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We owe our way of life to our fallen heroes
Remembering those that have fallen to preserve our way of life…
What ever our desires, hopes and dreams may be, Americans are uniquely blessed with freedom to do so. These days we are losing our freedoms little by little, it has been said, “Every day congress meets, we lose a little bit of our freedom”.
I saw a bumper sticker the other day it read, “If you can read, thank a teacher. If you read English thank a Vet”.
Holding to your values, principles, and traditions is not always easy or popular. Even in our home lives and among friends and associates we are challenged constantly. I say: Without temptation, there is no claim to virtue. Warriors know these things, even if they do not “think” about them. No one wants to die for his country and yet without a peaceful homeland we cannot raise peaceful people.
Keeping America safe is a noble honor. Keeping babies, women and children, families and homes, towns and cities free requires a strong commitment to our country. No one is more committed to this cause than our warriors and they have my deepest respect.
Yet we are all challenged by temptation to doubt and apathy from preserving the virtue of our spirits. Every challenge we meet is an opportunity to practice our skills. To be a scholar-warrior is a calling to protect ourselves from the assaults of life.
Stand up for who and what you are, be plain spoken and kind, speak the truth, be firm but flexible. Forgive and overlook other people’s shortcomings on the spot. Do not be affected by things out of your control. Do your part and be brave and strong in the face of everyday challenges. Live a free life, one of opportunity and pursue happiness and;
Remember those who gave their lives so that you can.
The Universe
“The sage sees the whole universe without going out the door”
If you only learned to meditate, it would be the most valuable experience of your life. To gain understanding, a wordless gift of knowing that you’ve always had, but haven’t used is a profound thing indeed. I am paraphrasing Roy Masters work “Be still and Know” and yet there is so much more going on when we do qigong.
By combining physical exercise and meditation, we gain more than can be had by just “exercising” or “meditating”. The synergy is further enhanced by the other attributes of qigong, like the way we exercise, opening up the joints, and skeletal system and the sequential opening and closing of the muscles and energy pathways within our bodies. There is really no other “exercise” like qigong; in my opinion there is no better exercise, and yet it is so much more.
Dissolving your mind and body using qigong also has a calming and strengthening effect on our emotions as well. To liberate your mind from the emotional prison that has kept the real you locked up without your knowledge is not an insignificant gain!
The understanding gained from proper practice gives insight to all things. The meaning of the quote from the “Tao Te Ching” written above is this: Within everyone, there are elements of all things; a celestial world, we are a microcosm of the universe. Every atom is like a minute solar system, all our cells are virtual galaxies, and our consciousness is like God, indeed, if you can truly know yourself, then you can understand the whole universe.
I often wonder what if we all could expand our understanding in this way. Yet it was once the normal way for humans. Our convoluted lives have dulled our sense of reality; learning to get in touch with our true objective self is to understand a separate reality, a primordial knowledge that is the “Way” we were intended to be….. Freedom from contrivance, like an un-carved block of wood, becoming what Nature (God?) intended for us.
If you have a goal in life, make it to be a fully integrated human being by being balanced in each realm of human functioning. Don’t be a “spiritual person” or an “intellectual”, and do not be a slave to your emotions and don’t ignore or indulge them. Stop always seeking physical gratification or obsessing about your body. To be a “Real Human” you need to be in control of all of these things.
Balancing all these separate things naturally into one universe is, for me…..The Way, Taiji the “Supreme Ultimate” and qigong is the path to the Way….. The Way to divinity, to freedom, to perfect health, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Yin AND Yang separated
In the first three lessons, I discussed how we align our physical bodies with the forces of Heaven and Earth. This lesson is about learning the difference between the two main aspects of our Qi using the concept of Yin and Yang.
Realize that there are two major forces acting upon us at all times, the first and most obvious is the force of gravity, we all understand what that is. There is however another, balancing force in play as well, that of centrifugal force. As the earth spins at about 6000 miles per hour trying to throw us off it, we are at the same time held fast by gravity. (Physicists would disagree, but I’m just illustrating a point) In another way of viewing it (the Taoist way), we are suspended between the two forces of Heaven and Earth.
Think of “Earth” as the pull of gravity, pulling directly towards the center of the planet. Know it is Yin and, elemental, sinking and compressing downward, everything heavier than air flows towards it. The only way we know which way is up is because we know which way is down!
Think of “Heaven” as that centrifugal force that is lifting us directly away from the center of the Earth; in Qigong parlance, “the golden thread from Heaven” this force is Yang, and ethereal. Lifting and expanding upwards, everything lighter than air, including electrical energy floats weightlessly.
Beginners on the way of Qigong first learn to feel and understand these two different aspects of energy, adepts move beyond the understanding of discerning yin and yang to get to a point where they harmonize yin/yang.
To better learn how to feel Yin and Yang, consider two main types of qi, Yeng qi and Wei qi. Yeng qi is all that stuff that sinks down through our bodies as we relax and let it sink, things like blood, lymph, muscles, organs, a thick viscous downward flow of all our soft tissue.
Think of Wei qi as all that stuff that floats like our electrical signals our nervous system releasing neutral density neurotransmitters into our system like endorphins… our emptied muscles and bones and our breath.
After you understand this concept, you are ready to apply the knowledge to Qigong exercise.
When you relax your body, the blood and lymph and all the soft tissues sink lower into your body; this is the Yeng qi sinking. As this material sinks down, the blood filters through the lymph nodes, and the fascia tissues relax and a curious event occurs. The Wei qi is displaced and it rises up giving you a buoyant feeling. The more you can sink and relax downward, the more you can expand and feel buoyant going upwards.
You are learning to flow all the Earth (Yin) elements (Yeng qi) downward causing the complimentary effect of all the heavenly (Yang) elements (Wei qi) to rise and expand. These dynamics act like an energy pump, sinking down stimulating a return to an upright posture, you are learning to discern Yin and Yang: a major milestone on the qigong path.
More Here: Qigong Lesson #5
We cannot "save the planet"
Did you know?
The earth has survived volcanoes, ice ages, earthquakes, floods, erosion, plate tectonics, collisions with asteroids, gamma ray bursts, and who knows whatever for billions of years; always surviving, evolving and adapting.
Did you also know that in China in 1931 between one and 2.5 million people died in a flood?
Or that also in China in 1887 between 900,000 and 2 million people died in a flood.
In addition, in 1556, an earthquake killed 830,000 in China.
And another earth quake in China in 1976 left 242,419 people dead? And in 1920, 243,117?
How about the earthquake-generated tsunami in Indonesia, 230,000 lives lost.
And the death toll in Haiti is estimated at 230,000?
The eruption of the Volcano in Iceland puts more CO2 into the air in one day than the entire population of Europe did in the last 100 years. And did you know that CO2 is a scant 0.033% of the atmosphere; and it is the only source of life for all the green plants on the Earth?
Did you also know 250 million people each year get malaria resulting in between one to 2.7 million deaths? In addition, did you know that environmentalists, through the EPA banned DDT, and yet DDT was heralded as having saved over 500 million lives in the two decades before it was banned?
The bottom line is: we cannot “save the planet” and conversely we cannot destroy the planet. Are we so arrogant that we think we can destroy the planet when we are only a minuscule drop in an ocean of planetary history? Everything here is from here….whatever we dig up, or burn or eat or whatever, came from here and it is going to stay here. The planet will adapt and evolve. We may not adapt however, and so life goes on. The planet will be fine.
Yin/Yang, Taoist thought understands these things, sure, we all want a clean environment, and we also don’t want millions to die from malaria or perish in cheaply made lightweight vehicles. Nature always works things out. If we are not meant to survive then, we will not. Perhaps we need war and disease to teach us what to do, or what not to do. These things are all part of nature, even our strange lifestyle is part of nature, as are we. There are those people that will not eat meat and consider it wrong for people to eat meat, do they protest the tiger, fighting extinction, and begrudge him his last meal?
Heaven and Earth are eternal, our physical selves, not so much. The Human experience for an individual is all we have here and now. Do not fret or worry about mother Earth, she will survive. Our only challenge is to deal with each moment correctly, enjoy what we have and let nature take its course.
If we are going to live full and joyous lives, we need to live in harmony with the way things are, adapt and overcome. To change with change is the way of nature; to be discontent is the greatest misfortune.
Happy Earth Day
Isle seniors learn graceful gestures
The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo Cory Williams shows Kula’s Louise Brandeburg, 84, how to block a punch Tuesday.
Seeking strength and balance in the shade of a Spreckelsville monkeypod tree, a taiji class goes through its moves at Kaunoa Senior Center on Tuesday afternoon under the direction of Cory Williams. Williams teaches a half dozen classes weekly for Kaunoa, including locations in Lahaina, Kahului, Kihei and Spreckelsville. By mixing the “energy cultivation” exercises of “qigong” and the martial-art maneuvers of taiji, Williams said, he helps Maui seniors stay active and on their feet. Williams said taiji is now the accepted spelling of tai chi.
copyright Maui News and Matthew Thayer
Thank you everyone!!!!
Each year we start anew…
Building on lessons learned
If we can only make one small improvement in our lives,
What an amazing transformation will we become…
We are the future manifest…
Each unfolding moment is there just for you…
It is no one else’s… it is yours…
We flow into each moment
Through the years, if we acquire virtues we become stronger
And if we shed vices we become clearer…
Stronger and clearer we move with the way of Heaven
Go through life with dignity and grace.
Stronger and clearer each day,
Watch closely and you will see the future,
As each moment guides you into it…
Know that the truth lives within you.
Harmony is Peace
The light of wisdom and the warmth of compassion…
The discipline of observing forms and the letting go of attachment to them…
The movements of the body with the calmness in the mind and the stillness of the body with the flow within it…
Always following our path but never restricted by it.
The more we let go of, the more we gain, the more we hold on to; the less we understand.
The art of peace, the way of the warrior…cutting away delusions so we can find the truth within…
We are all individuals living in the same universe….separate yet together. As diverse as everything in Heaven and Earth yet we are all formed from the same few elements…
We are all children of Heaven and Earth, we are all brothers and sisters…Live in Harmony with all of creation.
That is Taiji.
Aloha,
Thanks for all the support; there were twenty people at my new class on Tuesday Dec 1st.
I’m expanding my Taiji family, it was great to meet new people that understand how important learning Taiji is.
Today I was talking with some new friends and I had a thought…
To improve our quality of life, we have many options with various paths.
You could, for instance, take a Yoga class, or Aerobics, maybe a Martial Arts class, or Dance, Weight lifting would help…..Maybe go for a Walk, some Calisthenics, Pilates, Fendelkris, or Swimming.
Then of course you would need to see your Massage Therapist, a Chiropractor, or maybe a Physical Therapist, or maybe even an Orthopedic Surgeon. Later, it would be nice to Meditate, get some Quiet Time, or else you may need to see a Spiritual Counselor, or a Psychiatrist.
After that you could Relax, Read some Philosophy, and ponder what a true act of Self Love might be.
Or… you could start on the Taiji Path and get all these benefits simultaneously and with… no effort…without joining a gym, or purchasing any equipment; and at the same time, become aware of any changes in your health before you might need a doctors visit.
Certainly Taiji and Qigong will save you all the time you would have spent chasing after all those other paths.
And…….Taiji could save your life!
Aloha, Everyone!
I know most people can’t spend the time that I have been blessed with to study these arts. Also, I don’t think you need to… I dedicated myself to sorting it all out so I can share them with you.
The Taoist arts saved my life, after all the suffering, I found my Way and now I can introduce you to this ancient wisdom in the hope it may do the same for you.
I’ve read so many books, from self help, to martial arts, hundreds:
Spent years training, often over 8 hours a day …
Traveled thousands of miles attending camps and seminars…
Dedicated my life to making these skills available…
Distilling everything down, to see the “big picture”…
Now it all flows out effortlessly…
Everything here is written to be entertaining and enlightening.
Herein you will find lessons, stories, philosophy, a reading list, internet links, a journal of my journey through the universe and all open to inspection and comment.
So look here, and you can subscribe and receive automatic blogs.
Finding the ultimate treasure is far from boring! Follow along here and I will keep you posted of all the exciting discoveries I have found along the Way.
Thank you all for your support and interest in what I believe are the most important set of skills that anyone can ever know.
Cory
Taiji on Maui 