Wisdom from the Classics

December 21, 3 AM, Foothills of the Appalachian, PA

There are a legion of distractions pulling us one way or another, often different influences/temptations bombarding our senses, that we fail to listen to what is authentic and what is essential. To me, it is important to listen deep, in stillness. Since it is the year of the Water Dragon, the darkness offers the wisdom that we can listen to. The organ at this time in the season is the Kidneys. Their sense openings are the ears … they connect us to the external and internal worlds. While we can listen to the outside world, we can also listen to the internal.  Water stands for flexibility and softness and deep wisdom.

One of my father’s favorite words was “meretricious.” It means something — an object, phenomenon, a person, a goal, status or event — that is attractive, sensational and seductive.  Something that can turn our heads and make us lose sight of and forget what is truly valuable and genuine. Something that can also make us lose our anchor to our deeper Self, the spiritual and eternal, the flame that burns in our Heart. The Siren Song that pulls us away from our life and destiny.

I have often gone back to the ancient classics of Daoism. I have read them carefully — drank of their wisdom elixir. Simple words but deep and meaningful. Here are three passages — two from the Dao De Jing and one from Zhuangzi.

The masters of this ancient path

are mysterious and profound

Their inner state baffles all inquiry

Their depths  go beyond all knowing

Thus, despite every effort,

we can only tell of their outer signs –

Deliberate, as if treading over the stones of a winter brook

Watchful, as if meeting danger on all sides

Reverent, as if meeting an honored guest

Selfless, like a melting block of ice

Pure, like uncarved wood

Accepting, like an open valley

Through the course of nature

muddy water becomes clear

Through the unfolding of life

man reaches perfection

Through sustained activity

that supreme rest is finally found

Those who have the Tao want nothing else

Though seemingly empty

they are ever full

Though seemingly old

they are beyond the reach of birth and death

Chapter 15, Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition by Jonathan Star

It mentions virtues that the ancient sages cultivated and how these virtues were applied to certain situations. The passage is actually an affirmation that we can read and memorize. In studying it, we should allow its message to emerge from the waters like a lotus.

At the center of our meditation is stillness. Beyond movement and contemplation, beyond theories and practices, is the subtle and elusive concept of stillness. Since humans are possessed of a Monkey Mind, it is difficult to arrive at stillness, that place of nothingness/ emptiness that no concepts, ideas, ambitions, dreams, achievements, pursuits can reach. It is where we finally find our …  Self.

Chapter 16, Dao De Jing: Definitive Edition by Jonathan Star

Become totally empty

Quiet the restlessness of the mind

Only then will you witness everything

unfolding from emptiness

See all things flourish and dance

in endless variation

And once again merge back into perfect emptiness –

Their true repose

Their true nature

Emerging, flourishing, dissolving back again

This is the eternal process of return

To know this process brings enlightenment

To miss this process brings disaster

Be still

Stillness reveals the secrets of eternity

Eternity embraces the all-possible

The all-possible leads to a vision of oneness

A vision of oneness brings about universal love

Universal love supports the great truth of Nature

The great truth of Nature is Tao

Whoever knows this truth lives forever

The body may perish, deeds may be forgotten

But he who has Tao has all eternity

Zhuangzi, Chapter 4. Fasting of the Heart/Xin (modified from Essential Zhuangzi by Hamill and Seaton)

… Yen Hui said, “May I ask what method you’d employ?”

“Fast,” Confucius said, “and then I’ll tell you. But having the method is one thing, carrying it out is another. Will it be easy? Whoever thinks it might be easy is not suited to the job.”

“My family is poor,” Yen Hui said. “I haven’t tasted either meat or wine for months. Is that what you would call fasting?”

“That’s fasting for a sacrifice,” said Confucius. “It is not the fasting of the heart.”

“What is fasting of the heart, then?”

“Set your heart on the One,” said Confucius. “Don’t listen with your ears; listen with your heart. Then stop listening with your heart and listen with your Qi. Hearing stops with the ear, the heart stops with words and symbols. The Qi is empty. Being so, it can attend to all phenomena. Dao begins to roost in emptiness  The emptiness is the fasting of the heart.”

Winter Solstice — December 21

December 19, 2012. In the foothills of the Appalachian, PA.

I don’t know what you are going to do and where you’re going to be, but blessings to you and yours on this most sacred time of the year. I will be in NY City December 21, 22 and 23. I leave for the Philippines on Monday December 24.

No, the world is not going to end on December 21, notwithstanding dire and apocalyptic prophecies. Yes, there is going to be a shift in the astronomical alignment, but only to the extent that we are moving to another season (Spring and the return of the Light). No, we do not have to do anything extraordinary (like a pilgrimage to Chichen Itza in Mexico or the pyramids o Giza in f Egypt), but it’s important to be aware of the shift our own body is taking as we slowly move through the seasons. Yes, we should do a meditation to align ourselves to Nature and its transformation. So perhaps on the 21st or 22nd, we should spend an hour or so early in the morning or late at night (preferably at 11 pm to 1 am) in stillness. Since it is the year of the Water Dragon, focusing on the Kidneys and the Water Element would help re-orient us to the 5 Elements (Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal). I will do my own practice. On the 22nd I will also be at Columbus Park in Chinatown at 8 am to practice Tai chi chuan. If you are interested, please feel free to come.

To me, change in the world has to start from within. Self-cultivation practices are important in human transformation. So each and everyone of us has to have a serious meditative, spiritual and/or qigong regimen. It is good to do it with others, a group or community of friends and practitioners. But often we have to do it alone. We have to work on the Heart to be able to see ha any concrete and significant effect out there. Ultimately, society is just a mirror of what happens from within.

May I share some brief notes from my journal at this time of year:

Winter Solstice is associated with the coming of the Light in many ancient cultures. In the I Ching/Book of Change, Hexagram 24, this is depicted as Return/Fu. The Yang emerging from the Darkness of the Yin.

“The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation” by Al Huang (Inner Traditions: 1998) says:

“Fu plays an important role in the I Ching. It is one of the twelve tidal gua used to explain the cosmology of the changing of the seasons — to go around and begin again. It represents the eleventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar, or December. According to the I Ching, ‘When Yang turns back, it is Fu.’

“At the Winter Solstice, the twenty-second day of the eleventh month, the yang energy emerges. In Northern China, people can actually feel the yang energy begin to surface at the turning point of that specific day. There is an ancient saying handed over thousands of years: ‘At winter solstice, yang begins to surge.’ This idea is vividly expressed in the structure of the gua. For this reason, during the Zhou dynasty the Chinese New Year began with the winter solstice. The yang energy starts a new cycle.” page 212.

In the Taoist meditative and health exercise of Taoyin (now called Qigong), Winter Solstice is associated with the 5th lumbar vertebra and its activation. Each of the 24 vertebrae in the spine corresponds to a day in the calendar. So a vertebra is covered once every 15 days. Chen Xiyi, a Taoist of the 10th and 11th century CE, who lived on Huashan/Flower Mountain, choreographed exercises. He said that the set for the Winter Solstice should be done between 11 pm and 3 am on the second half of the Eleventh Moon to remedy cases of cold and damp in the jingluo channels and the extremities, lumbar pain, and counterflow qi under the navel/CV8/Shenque. Master Chen is also famous as the founder of Liu He Ba Fa/6 Harmonies, 8 Methods and Sleeping and Dreaming Qigong.

“Ancient Way to Keep Fit” (Hai Feng Publications HK: 1990), page 45.

With David Verdesi (www.david verdesi.com) and other students, I visited the Basilica di San Clemente in Rome 3 times within a period of 1 month 3 years ago. We were training in Lei Shan Dao at the time. Beneath the church were the ruins of the ancient temple of Mithras. There were pillars, a fresh water spring, and most prominently a cauldron-like excavation for bull sacrifice. I did not know anything about Mithras except he was supposed to be a Persian god or prophet. A quick look at the internet showed that he preached love and compassion, had 12 disciples, died and was resurrected on the third day. He was born on December 25 about 500 to 600 years before Jesus.

Here is a passage from a book that I’ve been reading:

“One of the imported religions that was gaining a large following in Rome was the Iranian cult of Mithras. According to legend, Mithras had been sent to Earth by the Supreme God of Light to slay a bull whose blood was the source of all fertility. Only men (most of them Roman soldiers) participated in Mithraic rites. Neophytes were required to undergo baptism and to perform deeds of self-sacrifice and courage, thereby progressing through seven stages of initiation. The process was said to bring about a gradual purification of character, leading finally to the unconditioned state that the soul had known before birth. Having achieved this seventh degree, the initiate was regarded as an incarnation of the divine.

“The central event of the cult myth, the slaying of the cosmic bull, was regarded as the greatest event in the history of the world – the act of Creation at the beginning of time, and of redemption at the end. Believers reenacted the drama in a nocturnal bull sacrifice in a cave or grotto. This ceremony was seen as a celebration of the union of opposites – life and death, spring and autumn, beginning and ending. Sculptures of the bull slaying showed grains flowing from the wound in the animal’s neck.

“Mithras’s birth was supposed to have been attended by shepherds. At the end of his time on Earth, he and his disciples shared a last supper, which was later commemorated by believers in a communion of bread and wine. Furthermore the hero was said not to have died but to have returned to heaven, and his followers believed that he would come again at the end of the world. Then the dead would rise from their graves for a final judgment.

“The Mithraic holy day was Sun-day, a fact no doubt noted by Emperor Aurelian, who, with so many of his soldiers being initiated into the Iranian cult, must have wondered: Why not consolidate the worship of Mithras with that of Sol Invictus? Accordingly he declared December 25th the official birth festival not only of Sol but of Mithras as well.

“By the fourth century, a radical Jewish sect calling themselves Christians was brewing trouble for the Roman authorities. The Emperor Constantine, realizing the best way to defuse the movement might be to co-opt it, made Christianity the state religion with himself at its head. The Christians went along, though doing so entailed a few revisions to their rites and beliefs. Previously their Sabbath was Saturn-day; but for unity’s sake, Constantine changed it to Sun-day, the feast day of both Sol and Mithras. This was acceptable to Christians since, after all, Christ’s resurrection had occurred on a Sunday, the day after the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday) following the Passover.

“Moreover, within another quarter of a century or so (by the year 360, certainly) the December 25 feast-day of Sol and Mithras had become the principal Christian festival as well, the day for the commemoration of the birth of Jesus. This date met with the approval of Christians because, first of all, no one knew Jesus’s real birthday anyway; and second, the winter Solstice had always been seen as a time of renewal. It was the time of the rebirth of the Sun and of light. Therefore how fitting to use it as the day to celebrate the birth of the true spiritual light of the world! And, even though the Solstice ceased to occur on December 25 centuries ago due to calendrical inaccuracies, Christians have celebrated Christmas on this day every year since.”

“Celebrate the Solstice: Honoring the Earth’s Seasonal Rhythms through Festival and Ceremony” by Richard Heinberg (Quest Books: 1993), page 104.

I was in Mexico a few times in the mid-80s. These photos were taken at the Chichen Itsa Mayan pyramid complex. There’s the pyramid of Kukulkan, the cenote/sacrificial pool, the observatory and the leopard inside the pyramid.

Mexico.-Chichen-Itsa.-Rene

Mexico.-Chichen-Itsa.-Observatory.-7

Mexico.-Chichen-Itsa.-Pillars

Mexico.-Chichen-Itsa.-Wall.-2

Mexico.-Chichen-Itsa.-Pyramid.-2

Mexico.-Chichen-Itsa.-Pyramid.-3

Mexico.-Chichen-itsa.-Pyramid

Mexico.-Chichen-Itsa.-Sacrificial-Pool.-2

Mexico.-Chichen-Itsa.-Leopard

Gallery: More Sacred Places and Favorite Photos (Part 2)

It was in the Winter of 1994 — I have to consult my diary about it — and  enroute to Hawaii from the Philippines, the plane stopped over at Narita in Japan. I was with a couple of Chinese women I met in Hongkong. (Our United Airlines flight was delayed for a whole day in HK because of a terrorist report. I’ll tell you the story another time.)  We had a whole day to kill, so we decided to  take  a train to Tokyo and walked around. We  were not dressed for the cold weather. I saw this park and did Tai chi there, something I have done in many parks around the world. The women took a few photos of me. We eventually landed in Oahu, Hawaii. It turned out the Chinese women were going to spend a few days at the University of Hawaii in Manoa. I took them around the island. Another coincidence: we met again in Harvard University a week or two later. (There is no space to follow the thread, so I’ll also reserve it for later.) Perhaps, life has a lesson or two to teach us when we encounter synchronicity. Perhaps it is just happenstance — random, incomprehensible events that have no meaning?

Website. Japan. Tai chi.

In the outskirts of Hangzhou are the tea plantations and the temples. Some of the buddhas were carved on the mountainsides. I have been to Hangzhou a few times. To me, it is the most interesting city in all of China. I spent many memorable hours doing Tai chi inside a walled garden devoted to bonsai on Xihu/West Lake. You paid for a flask of hot water and a spoonful of tea and you sit on the patio. Because there is an entrance fee, there aren’t many practitioners of Tai chi there, so you can actually have the place to yourself for hours. If you arrive early enough, there are no guards and you can come in for free. Within walking distance there’s Hefang, a street with old wooden houses. The place is a kind of mall with shops vending tea, scarves, paintings, decor, gourds, buddhas, wu-shu weapons, clothes, bags. There’s a food court on one side selling delicacies of the city — Su Dong Po pork, West Lake carp, duck bills and feet, stinky tofu. There’s also near the entrance a couple of massage centers run by the blind.

Hangzhou.MtnBuddhas

My birthday celebrated with the family at one of my favorite restaurants, the Seoul Garden, on E 32nd Street and Broadway in Manhattan. With my granddaughters Ava and Isabel. Seoul Garden has some of the best doufu in town. I’ve celebrated several of my birthdays there.

Website. 70th Birthday. Ava and Isabel.

I make it a point to go to Walden Pond every time I go to Boston. I often do Tai chi in the parking lot in the summer or by the water in other seasons. The guards do not bother me; they just tell me to practice farther from the weekend traffic, especially when I have my Dao/Knife and Jian/Sword. After practice, I walk around the lake, stop by the original location of Henry David Thoreau’s cabin and light an incense or two there.

One time, in observance of Spring Equinox, on a Sunday I went to Concord and spent a couple of hours sauntering around Walden Pond, where Henry David Thoreau lived for a couple of years in his famous cabin. Sauntering: from sainte terre, now meaning a pilgrimage to a sacred place.

I have done it many times before, especially during my years studying and later teaching in acupuncture school outside of Boston. There were occasions at Walden when I practiced Tai chi chuan for hours at The Farm with my friend Debra Kang Dean, an award-winning poet and Tai chi teacher and aficionada (www.debrakangdean.com). Her late husband Bradley Dean was a respected Thoreau scholar.

I almost always end up at the original location of Thoreau’s cabin where a cairn has been built nearby. A sign was posted saying (from Walden, or A Life in the Woods):

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

I did repair to the store on the premises and bought a few memorabilia: a couple of items with Thoreauvian quotes:

“Surely joy is the condition of life.”
“Always you have to contend with the stupidity of men.”
“Simplify. Simplify.”

I also got some cards with the famous line:

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.”

Sacred Places.Walden. 2010.Spring.

At Fengdu, the city of the dead. The cruise ship stops at different points on the trip to the 3 Gorges and the Great Dam. There were vendors peddling memorabilia, umbrellas, masks, snacks, bottled water. Inside there were statues of people undergoing punishment in the different circles of hell.

umbrellas

I was in Paris a long time ago. I practiced Tai chi at the Jardin de Tuileries before I went to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa and the Winged Victory of Samothrace, two of my favorite art objects in the museum. I cannot remember now if I.M. Bei’s pyramid was already in place at the time, but somehow in my memory, it has always been there during the times I was visiting. In the photo, I posed in the White Crane posture.

Website. Rene. Eiffel Tower. White Crane.

If you are at the Tao Garden, GM Mantak Chia’s first-rate resort in Doi Saket, Chiangmai, Thailand, be sure to take a walk around the village. There are temples where you can listen to the monks chanting early at dawn, a noodle shoppe run by the thoughtful and lovely Pilat, and a few arts and crafts stores. These giant tamarind trees in the photo have their own spirit house and a small chapel for pilgrims. And oh, yes, don’t miss the coconut ice cream in a private house across the creek. It is the best ice cream I have had anywhere. We often snuck up to the freezer at night and helped ourselves, always leaving the payment on the table.

tamarind

A viewing window at the Humble Administrator’s Garden in Suzhou, the Venice of the East. One time when I was visiting, there was a small ensemble playing traditional music on traditional instruments like the zheng/zither and the pipa/lute. Easy to be transported to the past in these surroundings.

 Suzhou window screen

My first time in Chichen Itza, near Tulum and Cancun, was in 1984. I had been there many times in the 80s. I guess that was before the New Age people discovered the place. Nowadays, it is a center of pilgrimage for thousands during the equinoxes and solstices. One of my memories is seeing the serpent crawl down the steps. Since then, there have been much research into the different pyramids. It is amazing how much esoteric information is encoded in them.

Mexico. Chichen itsa. Pyramid.

Gallery: More Sacred Places and Favorite Photos (Part 1)

Ana and Gonca by the Bosphorus in Istanbul in 2004. They were studying Shaolin with me. I have studied with them, too, basically Xing Shen Zhuang Fa, with Gonca in Huangshan, China and Ana in Rome. Istanbul was a particularly memorable place for me since my first visit in the 90s. The restaurants, Grand Bazaar, the mosques, museums and the baths were particularly striking. I was the guest of David Verdesi. We did the baths and the restaurants. He and I tried the water pipes/hookah. I’ve done it a couple of times, but always, I choke when I puff. People asked me about it, but I did not experience anything particularly elevating.

Rene-Ana-Gonca-Istanbul

Huangshan/Yellow Mountain, has the reputation of being the most beautiful mountain in China not only for its misty peaks and unusual stone formations, but also because of its sunrise. Cindy Zhou, the English translator and tour guide, told me it was going to rain and not to bother about the sunrise that day. Just the same, I got up between 4 and 5 in the morning. I did not know flashlights were available in the hotel, so I started walking in the dark in the general direction of a peak where the sun was supposed to rise. Along the way, two women from Hongkong offered to lend me a flashlight. So the rest of the way was illuminated. We settled on a comfortable rock of our choice — in the dark — and waited. The sun did not burst through the clouds. It actually started as a sliver and slowly shed its light on the surrounding mountains. Suddenly, there were flashes from cameras followed by applause and jubilation. There must have been a hundred people waiting for the sunrise. It was a zen moment of surprise and joy. Later, we gathered in front of the hotel, some in groups, others individually, and did our morning Tai chi and qigong rituals.

Huangshan-sunrise

I was on a boat, the Princess, on the way to the 3 Gorges and the Great Dam. I was waiting for a good angle, the alignment of the sun, the boat, mountains, and the bridge. I do not know if they were the best shots I took. But there they are, for whatever they are worth. The pocket Samsung camera tried its best. I do not have any set rules for taking photos. Much of my aesthetic sensibility is intuitive. But there is often in my mind that “crucial moment” the zen tradition talks about. I also try to follow the Tai chi chuan adage: Stillness in movement, movement in stillness. A photograph should not be static. It should capture a scene in the context of the passage of time and space.

Three-Gorges
Three-Gorges1

David Verdesi (www.davidverdesi.com) with his students at the Basilica di San Clemente in Rome, a Roman Catholic church built, like many churches in Italy, on the ruins of pagan sacred ground or temple. We visited 3 times during a period of one month. Once it was closed for the day. The other times we descended to the underground cave. There were some ancient columns and relics, if I remember, a spring and an excavation presumably for bull sacrifice, a ritual that may have had an association with cleansing, sacrifice and the astrological period of Taurus.
It was the site of the temple of Mithra. I did not know anything about him at the time, except that he was a Persian god or prophet.
I had an eerie feeling walking around the place — it felt like it was haunted by restless ghosts. How many of these spots were the scenes of battle? The quick information I gathered on the internet was that Mithra was born of a virgin or the sun and moon, he had 12 disciples, preached love and compassion, was called the Light of the World, died and was resurrected on the third day. Oh yes, he was born on December 25, about 500 to 600 years before Jesus. When I told a friend about it, he sent me the link to a website that says at least 25 other prophets were born on December 25, the day of the Winter Solstice that announces the coming of the Light. (I Ching, Heagram 24/Fu/The Return of the Light.) Another occasion that is related to astrological phenomenon.

David-and-Students

The waterfalls in Banahaw in 1986, my first pilgrimage to the holy mountain. My old college friend Isis took me and a couple of her friends there for a weekend retreat. It was part of the ritual of cleansing, dipping in the cold water of the river at Santa Lucia and showering in the waterfall before you went up to light a candle at the different grottoes on the mountain. A shaman told me that that some things and places are inherently sacred, others are sacred because we venerate them. Almost every time I visited the Philippines I went to Banahaw. Last September (2012) I could not make it. I was informed by my students in Chi Nei Tsang that Banahaw was dirty, with people dumping their garbage in the river and playing loud karioke music.

Banahaw-Waterfalls

I used to do Tai chi chuan on the beach before sunrise in Cyprus. At one time there was Jupiter and Venus in the sky. In the dark, there were shadows, and voices greeting: Kalimera! There were fishermen casting their nets from their boats. When they were done, I would look at their catch — mostly octopus and sea bream. Every morning, when I was on the beach, there was a stunning sunrise. I decided to take a couple of photos. I’ve written poems and essays about my sojourn in Cyprus. I’ve taught in the North (Turkish and Muslim) and in the South (Greek and Orthodox Christian). See “Letter from Cyprus” in the Writings section.

Cyprus-Sunrise
Cyprus-sunrise2

Photos from Croatia and Slovenia

It was quite a dizzying tour through Croatia and Slovenia along the coastal and mountain route. From Dubrovnik in the south to Zagreb in the north past a landscape of astonishing beauty: islands on the Adriatic, castles and fortresses on mountaintops, olive and orange groves, picturesque harbors, old towns, jade lakes, autumnal forests. Seeing the land, It is hard to imagine that not too far away there was war and “ethnic-cleansing” within the last two decades. How do people live with a history of atrocities and ancient hatred? The travel guides, English-speaking women, did not shy away from narrating stories of destruction, vengeance, and inhumanity in certain areas.

Often I wandered away from the tour. I took photos of buildings, churches, canals, doors and gates, castles. Monuments that endured. Sadly, I had no time to keep a diary. I often stood still mesmerized by the stunning scenery. Sometimes I stared at bullet holes on walls. As a child during the war in the Philippines in the early and mid- 40s I remember the evacuation to the mountains, the dug-outs and the malnutrition. (See poem “Memory” in the Poetry Section and the essay “Reflections on the diaspora, burung babi, Malayan fish head curry, a favorite uncle and a trip to the mountains” in the Writing Section.) Certain images kept sneaking into the journey and I asked myself: What did the people remember of the war? With such a fragile peace, will there be another descent into madness?

I have decided not to write captions to the photos. But I should note that I encountered one of my favorite composers — Gustav Mahler — in Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia. He was the resident artist for 6 months sometime in 1881. I took a photo of his statue and his bust and the Academia Philharmonicorum building where he was the director. Among other things, I owe Mahler my deep admiration for Du-Fu and Li-Po. Their poetry was used by him in his composition “Das Lied von der Erde” (“Songs of the Earth”). Valentina, the tour guide mentioned that his music was played at the square during the 20th anniversary of Slovenia’s independence. She did not specify which one but I imagine it was Symphony #2 (The Resurrection).

Despite the horror of war, and the plague of hate and cruelty, the landscape restores faith.  Beauty and truth bloom in the landscape,  in works of art and in the human heart.

Photos of Chu shifu’s birthday banquet and more

The birthday banquet of GM Gin Soon Chu at the Imperial Garden in Boston’s Chinatown:

chusifustudes

 

GM Chu Gin Soon with his senior students at the September 22 celebration of his birthday.  I recognize Linda, Peter, Mary Beth, Phil, Arthur, Jean, Michael, Arthur and a few other faces. Just behind the celebrant is Kim shifu, his second disciple. That’s me  with a red scarf. There were at least 200 in attendance, mostly the master’s students from the last 40 years.

Chu-shifu.-Birthday.-Family

GM Chu Gin Soon with his family at his recent birthday banquet in the Imperial Garden Restaurant in Boston’s Chinatown. The Chu clan was also present.

Chu-shifu.-NYC.

Chu-shifu.-NYC.-1.

GM Chu with Kim shifu and other students during a demonstration of martial arts in NYC. Undated.

Chu-shifu.-Boston-Banquet

Chu-shifu

I cannot remember when these photos were taken exactly. But it was at another September banquet, which was held on GM Chu’s birthday. Chu shigong had time to pose for photos and to Push.

Chu-Gin-Soon.-With-Rene.199

GM Chu Gin Soon doing Push Hands with me in 1992. The school was located on the first floor of the Turnpike Tower Apartments at the time until it moved to its present location on Harrison Street corner of Beach. When the school, the oldest in Massachusetts, opened in 1969 it was located in the building across the street. The present address is on the second floor and is more spacious. if you are in Boston, visit the school and see the students in training.

8a

 

With Traditional Yang Family Tai chi chuan Grandmaster Gin Soon Chu and his wife at the birthday banquet in the Imperial Garden Restaurant in Boston’s Chinatown last September 22, 2012. I have studied with GM Chu since 1990. See essay “Looking for Yang Cheng-Fu” in the Writings section of this website. He has the most comprehensive knowledge of the Yang Family system. His mastery of the 34 fajing techniques, the curriculum, and the process of teaching is beyond words.

9

Celebrating his birthday with a traditional  Chinese banquet and a cake, Grandmaster Chu poses with his wife. The party was attended by at least 200 of his admirers, students, family and relatives. There were countless toasts, photo ops, Tai chi performances and speeches.  It was a spontaneous and indescribable  outpouring of love, respect  and admiration for the Grandmaster.

Photos from the Philippines – 3. Palanca

The Carlos Palanca Memorial  Literary Awards Night :

Palanca.-Krip-and-Ed.

Alfred “Krip” Yuson and Ed Maranan are two of the few Hall of Fame recipients in the  Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, the most prestigious literary competition in the Philippines. A Hall of Fame award means that the winner should have received 5 first prizes in  the main literary categories — poetry, short story, play, essay. Krip, Ed and I have appeared in different poetry anthologies. My poetry has been included in 3 of the anthologies edited by Krip — “Father Poems,” “Eros Pinoy: Contemporary Erotic Poetry and Art in the Philippines,” and “Love Gathers All: Anthology of Love Poems” (published in both Singapore and the Philippines).

Palanca.-R-and-F.-S.-J.

That’s F. Sionil Jose, National Artist for Literature. He has written many books (novels and short stories), the most famous of which are the Rosales novels. I have known Frankie since the late 1950s. I first met him at student editors’ conferences and then at his bookstore “Solidaridad” in Ermita, Manila.

Palanca.-Grace-D.-Chong.-2.

Palanca.-RN-and-GDH.

Grace D. Chong, winner of the first prize in the children’s short story for her work “The White Shoes.” I had not seen Grace for at least 45 years. We were both students in the University of the Philippines in the early 1960s writing for the campus newspaper. I was surprised when she recognized and called me from a distance.

Palanca

Ed Maranan and Rene with a group of writers at the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature.  I was Ed’s guest to the event held at the Peninsula Hotel.  I was also his guest last year. See the photos from that night in this website.

Photos from the Philippines – 2. Tai chi

At the Zhan Zhuang and Tai Chi Chuan DaoRen seminar. Organized by Florante, my younger brother, it was held at the main conference room of the Bahay Kanilaw in the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. The seminar was actually a repeat of a seminar I taught two years ago to introduce students to the traditional techniques of Tai chi chuan training, starting with Zhan Zhuang postures and moving stances, eventually going to the basic Tai chi chuan movements. The regimen is quite accessible, even to  the older practitioners and those with certain disabilities. These techniques become the foundation for the more complicated fist and weapons forms of Traditional Yang Family Tai chi chuan system. I have taught the same seminars in other parts of the world — in the US, Cyprus, London, and Egypt. In the Philippines the predominant Tai chi form is the contemporary Wu-Shu set that was choreographed for competition by the government  in China. The traditional Tai chi forms are hardly seen in the parks there.  What I have been trying to do in teaching Zhan Zhuang and Tai chi chuan DaoRen together is to bring back the Tai chi practice to its basic traditional components — the 8 core movements, the dantian breathing, and the focus on the integrated physical, energetic and spiritual aspects of the tradition based on the Traditional Yang Family Tai chi chuan system.

Philippines.-Tai-chi.-Group

Philippines.-Tai-chi.-RN-an

Philippines.-Tai-chi.-Flor,

Philippines.-Tai-chi

Philippines.-Tai-chi.-Rene.

Photos from the Philippines – 1. CNT

At the Jade Mountain Chi Nei Tsang internal organs seminar sponsored by the Philippine Academy of Acupuncture, Inc. It was held at the St. Joseph Convent in Quezon City. More than 30 participants attended the workshop, including 2 nuns. The weekend seminar was organized by the indefatigable Janet Paredes, an acupuncturist, officer of PAAI and head of NADA Philippines. She is a certified instructor of the NADA protocol. She graduated from the program at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, NY. She has taught in the US and Germany and is a recognized instructor internationally.   She works actively with street kids. The first CNT seminar I taught in the Philippines was in 1998. It was sponsored by an NGO — Acupuncture Therapeutics Research Center (now called INAM). I have taught many seminars in Manila since then — Qigong/Taoyin, Microcosmic Orbit Meditation (with Inner Smile, 3 Breaths and 6 Healing Sounds), Zhan Zhuang, Tai chi and CNT. Many of my students work in disadvantaged urban and rural areas. My childhood friends Romy Liwanag, a minister of the United Methodist Church from Tarlac City, and Sonny Villa, former Philippine ambassador to Thailand and China, attended the seminars in CNT and Tai chi chuan as my guests. I also taught a special seminar for members of  NADA Philippines. It is always a pleasure to teach in my country where they do not have many trained instructors like me. Next time I will write about Janet Paredes and her admirable work with street kids as the head of NADA Philippines. She was one of my first students in the Philippines.

Philippines. CNT. Group shot.

Philippines. CNT demo. 7.

Philippines. CNT demo. 6.

Philippines. CNT demo. 2.

Philippines. Romy, Sonny and Rene.

Philippines. NADA group.

Gallery: Sacred Places and Favorite Photographs

An old photograph. It was 1983 in the Summer Palace. I saw this couple, the man with the oars, the woman with an umbrella. I waited for the man to row. When the oar hit the water, there was a splash. It was what I was anticipating. This is one of my favorite photographs.

At Karnak in Luxor, Upper Egypt. I was standing in the navel of the temple. I read that the temple architecture was patterned after figure of a human being. I was testing the vibration of different parts of the body. The are books about the influence of Egyptian temple architecture on the Gothic churches in Europe.

1986. Outside the Cave of Jacob in Mount Banahaw, Philippines. The mountain is the most sacred in the country for pilgrims. You descend through a very narrow entrance that takes you to a small altar beside a pool. You make an offering and then lower yourself in the water 3 times as a ritual prayer. I’ve entered the cave twice. It is one of the grottoes in the sacred mountain. A pilgrim lights a candle at each spot starting from the waterfall where s/he is washed in preparation for the ascent to the mountain. There are at least 20 religious groups — “cults”? — headed by women/priestesses. One time, I was standing on a rock in Kinabuhayan/Resurrection, a young woman — a priestess — approached me and stood just about 2 or 3 feet away, without saying a word. When she spoke, she answered the question in my mind. It was about the denudation of the forest in the area.

Every time I have the opportunity, I make a trip to the mountain.

Sichuan grape vendor: Walking down People’s Road South to the Friendship Store, where Chairman Mao’s giant statue extends a salute, you’ll see common scenes: people pulling carts of night soil, bicycles transporting chickens or pigs, Chinese learning to speak English, vendors selling produce, a stall where you can rent comics. This was in 1983. Nowadays, you’ll see people hanging around internet cafes almost all night. When I was in Huangshan in 2007, I used to go to the internet cafe early at 4 ot 5, but even at that time, it was crowded.

The American Wu-Shu delegation visited a Buddhist Temple. The nuns were amused by the attire of the foreigners. “Where did your clothes go?” asked the Chinese woman.

It was my first time in Egypt. There were touts announcing rides on camels. I took this photo at the moment the rider raised his whip. My grandchildren asked me to have a photo of myself riding a camel. It was not until my 3rd trip to Giza that I finally rode one. But the photo was blurred because the battery of my camera began to fail. It was actually a short ride, nothing momentous about it. I got on the camel (it was sitting on the ground), it stood up rather ungracefully, I kind of tottered on its back and held on to the saddle, and the gentle but smelly beast took a few steps. On order of the trainer, it got down — again awkwardly — and I got off. . That was it. We did not even get to say hello to each other. My host Hana paid him I do not know how much. Actually, I spent more time on a donkey’s back riding through the Valley of the Kings. It was a memorable and vivid experience. When I think about it, I can still feel my sore bottom.

Scotland is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever been to. It is a place I have never tired of. There are lochs and monroes (mountains of a certain height) and stone circles that are striking and awesome. If you are favored by the goddess, you’ll even have a brief glimpse of the Loch Ness Monster. Scotland is a photographer’s dream subject. To me, it was also a place of power. When I did qigong there, especially in the stone circles, I felt a strong vibration. On my oath, I can swear that I took a photo of Nessie, but again, my camera did not work so I have no proof of its existence. There are many more spots there I haven’t seen even if I have visited the country a few times. Perhaps in the next lifetime I will remember to adventure up in the Highlands and farther north among the stone circles during the solstices and equinoxes. I have friends there — Gordon Faulkner and Maria. Gordon is a master of Medical Qigong and Tai chi chuan. It helps too that he has a large collection of excellent wine in his cellar.

I can’t remember now where in Upper Egypt I took this photograph with the sunburst through the ruins of a temple. Perhaps it was at Dendera or Abydos. It was a couple of hours near Luxor. Tourists in buses and taxis were escorted by the military at the time because of a bloody episode involving terrorists. The route passed Nag Hamadi, the village where the Gnostic Gospels were discovered by the shepherd Muhammad. I began taking serious interest in the Gospels — of Mary Magdalene, Thomas, Judas — when I returned home.

At Dendera, you’ll see incredible etchings on the walls that look like a helicopter and a battery, among other things. There’s also an ancient zodiac on the ceiling. If you are lucky, you may even bump into a Guardian of the Temple. He will look ordinary, perhaps he will even ask you for bakshish (gratuity, donation or bribe). But if you resonate with each other (gan ying in Chinese), he will show you some of the mysterious techniques of healing and power that have been kept secret for millenniums. I have received an invitation to visit friends in Cairo but with the political situation, I can only say next time.

Hong Cun Village was lifted from obscurity by the movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” At the time I visited in the Fall of 2006 there were many art students painting the scene from different angles. Cindy Zhou was our tourist guide and translator for Anhui, Huangshan, and Tunzi. A year later I was surprised to see her at the airport when I landed with David Verdesi in Tunzi. I was even more surprised when a year later she wrote to ask if I was the man in the picture with the old master, her teacher’s teacher. See photo of the master in the essay “Thunder Path in Huangshan.”

I love to do Tai Ji in different places to experience the Qi. In the Parthenon, the Qi was very powerful. Not so in the Eiffel
Tower. I’ve done Tai Ji in Istanbul beside the Blue Mosque and the Bosphorus, in Huangshan at dawn, and a few other places like the Tor or the Abbey. I’ve had mystical experiences in Stonehenge, Giza, Karnak, among other places. There is no secret to attaining to a strange frequency that feels like one has entered a different dimension. It seems all one has to do is surrender and keep still. Anyway, that’s what I did. Perhaps I received a blessing from the spirits of the place.

The terra cotta warriors, larger than life, are famous. Not so the terra cotta horses in back of the burial ground in Xian. In other places, the terra cotta statues were in miniature. As small a foot. The horses in Xian were life-size. Maurice Cotterell, a scientist, wrote a book about the symbolic meanings of the hand gestures of the terra cotta warriors and related them to the mysterious figures in Mexico and Bolivia.

It was in the summer of 1983. I was with new friends. We had just spent a month training in wu-shu, contemporary martial arts, in Chengdu, Sichuan. We decided to split from the main delegation and go to Beijing. We hired a taxi to pick us up at about 4 in the morning to take us to the Great Wall at Badaling. Some spots were in ruins at the time. Arriving at dawn, we witnessed the sunrise. There were a few stragglers among the parapets. The area was practically empty of tourists. Nowadays, you won’t find privacy in the Great Wall. There would be 5 to 10 people walking elbow to elbow up to the summit.

The photo shows a chain with padlocks. They were part of a tradition among lovers who attached the padlock to the chain as a symbol of their promise to love each other forever. I understand that they threw the key down the valley. I am not cynical, but I often recite a quote I read somewhere that it’s the triumph of hope over experience. Somebody apparently has a thriving business up in the mountain.

With students under an ancient willow tree in Maui, Hawaii. I used to teach at the acupuncture school there in the late 90s. Arguably the most beautiful island in the chain, Maui has many power vortices. There is the dormant volcano Haleakala, the needle in Iao Valley, the different beaches (with pink, black and green sand) and waterfalls and the remote spots that are not reached by tourists.
The island has more variety than any of the other islands in Hawaii. Oahu has better views and waves for surfing, I admit, but I love to drive on Maui’s narrow one-lane dirt roads on the north shore. The Earth Qi of Maui agrees with me more, too. The Road to Hana is mythic and the rough back roads even more. But don’t tell your car rental agent about it.

In Ayuthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand, I saw this buddha head in the roots of a tree.

It was a strange place. You took a boat ride from Bangkok along the Chao Praya River and a few hours later, you were touring the ruins of a temple. Most of the statues had their heads cut off, probably by robbers. I wondered where those granite heads are now. At the British Museum, there are so many statues in the Egyptian section you’ll get dizzy from the energy they emit. Somebody — perhaps somebody like notorious Lord Elgin — must have had the audacity and worse to transport them from the temples in Egypt. Will they ever be returned to their rightful owner and home?

I do not go to these places just to see and watch. I make it a practice to do Tai Ji, meditation or Qigong in mountains, temples, pyramids, stone circles, even museums. The guards may object and others will gawk at you, but there’s no law against it, as far as I know. At the Metropolitan Museum in New York City
there’s the temple of Dendur at the Egyptian section. If you have the time, and are able to ignore the crowd, try doing meditation inside of it.
I’ve done qigong at the head of a huge scarab at the London museum. I did not notice a young girl following my movements. She introduced herself later. She was a German visiting London. I have also done a whole Tai ji set (108) in the Parthenon in Greece and at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The island of Ephesus isn’t bad either. On top of a mountain there’s Mother Mary’s stone church that is a place of pilgrimage. Not to forget the Tor in Glastonbury. The energy is very palpable in some of them. Next time, if anybody is interested, I will post more photos.

A posture from the rare form called Wat Let — I do not know what it means — I learned from GM Lao Kim back in 1968. I do not know if the old master taught it to anybody else. It was a strange but beautiful set, basically following a straight, linear direction with occasional diagonal side-stepping. It had diverse movements and stances, some of them awkward.

I was in my late 20s at the time. I had a wealth of energy and curiosity. Master Lao had the patience to teach me all those forms. Often, he would just sit in one corner reading a Chinese-language newspaper and smoking a cigarette. I did a lot of repetitions. There was nobody else in the Buddhist temple in Binondo, Manila, the heart of Chinatown. He spoke no English or Tagalog, I spoke no Chinese. But we communicated quite well. It was a different language we used altogether: the poetry of movement and stillness.