Do You Believe in Magic?
I was driving today and saw a bumper sticker in front of me that said, “I brake for elves and unicorns.” It made me chuckle and it also made me think. I like the idea of being open to magic, miracles and wonder. Laozi said something like, when people lose their sense of awe Dao itself is lost. Or you could perhaps say, when people lose their sense of magic, they are lost.
Laozi says we need to become as children to enter Dao (or the as the other prophet said, into the kingdom of heaven.) What does he mean by this? Perhaps that a childlike sense of awe and magic is what we need to get us through the hard times as well as the good ones. Perhaps we need to remain open to miracles, the miracles of daily life as well as the once-in-a-lifetime ones.
I was very excited when I discovered the world of Daoism. I felt like I had come home. I still feel that way 25 years later. I have lost none of my excitement and wonder about this rich, endlessly fascinating life-long quest to experience myself as a living embodiment of Dao. Of course, you are also a living embodiment of Dao as are all living things, the “ten thousand beings.”
Zhuangzi says:
Words are not just blowing wind, they have meaning. But if we cannot agree on what they mean are we really saying anything? People think that their words are more meaningful than the peeping of birds, yet are they really any different? Dao is hidden behind partial understanding and the meaning of our words is hidden behind a screen of flowery rhetoric.
So how can we get beyond words, beyond “flowery rhetoric?” How can we become living embodiments of Dao? How can we remain open to the miracle of life and death and all that lies between? How can we not lose sight of the wondrous, the magical and the sublime? How can we wake up, more and more, deeper and deeper, vaster and vaster? How can we not lose sight of the amazing experience of students of the Way, in general and particular?
By practice, by going deep within, by meditating, by dwelling in the silence, by applying the words of Laozi, Zhuangzi and all the other great masters, now and before. By believing in magic and miracles and wonder, both within our own lopsided selves and in the world around us. By not thinking we know it all, by not thinking we know much at all.
Laozi says,
Abandon sageliness, renounce (book) knowledge,
and people will be a hundred times better off.
Take this advice:
know the plain and embrace simplicity;
reduce your sense of self
and lessen your desires,
give up (book) learning
and you will have no worries.
If is when we give up our personal views that we see things as they truly are. In seeing things as they truly are we arrive at complete understanding. To reach complete understanding is to reach true happiness. To reach true happiness is to reach completion. To reach completion is to enter Dao
Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu)
Not long ago I came across an article about the passing of one of the baddest dudes in rock, Lou Reed. I used to see his early band, The Velvet Underground, in the late sixties in Boston. At a time when many of the bands, and the audience, wore flowing colors with flowers in our hair, the Velvet Underground wore black and played a fierce kind of music, with lots of feedback. I thought they were great.
Lou played on for many years, always staying true to his own vision and passion of music, most of which was too intense for me. A few years ago I heard that he was a serious taiji student, though I had no idea how serious. As it turns out he practiced for hours of every day and was a man of deep and generous heart who loved his music and his life, both with a fierce passion.
When I read the following description of his death I was moved to tears and so inspired by this old lion of rock, who’s transition was done with such elegance and grace. Here’s what his partner, Laurie Anderson, another renowned musician, said:
As meditators, we had prepared for this – how to move the energy up from the belly and into the heart and out through the head. I have never seen an expression as full of wonder as Lou’s as he died. His hands were doing the water-flowing 21-form of tai chi. His eyes were wide open. I was holding in my arms the person I loved the most in the world, and talking to him as he died. His heart stopped. He wasn’t afraid. I had gotten to walk with him to the end of the world. Life – so beautiful, painful and dazzling – does not get better than that. And death? I believe that the purpose of death is the release of love.
I would wish this kind of passing for everyone. I think it shows that Lou was indeed a master of taiji – of going with the flow and offering the least amount of resistance while achieving a very high level of practice. It is one thing to espouse the deep teachings of taji but quite another to actually apply them in such an amazing way.
Zhuangzi says:
We are born when it is our time and we die when it is own time, If we are able to just follow the flow of nature then we will transcend joy and sorrow. This is what the ancient masters called “true freedom.”
It is in our coming and going, in each lifetime, in each moment, that we are given the choice to flow with change or fight against it. Each new day, each new moment of each new day, there is a dying and a being born. The circle of life takes us all on a journey around birth, death, rebirth. We are given so many new chances, new opportunities, new “do-overs.” If we don’t get it right each time, no matter. What matters is that we are open to change, to each wonderful moment of rebirth, even in the moment of our death.
May we all go from this world to the next with such grace and courage as Lou Reed!
The season of winter is connected with the element water, the color blue black or black, and the organs kidneys and bladder. It is also called the time of year of “Returning to the Root.”
The kidneys are associated with the positive emotional state of will or what used to be called “backbone.” The negative emotional state is fear, especially unfounded fear such as panic attacks or night sweats. A weakness in the kidneys can also cause this problem so it is especially important to take care of our kidney energy this time of year.
The kidneys are said to be the repository of our jing or energetic essence as well as our sexual energy. This is why it is important more men to be a little more restrained about ejaculation this time of year (see chapter ).
It is also, unless we live in southern climates, a cold time of year so it is important to keep ourselves warm by paying attention to what we wear outside. Warming foods such as hot soup and cooked foods are also important.
Winter, the season of quiet contemplation, is an excellent time to strengthen our meditation practice. By being still, by being quiet, by closing down the outside influences in our lives, we can open doors to vast inner worlds. It is in this serene and tranquil mind that we can discover Dao, our source as well as our destination.
The ancient Daoist sages described the body as the storehouse of our inner nature. They taught that we must take care of the body in order for us to have a place for our spirit to dwell. It is important not to neglect our stillness practice if we are to fully enjoy the benefits of our movement practice. Like yin and yang, both movement and stillness are important to our overall cultivation.
Daoists believe that it is important to keep a balance between movement and stillness. Too much movement will exhaust one’s qi, while excessive sitting will cause stagnation in the body. The key here is to not abandon one for the other and to experiment and see what is the proper balance for your own cultivation.
Like yin within yang, or stillness within movement, that place of serene stillness within our movement gives birth to that subtle and mysterious movement within the stillness of our meditation. That movement brings us into greater harmony, greater awareness, and greater experience of the eternal and ever-evolving Dao.
In many traditional societies winter is the time to stay close to the fire, sharing food and stories with families and friends during the long, cold, days of winter.
Just back from my mini-tour of the east coast, teaching Sound Healing and Primordial (Wuji) Qigong in NJ and CT with a stop over in RI to see an old friend. My classes were full, my hosts were fabulous and it was mid october in New England, the land of my birth, which was colorful and gorgeous.
It is such a blessing to be able to share this ancient Daoist qigong form with others. It puts you into such a receptive, open state. I have been doing this form for over 15 years now, have done it thousands of times, and still never get tired of it. And to be able to share that magical space with others is such a golden opportunity.
I hope to do more traveling and sharing both qigong and sound healing. If anyone out there wants to sponsor a workshop let me know and we can work out the details. Qigong quite literally saved my life and it is an honor to be able to pass that precious knowledge on to others. Below is some video from the class in CT.
Here is a qigong poem I wrote some time ago that, to me, says it all.
The Qigong State of Mind
The qigong state of mind is one of complete relaxation.
The qigong state of mind is one of complete acceptance.
The qigong state of mind is one of openness to the healing energy of the universe.
The qigong state of mind is one of the knowledge of the soft overcoming the hard.
The qigong state of mind is one of becoming one with Tao, in all its unmanifest as well as manifest aspects.
The qigong state of mind is one of constant renewal and rebirth.
The qigong state of mind is one of joy and beneficence.
The qigong state of mind is one of deep meditation.
The qigong state of mind is one of love and healing for the whole world.
