Otis

Good share, de_paradise. I have a friend with PTSD, and he has sworn by the usefulness of similar techniques. In general, I think it is important to stay present with pain, but as you said, when it's too much, any respite is welcome.

That's a myopic question. A less myopic form of the same question is: "how do I get along with my environment in a way that doesn't ruin the environment in the future?" After all, burning and slashing allows you to "get along" with your environment. When I wrote: "get along" I meant as in: be friends with.

Honestly, I think the issue of morals is a bit of a distraction. The only reason to talk about morals is in philosophical remove, as if talking about society could change it. The only question that seems important to me is: how do I get along with my environment? Oddly enough, it's not that different with the pirates, than with my New Age friends. Sure, I'll swear less around my sensitive friends, but be assured, I'm not going to insult the pirates, either. In each case, people want to be loved, to be valued, to be respected. That is my key to connecting to just about any group of people; the rest is jargon and style. Even cut-throat pirates (or Wall Street brokers) have friends that they relax with, that they think they can trust. It's just a smaller circle of trust, then the one I have in the dance community. I prefer a larger circle of trust, because I don't enjoy being vigilant all the time. IMO, "society is (adjective)" or "society should be (adjective)" are both delusions, and not worth holding on to. The only thing that I can control, is how I am meshing with my environment right now. And that, IME, is decided by my willingness to fit into my environment, instead of demanding that it fit me.

Excellent post, Steve! I particularly liked this bit.

Regarding the question of insults, I think it's worthwhile looking to the twin virtues of Taoism: courage and caring. Caring without courage is pretty ineffectual; nothing gets done. And if I have courage without caring, I might just be an a-hole, running roughshod over others because their happiness is not important to me. If either virtue is not there, then the action is not in balance.

Thank you for obliging. After you wrote the following: I wanted to see what that "internal meaning" was. Thanks again.

This is my take on it: "Energy" is merely a metaphor, just like "God" or "no self". It doesn't necessarily mean that there is some physical force that can be measured by the right device. It is, rather, about a way of experiencing our own bodies. Psychologists call the ego view of the body: the bodymap. The bodymap is the internal reference of cause and effect within the concept of the body. The bodymap allows me to wiggle my finger upon command, because I have associated a certain sensation with "finger". The bodymap allows me to figure out from where in my body a pain is coming from. However, the bodymap is often not very accurate, and it creates extra conceptual layers between both brain-and-sensation (input) and between brain-and-action (output). This forces an unnecessary detour in the path of input and output (through the ego), which slows everything way down, and which pollutes the process with habit. There is another way of exploring the body, without a map, but of course, it is formless, and gives rise to no conceptual data. In this "energetic" way of exploring the body, I can feel what my body is telling me, but no concepts arise from it. There is no story attached, just raw sensation. This is tantric exploration: how and what do I feel, without actually attaching a conceptual "how" or "what" to it. This is giving the body back to the body, because when I feel without deciding, the body's actions arise from some source that is not "me" (i.e. not my ego). When I practice with my staff, I do not work on tricks or try to make the stick do anything. Instead, I merely pay attention to the sensation at my fingers (or wherever I feel the staff), and allow the staff and my body to dance together, without "my" interference. Briefly: another metaphor that I like a lot: wave and particle. In quantum physics, phenomena seems to exist "as a wave", until egos get involved. Once we interfere, we experience phenomena as "particles", i.e. as something real. The same, I think, is true of the body. We try to conceptualize our bodies into discrete material that responds to our commands. But IME the body is most efficient, most powerful, and most innovative, when it does what it wants to, not what "I" want it to. The only way to reach the "energetic" or "wave" version of the body is to humble my own role in controlling the body, allow myself to be a baby, who does not know.

I think a practical example might be useful. How about "right posture"? How do you arrive at "right posture"? What does it even mean? Is it "straight"? But the spine itself isn't straight. And how would I arrive at "straight", anyway? Do I force the muscles of my back, until the appearance of straight is achieved? But that just adds new contraction onto whatever old habits I already had, all for the sake of appearance. It doesn't bring me to any functional health; it's just fixing one error with another error. The body itself does not care about aesthetic issues like "straight". It only cares about ease and freedom. Ease and freedom are not to be found by forcing solutions on the body; quite the opposite. The body is like a mobile of self-balancing parts. If my leg shifts this way, then the other parts of my body counter-shift, automatically, creating an easy, efficient, and highly mobile system. The mobile is knocked out of efficiency when some connecting tissue is too bound, and consequently, others become too slack. Therefore, re-finding efficiency is about surrendering the bound tissue (yin), and enlivening the slack tissue (yang). The system is unable to balance itself out precisely because of the interference of the concept of "right" (the kernel of each habit). Once I "know" the "right way" to walk, sit, stand, etc., then I automatically exclude all the other ways. What this does is create the bound tissue (right) and the slack tissue (wrong). But none of the tissue is wrong, and no way of moving or standing is wrong. All that stuff is aesthetics, only; appearance, rather than health. What is efficient and effective is having a free, energized, activated and aware body. And my body is already evolved to do that, and to grow into its own efficiency and balance. It knows how to find freedom, better than all the concepts in the world. I just have to learn how to humble myself before my body, and start listening. How different, then, is the human psyche? Hasn't that also evolved into a self-balancing system? And if I force a "right" on the system, will I not be creating more bound areas, and hence also more slack areas? Every "truth" is also a blinder. Why rely on concepts, when the organism that I was born with, already has within it the talent to find ease and efficiency? Shouldn't I see my body and my brain as my teachers, my path? The solution is contained within the problem; my suffering is my roadmap to my healing.

And Marblehead, suninmyeyes, Eric and Kate: thank you very much for the kind words. This environmental dance play is very much one of my spontaneous practices, that my body has called me to. It's beautiful for forgetting the "right way" to do things, and instead just find what's available. It's a great work-out, too, because it's always new, always specific to the terrain. It's global, 360-degree, balance-oriented, joyful, body-kind, non-repetitive exercise (that also gets me to face physical and social fear). That vid was back when I was creating bigger exploration videos, but now, as I'm starting to get back into that environmental play, the vids are simpler, just "what happened today". Yesterday I did my first collaboration with my two roommates, around our own neighborhood. Following is the first part of that (Barb - the guy in red is Nick, the even-more-playful buddy that I was hoping you could meet).

Ah yes, I was thinking it was something like that. Although I had not noticed the "cutest little happy face" (you're right; it's definitely there), I sure like to relate to physical objects, as if they were my friends, and my dance partners. So yes, definitely, it is the manitou that I dance with.

I agree that authentic flow is an important place to practice, and is at the centerpiece of my dance, stretch, etc. I do think that communication is a little bit different. If we want to be understood, rather than just to express ourselves, then I think we do need to consider: how will this be heard? If we want to reach people, rather than just vent and unload, then IME we need to consider the person we're writing for. For example, we have to remember that we are speaking to egos, and modify our content accordingly. Doing otherwise is pretending that what is in my head is more important than what is out there in the world. Buddha taught one sermon by raising a flower, but (as I understand it) he reached only one person. He knew the dharma would be misunderstood, precisely because it was written in words, but he preached it anyway, because that is the trade-off in trying to reach most people. I think these are complementary truths, not contradictions. Yin truths balancing yang truths.

Excellent! Thanks for the share. I agree very much with (what I interpret as the meaning of) the quotes you included. I'm curious to see what your interpretation is. Would you be willing to pen a quick summary of how you understand these words?

You're right. It is common sense. But common sense is just what matches society's previous expectations. There's nothing about common sense that is inherently true. Common sense says: you have to work for everything. But what if the thing you want to find - is your true self? Well, why would I have to work to find myself, when I'm already here? I merely need to stop being other than I am. This does take time, and it does take practice, but it does not need work. IME, play is a much more effective way of finding and accepting who I am, than is working toward a mental fantasy of who I think I should be. Of course cultivation is useful, once I have accepted who I am. There's always more room to grow. But cultivation that is in lieu of acceptance, or that is intended to force a change in who I am; that is counterproductive. That is the road, leading away from Rome. Because it just builds new layers of falsity. Finding my true self comes from just stopping being my fantasy self. It is 100% accepting where I am, at every moment. It is forgiving myself and the world, surrendering all grudges and need to win. It is being utterly self-honest. It is letting go the importance of my desires and my fears. All of this comes from surrendering my mental models of the world, not from taking on new philosophies and methods. So I agree: don't go to a surgeon who hasn't earned his stripes, and don't take on a teacher, who has not been exhaustive and unrelenting in his self- and other-discovery. But that doesn't mean that one needs to work to find one's self. Just start accepting, stop taking one's self so seriously, and start playing as a way of life.

Thank you Barb; you're very sweet. I know you've posted what a manitou is, but I'm not remembering right now.

Thank you, Steve!

This is great!

Here's mine:

Excellent!

Another nice exploration: following the tail. Letting it lead through space, or from standing to sitting. Find out how the body follows the imaginary tail.

Excellent! It's something I've played with, as well, in dance and stretch. Interesting, while on one foot, to imagine a tail as counterbalance.

Seems to me that insults on this forum are always delusion, because they are describing the person, and the person is simply not here. The only thing that is present, is the argument. The "other person" is merely a projection of my mind, not a real thing. Only in my imagination can I arrive at "who this is" from "what was written". Insults are just showing the contents of my imagination. So, even for the sake of being honest and non-delusional, I choose not to insult (even if it were not the policy).

Great! Also, insults are easy. Any 3rd grader can insult. It's no sign of mastery. Mastery is shown through listening, through comprehension, through the ability to communicate clearly, through building bridges of understanding for others. Mastery is shown through logic and compassion. So, if someone wants to insult, dismiss, or project on other people, then go for it. But please don't expect to be rewarded with respect, because those actions are nothing impressive. They're the actions of angry children.

So, what would you say is the "internal meaning of dependent origination/emptiness"?

The rest of your post is excellent, as well!