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Work is utterly nuts this last month... a near fantasy world of incredible noises, construction machinery, indoor cranes hoisting thousand pound lighting instruments overhead, forklifts, dust everywhere. Five departments simultaneously trying to prep a high end product for the pickiest of clients. In midst of this cacophony. Routinely, i unfold into silent emptiness in the midst of my task, for the last several days, amidst this losing of self in the task a thought repeatedly arises... what is least obvious? While i've spent countless evenings contemplating what is most obvious, only recently has this question been arising, unbidden, unsought... but repeatedly. what is least obvious?

I would like to revisit Chapter 23. There have been some really good discussions in the past but there are couple of ideas I encountered that I think tie the two sections of Ch23 together in a different light and extend understanding a little beyond the usual interpretation. First Section In looking at first six lines, I noticed that they are often translated that winds and storms "cannot" last the whole day. But just as often are translated as "do/does not". That was critical for me as it seemed that "cannot" kinda implies that there is some external constraint involved; perhaps Heaven and Earth but then that suggests wind and rain are something separate. When rendered as "do/does not" it suggests that wind and rain are natrual expressions of Heaven and Earth; there is something intrinsic at work. I then recalled Ch40: Reversion is the action of Tao. (Lin Yutang) This led me to think of Heaven and Earth as representative of a cyclic process. Under Heaven and Earth, wind and rain arise, expend tthemselves and return to a state of calm. So, to be in accord with Dao, one should emulate the cycle of nature. One should arise to activity, then having accomplished (expended) return to a stste of calm and quiet. Second Section The remaining lines then might be taken to illustrate the state of one who is in accord with Dao. But what is it about having calmed down thst allows one to be in accord with Dao? I found a possible answer to this in the concept of ganying. Based on analysis of proto-Daoist texts by Dan G Ried in The Thread of Dao: Ganying is the phenomenon of mutual attraction that exists between things of the same type, This seems to suggest that by calming oneself (meditative state) that the unity of all under Heaven and Earth can be realised. Conclusion This was important to me because it suggests that being in accord with Dao is not purely a philosphical position; that being in accord can be understood as a process. That through the practice of periodically calming onself and experiencing the unity of Dao one can gradually come into accord. This was a real epiphany for me. It connects the philosophy with practice. So, I thought I would put this out there for comment and discussion.

Pattern recognition is one of the things we do quite naturally. I see from studies (will try to remember to post some of those another time) that we almost automatically "bundle" things together in our mental images. We actually create things in order to complete patterns or visual information in our brains. In any case, my pattern recognition brain seems to remember that certain symbols seemed odd, and filed them away as strange zig zag lines, wondering why they were chosen as magical symbols to represent things. One day I was looking at the trace pattern over time of the planets and stars in the sky, and "bingo", I see some of these same symbols. So there was a representation of the planet, by tracing the pattern as seen from the Earth's surface, at a given place on the planet. How many symbols and shapes are either planetary, or atomic, and how did primitive culture find these and put so much significance on them? http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/movements.htm http://curasom.weebly.com/cymatics-and-morphogenetic-fields.html

Friends of the Dao, Greetings to you and yours. I offer the below instructional video as a gift to you, and in the spirit of assisting you in your meditation practice. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.... Respectfully, Chip Personal Introduction: I discovered meditation as a powerful tool to help counteract stressful job situations in the late 1990s. Since that time, I have led numerous meditation groups at the Synthesis Center of Saint Mary’s, the Collins Institute of Calvert, and for the Evolve Yoga and Wellness Interdisciplinary Yoga Teacher Training. As a meditation instructor, I offer a variety of meditation experiences that encompass the basics of breath, sound, and light meditation techniques. I bring forward a desire to pass on to the community what I hae learned through many years of intensive meditation practice. My focus is to offer you a variety of simplistic yet powerful meditative techniques that can be integrated into your everyday life. The Breath of Human Evolution - Instructional Video (you tube link below) Description: An audio visual teaching video that integrates many powerful meditation techniques that can be easily integrated into your personal meditation practice. These techniques use OM, as a visual and resonant sound archetype, to propel your meditations into new levels of energetic expansion, integration, and consciousness coalescence. OM is acoustically communicated via deeply resonant Gyer Yhang Overtone chanting techniques to facilitate within you a feeling of universal expansiveness and connection. Dedication: In an effort to bring forward holistic and supportive health and education learning opportunities through the science of sacred sound, I offer this Meditation as a benefit for all sentient beings, past, present, and future. Synthesis Center of Saint Mary’s Resonance Project Breath Meditation Basic Meditation Steps: 1. Grab & Hold Vibrational Energy: Cross the Knot of the Tongue - Jivha Bandha; Close Root Chakra - Mula Bandha; Circular Breath; Unite - Micro-Cosm. 2. Align: Extend Celestial Axis & Connect to Celestial Centers; Collapse Time & Space into Physical Form; Breathe through Extended Celestial Circuit; Unite Micro-Cosm with Macro-Cosm. 3. Coalesce: Build Spinning Spherical Yin Body; Spherical Breath (Alternate Nostril Technique); Breathe a Spinning Spherical Vortex of Prana; Saturate Body to Quantum Consciousness level Exponentially Increase Energy / Frequency.

sometimes... often even... I call not to share some profound thought, or to get your deeply respected opinion on a matter of importance, but for a much more important reason... merely to hear the resonant tones of your voice... to connect with you... to hear you. sometimes... and likely, more often than I'm aware of... the words are almost meaningless and all I need, is the essential vibration that is you, speaking to me. is there any greater gift, than authentic connection? friend to friend, mind to mind, spirit to spirit? to share the connection of one's complete, undivided attention... might be as close as I can come to a reason for my existence. it's so good to hear your voice.