Ryōkan Memories

                                 Listening to the silent sound
           
                                 Of the moss-covered stream

                                 I feel myself grow as calm and transparent

                                 As the soundless sound of the covered current!

                                                                                 Ryōkan                                             

A few years ago I made a pilgrimage to visit Ryōkan's hermitage in West Japan you can read more of his poetry and that visit in the links below.                                          

Visiting Ryōkan's Hermitage

Ryōkan

                             

 Mindful by Mary Oliver (from Why I Wake Early)

Every day

   I see or I hear

      something

         that more or less

kills me

   with delight,

      that leaves me

         like a needle

in the haystack

   of light.

      It is what I was born for -

         to look, to listen,

to lose myself

   inside this soft world -

      to instruct myself

         over and over

in joy,

   and acclamation.

      Nor am I talking

         about the exceptional,

the fearful, the dreadful,

   the very extravagant - 

      but of the ordinary.

         the common, the very drab,

the daily presentations.

   Oh, good scholar,

      I say to myself,

         how can you help

but grow wise

   with such teachings

      as these - 

         the untrimmable light

of the world

   the ocean's shine,

      the prayers that are made

         out of grass?

 

 

 

                        Sometimes when I see people
                        who are too serious about some foolish thing
                        I think of something the Maharishi used to say:

                         " When you are on the train
                         will you keep the baggage on your head
                         or under your feet?"

                         This is the difference between the wise
                         and the rest of the universe.
                         The wise do not carry their baggage.,
                         but almost everyone does.
                                                                     Papaji

T'ai chi Lessons This Week March 8

Our hearts radiate an energy field around our bodies which is hundreds of times stronger than the field produced by our brains ( scientific discovery).
We work on an energy exercise to enhance our awareness of this field at our classes. The short video which I took to show this exercise wouldn't upload to vimeo but you can watch it here on today's Facebook post TaiChiChuanCork



The short form Lesson  Repulse The Monkey for Castletownbere would not upload on Vimeo ( don't know why but I just can't get to work at the moment) but it did work on Facebook so you can watch it on the link above just scroll back to Sunday's post.

Here is the Short Form to Shoulder Stroke one lesson beyond where we worked to at last night's class.


Short Form to shoulder stroke for Blackrock class from ann on Vimeo.




The Beginners Mini Form 

Full Mini Form from ann on Vimeo.

Another Trip West

A frosty morning in Mallow as I set off for Castletownbere.

I wanted to see the Kerry mountains,

 And lakes in the early morning light,

The 'forcasted'cloud had already arrived but the air was still, 

 And and the water a perfect mirror.

 I just love these mountain roads,

With the great sense of space that never fails to fill my heart with awe. 

I parked outside the Gallery and had to pack up hurriedly as the tide was rising and threatening to block my exit.  





 

I managed to escape and caught a last shot of Castletownbere.

Before heading home tired but really happy after a wonderful day in the West.

Surrender Another Aspect Of Releasing

I'm reading Michael A Singer's book The Surrender Experiment : My Journey Into Life's Perfection. 
It's a fascinating read and keeps reminding me of Lester Levenson's Release method which at it's foundation instructs us to ' Let Go And Let God ' . The great blessing of Lester's method is that we have a simple technique that guides us in Letting Go. Michael is am amazing man whose story is filled with love and surrender and truly inspires us to Let Go and allow life to lead our way.
Here is a short piece about Michael I highly recommend his book if you would like be encouraged to Let Go And Let God.

 MICHAEL A. SINGER is the author of the New York Times #1 bestseller The Untethered Soul. He had a deep inner awakening in 1971 while working on his doctorate in economics and went into seclusion to focus on yoga and meditation. In 1975, he founded Temple of the Universe, a now long-established yoga and meditation centre where people of any religion or set of beliefs can come together to experience inner peace. He is also the creator of a leading-edge software package that transformed the medical proactive management industry, and founding CEO of a billion dollar public company whose achievements are archived in the Smithsonian Institution. Along with his more than four decades of spiritual teaching, Michael has made major contributions in the areas of business, education, healthcare, and environmental protection.

A Short Visit To East Cork Awakens Warm Memories

 Balleycotton Light House brings back childhood memories of summer holidays 'caravaning' in Garryvoe. I still remember the first time that my feet stayed up automatically and I swam. That first
 swimming experience flowered into years of summer adventures on the surface and in the depths. Writing and remembering now brings back so many wonderful swimming trips. The most amazing one was when I encountered wild dolphins. This happened in the Red Sea a few years ago. I was swimming with a group off the coast of Egypt and a pod of wild Dolphins swam below us. They were so graceful and serene I was completely captivated. Then three of them came right up to me and swam around me. When I turned to the left they turned with me,  and when I turned back to the right they did too. We played for a while together they would turn and I'd follow or I'd turn and they would follow. We often made eye contact my mind had stopped and we 'danced' in a quiet connection that I will never forget. Then the pod moved off and my 'friends' left too, but that encounter still warms my heart as I relate my story to you here.

As I walked along the beach earlier today I had no idea that writing this post would reawaken my dolphin encounter. 

 Life can be so interesting when we allow our minds to just flow.

The river was high, almost in flood as we passed through Midleton.

On this winter afternoon, and the summers of long ago and my first swim in Garryvoe were nowhere in my conscious mind. Isn't it so interesting how memories can surface and nourish our hearts.
 I hope that my memory can reawaken some happy memory in you too.