Some have to go back
before they can
go forward

The Kingdom of God is that which appears when the mind quietens. And remember: there's quiet & there's quiet.

In most spiritual traditions, otherworldly experiences (visions, out-of-body, universal merging...) are frowned upon until the adept is humble enough for the experiences not to go to their head.

Ea est autem prima humilitas, secunda humilitas, tertia humilitas: et quoties interrogares, hoc dicerem; non quo alia non sint praecepta, quae dicantur, sed nisi humilitas omnia quaecumque bene facimus et praecesserit et comitetur et consecuta fuerit, et proposita quam intueamur, et apposita cui adhaereamus, et imposita qua reprimamur, iam nobis de aliquo bono facto gaudentibus totum extorquet de manu superbia.

That way is first humility, second humility, third humility; and as often as you ask me, I would say the same. Not that there are no other precepts that could be named, but unless humility precedes and accompanies and follows every good thing we do—set before us for us to gaze upon, set beside us for us to cling to, and set over us to restrain us—pride will snatch the whole of it from our hands the moment we begin to rejoice in some good deed.

—St. Augustine of Hippo, Letter 118 (to Dioscorus)

Meditation cannot be rushed – the more anxious you are (about time) the longer it takes to relax & quieten. So if you don't have time then find time or make time, otherwise you're just wasting time.

Stop activity

(quiet the mind)
Return to stillness

(mind in dantian)
And that stillness will be even more active

(heart opens)

Head builds Empire

Heart makes Soul

The eye should learn to listen before it looks.

—Robert Frank

FEEL IT!

As a teacher, this is the phrase I find myself repeating over & over.

What I really mean is: take it to heart rather than head – feel the tender ache of its truth – let it rip you apart or at least open – and definitely don't worry (about) it!

As my teacher once said, only half in jest: If you don't weep at the movies, you have no business being in my classes!

I am hoping to provide a space that visually & spatially
may help us remember or rediscover our inner selves,
our own individual thoughts, feelings & spirits.
—Stephen Antonakos

TRIUNE

Relax the body
Quiet the mind
Free the spirit

Earth
as sink
& source

My teacher used to say:

The most precious thing in the world is peace of mind, and anyone who tries to take it from you is your enemy...

And I always say:

The only thing we all have in common: we are all our own worst enemy...

If you have a noisy mind then
you definitely have
a tense jaw

To be happy is to love (your) life, & vice versa.

The thing we fear most
is nothing(ness)

The first stage to freeing the mind from the clutches of Ego is relaxing (into) the body. Content to be just another body amongst bodies. Traditionally the mind simply watches the breathing – this never-ending exchange with the environment.

But I aspire
downward

—Wendell Berry

As long as you don't get suckered in by the false promises of Empire, there's no reason why you won't continue on this journey until the day you die.

By far the largest part of the work is struggling to overcome our own resistance to the teaching. This is what Ego is: resistance to the teaching, whether that teaching is coming directly from a teacher or simply from life itself. And nobody can do this work for you: it is purely your responsibility, your private endeavour.

Repetition is never mechanical.
Repetition becomes possible by making it
better, newer and endlessly different.
That’s why great repetition is always fresh.
Likewise, our everyday life is not boring
because of the subtle differences.

The process matters.
Above all, encounters matter.
—Lee Ufan

If you're not grateful then you're resentful.
There's no neutral in this game.

for the love of god

Without, it's not humanly possible to sustain openness

The lies we tell ourselves
just to continue

The vehicle that's brought you to the mansion

must be abandoned to pass the threshold.

HOW TO BE A POET
               (to remind myself)


Make a place to sit down.
Sit down. Be quiet.
You must depend upon
affection, reading, knowledge,
skill—more of each
than you have—inspiration,
work, growing older, patience,
for patience joins time
to eternity. Any readers
who like your work,
doubt their judgment.

Breathe with unconditional breath
the unconditioned air.
Shun electric wire.
Communicate slowly. Live
a three-dimensioned life;
stay away from screens.
Stay away from anything
that obscures the place it is in.
There are no unsacred places;
there are only sacred places
and desecrated places.

Accept what comes from silence.
Make the best you can of it.
Of the little words that come
out of the silence, like prayers
prayed back to the one who prays,
make a poem that does not disturb
the silence from which it came.


—Wendell Berry

Consumer society only works when we all agree to consume far more than we need. So be radical (of the root) and consume the barest minimum.

My teacher, John Robert Kells, was told by his teacher, Chi Chiang-dao, that modern-day Taiji is less than 2% of what it once was.

mind continuous : continuous present
the present moment oozing through time
(amoebic movement)

I paint in order not to cry.
—Paul Klee

Everyone lies. Everyone has an agenda. This is why I only believe what my sensitivity tells me. What I feel.

Taiji is the art of concealing hardness with softness
—Yang Chengfu

(My favourite definition of Taiji)

The teacher intimates a deeper truth – telling tales of what awaits beneath the tension & the noise.

Civilisation enables & encourages us to drift through life without ever fully waking up.

For me, the most important principles in Taiji are the two we share with all other internal arts: Relaxation & Natural way Best way, and the one unique to Taiji: Turning / returning.

The essence of all beautiful art,
all great art, is gratitude.
—Friedrich Nietzsche

All that is, is light.

—Duns Scotus

The aim of spiritual work is the dissolution of the self. Unfortunately, the self is clever and will do all in its power to keep control, including turning spiritual work into the ultimate ego trip. This is why we must be constantly on guard. The first task, once we've become quiet inside, is to locate, feel & identity the Spirit – our Divine Spark. The work, from then on, serves this spark rather than self-interest, and such work is always humbling.

The word humble comes from the Latin humus, which means ground, earth, soil. To be humble is to be down to earth. You stay grounded and do not put yourself above others.

I've reached the moment where the movement of my thought interests me more than the thought itself.

—Pablo Picasso

This blog (such an ugly word) is a journal of sorts. An accrual of daily thoughts generated by the work. It is designed to help us out of the world and into the work – put us in the mood for practice, for love.