Imagine tramping through a forest on a fine day, enjoying the air and exercise. Suddenly, inspired by the trees, you stop and simply stand. Gradually the signs of life your coarse trespass has scattered would start to reappear. Birds singing, birds sighted, rodents rustling in the undergrowth, squirrels and maybe a marten in the trees. This is meditation. You stop and simply pay attention, and slowly realise there's far more present than you could ever have imagined.

Meditation investigates the subtle levels of reality that only become revealed when the mind quietens.

Work isometrically: against imagined resistance.

Uniting in a common enemy is not the same as uniting in love.

Slow down

Pay attention

Do good work

Love your neighbours

Love your place

Settle for less

Enjoy it more

—Paul Kingsnorth

Gestures of giving

If you wish to get into energy then you must first learn to concentrate an aspect of mind we call intent.

Traditionally, Palestinian men start the day with a tiny cup of very strong coffee (usually flavoured with cardamom) and a small glass of local olive oil. Both are bitter and, if imbibed mindfully, create a descending wave of astringency settling in the lower belly.  A natural abode for the quiet mind.

KEEP TO A YIELDING MIND

Our equivalent to St Paul's Pray unceasingly.  

No mention of attack.

How well do you function out of your milieu?

Always upping the ante.

When asked by the BBC to offer advice to young composers, Thea Musgrave replied, Don't do it, unless you have to. And if you do, enjoy every minute.

Ignorance is the most insidious form of resistance.

Do it with passion or not at all.

Like wading through warm honey.

Great mantra

STOP COMPLAINING!

If, for any reason, you feel subpar, never let on. Always behave & interact as though you're at your best. Life's too short…

Infinity is a loop that springs open to reveal an endless spiral.

—Eugenia Cheng

My father decided to replace the old washing machine he bought in the '80s. He went to the store and told the assistant what he wanted: a new machine to replace the old one. The assistant asked if the old one was still working. My father told him it was working fine – just old. The assistant told him to keep on with it: "In those days they made things to last. Nowadays they're made to last about five years."

Death should be the great letting-go. The final chance for the spirit to fly free. This is why it is so important for warriors to die in battle, where the spirit's raging for release.

Relax not into a dozy slackness but a taut responsiveness.

Egos interact at the level of bumper cars.

The change we need to make is no mere tweek. It is a fundamental seismic shift. For most this is not only impossible but ill-advised. As my teacher used to say: Most students are not ready to begin. The best we can hope to achieve is thorough preparation.

bene qui latuit bene vixit

Cultivate a fearless heart.

(The enemy is always fear  – one of the first things my teacher said to me.)

Make or break.

(Eventually we break – just hope it's later rather than sooner.)

A friend suggested I try out his AI app so I asked it to explain Deleuze & Guattari's concept of 'desire'. This is what it told me:

Deleuze & Guattari have a unique take on desire. They see it not as a lack, as traditional psychoanalysis might, but as a positive, productive force. They view desire as something that creates & connects, constantly generating new realities & possibilities, rather than just filling a void. It’s a fascinating concept!

I always suspected it was their word for 'spirit'. Now I know.

We must become past masters at borrowing energy if we expect to progress.

Pregnant with silence

analogue = potency

digital = exhaustion

It's obvious if you think about it.

For the scientist truth is objectivity.
For the artist truth is subjectivity.

I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul. 

—Jean Cocteau

frugality & friendship

Quiet mind is empty of words & thoughts but brimming with feeling & sensitivity.   A completely different way of being in the world.

We use words to make sense of consciousness: turn chaos into cosmos.

Things are so artificial nowadays that the mainstream is more likely to lead into a cesspool than the ocean.