liminal_luke

I was a teenager eating breakfast with my family at a small town greasy spoon. A very old couple sat at a nearby table; the woman leaned over to her aged sweetie and asked, are you still there? The man was truly ancient, or so it felt to my adolescent eyes, and it seemed entirely possible that he could have silently passed away while waiting for his bacon. Are you still there? Forty something years later the memory of that poignant moment is still with me.

From some of the pictures, I think so yes -- they are similar points. The points I´m referring to are not inside the navel but just outside the rim. From a chi nei tsang point of view, I don´t think it´s so critical to get an exact point location using anatomical landmarks. Better to feel around and find the areas that seem tight or tender or otherwise capture the attention, and experiment to see what happens when the awareness and breath free up sensation in that area. Everyone is different. Another potentially potent area to work with using this same technique is the area directly underneath the ribcage. In polarity therapy there´s a similar technique where you start in the center of the abdomen just below the sternum and slowly work releasing tissues to either side just under the rib cage, first one side and then the other. I once received a session where the therapist spent the better part of an hour slowly releasing this area. It was a revelation.

I haven´t tried this yet but I think I´ll give it a go. Sounds very much like Chi Nei Tsang. A variation that occurs to me: breathing into points just outside the circumference of the navel. There´s an idea in Chi Nei Tsang that these points correspond to a conical area that expands outward from the point. Hmmm...hard to explain with words. So the point right above the navel would reflect to the solar plexus and heart. The point above the navel to the right would reflect to the upper right side of the abdomen and liver, etc. I sometimes work my way around the navel holding a finger steady at each of 8 points and making small circles, a move known in Chi Nei Tsang as "opening the wind gates."

That sounds like such an inspired tradition, so marvelously particular to your family. What are your favorite Sichuan dishes?

Too bad it doesn´t fall on Easter.

A city boy can grow a windowsill herb garden. The output won´t sustain a family but a snip of mint or oregano can spruce up a salad.

Welcome, majoranxietycase! -- from a Bum that grew up in Placerville

Really? My plans to join the oppressed elite, foiled again!

Careful, Apech. Unlike white cats, I´m a member of a protected class and have got Scotland Yard on speed dial.

That´s good to know -- thanks! Part of the trouble with this kind of law is that people aren´t clear about where the boundaries are and will likely self-censor to keep themselves safe. Even if nobody actually goes to prison, the threat of legal action throws a pall over free speech. J. K. Rowling´s celebrity may be protective; the authorities know that imprisoning her would cause a huge stir. I suspect ordinary people will be more vulnerable. (Oops -- I´m current eventing again. @steve Just a heads up in case you feel this discussion should be moved.)

At least J. K. Rowling will be able to afford snacks from the prison commissary.

It´s baffling to me that anyone would think this is OK. The takeaway for marginalized groups is "we don´t think you have a strong enough sense of self to deal with the world." Talk about a hateful message.

I was thinking hot-button. l was opining about a legal development that seems strangely dystopian to me, though I suspect it will find favor with the upcoming generation of hot bottoms. (Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 (legislation.gov.uk)

... (reason for edit: probably belongs in "current events" as it touches on a hot-botton cultural issue)

Not my usual genre, but I thought this was powerful.

Yep, I assumed you got my meaning and just added some characteristic -- and much appreciated -- humor. Maybe it´s the playful cat in you, smart and feisty. That´s a combination of attributes that, in my judgment (cough, cough), seems to be going around.

I´m not from any Old Country, unless Placerville, CA in the 80s counts (and maybe it does!) but I remember painting our fruit trees like that.

Seems to me there´s a subtlety to the idea of letting go of judgments that I have yet to communicate effectively. I´ll try again. To me, letting go of good and bad does not mean letting go of discernment. It doesn´t mean pretending we´re all the same. It doesn´t mean being soft on crime and doesn´t lead to moral relativism. We can let go of good and bad without turning our brains off. In Breema bodywork there´s a principle called "no extra." Practitioners are supposed to touch their clients (and live their lives) with no extra. What is extra? To my mind extra is the judgment, it´s the machination of our monkey minds, always busy, always adding too. It´s a precious thing to be touched by someone without an agenda, with exquisite neutrality, alive to what is and nothing else.

Thanks for the kind words, bes. I don´t actually upbraid myself for not knowing about ancient Egypt, that was just an example for illustrative purposes. But it´s true that I would like to be less judgmental of myself in other ways. I´m not sure how to answer your question other than to say a variation of the same early childhood stuff so many of us are carrying around. Appreciating your presence...

Sadly, no. But maybe someday.

Perhaps people mean different things by the word judgement. If I had a question about ancient Egypt, I would ask you, Apech. If I wanted to hire someone to make me an art mask, I would ask if silent thunder was interested. People have different capacities and I want to retain my ability to discern and discriminate. That kind of judgment is a good thing! What I would like to stop doing is saying "Luke, you know squat about ancient Egypt and your art masks suck. You must be a horrible person."

Several Bums have brought up the subject of evil and serious crime, serial killers and whatnot. I think it´s important to note that it´s possible to give up judgments about good and bad while maintaining firm boundaries. As a society we have a right, even a duty, to do what we can to keep ourselves safe. To my mind, this means locking up people who would otherwise be a danger to the public. Opinions about appropriate judicial action vary, but I think that even the most hardnosed law-and-order types can remain judgement-free on a personal level.

I´ll tell a story that might shed light on my personal evolution with this topic. I come from a family of status seekers, so when, as a teenager, I announced my plan to become a psychologist my dad objected. Dad: Wouldn´t it be better to be a psychiatrist? More prestige, more respect. Luke: But dad, a psychiatrist is a medical doctor and medical school is a lot of work, especially since I´m not interested in all that medical stuff. Dad: Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to get ahead in life. A few years later my dad let me know he had changed his mind; it would be OK if I became a psychologist after all. I asked what had led him to this about-face. My dad was a prosecutor and he had to hire a psychologist as an expert witness for a trial he was working on. The psychologist charged him a lot of money -- oops!

Intrude all you like, Apech. I get what you´re saying, I do. You have a point as does Old3Bob and now silent thunder. And yet something in me continues to believe it´s also true that we are all equal. If I´m not entirely cuckoo, we´re in the realm of paradox and contradiction, a place beyond logical understanding. Might a better philosopher than I be able to untangle this mess, squaring our arguments against each other so that both might stand in their appropriate places? I like to think so. In case anyone is interested in my personal process, I´ll say that I came to my thoughts about universal equality out of deep personal need. I´m someone who judges, a lot. I judge myself and, like all self-judgers, I judge others. All of this judging is uncomfortable and sometimes painful. So a few days ago I was writing in my journal and finally came upon the idea of giving it all up. I decided that I would no longer consider myself inferior or superior to anybody else. (Which is not to say that I´m unaware of my strengths and weaknesses; I won´t be auditioning for American Idol anytime soon.) Of course that is easier said than done, but just coming up with the plan felt like an act of self-compassion, like a relief. I find my belief psychologically useful. If others find it philosophically dubious, I´ll just have to be OK with that.

I´ve got my wishy-washy meter handy, and it should be shooting out a response momentarily. Ah, here we go... If someone is breaking the hell out of the dharma I might find myself filled with awe and admiration for their accomplishments. I might choose to read what that person has writen or attend their dharma talks. I can and should use discernment when it´s time to pick a spiritual teacher or buy a croissant or bet on a football team. That´s all good. What´s not so useful -- at least for me -- is to consider myself inferior or superior to others in my essence. I´ve made plenty of mistakes in this life but I still deserve to be here. Everybody else does too. We´ve all got the same Buddha nature. The Dalia Lama doesn´t have a better Buddha nature than I do, nor do I have a better Buddha nature than a convicted criminal. Buddha is Buddha.