soaring crane

Rain and ice here, as we head out to our New Year's dinner...

faucet tight - screw it

one to hold the faucet tight

three to turn the house

(sorry, Brian, Luke was first)

I'm sure I've posted this previously, but it's a poem that stays with me, and a thought that stays with me and one I've been thinking again, in this green December ...

A child said, What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;
How could I answer the child? . . . I do not know what it is any more than he.

I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.

Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropped,
Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that we
may see and remark, and say Whose?

Or I guess the grass is itself a child . . . the produced babe of the vegetation.

Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic,
And it means, Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow zones,
Growing among black folks as among white,
Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the same, I receive them the same.

And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves.

Tenderly will I use you curling grass,
It may be you transpire from the breasts of young men,
It may be if I had known them I would have loved them;
It may be you are from old people and from women,

and from offspring taken soon out of their mother's laps,
And here you are the mother's laps.

This grass is very dark to be from the white heads of old mothers,
Darker than the colorless beards of old men,
Dark to come from under the faint red roofs of mouths.

O I perceive after all so many uttering tongues!
And I perceive they do not come from the roofs of mouths for nothing.

I wish I could translate the hints about the dead young men and women,
And the hints about old men and mothers,

and the offspring taken soon out of their laps.

What do you think has become of the young and old men?
What do you think has become of the women and children?

They are alive and well somewhere;
The smallest sprouts show there is really no death,
And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it,
And ceased the moment life appeared.

All goes onward and outward . . . and nothing collapses,
And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier. 

-- Walt Whitman

If God be an epic film

Church is the village theater

Ushers herding the faithful

Presenting last year's hits

At discounted rates

Picture out of focus

Sound system on the fritz

Seats creaking

Floor sticky sweet

People whispering

and eating

and sweating

and yawning

and stretching

and kissing

and texting

and missing

the flim.

of why I'm crying

while flying and trying

to water the grass

rampant cobra sway

a crane soars and joins the play

children of the Tao

plainness and oddness

Haiku thread a safe haven

For Taobums ex-mods

Well, at least she had the guts to get up there and try.

 I found her really sweet, and brave, as you suggest. I sure wouldn't laugh at her for this (or at anyone for anything), but her interpretation is just hilarious, and then they ask her what language it was, lol.

One thing though - it's not a Mariah <shudder> Carey song 

Saw that story in the Guardian and my first thought was "how dumb are these archaeologists?" My second thought was, "no dumber than the person who would spend $1000+ for that thing, and then leave it in the dirt".

Yes, and it stands to reason that the closer to vertical the knee to foot + the closer to horizontal the knee to waist, then the more the upper body must  lean forward, in order not to fall backwards.

 

Bending the knee is good only for the purpose of bringing the "knee to waist" closer to the horizontal.

I've got away from the "bending the knee" stuff. I suggest loosening the knees, but keeping them well in the comfort zone. A method for finding the sweet spot is to first forcefully straighten/lock the knees, so that you feel the tension in the rear, then slowly release that tension. The knees will give way, will bend very slightly, and feel very spongy and relaxed. That's the feeling to shoot for during a standing session. And it's OK to do that little technique once in a while during a longer session, especially if you're developing knee pain. 

the bell tolls for "whom"

and whom is you, whom is me

one big family

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thyfriends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.

yeah, why would anyone laught at that? ^^

anyway, this video is really quite sweet, and making the rounds. But I have to admit I almost spit my coffee all over my dog when I watched it the first time. Put your beverage down and swallow whatever you've got in your mouth before watching this:

haha: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_tree#Germany

I also see that as a pretty poor example of posture.

The "model" also has a blocked Dazhui/neck, which is really bad, imo. Not to mention those thumbs.

A "simple" technique to develop the open, flowing Mingmen is to bring the focus to the front of the body, to the muscles you can better control. Use the abdominal muscles to lift the pelvic bone, which will in turn cause the pelvis to tip to the rear, elongating the lumbar spine (the knees need to give way to this movement, and the kua need to be open). It's only an aide to develop a feel for the posture, but it's an effective one that you can forget once the real pelvic motion has become natural.

The thing I've learned to avoid is the completely static nature of the posture. You might want to try cycling, in harmony with the breath, between a rear-tilting and a completely natural "s-curve" pelvic position. It's a very sublte shift of energy, visually perhaps indiscernible, but you feel it. It's a little jing pump.

now that's not cricket

cricket-cricket-cricket-crick-

nature's wind-up clocks

only mind changes

cars mashing the wet, brown leaves

outside my window

Conjecture on my part but wouldn't the "evil" connotation be to at least some extent racist in origin?

Black is yin. Good for the kidneys, hence good for everything.

kinda rhymes with a sneeze , does it?

Gesundheit

I was reading a service manual together with a German friend earlier today and he read "FAQs" outloud phonetically i.e. "Fah Q's"

Say it quickly, lol.

The text was something along these lines: "We refer our customers in these cases to our extensive database of FAQs" 

Perfect! :-)))))

here in this moment

my eyes close, my lungs expand

I am a new me

Sweet hours have perished here;
This is a mighty room;
Within its precincts hopes have played, --
Now shadows in the tomb.

--E.D.

I'm looking forward to spending less time online, and I'll probably just fade away altogether, as I would have a long time ago had I not got involved in the staff work here. It was interesting, to say the least. Good luck to Michael and Daeluin!

Could someone recommend me some books on the introduction to Daoism.

 

Both English and Chinese would be fine thanks

 

Also on another thread  about misconceptions it says books like the Tao of Pooh is western new age Taoism and is not accurate is this true?

 

Thanks

I liked that book a lot. The second one was too cynical for me, though. You'll always find fundamentalists labelling in some negative way everything that doesn't fit their experience. Don't let them ruin your own experience, I say. Read a book and come to your own conclusions.

Thanks for the quick response

It was quick, wasn't it? I just happened to be logged in as you posted your intro. I guess that's a good omen :-)