Mark Foote

boiling frog on ice eight ball in the side pocket going out in style

the firefly of thought with its thousand of kinfolk the place of water

paper lantern floats with its candle lit within surrounded by night

all, all heaven's spore the river winds, the wind blows the dance of the sun

The Sage got up and set off at a brisk pace down the road toward the library, in the direction Bunny had gone. "Peace and contentment", he thought to himself; "I wonder, who it is, that has peace and contentment? Turning a corner, the Sage was suddenly confronted with a very odd sight, indeed; a man was hanging upside down by a rope tied around his feet, the other end of which was tied to an iron gate. A crowd was gathered around the man, watching as he struggled to breathe. Without breaking stride, the Sage pulled a machete out from underneath his coat, severed the rope neatly, and continued up the path toward the library. "Peace and contentment", he muttered to himself; "where's that at!" Walking onto the library grounds, he sat down on a bench in the sun, and pulled a sheaf of notes out of the inside of his coat from the pocket where the machete had disappeared.

to say thank you both the place that has no other blossoms cherries sound

I had the great pleasure to watch a husband and wife from a small village in Oaxaca build an altar to their ancestors for "la dia de los muertos" last fall- the smell of fresh marigolds was very strong, with fruit (plastic) hanging below the marigolds in an arc held by willow branches over a table loaded with candy and soft drinks. gift for my girlfriend love with all my heart, only softly, as she goes

candles, bells, food, wine, bows hands, legs, ankles, eyes, heart, mind marigolds, candy

trophology mix the anthropologist said fumbling his crackers

the process is difficult to describe, because the fundamental is the occurrence of consciousness, and how the occurrence of consciousness resounds in the stretch of the fascia. The lion is totally relaxed, and enters into motion totally relaxed, because the action comes out of feeling generated by the impact of consciousness on stretch. The lion does not intentionally stretch, yet the presence of stretch is evident in the relaxed, tenacious movement of the lion. The top of the thighs and the perineum, myself I look for the stretch from the sacrum to the sit-bones to generate activity in the obturators, which rocks the pelvis side to side on the hip bones. The obturators run under the pelvis, and can lift the pelvis off the hips slightly as they contract. I look for stretch in the sacro-tuberous ligaments running diagonally from the sacrum to the lower front of the pelvis, and activity in the piriformis from the upper legs to the sacrum as a result. There is also activity in the PC as a result of this, and the pivot of the sacrum on the wings of the pelvis. Fundamentally the place of occurrence of consciousness and the stretch occasioned by the place of occurrence develop feeling. I confess my mind is not in the tan-tien that much. I do practice a lot with sensing the coordination of the motion of the sacrum in the muscles of the abdomen where my little fingers touch, doing the mudra of soto zen; side to side, diagonally from the thighs, and up from the pelvis, both little fingers on the lower abdomen.

Let me get this straight- Johnny Dep was really portraying a member of the mongol horde, in 'Pirates?

why should I worry the heart is steady again second life all good

This is my experience, although I am coming from a different perspective. I can sit the lotus or half-lotus now for 40 minutes most of the time without losing significant feeling, whereas even two years ago most of the time I lost significant feeling. There is motion at the sacrum, and that motion projects into the balance in the abdomen. The real trick is that the stretch of ligaments and fascia generates muscular contraction, and the activity is side to side as the fascia from the sacrum to the sitbones stretches, around left and right as the fascia from the sacrum to the bottom front of the pelvis on each side stretches, and forward and back as the stretch at the hips and between the sacrum and pelvis coordinates with the motion of the sacrum. The mind does indeed go to the area where balance can utilize the cranial-sacral rhythm to open blockages. Feeling throughout the body to the surface of the skin is the best intention, and any other intentional activity prevents the reciprocal activity out of the stretch of ligaments necessary to a fluid alignment and feeling. That's a western understanding, of experiences I have that match with Soaring Crane's description; I have diagrams of the principle muscles and the fascia from the sacrum at the mudra of zen, as here: fascial triggers. Hopefully my written descriptions are straightforward, if the diagrams are somewhat primitive. a p.s.- it took me years after I understood this, and knew the anatomy involved, to realize that I had to open my mind to feelings that were close to painful in order for the reciprocal activity out of stretch to develop. Let me rephrase that; I had to open myself to the experience of consciousness in places where the associated feeling was close to painful, before the stretch in the ligaments was sufficent to generate muscular activity. Once I got the hang of it (literally), the ability to feel opened up for me, as though part of me trusted that I would let the mind move and allow feeling to arise appropriately.

Thanks, that was interesting. Need a recipe for that corn mash!

Ok, a little off topic, but how do you like that book (the Xing Yi book in your avatar)? I was doing the exercises out of that book for years, then about December I suddenly stopped. Did the first four today, and remembered how much I liked them.

healing with a grin out under the stars- rain past, shoes almost worn through

whispers... just relax this won't hurt a bit- ready? and me, still undone

The sage sits himself down on a bench where the sun has almost begun to warm things, and pulls a bottle of E&J brandy out of a small paper bag he's been carrying. The eyebrows of his followers reach to the heavens as he takes a swig; dumbfounded, they realize how much their happiness has of late depended on him, who gives every appearance of becoming blotto before their eyes, at this ungodly hour. The sage begins to sing: "when true simplicity is gained; to bow, and to bend, we shall not be ashamed; to turn, to turn, shall be our delight..."- just then the gathering is interrupted by the sound of Bunny the librarian's heels as she approaches up the path on her way to the library, her trench coat revealing the essence of feminimity as she studiously ignores the small crowd.

...when you make eyes in the place of an eye, and a hand in the place of a hand, and a foot in the place of a foot, (and) an image in the place of an image, then shall you enter [the Kingdom]. (The Gospel According to Thomas, coptic text established and translated by A. Guillaumont, H.-CH. Puech, G. Quispel, W. Till and Yassah ‘Abd Al Masih, pg 18-19 log. 22, ©1959 E. J. Brill)

rapturous applause delusions of paradise just over the hill

This is a question about the stretch that is already in existence as consciousness takes place, and the activity out of that stretch; s'trick question, because of the word "sound". Here's a trick answer, from P'u-hua, to the sound of a bat no ball homering: When they come in the light, I hit them in the light; When they come in the dark, I hit them in the dark. (“Dogen’s Manuals of Zen Meditation”, Carl Bielefeldt, pg 156, ©1988 Regents of the University of California) P'u-hua is a bit heavy when he claps one-handed, wouldn't you say? Not that he does.

what's enlightenment fireflies under the hat, frog's legs in the pockets, salt ok, nevermind- many haikus have flowed since the river was fireflies- let me be the spark and put out my head of flames when your lamp is lit

(not sure what's happening with the order of things- need a check-out function for post replies!) splicing from way back- man with giant cock fight the zipper up, turn, out, waltz all the way home waltz all the way home past the sirens, heart to where Penelope spins