushions and levitate along the tracks when they weigh millions of tons? Such a joy to ruminate on this stuff. I'm so grateful to Ed and his dedication to expressing himself so monumentally, mysteriously and privately, simultaneously. Here's a picture of the 'magnetic current' tool he fashioned for his work. Its entire structure is like an altar piece of sacred geometry. I may have that paper on magnetism in my old files. I'll root around and see if it's here if you're interested in giving it a go.

the following just arose in awareness: as above, so below heal the heart, heal the whole

Life flows. Never static, always flowing and unfolding in presence. No thing is unchanging and beyond shift. Reality expreses plural and mutable.

You had me at "I always wanted to be a turtle..." Welcome to the Bums friend. Your name makes me smile.

I'm going to channel some Robert Anton Wilson and share my interpretation of the last few months of news I've been reading: Every border between nations does not represent a line of peaceful intent, so much as it demarks the place where two rival gangs grew tired of killing each other and agreed to stop... for now. Seems as a species we haven't grown tired yet. All perception is based on gamble. We do not perceive the world as it is, but as we have been conditioned to interpret it. We interpret the signals of perception through the filter of our familial and social programming and assume that this is reality. It is not. Our family and society (politics/religion), shape our perceptive interpretation. They reinforce, reward and punish our interpretation as it is shaped into a Reality Tunnel. This tunnel is usually finished by age 7 and changing it is nigh on impossible requiring monumental effort and an alarming degree of discomfort and outright pain. Ask anyone diligently devoted to a path of spiritual awakening if confirmation is desired. When our interpretations are in accord with our society, we are called normal. Once the tunnel is formed anything that does not conform to our projected interpretation is refuted as illusory and false. This is the basis of Naive Realism, which has been refuted since the time of The Stoics. Yet the mostly invisible process of intepreting is sub conscious and gives rise to such firm reinforced beliefs that it pre-determines our notions of normal and strange, beautiful and ugly, good and bad in spite of the raw information arising in our environment; and is why facts presented in debate seldom influence the opposition's reality interpretation. Whatever facts presented by nature, or an opponent's argument that do not meet our expectation and interpretation, will be ignored, refuted, or attacked outright as falsehood; while those that reinforce our interpretation are held up as banners of truth and shouted at opponents as 'obvious'. Certitude is siezed by some minds, not because there is any philosophical justification for it, but because such minds have an emotional need for certitude. There is great comfort in certainty. The last years of my practice have brought me a very painful understanding of why some teacher's try and shy potential students away from spiritual pursuits. It's heart breakingly and mind shattering to have one's previously held comforting notions of assumptions, projections and beliefs of reality, of 'how things are' to be relentlessly and unavoidably dissolved, shattered and melted like fog in sunshine. Borders of Nations are imaginary walls just as certainties of belief are imaginary fortresses. Each are built to prop up the illusory notion of safety, and lend the individual a sense homogeny and control. The laws of the tribe are not the laws of Tao. Absolute certainty is the realm of the arrogant ignorant... and of that, I'm absolutely certain. wait... oh shit.

@rene I recall March in Minnesota. Relentless is the word I'd ascribe to it and on average it starts with a glimpse of Spring to come, then is the heaviest snowfall month of the Season. I never minded Winter all that much, but March was an endurance test. Those drifts are very real. Respect. It was all worth it for me when those Earth shaking Thunderstorms in April kicked in though. Gaia how I miss those!

My wife and I sleep on a queen size, cotton outer shell, rubber internal air chamber mattress. We each set to maximum firmness, though on occasion my gal will adjust her side to accomodate residual back issues. The mattress rests on a platform of wooden planks. No metal aside from a few screws in the framing. When possible, I prefer to sleep in pitch dark. I have come to deeply and increasingly appreciate complete darkness over the last decade. We have heavy curtains in our bedroom and for the last several years, I sleep with a mask to aid in creating a light free sleeping environment.

Hello My Friend Thank you One of the most wonderful aspects of any vacation for me... is the moment of opening the door and returning home. it's good to be home.

These preperatory and maintenance stretches are invaluable to me. http://zenmontpellier.net/eng/lotus/lotuseng.html

my son and I at the museum. walking by an oil painting of adam and eve at the apple tree... with the serpent. my son: Dad? me: yea? my son: why do they always paint adam and eve with belly buttons? what were they supposed to be attached to? me: i love you.

why not just install the profanity filter while we're at it... sheesh.

I for one, deeply appreciate an authentic fuckin' potty mouth. Particularly the Irish and Scottish varieties.

Been raining on and off since about an hour before dawn. I love Deuter. But he's particularly awesome on overcast, drizzly days.

Hi ben. Welcome to the Bums. Two of my three teachers speak almost no english. And my chinese is limited to phrases and words. As there is not always a translator present, a fair amount of my training has taken place without explicit verbal instruction. While I deeply appreciate this aspect to how my training has unfolded, I have found the words of Dr Yang Jwing-Ming and Damo Mitchell to be particularly resonant and beneficial. I find their words to be based from deep experience and to be very clear and direct in their descriptions of processes, practices and energetics. I recommend any works by either of them, but particularly from Dr Yang... Embryonic Breathing and The Root of Chinese Qi Gong and from Damo: The Dragon Dao Yin Exercises stand out for me. I also still routinely spend some long wonderful hours perusing old conversations here and highly recommend that as well. Either entering a particular term or concept, or simply ambling along through a section. There's no stigma here against reviving old conversations. Cheers mate!

I so agree! Highly recommended. This film is stunningly well crafted in story, acting and photography and sound... and resonates long after viewing. A simple, beautiful story, told with subtle, artful grace.

I don't move much at all while I sleep. This is how it is for the last decade or so... The only movement that occurs is when I wake in the middle of the night, I'll roll over to the other side. I carry the chest pillows with me, resettle my legs and I'm back out in moments.

full, authentic presence complete release in the now... as it is playful bouyancy... blissful loss of self in action and raw connected presence a softening of the notion of a boundary between a self and an other a dissolving of certainties a sense of awakening after a long nap

Shunryu Suzuki! How I Love that old dead zen dude!

whales have the largest brains on the planet and seemingly spend the majority of their time, flying through water and singing... i'm convinced.

I can close my eyes and cease all input of light. If only I could as readily close my ears and stop the input of sound for but a moment of true silence, in which to saturate... Ears are always on, while eyes completely shut down regularly. When working with Wang Li Ping... the most challenging aspect of turning within for me, without a doubt is to turn hearing within. Think about how often in your life, you hear something approaching, and then turn to see what the potential incoming natural force may be...

http://www.philmultic.com/home/instruments/ here's a site dedicated to classical chinese instruments.