Listen to music every single day. If you can't hear it right now, you're not listening right.
~至道
Showing posts with label Being in the moment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Being in the moment. Show all posts
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Daily Saying for July 5th, 2011
Weak people want only rest. Normal people want some rest. Strong people want little rest. But the strongest people are at rest in every situation.
~至道
~至道
Monday, July 4, 2011
What is violence?
I was recently asked:
What is violence?
This was my response:
What a good question to ask someone who does martial arts! When I was in high school, I tried writing a paper on this and found it of little success because at that time, I was under the mistaken impression that it could be written from one single perspective. Violence as a topic is something beyond a single perspective. In fact, it is when something has only one perspective that makes it violence at all.
We describe violence as being something in war, conflict and the media. However, violence is different for each being. To the average American, it involves one person hitting another. To a war general, it's casualties on his own side. To a director, it's something that conflicts with his vision. To a martial artist, it is inappropriate intent. To an ant, it's rain. To a flower, it's drought, To God or the universe, it's irrelevant.
The best answer to this that this one can give is that violence is a mix of fear and disgust. These two things are only determined by the one feeling them. To another it might not be actually violent at all. There are no limits as to what one can determine as violent and non-violent but their own experiences.
For example, one time a good friend came to visit me during my training. I invited him to watch a sparring match. I was hit with a solid kick to the jaw and my gums bled. The match continued and I was fine with the tiny amount of pain and taste of iron. After the match, the friend asked me, "Are you okay? That was pretty violent!" I shook my head in mild confusion. "What was violent?" I asked. "The whole thing! You got kicked in the face and you bled!" I had gone from confusion to laughter, which I realize now scared him more. "It wasn't violent and the kick wasn't hard enough for me to have any problems. The violence you see is your lack of understanding how hard I need to be hit for it to hurt me as well as the fear of yourself getting injured." I went on to explain that in time, if he trained, that he would not only do that kind of thing, but he would then see that the actions there were utterly peaceful. The person I was sparring was only trying to teach me where I was vulnerable and at the same time learn what they were capable of doing. At the same time I was trying to teach them their vulnerabilities and learning what I could do in such a situation. The exchange was positive, beautiful and we both were doing our best to help each other. One who doesn't have that kind of experience and understanding will only see fighting as violent. To us, it was the most calm and clear moment of our lives. No thoughts of other things, no worries, no fear, no desire, just emptiness and serenity.
This violence that we think we know as violence is all just manifestations of the way things are in our world. The experiences have need to be experienced and we must learn to let go of our fears and disgusts. After all, our presence is nothing but violence in the face of nothing.
Osu,
~至道
What is violence?
This was my response:
What a good question to ask someone who does martial arts! When I was in high school, I tried writing a paper on this and found it of little success because at that time, I was under the mistaken impression that it could be written from one single perspective. Violence as a topic is something beyond a single perspective. In fact, it is when something has only one perspective that makes it violence at all.
We describe violence as being something in war, conflict and the media. However, violence is different for each being. To the average American, it involves one person hitting another. To a war general, it's casualties on his own side. To a director, it's something that conflicts with his vision. To a martial artist, it is inappropriate intent. To an ant, it's rain. To a flower, it's drought, To God or the universe, it's irrelevant.
The best answer to this that this one can give is that violence is a mix of fear and disgust. These two things are only determined by the one feeling them. To another it might not be actually violent at all. There are no limits as to what one can determine as violent and non-violent but their own experiences.
For example, one time a good friend came to visit me during my training. I invited him to watch a sparring match. I was hit with a solid kick to the jaw and my gums bled. The match continued and I was fine with the tiny amount of pain and taste of iron. After the match, the friend asked me, "Are you okay? That was pretty violent!" I shook my head in mild confusion. "What was violent?" I asked. "The whole thing! You got kicked in the face and you bled!" I had gone from confusion to laughter, which I realize now scared him more. "It wasn't violent and the kick wasn't hard enough for me to have any problems. The violence you see is your lack of understanding how hard I need to be hit for it to hurt me as well as the fear of yourself getting injured." I went on to explain that in time, if he trained, that he would not only do that kind of thing, but he would then see that the actions there were utterly peaceful. The person I was sparring was only trying to teach me where I was vulnerable and at the same time learn what they were capable of doing. At the same time I was trying to teach them their vulnerabilities and learning what I could do in such a situation. The exchange was positive, beautiful and we both were doing our best to help each other. One who doesn't have that kind of experience and understanding will only see fighting as violent. To us, it was the most calm and clear moment of our lives. No thoughts of other things, no worries, no fear, no desire, just emptiness and serenity.
This violence that we think we know as violence is all just manifestations of the way things are in our world. The experiences have need to be experienced and we must learn to let go of our fears and disgusts. After all, our presence is nothing but violence in the face of nothing.
Osu,
~至道
Thursday, June 30, 2011
I was recently asked:
When someone says the word "Beauty," what do you think of?
This was my answer:
The first 10 things to come to mind:
1) The feeling at the point where a bell quiets beyond the capacity to hear.
2) A flower as it speeds through its life cycle in less than a second.
3) Light at the end of a deep breath.
4) The first moment of pain.
5) The warp in time one can see if they intensely stare at the space between a white line and a black line for about 2 hours.
6) 84,000 moons, each in a drop of water having traveled so far and without disturbing the moon, the sky or the water.
7) The look of sudden understanding in someone's eyes.
8) Wrinkles on old people, old books and old trees.
9) That which can not be experienced with senses but is simply understood.
10) Pure selfless-sacrifice. This is also called 'love.'
When someone says the word "Beauty," what do you think of?
This was my answer:
The first 10 things to come to mind:
1) The feeling at the point where a bell quiets beyond the capacity to hear.
2) A flower as it speeds through its life cycle in less than a second.
3) Light at the end of a deep breath.
4) The first moment of pain.
5) The warp in time one can see if they intensely stare at the space between a white line and a black line for about 2 hours.
6) 84,000 moons, each in a drop of water having traveled so far and without disturbing the moon, the sky or the water.
7) The look of sudden understanding in someone's eyes.
8) Wrinkles on old people, old books and old trees.
9) That which can not be experienced with senses but is simply understood.
10) Pure selfless-sacrifice. This is also called 'love.'
Friday, June 24, 2011
Daily Saying for June 24th, 2011
Do not misplace the intensity of this moment! The clothes you wear, the flavors in your mouth, the texture and colours of this writing, the smell of the room and the sounds of the outside world all can be experienced at once! There is nothing new inside yourself! Throw it out! Let the intensity overwhelm you! Then and only then are you living. How intense this moment is!
~至道
~至道
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Daily Saying for June 18th, 2011
Let all colours be your favourite. Then the world will have more life, rainbows will have more meaning and every choice will be beautiful.
~至道
~至道
Friday, June 17, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Daily Saying for June 16th, 2011
No wisdom is ever lost. It's just waiting for the right moment to appear.
~至道
~至道
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Altarnator
I was recently asked:
The other day, I was at a ceremony. In this tradition, the leader of the group connects with spirits of the earth and gives out advice and words to people he's barely met. His first set of words were for me. The spirits gave me the name "Altarnator." Not a very earthy or native name. I was surprised! But then he went on to say it was because I pray at many alters. Funny yes, but confusing and I don't know what to think of it. What would you say?
This was my response:
The first reaction is to laugh and say, "Of course!" Here we see the spirits calling you out on something. They don't exactly care whether you pray at many altars or if you pray at one or barely pray at all. They are simply pointing out something you should notice.
One who partakes in many traditions is blessed and capable of so much. However there comes a danger with this. If you spend too much time spreading too thinly all of the prayers, you separate the very things you're trying to connect. It would be like having a different dictionary for words starting with 'A' and one for 'B' words and so on and so on. Sure each one works and you can get things done with them. But they are all so separate when they don't need to be. This isn't saying you should mix the traditions together. Sometimes that brings more problems than solutions. It is saying that YOU should be the same in each ceremony. There shouldn't be a different you in each place. That creates no spiritual growth because each experience is compartmentalized and they keep you from fully grasping what is happening to you. A piece of music only works when you hear all parts at once. That is when there is the most beauty. Then you hear the true music. Don't listen to each instrument separately. Appreciate the harmony of each ceremony by being there as the same you. Then, by doing that, you can remove that you that is the problematic 'Altarnator' and simply be part of the spiritual experience. A prayer itself.
Love and Peace,
Osu,
~至道
The other day, I was at a ceremony. In this tradition, the leader of the group connects with spirits of the earth and gives out advice and words to people he's barely met. His first set of words were for me. The spirits gave me the name "Altarnator." Not a very earthy or native name. I was surprised! But then he went on to say it was because I pray at many alters. Funny yes, but confusing and I don't know what to think of it. What would you say?
This was my response:
The first reaction is to laugh and say, "Of course!" Here we see the spirits calling you out on something. They don't exactly care whether you pray at many altars or if you pray at one or barely pray at all. They are simply pointing out something you should notice.
One who partakes in many traditions is blessed and capable of so much. However there comes a danger with this. If you spend too much time spreading too thinly all of the prayers, you separate the very things you're trying to connect. It would be like having a different dictionary for words starting with 'A' and one for 'B' words and so on and so on. Sure each one works and you can get things done with them. But they are all so separate when they don't need to be. This isn't saying you should mix the traditions together. Sometimes that brings more problems than solutions. It is saying that YOU should be the same in each ceremony. There shouldn't be a different you in each place. That creates no spiritual growth because each experience is compartmentalized and they keep you from fully grasping what is happening to you. A piece of music only works when you hear all parts at once. That is when there is the most beauty. Then you hear the true music. Don't listen to each instrument separately. Appreciate the harmony of each ceremony by being there as the same you. Then, by doing that, you can remove that you that is the problematic 'Altarnator' and simply be part of the spiritual experience. A prayer itself.
Love and Peace,
Osu,
~至道
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Daily Saying for June 12th, 2011
Before you take that first step, before you take one breath, before your heart beats even once, practice compassion.
~至道
~至道
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Daily Saying for June 9th, 2011
Never wait for anything. Do something constantly. Even if it is just waiting.
~至道
~至道
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