Tao Te Ching chapter 16

Lao Tzu

Empty yourself of everything.
Let the mind rest at peace.
The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return.
They grow and flourish and then return to the source.
Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature.
The way of nature is unchanging.
Knowing constancy is insight.
Not knowing constancy leads to disaster.
Knowing constancy, the mind is open.
With an open mind, you will be openhearted.
Being openhearted, you will act royally.
Being royal, you will attain the divine.
Being divine, you will be at one with the Tao.
Being at one with the Tao is eternal.
And though the body dies, the Tao will never pass away.

……………………………..
(translation by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English)
thanks to http://www.wussu.com/laotzu/index.htm

The  consciousness of  the happenings of one’s  body is his mind.  When he or she is  aware of  the particulars of  his body: thoughts, cognition,  feelings, perceptions, reactions – He   calls this  awareness  his  mind.

In Taoism and Zen, meditating is a holistic practice of consciously Letting Things Flow.
(“a thousand”) Things come and go in the moment.  If one is being mindful of things coming and going in the moment, without attempting to capture or control, suppress or force… Then his mind is  resting  at peace.
I have read many times the words “Let things go” during meditation. Its difficult to find the perfect description in contemporary English. What is really being let go of .. is   the clinging and coercing that we usually do of  things that come to mind. What  I really do is “Let things Flow“.

Things are  Happenings.
They  rise and fall  like a figure from a ground of some moving  painting or work- of- art.  No figure is ever truly separated from the ground.  The ground is Nature happening  or the” Tao”.  Things rise and fall, they exist in consciousness as  a singularity of two  (like  figure &  ground;   word & context;   matter & space)  but   the Tao is constant. The Tao flows, but is always here.

from the words of Lao Tzu  the supposed author of  the Tao Te Ching:
Being divine is harmonizing with the flowing nature.
“And though the body dies, the Tao is Eternal.”

I Do My Thing, You Do Your Thing Poster

I made a web poster for a friend:

“I do my thing, you do your thing“
(click on the poster for full size)

The words are a poem by  Fritz Perls and they are usually titled the “Gestalt Prayer“. Its not really a prayer, other than being a statement of affirmation. The poem could have been titled the “Gestalt Mantra” or “Gestalt Chant”.
 
What Perls  wished to affirm, I believe, is the spirit of independence and relative self reliance, that… with the concepts of  personal growth, sustainability and responsibility, are at the core of his Gestalt Therapy Theory.
-An existential phenomenology .

 
The Gestalt Prayer can be found in the work  “Gestalt Therapy Verbatim” by F. Perls.  The photo is mine… for some reason I like to photograph bees. I hope you find it to be a cool affirmation poster.
Thanks to Fritz and Laura Perls and the rest of the “gestalts”  for there inspiring words.

Responses for Better Listening Skills

Would you like to improve your listening and conversation skills?
Try working in a response or two starting with the following:

• What I hear you saying is…
• Sounds like….
• You’re feeling….
• You think…
• From your perspective…..
• What I’m hearing is that your saying...
• It sounds like you value…
• Could this be….
• By that you mean…
• It sounds like on one hand you feel_____ because you think______ and
  on the other hand you feel_______ because you think________.

 
Good listening is like data collecting. One lets go of bias and preconceptions, and refrain from making judgements and opinions. Responding, is clarifying and confirming  he/she is listening to what someone is saying to him.

To probe further into another is saying, try one of the following:

I’m wondering…

• what you mean by…
• what that means to you.
• what have you thought of doing…
• What have you tried before?
• How do you usually make this kind of decision?
• What would you like to see happen?
• What do you think the consequences would be?
• what scares you about…

 
Some years ago I took a class in “Active and Reflective Listening” for  volunteer work I was doing at the time. I use those skills, including the statements above  all the time, today — they are part of my way of conversing. I am a much better listener today.
If  use some of these in your conversations and  you can if you can  be a better listener.

A New Year and a Beginners Mind

“In a  beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in a  master’s mind there are few“

- unknown

With expertise, one gains preconceived ideas on the How-To when preforming regular or familiar routine tasks.  Reminded by his experienced, he knows what to do; and what not do pertaining to his task. He gets daily tasks done.
I’ve use this approach with work:

• “do what works”.
• “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

These have been good axioms for production and manufacturing. They have served me well.

But now I think about the first time I approached  a new problem, new   job ,   hobby  ,or   new way of thinking:  The first time I learned how used the computer, learned blogging, wrote a poem, did the laundry, gardened,  When I approached something new., I  had less bias toward the new experience , and more excitement then approaching  routine tasks…
Spontaneity freshness instead of repetition and stagnation. I was a beginner.

One develops methods, but he can get boxed in by his patterns. If I  “do what works” and stick with the same process, I get the job done, but I never see outside the system. Repetition is a rythm,  but it does get  dull and boring. Its more fun to learn something new. there are many possibilities.

“If you discriminate too much, you limit yourself, If you are too demanding, or too greedy,
your mind is not rich and self-sufficient . If we lose our origional self sufficient minds, we will lose all precepts. [...] If you keep your origional mind, the precepts will keep themselves.“

–Shunryu,Suzuki  “Zen Mind, Beginners Mind”

“The real secrets of the arts: always be a beginner“

As Shunryu Suzuki implies,  when approaching meditation, approach with a “Beginners mind“.   Approach each experience,  as if it were fresh and new.   This is applicable to  the creative process,  Forget what you’ve learned before, and let go of any biases and preconceptions.

So here is the new year, I would like to approach this year with a “beginner’s mind”, to break out of the old routines and old systems. Shoshin.   Many possibilities.  I will approach this new year with my beginners mind.

Happy new year!

Christmas Bells, Snoopy and the red baron

Christmas, in my experience, is one part nostalgia. As a kid,my favorite Christmas song was Snoopy and the Red Baron (Christmas Bells) by the Royal Guardsmen. They played it on the radio often:
{video Below}

Intersubjectivity and Interpersonal Brighter Side

Look upon other people and see that we are all  humans.  We  roughly appear to have the same forms and physics, the same sets of uniquely  human behaviors ( such as use of language). Upon deeper inspection, by biologists  who study DNA, There are traits and characteristics that are universally Homo Sapien or  human.
Meet and talk with other people and discover that people have cognitive differences of each person; Travel and note the cultural  differences of people.
If  you are one who has used medications and therapies for serious health problems, you will quickly learn the unwritten rule : “what works for one may not work for another, everyone is different“. One can infer each Homo Sapien is  biologically different from the next, Same  goes for their sum total of subjective  experiences. The individual  has characteristics that are unique.

I am  pretty sure  that a universal model does not apply when talking about all people, most of  the time. But we also, in talking about the human race per se , or groups… education  ,communication or interactions ..need to talk about more than just the individual. I certainly want to know more than the individual that is me.

Subvocalization, Inner Speech and Intrusive Thinking

If you listen carefully as you read this post, you will notice a faintly audible  whisper of the the words you are reading. It may be the same whisper you use to think in the symbols and code of language. It maybe an on going monologue or diaogue one has with his or herself, or narrative of scenes played out inside ones head. This overall process is dubbed “inner speech“, “inner monologue“,   “inner dialogue” or Subvocalization, depending on what you read.   Subvocalization is term usually used in the context of reading. However, because of the active verb subvocalizing, or to subvocalize, I prefer to use it here.
To subvocalize is more specific than to think, as one can “visualize” ,  “Be mindful“, feel, or even speed read while thinking without that low audible whisper of language. Subvocalization is thinking in Language, the way one would hear or speak it.

The following are a few difficulties with subvocal thinking.  This is my speculation based upon my experience.   I am not a doctor.   If your thinking is causing you serious health or life problems consult a doctor or health care professional.