PLB

Working at any thing one cares about pretty much means the mind is very busy. I figure it is important to find a way to be at right angles to all that at the same time. Not as an antidote or a cure to something: More like making a map where the other maps don't. We have many lives that stretch out like a cat.

What little I have learned has mostly been a process of paying closer attention to what has been explained already or even repeated many times. If I do not receive any other instruction in my life after this moment, it is unfortunate because I know there are people who can teach me more than I can find out by myself. On the other hand, I have barely begun unpacking what has been shown to me already. The cup is both empty and full. There is nothing to compare the experience with. Edit: I wish I wasn't the last word on this thread. I wholeheartedly agree with the call to look toward what draws us together rather than only talk about separations. While thinking about the different discussions upon the matter, it occurs to me that appearances can be deceiving.

Karma is a necessity for return in the cycle of becoming where the accumulation of what was done before conditions the form of life a particular soul will experience in each new generation. I don't see this idea of reincarnation in the early Taoist literature.

What Roshi said in the 2nd video about the ego being visible to others is a good point of departure. It doesn't explain the practice but points to how easy it is to get false impressions about what is happening. These are difficult matters to give an account of. For myself, I try to keep any narrative of what is happening from doing the things I can; seeking proof of what is rather than what I propose to exist. The story I tell about myself has its own life, it seems. I am sure there is more to this search than that.

Kung Fu Engineering by Yan Liu Heavenly Streams by Damo Mitchell Jesus Through the Centuries by Jaroslav Pelikan The Hidden History of the Chinese Internal Martial Arts by Sal Canzonieri Construction Superintendent Operations Manual by Sidney Levy The Patrick Melrose Novels by Edward St. Aubyn Er, some of those texts are read in the daytime too.

Pardon me, ChiDragon. I was peevish in my reply. I am not sure about the matter all relating to fa jin. I will think about it.

I have pushed with people who can root through the unweighted leg. They throw me around like a rag doll. Your description of the physics explains the physics up to a point. Would you claim that is what the classic texts are talking about? There is a tradition that talks about this stuff. I made an effort to offer some of that up for discussion. Is that chopped liver? You didn't reply to any of that. It was the best I have to offer. If it is of no use, then anything else would subtract from it.

Rocky, I don't know if you have pushed with any Chen style folk but they add an interesting element to the "invisibilty" thing; They are very vulnerable in certain transitions but it doesn't matter because they know you can't take advantage of it at that very instance. Space and time.

Some people talk about rooting like a tree. I wasn't trying to say what they say but it is out there to be considered. The images are trying to keep up with certain experiences, not the other way around. This is one of those places where arguments about the utility of imagination rage. The line i quoted about a cart wheel is what i most wanted to express. It only touches the ground at one point at a time. When it moves it stays on the ground continuously (unless it has to catch some air). It rolls. I would like to roll. Staying put at the same time would be cool. Where is a Daoist when you need one?

What part demonstrates a departure from scientific method? Just stating it as a matter of self evidence is not a demonstration of "science."

The book Origins of the Species is a good source. Darwin had the courage to follow the logic of his thinking to tell him what was happening with life forms. He didn't fool around with conceptual work arounds.

I get a lot of feeling of tension around the heart. I know it is an expression of stress. Not any one thing I practice seems to directly address it but the closest I get seems to be 5 element qigong and manifesting fire from the middle dantien. I am open to suggestion on the matter because it is not like I understand what is happening energetically.

My geometrical model was just playing around with a more important point. The classical texts refer to weighting. I was hoping to find a site that included the original characters but I haven't suceeded yet. I will add later If I do. From this collection of Li I Yu: and If you go to the Brennan translation site you will find the original characters along with his translations. I have read all the works concerning tai chi chuan on the site and each of them touch upon single versus double weighting in one way or the other. The following is an example from Yang Banhou's chapter 22 The above is just one example. I recommend reading many of the works on Brennan's site to see how deeply received this concept is in the practice.

ChiDragon, When you ask what I mean by the difference between single and double weighted, are you asking about where that comes from in terms of the theory as it has been spoken/written in the practice of Tai Chi Chuan or are you asking what I am trying to say given what has been said/written in that tradition as a shared resource?

What I was hoping to convey is the thought that having a root is not about measuring the vectors of this or that position as a matter of simple physics. Perhaps it would have been better if I had only submitted the paragraph you didn't quote.

It is true that lowering the center of gravity of something makes it harder to tip over. But that has to be factored into how far apart the points of contact to the earth may be Low stances can deliver a lot of power but the lines of strength employed are highly vulnerable to forces applied perpendicular to the direction taken. For instance, It is not a good idea to square up against someone running toward you with a deep horse stance. I am not sure it helps anybody to talk about having a root outside the requirement to not be double weighted. To be single weighted is not about having a load simply fall on one foot or another but the degree of freedom to change lines of support when circumstances change. Increasing this degree of freedom is largely about changes in the kwa. If I were to use a geometric model to describe it, I would be more inclined to see it as a cone that meets the earth at single point and becomes more stable as the kwa increases in circumfrence. One instance of this relationship is the report given of Sun Lu Tang being able to keep a foot and shoulder against a wall and lift the opposite leg.

I don't have an effective map that places what I believe to be the case alongside what might be possible or not. What holds me back are all the things holding me back. They exist in real time. They have parties and invite many friends. I don't have to understand everything to leave the party. I don't need to believe something to know I have left. It is what it is. When you get down to the level of response, there are a lot recurring elements. How does one find the thread that changes those things? The question is not asking for an explanation but a plan of action. If the plan is not given as a menu or a love letter, a building plan or a list of virtues, how will it be heard? If one is waiting for the answer, you are waiting for the answer. There is no explanation. It is easy for me to separate these things in words. Making it happen is another matter. The mind is all about finding short cuts. There is something that could care less about that sort of thing. Yes, I am repeating myself.

I suggest reading as much of the earliest text you can get your hands on. You will be asked to change what you are doing there. That is where the stuff is. The rest is commentary by people who aren't trying to change but are more interested in seating assignments. Never sit down.

What have you been reading?

The Taoist tradition abounds in works pointing to the limits of expression. I think what you are asking for is happening at the edges where little is explained. To give one tiny example, I will quote from a bit of Sun Lu Tang's A Study of Taijiquan: Well, that clears up everything.

In agreeing with Ya Mu's point, I like the way a guy I push with puts it: "You want to be the driver, not sitting in the shotgun seat pretending to be the driver." In the context of building on real experience, I often wonder about the role of imagination in creating a functional model. For instance, if you are blind and move into a new space, it takes a good amount of time to learn where everything is and how to operate the hardware one encounters there. Learning those things creates a model of a kind where pathways between different locations all become related to one another. The model sort of "visualizes" the learner as it becomes more complete. Another element I think about is how images pop up as a result of intention. When doing zhong ding excercises, for instance, the focus is on the central axis. The goal is to keep the attention continuous. When the attention is continuous for a sustained period, it sort of attracts things; like fire in the night drawing in creatures lost in the forest. Hmmm, the above is not the clear scientific exposition I was hoping for but it will have to do.

If it is true that we are evil from the start, wouldn't the condition strengthen arguments made by those who claim only enough people following some "path of righteousness" keep the world from dissolving into an orgy of murder, rape, and pilaging? Your depiction of evil avoids discussing the very worst things human do to each other. If the concept doesn't start with that awful reality, I don't see what possible meaning it could have for the rest of our existence.

To my mind, the words of Zhuangzi point to the opposite of any kind of reincarnation that involves any particular creature. We have our time and then our time is done. I did not mean to characterize your point of view as solipsistic. I was just trying to say that the ideas expressed do not give much of a toe hold for the idea of self as the source of consciousness. We can know and do things but close examination reveals that both are transformations that are part of the natural order of growth and decay. We can live nearer or further away from the source. The will to get near makes a difference. We can regain more or less of what was given to us in the beginning. But that is not like an aquistion by a self. The contrast is often made through the idea of a Thief. What can be given cannot be taken. We do not hold our lives. "Heaven" is not a place. There is Heaven and Earth, yang and yin, through which all is created. We are the place, while the place lasts. (Apologies to TS Eliot.)

Do you practice other things based upon intention directing qi? Opening and closing is a practice that can happen. Do you coordinate breathing with the movements?

In Zhuangzi, the biggest difference made seems to be the space between two different kinds of objective reality: Heaven and Man. The description of the Man part is exquisitely objective in its expression: The Heaven component is also very objective in the context of it providing us the energy to be born and live for some portion of time. "Solipsism" may not even be a possible thought from this point of view.