silent thunder

Yea light and color is always fascinating to me too. I particularly enjoy the optical illusions widely available now, that point out just how much 'interpretation' is involved in our optical process and how much variance there is person to person. I appreciate how they illustrate that my perceptual tools are filtered, interpreted and extrapolated from the incoming raw information into internal projections that do not match exactly what is 'out there'. Sure it's impressive, and is close enough that we don't often bump into things... but we do not 'see the exact truth'. We filter and interpret it. We navigate the ocean of energy largely through our senses and just how much of what is there do we actually perceive? And how much of what we perceive do we perceive accurately? Fascinating stuff. I was originally looked into this after my wife and a good buddy were consistently seeing blue cars, where I perceived purple, or blue where I saw distinct greenish tones. This became a running joke with us over the decades... and it turns out, even among the non-color blind, we do not all perceive the same colors or all the potential gradations and variants of the various hues. This was also pointed up to me over the years while working on scenery with Scenic Painters... It is a mark of distinction if you are capable of mixing colors for prep, as not all folks on the crew are capable. They have to test you, as some folks just can't perceive subtle variations in some hues. Dichromats comprise aproximately 25% of the population and have two color receptors. Trichromats comprise 50% of the population and have three, while Tetrachromats the remaining 25% have four. The more cones, the more subtle variations within certain hues can be distinguished. quick test: see how many distinct hues you perceive.

bluebell

yup, the sad, unavoidability of self fulfilling prophecy. Ouroboros As you said very succinctly... one can share information, but cannot make anyone understand. When I read a book, or have a conversation and have a ping pong ball sized awareness... I garner a ping pong ball understanding of the book, no matter how many learned masters, professors and co-readers share their insights. Learning is an active process. No one pours knowledge or experience into another. When my awareness expands to a basket ball and I reread that book, or revisit a conversation... well then, whole new dimensions come into play. Who knows what seeds are being planted and if they will bear fruit in the soil they land in... all I seem to know, is that those here, who are willing to share with authentic intent, are displaying the very highest ideals and core foundations of of the very nature of the process Master Chang realized and that was taught to me by Zhou Ting-Jue and Wang Li Ping. Quiet heart. Calm heart. Sincere heart. With these, every act of the day is practice and life is the art. Without them... all the sitting and qi gong is mearely waving hands in the air. or something like that.

yea this sums up my reaction to the entire process of this thread... haven't seen a troll fed this well in a long while. My son taught me a profound lesson when he was a toddler. That the only thing i truly possess... is my attention and my presence. It is the only actual thing of value I may share with anyone else. In that respect. I am profoundly touched at the level of care and compassion I am witnessing here in this thread exhibited by those who are still willing to share their most valuable commodity with someone I deemed unworthy and put on ignore after their third comment. I continue to try and absorb the wisdom shown by these accomplished masters. Also... It seems i still have some grubby desire to witness the aftermath of slow motion accidents in process. But then, I know i'm a mess.

That makes logical sense to me. But it doesn't reconcile with my experience. I paint and work with color mixing and still and in spite of the practice and theory of light and color... pink is a bridge for me. Which is another awesome example of why I no longer believe everything I think and can't any more assume taht what I perceive is real. Thanks mate. As always, your education, experience and inclination to share is deeply apprectiated. p.s. pink is a bridge

Trollhunter was good fun! Imaginitive stuff. Another really great Adult Norwegian Folk Tale, regarding the Fairy/Troll folk is Thale Same production company I believe that did Valhalla Rising (incredible depiction of 13th century viking view of fate) and Trollhunter. Some really engaging, good stuff coming from that group recently list of them here.

I always considered pink a bridge from purple back to red. The completion of a cycle. As you lighten purple (red and blue) into lavender it eventually hues pink to me, which when saturated returns to red. So pink to me is a transition in perception of the return of perceived colors back to red. This Time article on the color pink considers it a fabrication of our perception process and that it technically doesn't exist... not sure how they get to that semantic conclusion myself... but then, I don't believe everything I think, let alone believe everything I perceive is real. Interesting stuff.

One of my markers for my process is based on laughter. Wherever, whatever I encounter in my life, where I consider I am not permitted to laugh... here is my work.

Humor is potent. I have witnessed Masters wield it to immensely great effect in my experience. Or, when unskilled, they cut themselves and others clumsily. And then, no matter how skillfully it is used, how it lays down to those involved is always up to the interpretation of everyone involved. Intent seems so much more important to me the more I continue as this being. Intent is the hinge pin for me. Skillful use of humor can ease the sting of derisive comments, painful realizations and hurtful intent in a conversation/situation, de-escalating and acting as a carrier interrupt signal that gives those involved a brief pause in the flow of a situation. This pause can initiate a shift out of hurtful and back into the productive. Or it can be wielded like a weapon to cause discomfort and pain. Or it can be frivolous and meaningless and chaotic. or ______________________________________. or ______________________________________. or ______________________________________. As with anything, it's up to each of us, how we respond, how we accept, and perhaps most importantly how we interpret whatever we encounter in our awareness.

Yup, that resonates with my experience and was really well stated mate, nice and simple. Easy enough even for my muddled monkey to follow. Thanks for that. I realized to my extreme relief and that of those around me, somewhere along the way that I have only so much energy under my conscious direction. I can spend it on hating shit from the past, worrying about shit from the future, or I can spend it nurturing what I love in the now. I choose love now... whenever I can.

pastry

Gummy Bear

sibilance

I will find the center of the pain and then saturate this place with my awareness. In, saturate and through... pain dissolves leaving only awareness.

“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.” Mark Twain

Husserl: Ideas Jonathan Livingston Seagull and just ordered my first play in a few years... The Seafarer by Conor McPherson

While my practice and my process have cultivated an abiding peace, love and nurturing. The process is cyclical and often, far from pleasant. They are saturated in the pain of the stripping away of assumptions, presumptions, projections and illusory beliefs. This quote resonates deeply with my process. "Enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It's seeing through the facade of pretence. It's the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true." ~Asyashanti

One of my most influential teachers reiterates over and over again. Happy and relaxed is the basis of practice. Quiet heart. Kind heart. Sincere heart. The beginning of every form is simple standing, connect to your breath. Connect to your love. Then begin.

Baguette

I had never heard of MP until I arrived here. I have up to this point, never heard it mentioned anywhere else in my life... ever. Not that I'm some all knowing barometer, but I have studied, practiced and had countless in depth conversations of a myriad of styles over the last three and a half decades with anyone I could engage on the topic, yet not once in thirty some years of intense study, practice, seeking and curiosity has it ever come up as a reference. Not by any teacher, student, fellow MA enthusiast, friend, not in any book, or movie, or anywhere. Not one other source... ever. That's some serious obscurity in my experience. It's one of the most obscure styles, aside from the ones so obscure, no one's ever heard of them at all and it seems that this is very much by intention and by the very design of its masters and lineage holders. One book (written by a student yes? not a lineage holder?) and a short video of Master Chang from over a decade (two?) ago. Of the folks who claim to have encountered it... they do not do the style any favors from my perspective based on the flavor of their behavior and their insights. The book and video seem to have hit a nerve of awakening among a group of materialists, who prior to being exposed to the video and book had no inkling of the possibility of these subtle processes and now... having seen a glimpse of a genuine Master, have had their first expansion of reality and now, understandably run about shouting to anyone who will listen... 'Have any of you seen this stuff? It's legit!!!! Here it is!!!! This is it! It's real!!! omg...", with the fervor of the recently converted fundamentalist. I get it. It's itense. And yes... we have seen it, felt it. Well... I have. And based on the authentic descriptions of all the folks with ongoing praxis, who are caring and unselfish enough to share their experiences here, we can share notes and help each other out with some understandings, or just engage in meaningful shop talk. Both of my teachers from Wudang engaged in processes that utterly altered my previously held paradigm of reality and what is possible in humans. This is the nature of a Grand Master. Merely sitting in their presence brings incredible awakening. I spent days wandering around stoned out of my gorde in utter bliss after my first short weekend with Master Zhou. After ten days with Master Wang... my life has shifted, seemingly permanently. I get it. It's intense. It's mind opening. To have these experiences. It can be disorienting, disconcerting and has long lasting ramifications to further experiences of life and 'reality'. It's reality melting stuff. I'm genuinely happy for anyone who finds a practice that resonates with them. This is a rare gem in life in my experience. So you have found it! Now go and practice! Then if you feel it... come and share! We'd love to hear your authentic experiences and insights. I thought the art was closed. I just don't know what practicing it has to do with proving it to anyone else who doesn't seem interested? I talk a lot about my teachers to those who want to know... those who don't... I As I said, I've never heard it mentioned anywhere else in any dojo or gym, or book... anywhere. But remember, at one point... Chu Chuji was standing in a forest waving his arms around and breathing and founded the branch of Longmen Pai that Wang Li Ping learned. At one point, it was just a human, engaging in exporation and self study, reaching out to the energies of the universe and expanding, inward and outward. But from what I have seen of the fruit of this tree as encountered here... Mopai has no gravity for me. It seems an obscure, intentionally closed and hidden system and frankly, based on how cloistered it is... the very intent of releasing the video of Master Chang and the Magus book seem to be questionable. Why release such, if you the intention was not to open up and seek students and another generation? Either way. As I said. Lineage is great and teachers are ultra rare. Yet at one point, ever single lineage was just some 'new age' guy out in the woods or in a cave, waving his hands in the air. Figuring shit out for him/her self. Those who talk, seldom know. Those who know, have little need to talk. Embrace your self. Resonate. Love your life and connect. Just be. The Universe is vast. There is room for all. And in the end, there is one source. We all stem from and return there.

we we we... All the way home.