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Harry Smith made a mark in a number of areas, notably the Anthology of American Folk Music and the accompanying materials.

I'm not really capable of uncritical reading-this was what did the Bible in for me, so many inconsistencies even as a kid. I do read a lot of Taoist literature and related things with a sense of "keeping myself on track", in the same sense as reading a favorite poem for inspiration or listening to a rousing song to get psyched for the day. But liturgy as such may be just beyond my grasp.

His writing is clear, and I see the video output as a very generous supplement.

Cracking good action story. The above criticism is on point, but, on the tales own terms, I enjoyed the ride. I've been a big fan of Roger Zelazny, especially geeking over his Amber books. Michael Moorcock's "Eternal Champion " is part of my fantasy bedrock. Stuff rooted in fictional multiverses is a staple of what I'd call literary comfort food. A fresh story set in as venerable a cosmos as a version of the Vedic one worked well- a literary world I'll gladly revisit.

https://www.qigonginstitute.org/abstract/851/on-the-application-of-qigong-in-archery-synopsis

its a pretty short fight in "Journey to the West ". Sun Wukong has several kinds of Taoist immortality, including exposure to Lao Tzu 's magical oven, and Buddha drops a mountain on him. Watch out for that Buddha's palm!

Well, I'm in.

If we were making a laundry list of reasons the modern west has a less developed culture of spiritual development than it started with, it might include The murder of Hypatia and multiple burnings of libraries at Alexandria, The persecution of Gnostics as heretics, The schism between eastern and western churches But this would be far from complete. Of course esoteric spiritual practices and traditions continued in the west, sometimes in distorted forms, often returning to eastern wells for refreshing.

Nothing!

I would just start putting time aside every day to sit still. Get used to sitting, still, first, with no pressure to do anything else. Get past the fidgets. Start building a habit, Then refine it into a practice.

Silent Thunder posted a link to a video concerning body work approaches pioneered by Emilie Conrad and Susan Harper. I'm finding a lot of value in this line of inquiry. (A copy of Emilie Conrad's book " Life on Land" is on the way, I'll review that as I get to it)

Literally, my steel mala beads came with a free Allen wrench to adjust the space between beads. Gizmo! Too cool. And figuratively, the thirty verses on consciousness only were big useful, especially the idea of "storehouse consciousness ". A cornerstone of Yogachara as well as the starting point for the conversation between Chan Buddhism and Taoism.

And really, you can even have a bit of Buddhism inside your Taoism. You've heard me talk about stealing from Buddha's toolbox before. I've got this cool little Allen wrench I'm not planning on giving back. (just identifying the "floating on gourds " thing. It's Zhuangzi)

That's just a "whatever floats your boat" distinction. I've been making pretty good headway crossing the river floating on these weird oversized gourds. Switching to some other floatation device just seems like courting problems. Even worrying about the ontology seems unhelpful.

More and more how I treat the language of the Laozi.

Damo stresses this stuff in "Complete Guide". Started this, got lazy, and came back to it as a beginning to seated practices. Like changing guitar strings, it makes all the difference in how diligent/enthusiastic i feel about practice.

Earth is wobbling

After a stand I get moving...walk around, tai chi, sometimes thats when the nunchuks come out.

I had 12 years of catholic school and left it with no stomach for organized religion.

A sequel to "here come the warm jets"...

Pretty much my conclusion.

I have for sure noticed a similar thing after some zahn zhuang stands. Darker than usual too. Inner sound work makes me crazy thirsty. More urine, not damp handles.

I wonder if a more isotonic drink would help here?

A lot of people are experiencing weird stress lately. This week, a lot of people have turned a kind of emotional corner, feel like they have exhaled for the first time in a few years. That's stressful too. This is a time for being gentle with ourselves and each other.