I am really trying to understand this loss of confidence that I see in American companies, in America, in starting up new companies ... the birthrate of new employer firms has never been lower ... and it looks like it's going to decrease even further.
I think I need to step back and re-analyze things ... it's not just the budget and credit downgrade thing -- it's also stuff like how Japan reacted to the earthquake, tsunami, nuke disaster with some heroism, but mostly by obfuscating and lying on the part of government officials ... I need to step back and KEEP MY POWDER DRY!
I am just not sure what's going on in the world. I am really not sure what to make of things. Not sure at all.
So maybe it's time to take a throwaway job ... just something to keep me busy ... maybe there's somebody who I can help.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
The credit downgrade
I retrieved my tin hat from the closet to think about conspiracy theories ... actually, I don't believe in conspiracies, but I do sort wonder what's going on.
I am starting to believe like there is a bit of collusion by different parties underway to DESTROY America ... or take it down a peg ... was it really necessary for S&P to cut America's credit rating, or was it coaxed, pushed by people who'd benefit from a bit of a collapse [and dead-cat bounce rebound]?
Are OTHER countries really a better risk than America? Are OTHER countries really going to be standing tall if there's a big enough disaster to take America down?
I am starting to believe like there is a bit of collusion by different parties underway to DESTROY America ... or take it down a peg ... was it really necessary for S&P to cut America's credit rating, or was it coaxed, pushed by people who'd benefit from a bit of a collapse [and dead-cat bounce rebound]?
Are OTHER countries really a better risk than America? Are OTHER countries really going to be standing tall if there's a big enough disaster to take America down?
Saturday, July 23, 2011
The budget deficit, Bowles-Simpson and Joe Biden
Biden is an incompetent goof ... only a MORE incompetent goof would put him in charge of budget negotiations.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Breathing exercises to build power, enhance cellular health, regulate the mind, manage the emotional fire
We take things like eating or breathing for granted; even though we may go through different stages in life when we are active, even athletic ... most adults probably use less than 50% of their lung capacity -- as we age ... past 35 or so, probably younger in obese adults ... we slowly start paying the penalty for unregulated breathing and poor cardiovascular health with increased incidence of bone marrow and neurological ailments. If we don't take responsibility for understanding and regulating the body's energy, our bone marrow becomes weak, diseased and subject to cancer. Reduced oxygen in the bloodstream cripples the healthy genetic transfer necessary for limiting DNA damage in cellular replacement of brain cells. Unless we really want to be victims or helpless blobs controlled by someone else, we simply CANNOT take eating or breathing for granted! If we want to be in control of our lives, we need to be control of what we eat, we need to be in control of how we breathe.
The lungs are very much like your posture or your the stomach ... as someone who has never thought much about this before, I now know how important it is. Good posture is something you should work on everyday -- it will not magically appear. The same is true for the condition of your stomach ... the more you eat, the bigger your stomach gets. The bigger the stomach gets, the more that feel the need to eat. In most cases, this process is rather gradual -- no one begins eating like a pig; it's starts very gradually as something that you'd barely notice. After a decade or two of not really watching what you eat, it's likely that you [like most American adults] will have developed a weight problem. If you want to reduce your weight, there aren't any pills or secrets or special diets. It is very simple you need to get in the habit of eating less ... if you SUDDENLY change your eating habits, you will be miserable AND you will get very sick because your body [especially the intestinal system and the microbes in that system] still needs the diet it is used to. If you want to reduce your weight, you need to eat less ... and [especially if you are older] you need to make the change gradually OR the change will make you ill and almost certainly will not stick.
We might crave the drama of a TV show (e.g. Biggest Loser) or stark contrast of a fat Before and a herculean After picture ... we want to be stars; we want to be the center of a universe of adoring fans. We want big results; heroic efforts. We not only want to do a couple push-ups -- we want to ride in RAGBRAI and then go on to become one of the world's most successful triathletes! We KNOW that we deserve to play Lead role in our own autobiographical movie and we think need to hear the theme from "Rocky" playing in the background ... but if we want the change to be healthy and to stick, we need to sustain the change more gradually, over a longer period of time. The movie of you life takes about 100 years to complete; maybe not quite that long, but it definitely takes at least 50 or 75 years ... if we try to go too fast or don't get started now and work every second, our movie will be worse than an irresponsible 6th grader's project started late at night before the big science fair.
We should start with relatively simple breathing exercises and then steady, continually, gradually escalate to more advance breathing techniques to regulate, relax and calm down, to improve the function of the cells and make the circulation healthier, to build power for our exercises, martial arts and weight training, to lead the qi to "wash" the bone marrow.
Regular deeper breathing ... relax, close your eyes, try to focus all of your mental and physical energy on on deepening your breathing, try to build a consistent, sustainable habit that uses about 70% of your lung capacity... find an enjoyable form of active exercise [that you can sustain] such as gardening, digging, chopping wood, rapid walking, running, bicycling, lifting weights that forces you to breathe more deeply to expand your lung capacity.
Normal abdominal breathing ... place one hand on dan tian area [below stomach], place other hand on chest; the hand on your dan tian should move up and down like it is on top of a wave; the hand on your chest might feel the waves but should not move as if it's resting on the beach.
Reverse abdominal breathing ... except think about movements when you are laughing or crying
Embryonic breathing ... breath like a baby; your body's midsection drives the movement [in an exaggerated form, this includes even your hips]
Monday, May 30, 2011
Eight Pieces of Brocade Qigong
Qigong is a living artform; I was thinking about this as I was trying overcome a problem with my back and being completely unable to do ANY gardening. In a nutshell, I started off this spring with EXCESSIVE exuberance ... rock-like exuberance!
That kind of exuberance is the kind of exuberance that gets one into trouble.
It is a thinking person's exercise and a form of therapeutic self-massage that can cure old injuries and make the body healthier. Of course, the mental discipline of qigong is true for other martial arts and forms of exercise such as yoga. The mental discipline is what makes the exercises so powerful for other pursuits, i.e. why someone like Tiger Woods or other professional athletes would incorporate martial arts into their training regimen ... not to be some sort of aggressive bully, but to develop mental discipline and build upon the ability to focus and refine. In practice, making an ancient exercise into a living artform means that each and every student who practices the artform should attempt to understand the theory behind the art and to use additional knowledge and medical science and along with reflection and insights from on one's own personal practice to extend and develop the artform. Each THINKING participant perfects, polishes and improves the form. As with quarterbacks in an American football game, the best careers in martial arts usually do not happen to the person with the most raw athletic ability, the first one one to reach a certain level, the strongest or toughest ... the best careers happen to the thinkers who can improve their practice and, most importantly, improve the practice of those around them. Qigong has been studied in China for several thousand years. There is still room for improvement because there are still lessons from the ancient historic texts that can be learned, mastered once again, renewed, updated and even built upon!
The Eight Pieces of Brocade Qigong is one example that distils this long history into very simple exercise that anyone can and should perform on a daily basis. The sitting form is especially good for waking up in the morning; it may also be performed by elderly, disabled or sick people. The standing form is a good warmup and stretching exercise for more people who are more fit. As you practice a practical form of qigong such as the Eight Pieces of Brocade, you will see that there is nothing particularly magical or mystical about qigong -- it is extremely practical and beneficial exercise that benefits from mental discipline and regulating the mind. Eight Pieces of Brocade is a proven martial arts exercise developed by General Yue Fei (March 24, 1103 – January 27, 1142) to keep his troops strong and fit ... of course, in a normal martial arts training, qigong is built upon very simple routines that anyone could do without thinking, but just doing the routine is only the beginning, the first step ... although we can do qigong without thinking; it is very important that we actually do think about what we are doing to make sure that our foundation is increasingly solid!
That kind of exuberance is the kind of exuberance that gets one into trouble.
It is a thinking person's exercise and a form of therapeutic self-massage that can cure old injuries and make the body healthier. Of course, the mental discipline of qigong is true for other martial arts and forms of exercise such as yoga. The mental discipline is what makes the exercises so powerful for other pursuits, i.e. why someone like Tiger Woods or other professional athletes would incorporate martial arts into their training regimen ... not to be some sort of aggressive bully, but to develop mental discipline and build upon the ability to focus and refine. In practice, making an ancient exercise into a living artform means that each and every student who practices the artform should attempt to understand the theory behind the art and to use additional knowledge and medical science and along with reflection and insights from on one's own personal practice to extend and develop the artform. Each THINKING participant perfects, polishes and improves the form. As with quarterbacks in an American football game, the best careers in martial arts usually do not happen to the person with the most raw athletic ability, the first one one to reach a certain level, the strongest or toughest ... the best careers happen to the thinkers who can improve their practice and, most importantly, improve the practice of those around them. Qigong has been studied in China for several thousand years. There is still room for improvement because there are still lessons from the ancient historic texts that can be learned, mastered once again, renewed, updated and even built upon!
The Eight Pieces of Brocade Qigong is one example that distils this long history into very simple exercise that anyone can and should perform on a daily basis. The sitting form is especially good for waking up in the morning; it may also be performed by elderly, disabled or sick people. The standing form is a good warmup and stretching exercise for more people who are more fit. As you practice a practical form of qigong such as the Eight Pieces of Brocade, you will see that there is nothing particularly magical or mystical about qigong -- it is extremely practical and beneficial exercise that benefits from mental discipline and regulating the mind. Eight Pieces of Brocade is a proven martial arts exercise developed by General Yue Fei (March 24, 1103 – January 27, 1142) to keep his troops strong and fit ... of course, in a normal martial arts training, qigong is built upon very simple routines that anyone could do without thinking, but just doing the routine is only the beginning, the first step ... although we can do qigong without thinking; it is very important that we actually do think about what we are doing to make sure that our foundation is increasingly solid!
Sitting Qigong
- Close Eyes and Sit Still (Shuang Shou Tuo Tian) The purpose is to calm the mind. Meditate 5 minutes.
- Knock the teeth 36 times; two hands hold the head. Tap the teeth to stimulate the brain cavity. Pull head forward 9 times.
- Knock and beat the jade pillow. Left and right stimulate the jade pillow 24X by snapping fingers against head.
- Lightly turn head to loosen the neck repeatedly and gaze backward. This is a stretch of the neck to the left and the right in an alternating fashion.
- Hand massage the essence door ... rub hands together until hot, massage the kidneys.
- Hands turn double wheel or left and right windlasses turn ...9X as if you are turning wheels with your hands.
- Lift and press, hold the feet. visualize holding something above your head.
- Sit quietly, swallow saliva, guide the qi, breathe deeply to put out any fires.
Standing Qigong
- Two Hands Hold up the Heavens (Shuang Shou Tuo Tian) This move is said to stimulate the "Triple Warmer" meridian (Sanjiao). It consists of an upward movement of the hands, which are loosely joined and travel up the center of the body.
- Drawing the Bow to Shoot the Hawk (or Vulture) While in a lower horse stance, the practitioner imitates the action of drawing a bow to either side. It is said to exercise the waist area, focusing on the kidneys and spleen.
- Separate Heaven and Earth This resembles a version of the first piece with the hands pressing in opposite directions, one up and one down. A smooth motion in which the hands switch positions is the main action, and it is said to especially stimulate the stomach.
- Wise Owl Gazes Backwards or Look Back This is a stretch of the neck to the left and the right in an alternating fashion.
- Sway the Head and Shake the Tail This is said to regulate the function of the heart and lungs. Its primary aim is to remove excess heat (or fire) (xin huo) from the heart. Xin huo is also associated with heart fire in traditional Chinese medicine. In performing this piece, the practitioner squats in a low horse stance, places the hands on thighs with the elbows facing out and twists to glance backwards on each side.
- Two Hands Hold the Feet to Strengthen the Kidneys and Waist This involves a stretch upwards followed by a forward bend and a holding of the toes.
- Clench the Fists and Glare Fiercely (or Angrily) This resembles the second piece, and is largely a punching movement either to the sides or forward while in horse stance. This, which is the most external of the pieces, is aimed at increasing general vitality and muscular strength.
- Bouncing on the Toes This is a push upward from the toes with a small rocking motion on landing. The gentle shaking vibrations of this piece is said to "smooth out" the qi after practice of the preceding seven pieces.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Scholar qigong, medical qigong, martial qigong, enlightenment qigong
This text provides the a detailed discussion of history and development of the artform, the scientific principles and physiological theory underlying the practice [along with cultural background and vocabulary from Chinese medicine] and practical concepts for applying qigong in practice. This text was first text in a series of in-depth texts on qigong by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming; it serves as a foundation reference for anyone beginning an in-depth study of qigong regardless of the purpose of that study. There are probably as many reasons for studying and practicing qigong as there are people who study and practice qigong. We could list four significant classifications of reasons or motive that people have for studying qigong; these include: to improve and maintain health, to heal injuries and overcome serious illness, to focus power and train for fighting more effectively, to focus the mind for spiritual cultivation.
Maintaining health with qigong is primarily about training to regulate the mind, body and breath. At its simplest, this form of qigong could be thought of as a form of physiological meditation that uses disciplined study of breathing combined with different forms of exercise and stretching movements to massage muscles, tendons and strengthen bones in order to maintain physical health and help calm the mind and practice emotional control. Essentially, qigong conditions one's thinking on exercise, diet and all activities that pertain to health. It is NOT a substitute for eating well, getting plenty of exercise or leading an enjoyable and meaningful life -- instead, qigong complements those activities.
Maintaining health with qigong is primarily about training to regulate the mind, body and breath. At its simplest, this form of qigong could be thought of as a form of physiological meditation that uses disciplined study of breathing combined with different forms of exercise and stretching movements to massage muscles, tendons and strengthen bones in order to maintain physical health and help calm the mind and practice emotional control. Essentially, qigong conditions one's thinking on exercise, diet and all activities that pertain to health. It is NOT a substitute for eating well, getting plenty of exercise or leading an enjoyable and meaningful life -- instead, qigong complements those activities.
Healing injuries and recovering from serious illness with qigong builds upon the techniques used for maintaining health and adds specific qigong exercises designed to speed up healing or cure the sickness. Over thousands of years, qigong practitioners have developing an elaborate medicinal knowledge of biolectric/biomagnetic qi circulation and balance; recently, conventional medical science and biomedical engineers have begun to better understand and use the millennia of clinical experience to develop treatment methods and devices based upon bioelectricity/biomagnetism.
Developing martial arts power and effectiveness with qigong is primarily about using the training to develop the power, efficiency and self-control of the body and mind for self-defense and diffusing difficult situations. It involves the abilities to perform spectacular leaps, to accomplish unbelievable moves and to deliver highly-focused blows. These abilities are especially effective because an understanding of qigong allows for devastating attacks delivered to extremely susceptible areas on the opponent's body. There are also techniques (e.g. iron shirt) that emphasize training to focus energy and provide an ability to resist blows; there are others such as chin na grasping or siezing arts or taichiquan wrestling arts that focus upon understanding an opponent's energy and power and using an opponent's imbalance qi against him.
Spiritual cultivation with qigong is associated with techniques that extend self-control and build upon having achieved the highest accomplishments in all other qi gong categories ... beyond healthiness, beyond longevity, beyond power and effective self-defense ... spiritual cultivation is about an elevated capacity for self-awareness and grasping reality exactly as it is. This level of awareness allows one to think very clearly about one's previous explorations of faith, lifelong prejudices and mental conditioning that can bias spiritual cultivation ... with self-awareness and discipine, one can use prayer and meditation to reach beyond one's conceptual frameworks, intellectual limits or physical capabilities ... to enter a world where grace and unexplainable mercies prevail.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Li Floats, Jin Is Sunken; Li Is Dull, Jin Is Sharp
In martial arts, li pertains to the external manifestation of power derived from muscle and bone; jin is the force that comes from tendons and is generated by using the mind to lead the qi or human biolectricity. As we get older, li isgradually lost -- however, through patient and diligent practice and meditation, internal martial artists learn to use their minds to relax the muscles as much as possible and to generate and lead qi in the local area around the muscles being used. Older martial artists who have been practicing their art for 50 years will produce the internal jin force that is more powerful than the younger martial artist's external li.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Driving process improvement in exercise, nutrition, martial arts, massage franchise networks with mobile and video technology
As an engineer, I cannot break free of my fascination with technology for advancing the cause of health ... I'm not a gadget geek; I despise geez-whiz presentations by guys in black turtlenecks that feature a glimpse into a hip, entirely proprietary future [that you can't join unless you are ready to part with a lot of money] -- I really hate the hype associated with promises of the brand new unreliable bleeding edge technology. But I am finally starting to be fascinated with mobile technology because I can see that it is getting more reliable AND it allows quant jocks like me to bring a lot more data to bear on the situation when we get really serious about studying, experimenting and attempting to rapidly optimize processes. I am beginning to like mobile technology because it is almost BEGINNING to be useful.
I know that I should be thinking about getting more healthy immediately or about improving my own martial arts practice; instead, I have been thinking a LOT lately about exploiting new developments in mobile communication and video technology to leverage martial arts expertise and establish new "franchise territories" to expand a strong existing network to be even stronger and dynamic AND [through franchise and licensing fees] to generate financial support for a non-profit educational foundation ... in a nutshell, mobile communication technology could be a big part of what is needed to eliminate geographic barriers and enable greater benefit for thousands or even millions of people by more effective dispersal of knowledge and expertise ...but there's even more potential. If we could take the next step to more effectively use sensors connected to the network, starting with video for coaching and diagnosis OR perhaps extend mobile devices with new sensors for bioelectric diagnosis (e.g. similar to GE's handheld electrocardiogram), we would generate a revolution in fitness and jin power training for the martial arts!
Mobile technology would remove many geographic barriers by making it possible for trainers to be much more mobile and have a greater impact through a dispersed network of coaches. Moreover, the accumulated knowledge and expertise of masters and experts could be shared through franchise network that exploited mobile technology ... to maintain closer relationships with as many certified trainers and coaches as possible [without destroying the ability of those masters and experts to develop and extend the theoretical martial arts basis of the franchise]. As in other pursuits, mobile communication technology enables an organizational network to maintain and strengthen its key relationships in spite of the fact that the people in that network are more mobile and more dispersed ... the availability of this highly productive technology almost demands that we rethink how organizations are structured ... entire cultures, industries and economies will be revolutionized!
The type of franchise network that I am contemplating serving would build upon the best global martial arts networks ... basically, the technology-driven quantitative process-improvement model would be an extension of the western healthclub business franchise model (i.e. technology-driven productivity and customer service à la McDonalds in fast food franchises). This extension applied to traditional Oriental martial arts network with mobile communication technology as one of key enabling technologies for an intense multi-level training and coaching franchise. In some ways, the multi-level organization would function somewhat like MaryKay or Herbalife -- EXCEPT that the primary push of the organization would instead be to develop LEADERS in order to develop discipline and lead people to be more responsible for their own health, diet, exercise, self-defense and ability to heal themselves and others from common injuries. In other words, the organization would need evangelists and marketing [like all growing organizations] but it would not push agents to become more adept as salespeople or, in anyway, push people to buy products or services -- the organization would extend knowledge and LEAD people to better health. Basically, since the model would be based on oriental master-student relationship, it would not really be all that revolutionary or different.
The franchise [target customer] would typically involve 5 levels: Masters, Experts; Trainers; Coaches, Individuals ... it might work something like this:
Masters are the theorists and thought leaders of the organization; they are responsible for training and certifying experts; masters would be few in number. Typically there would be one key master and several heirs apparent; redundancy would ensure survival of the organization. Generally, masters would not be selected but would instead would emerge from the pool of experts after a lifetime [at least 25 years as an expert]. Being a master would carry significant responsibilities for ensuring the health of the organization; mobile technology would allow masters to reach down through the organization to assist coaches, trainers as well as experts. The demands of being a master would result in the likelihood that many lifetime experts would serve as a master for only a few years ... preferring to leave and focus on their own spiritual cultivation.
Experts would be located at main facilities on call to answer difficult questions [they might ask masters for assistance with the most difficult questions], they would keep their skills sharp by training and certifying trainers. Coaches would also utilize mobile technology to call upon experts for assistance with tough questions. Gaining initial certification as a expert would involve, at minimum, a commitment of at least 10 years of dedicated practice and intensive daily study under direct guidance of masters;
Trainers would be based at main facilities, but highly mobile; often traveling to disperse knowledge and conduct seminars in different locations. Trainers would thus sharpen their skills by producing training videos and conducting seminars in which they trained and certified personal coaches; also, mobile video technology would allow trainers would be on constant call to assist coaches in giving answers to their clients. Gaining initial certification as a trainer would involve a commitment of at least 5 years of dedicated practice and intensive daily training under the guidance of an expert; with additional annual training at retreat centers conducted by masters.
Personal coaches would sharpen their skills by working with individuals to insure their personal discipline was progressing. Gaining initial certification as a coach would involve a commitment of at least 2 years of dedicated practice and intensive training. Given the familiarity built through training seminars, Coaches would probably rely mostly on the network of trainers for guidance and answers, but mobile technology would allow coaches to also call upon experts.
Individuals would rely mostly on the familiarity with their coaches to build diligence in the practice, to obtain guidance in the practice of various forms and answers to their questions about health and diet. DVDs, training videos on the internet and mobile video technology would allow individuals to also call upon the organization's network of trainers. Individuals would expected to be diligent and to progress in their practice, but they would typically be employed in other pursuits and would pay coaches for personal guidance in weekly half-hour one-on-one video coaching sessions and weekly group sessions led by the coach. Particularly skilled and talented individuals with sufficient diligence in their practice would be encouraged to become coaches ... the first stage in becoming a coach would be for an individual to assist other individuals and recruit new members through organization-sponsored introductory seminars and pro bono training sessions for people who could not afford coaching.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Ruminations on Lojong Mind Training
I am one of those Christians who, like the Trappist monk, Brother Thomas Merton, believes that there is a lot to be learned from an ecumenical or interfaith dialogue with those firmly on spiritual paths taken by other religions ... that does NOT mean that I am about to convert to another religion; my faith is more than strong enough to take away my fear of any sort of temptation to stray from my life in Christ. Not only does studying another religion help me to understand how to reach out to AND to relate to people of other faiths [hopefully without coming off as another condescending missionary jerk preying on them like some sort of evangelical vulture trying to add another soul-for-Jesus to my crusader belt], it invariably teaches me a deeper lesson about my own Christian faith, about my own commitment to love God, to do His will and to treat all other human beings as I would want them to treat me.
Beyond just the religious aspects, there is an awfully lot to learn from other cultures ... all have attachment to symbolism and beliefs that more trouble than those symbols and beliefs are worth -- it's nice to know that Christians aren't the only knuckleheads who are so stuck in their backward ways, that they'd rather die than think about changing. What I find useful is investigating how other cultures approach problem solving and thinking. In particular, I am absolutely certain that the Buddhists and Daoists have some very important things that we could learn about discipline, meditation, patience, situational awareness, self-defense ...our western heritage is relatively violent and confrontational -- our history is all about heroic crusades, dying in glorious battles, military strategy, weapons and systems for winning wars ... "Onward Christian Soldiers!" captures how we think ... by contrast, for thousands of years, the energy of brightest minds in these cultures has been focused upon debating, thinking about, meditating on and writing about the best techniques for training one's mind and purifying one's motivations and attitudes for greater focus on spiritual cultivation. Lojong is the mind training practice of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition; it is based on a set of fifty-nine aphorisms originally formulated in Tibet in the 12th century by Geshe Chekhawa. These proverbs that form the root text of the mind training practice are designed as a set of antidotes to undesired mental habits that cause suffering; these proverbs should not exactly be regard as we Christians regard commandments [especially the 1st and 2nd commandments] but they are helpful guidelines that will make our search for happiness in this life a lot easier. The aphorisms on lojong mind training listed below are paraphrased from web-based directory of translations of the Tibetan original.
Beyond just the religious aspects, there is an awfully lot to learn from other cultures ... all have attachment to symbolism and beliefs that more trouble than those symbols and beliefs are worth -- it's nice to know that Christians aren't the only knuckleheads who are so stuck in their backward ways, that they'd rather die than think about changing. What I find useful is investigating how other cultures approach problem solving and thinking. In particular, I am absolutely certain that the Buddhists and Daoists have some very important things that we could learn about discipline, meditation, patience, situational awareness, self-defense ...our western heritage is relatively violent and confrontational -- our history is all about heroic crusades, dying in glorious battles, military strategy, weapons and systems for winning wars ... "Onward Christian Soldiers!" captures how we think ... by contrast, for thousands of years, the energy of brightest minds in these cultures has been focused upon debating, thinking about, meditating on and writing about the best techniques for training one's mind and purifying one's motivations and attitudes for greater focus on spiritual cultivation. Lojong is the mind training practice of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition; it is based on a set of fifty-nine aphorisms originally formulated in Tibet in the 12th century by Geshe Chekhawa. These proverbs that form the root text of the mind training practice are designed as a set of antidotes to undesired mental habits that cause suffering; these proverbs should not exactly be regard as we Christians regard commandments [especially the 1st and 2nd commandments] but they are helpful guidelines that will make our search for happiness in this life a lot easier. The aphorisms on lojong mind training listed below are paraphrased from web-based directory of translations of the Tibetan original.
First, train in the preliminaries.
Treat everything you perceive as a dream.
Find the consciousness you had before you were born ... respect the miracle of your birth and everything that miracle represents about the best intentions and essential hopes of your parents, the accumulated values and traditions of your elders.
Let even the remedy itself drop away naturally.
Stay in the primeval consciousness, the basis of everything.
Between meditations, treat everything as an illusion.
As you breathe in, take in and accept all the sadness, pain, and negativity of the whole world, including yourself, and absorb it into your heart. As you breathe out, pour out all your joy and bliss; bless the whole of existence.
Understand your attachments, your aversions, and your indifference, and love them all.
Apply these proverbs in everything you do.
When practicing unconditional acceptance, start with yourself.
When everything goes wrong, treat disaster as a way to wake up.
Take all the blame yourself.
Be grateful to everyone.
Don't worry – there's nothing real about your confusion.
When something unexpected happens, in that very moment, treat it as a meditation.
Work with the Five Forces. Practice these Five Forces and you are ready for death at any moment. The Five Forces are:
Be intense, be committed.
Familiarization – get used to doing and being what you want to do and to be.
Cultivate the white seeds, not the black ones.
Turn totally away from all your ego trips.
Dedicate all the merits of what you do for the benefit of others.
All teachings have the same goal.
Follow the inner witness rather than the outer ones.
Always have the support of a joyful mind.
Practicing even when distracted is good training.
Always observe these three points:
Regularity of practice.
Not wasting time on the inessential.
Not rationalizing our mistakes.
Change your attitude, but stay natural.
Do not discuss defects.
Don't worry about other people.
Work on your greatest imperfection first.
Abandon all hope of results.
Give up poisonous food.
Don't be consistent.
Don't indulge in malicious gossip.
Don't wait in ambush.
Don't strike at the heart.
Don't put the yak's load on the cow.
Remember – this is not a competition.
Don't be sneaky.
Don't abuse your divine power for selfish reasons.
Don't expect to profit from other people's misfortune.
In all your activities, have a single purpose.
Solve all problems by accepting the bad energy and sending out the good.
Renew your commitment when you get up and before you go to sleep.
Accept good and bad fortune with an equal mind.
Keep your vows even at the risk of your life.
Recognize your neurotic tendencies, overcome them, then transcend them.
Find a teacher, tame the roving mind, choose a lifestyle that allows you to practice.
Love your teacher, enjoy your practice, keep your vows.
Focus your body, mind, and spirit on the path.
Exclude nothing from your acceptance practice: train with a whole heart.
Always meditate on whatever you resent.
Don't depend on how the rest of the world is.
In this life, concentrate on achieving what is most meaningful.
Don't let your emotions distract you, but bring them to your practice.
Don't let your practice become irregular.
Train wholeheartedly.
Free yourself by first watching, then analyzing.
Don't feel sorry for yourself.
Don't be jealous.
Stay focused.
Don't expect any applause.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
I think about Afghanistan more and more every day.
When the world saw the destruction of a UNESCO Heritage site as expression of fundamentalist hate
in early 2001, we knew the hard-line Taliban
, Osama bin Laden and the other idiots linked to Al-Qaeda around the world would never stop. We knew that the ignorance, intolerance and capacity for evil would keep coming for us; we ignored it, dismissed it, or worse, thought that this senseless cultural vandalisn of destruction of the Buddhist statues in the Afghanistan Bamiyan Valley was an acceptable form of Afghani cultural assertion or islamic religious expression ... besides, it too far away from the United States to matter. But the bell was tolling for us in early 2001. This act took several attempts over several days; it was deliberately pre-announced and well-documented by various news agencies. If the world had not already gotten the hint, this was Taliban's declaration of holy war against anything and everything in the world that could not be explained within their simplistic, narrow, brutish views. Six months later, they took down the World Trade Center and flew a plane into the Pentagon. We should realize that we have only started to confront them in a world war that will continue; we can leave Afghanistan, but this attack will keep coming. We need more patience, discipline and inner strength ... to support our troops, to push for reform in [or removal of] the Karzai regime, to continue this fight as long as we need to, to sustain clear alternative.
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