a name that can be named is not the constant name

occupy iowa

2011-12-15T22:44:00.003-06:00

Four

2011-09-30T00:41:00.000-05:00

When I began to study Wu Chen P'ien/Wuzhen pian I was comparing Fabrizio Pregadio's translation (Awakening to Reality) with that of Thomas Cleary (Understanding Reality).
September 17 at 12:13pm ·

At the end of the fourth poem of the first
sections Pregadio has:

"The cycling of fire in the spiritual work before the
light of dawn will cause the whole of the Moon to appear in the Deep
Pool" (p 34).

While Cleary has:

"The spiritual work operating the firing does not take a
whole day before it brings out the orb of the sun in the deep pool"
(p.41).

Surely, it must be one or the other, moon or sun, unless
the original term is more general, something like heavenly body or
celestial object.

My intention was to indicate that Pregadio provides the
original text, but today I am not able to get beyond Poem Two on
Google Books:

http://books.google.com/books?id=OtLSYzjh8wMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=awakening+to+reality&hl=en&src=bmrr&ei=YtF0TsnlCofagAeps4DfDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

and Amazon seems unable to load the page:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0984308210/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=12536460089&ref=pd_sl_5gvm6a71yr_e

Cleary's translation is at:

http://books.google.com/books?id=vGFs3yIMCFoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=thomas+cleary&hl=en&ei=rct0TojLNcTIgQfd68TKDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false
Awakening to Reality
books.google.com
Awakening to Reality (Wuzhen pian) is one of the most
important and best-known T...aoist alchemical texts. Written in the
eleventh century, it describes in a poetical form, and in a typically
cryptic and allusive language, several facets of Neidan, or internal
alchemy. The present book presents the fir...See More
September 17 at 12:14pm · LikeUnlike ·
o
Aspen Bai where is the problem?
September 17 at 12:34pm · LikeUnlike
o
Steve Marsden One guy says "Moon" -- the other guy says
"Sun" -- is it one or the other or can it be either/both? When you ask
"where is the problem?" perhaps you are suggesting that it does not
matter whether it is Sun or Moon.

One (minor) problem is that the first time I looked at the
Pregadio on Google Books I could see Poem Four and today I am not able
to get beyond Poem Two.
September 17 at 1:18pm · LikeUnlike
o
Aspen Bai well, the book your book you are reading is
about making elixir, so I can't interpret it precisely. But here is
what I would do; I would read I Ching which was the fundamental of all
kinds of sects of Chinese culture and which influenced the way we
think. So in general, based on Tai Chi, Ying and Yang present
together, combined the entity of universe. Sun is Yang; Moon is ying.
Simply speaking,if your body is very cold,you will need more yang
which means to expose in sunshine a little bit more; if your body is
very hot, you need to nourish Yin. As you can see, you could find the
right translation by yourselfmbased on the context.
September 17 at 1:31pm · LikeUnlike
o
Aspen Bai the ancient writings are difficult for Chinese
people too. But for thousands of years we have believed in what our
ancesters believed and followed their basic instructions. One could
achieve to decode Chinese philosophy and science if he really knew
about my country and my people
September 17 at 1:33pm · LikeUnlike
o
Aspen Bai don't believe in me too much. I just provieded a
point of view, an option. I'm too young and too ignorant to interpret
my ancestors great wisdom.

Lotus Dragon

2011-04-24T13:45:00.000-05:00

http://www.lotusdragon.com/images/stories/Sifu_Dug_Tai_Chi_Lineage_Parchment.jpg

Cheng Man-Ch'ing

2011-04-07T20:17:00.003-05:00

http://www.harmonytaijiquan.com/cheng_man-ching/cheng_man-ching.html

1st section \|	No. 1	1	Preparation (Yu Pei Shih)
\| \|	No. 2	2	Beginning (Ch'i Shih)
\| \|	No. 3	3	Grasp the Sparrows Tail - Ward Off with Left Hand (Lan Chueh Wei, Tso P'eng)
\| \|	No. 4	4	Grasp Sparrow's Tail - Ward Off Right (Lan Chueh Wei, Tso P'eng)
\| \|	No. 5	5	Grasp Sparrow's tail - Roll Back (Lan Chueh Wei, Lu)
\| \|	No.6	6	Grasp Sparrow's tail - Press (Lan Chueh Wei, Chi)
\| \|	No. 7	7	Grasp Sparrow's Tail - Push (Lan Chueh Wei, An)
\| \|	No. 8	8	Single Whip (Tan Pien)
\| \|	No. 9	9	Lift Hands (T'i Shou)
\| \|	No. 10	10	Shoulder Strike (K'ao)
\| \|	No. 11	11	White Crane Spreads its Wings Pai Hao Liang Ch'ih)
\| \|	No. 12	12a	Brush Knee - Left (Tso Lou Hsih Yao Pu)
\|	12	b	Brush Knee - Right and Twist Step
\|	12	c	Brush Knee - Left and Twist Step
\| \|	No. 13	13	Play Lute/Guitar (Shou Hui P'i Pa)
\| \|	13	14a	Brush Knee - Left and Twist Step (Tso Lou Hsih Yao Pu)
\|	13	b	Brush Knee - Right and Twist Step
\|	13	c	Brush Knee - Left and Twist Step
\| \|	No. 14/15	15	Step Forward, Deflect, Intercept and Punch (Chin Pu, Pan Lan Ch'ui)
\|	n/a	16	Needle at Sea Bottom
\|	n/a	17	Spread Arm like Fan
\|	n/a	18	Turn and Strike with Back Fist, Chop with Fingers
\| \|	No. 16	19	Withdraw and Push (ju Feng Szu Pi)
\| \|	No. 17	20	Crossing Hands (Shih Tzu Shou)
2nd section \|	No. 18	21	Retreat to Mountain (Pao Hu Kuei Shan)
\| \|	18	22	Roll Back (Lu)
\| \|	18	23	Press (Chi)
\| \|	18	24	Push (An)
\| \|	18	25	Diagonal Single Whip (Shieh Tan Pien)
\| \|	No. 19	26	Fist Under Elbow (Chou Ti Kan Ch'ui)
\| \|	No. 20	27a	Repulse The Monkey - Right (Tao Nien Hou Y'u Shih)
\| \|	No. 21	b	Repulse The Monkey - Left (Tao Nien Hou Ts'o Shih)
\| \|	21	c	Repulse The Monkey - Right (Tao Nien Hou Y'u Shih)
\| \|	No. 22	28	Diagonal Flying Posture (Hsieh Fei Shih)
\| \|	No. 23	29a	Wave Hands Like Clouds - Right (Y'u Yun Shou)
\| \|	23	b	Wave Hands Like Clouds - Left (Ts'o Yun Shou)
\| \|	23	c	Wave Hands Like Clouds - Right (Y'u Yun Shou)
\|	No. 24	30	Single Whip
\| \|	No. 25	31	Snake Creeps Down (Tan Pien Hsia Shih)
\| \|	No. 26	32	Golden Pheasant Stands on Left Leg (Chin Chi Tu Li Shih)
\| \|	No. 27	33	Golden Pheasant Stands on Right Leg (Chin Chi Tu Li Ts'o Shih)
\| \|	No. 28	34	Seperation of Right Foot (Y'u Fen Chio)
\| \|	No. 29	35	Seperation of Left Foot (Ts'o Fen Chio)
\| \|	No. 30	36	Turn and Strike With Heel Chuan Shen Teng Chio)
\| \|	No. 31	37	Step up and Strike with Fist (Chin Pu Tsai Chui)
\|	31	38	Double Dragon
\| \|	31	39	Roll Back (Lu)
\| \|	31	40	Press (Chi)
3rd section \|	31	41	Push (An)
\| \|	31	42	Diagonal Single Whip (Shieh Tan Pien)
\| \|	No. 32	43	Fair Lady at The Shuttle (1) (Yu Nu Ch'uan Suo)
\| \|	No. 33	44	Fair Lady at The Shuttle (2) (Yu Nu Ch'uan Suo)
\| \|	33	45	Fair Lady at The Shuttle (3) (Yu Nu Ch'uan Suo)
\| \|	33	46	Fair Lady at The Shuttle (4) (Yu Nu Ch'uan Suo)
\| \|	33	47	Ward Off with Left Hand (Lan Chueh Wei, Tso P'eng)
\| \|	33	48	Ward Off Right (Lan Chueh Wei, Tso P'eng)
\| \|	33	49	Roll Back (Lu)
\| \|	33	50	Press (Chi)
\| \|	33	51	Push (An)
\| \|	33	52	Diagonal Single Whip (Shieh Tan Pien)
\|	33	53	Snake Creeps down
\| \|	No. 34	54	Step Up To Seven Stars of The Dipper (Shang Pu Ch'i Hsing)
\| \|	No. 35	55	Step Back To Ride The Tiger (T'ui Pu K'ua Hu)
\| \|	No. 36	56	Turn Around with Lotus Kick (Chuan Shen Pai Lien T'ui)
\|	No. 37	57	Bend the Bow to Shoot The Tiger
\|	37	58	Step forward, deflect, intercept and punch
\|	37	59	Withdraw and Push
\|	37	60	Conclusion
			Wu Chi (stillness)

Bubbling Well

2011-03-24T17:23:00.001-05:00

The Bubbling Well is a balance, weight, and energetic point located in the sole of the foot, slightly in front of the arch and centered from side to side. In the meridian system it is the same as the Kidney 1 point.
The importance of this point in T'ai Chi practice is multi-faceted. In terms of a postural and balance guide, the idea is that when the weight falls properly on this point one has aligned the weight of the upper body correctly in respect to the base of the lower body. The feeling of this correct alignment is that the foot, even of a weight bearing leg, should be soft and relaxed. It's interesting to note that most of our muscular usage (some tests say as much as 80%) is compensation for poor balance. So as our balance and posture improve, we become more efficient in our muscular use, not only conserving energy, but also freeing the body to move which is a prime contributor to the strength element in T'ai Chi. The awareness of the desired feeling of the foot being soft and relaxed is one of the most important indicators of this correct body relationship.
On the energetic level, the Bubbling Well represents the gate that either permits or inhibits the "Earth Chi" from rising up and entering the body. One again the prime factor here is balance. If the balance is good, the foot relaxes and the energy is permitted to flow into the body. If the balance is poor and the foot is tense, then the energy is blocked. This actually describes a very important aspect of T'ai Chi both as a martial art and a personal growth tool. The importance of Chi ^§ or vitality is understood in all aspects of the practice, but the quality that ultimately determines how much Chi one accesses is not force or effort or desire, but balance. So one can only draw the amount of energy that one is capable of using well.
Grandmaster Cheng, Man-ching taught that T'ai Chi Ch'uan was the study of what he called the "Three Treasures" ^§ which were the Bubbling Well, the Tan t'ien, ^§ and the crown of the head. The Bubbling Well is our earth connection where we establish that quality referred to a having "root". So in many respects, this is the foundation of our practice and must be given much consideration and emphasis.

http://www.ronperfetti.com/glossary.html

http://martialarts.sportsdictionary.org/Tai-Chi-Dictionary/Bubbling_Well

Taoist Tai Chi

2011-02-10T16:04:00.006-06:00

http://midwest.usa.taoist.org/classes/iowa.shtml

We offer classes through the Senior Center, 28 S Linn St., Iowa City

New beginner classes start in January, April, July and October.

Senior Center Classes
Day	Time	Class Level
Monday	2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.	Beginner
Monday	3:15 p.m.	Set Practice
Tuesday	2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.	Set Practice
Wednesday	2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.	Beginner
Wednesday	3:15 p.m.	Set Practice

http://taoist.org/content/standard.asp?name=AimsandObjectives

Aims & Objectives These aims and objectives constitute the international mission statement of the Society. They were set by Master Moy Lin-shin and are shared by all branches of the Society, making us a truly international Society. These goals, combined with the accreditation procedures for our volunteer instructors, assure that all obtain the same quality of instruction and dedicated leadership. *1. To make Taoist Tai Chi™* internal arts of health available to all We are dedicated to bringing these arts to every community, so that their many benefits are available to all who wish to experience them. 2. To promote the health-improving qualities of Taoist Tai Chi™ internal arts Practiced diligently, these arts cultivate both body and mind to restore and maintain good health. Our efforts are directed at making these benefits better known and understood, in order to promote physical, mental, and spiritual well-being in the community. 3. To promote cultural exchange** Through Taoist Tai Chi™ internal arts of health, and through other activities, we endeavour to make the richness of Chinese culture more accessible, and thereby promote greater understanding and respect among people. 4. To help others The foundation of Taoist Tai Chi Society™ arts of health is compassion. Our underlying charitable orientation is in keeping with the Taoist values of selflessness and service to others. Our inspiration is the example set by our founder, Master Moy Lin-shin, who dedicated his life to helping others without seeking personal gain. For this reason, all our instructors are volunteers, and all our branches operate on a non-profit basis. We also perform other services within the community, and assist other charities whenever possible. http://web.archive.org/web/20080330150404/http://www.taichicanada.com/page5/page5.html “TAOIST TAI CHI” One style which stands alone is called “Taoist Tai Chi” invented by the late Moy Lin Shin (Lin Shin Moy) of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This style is not generally recognised as an authentic style of Tai Chi, but it is notable due to its popularity in many non-Chinese countries. Moy may have learned Tai Chi in Hong Kong before emigrating to Canada in the late 1960’s. But there is no source for this information aside from his own unverifiable claims. He is believed to have briefly studied Yang Style Tai Chi in Vancouver between 1969 and 1970 before moving to Toronto and developing his own style. Over the next several years he modified the style with an emphasis on stretching, twisting and deep knee bends, ignoring most elements and principles of traditional taijiquan. He also taught a version of Liu He Ba Fa (Lok Hup Pa Fa) which has the same peculiar style of movement as “Taoist Tai Chi.” He claimed to have learned from the Ching Wu society. But he was the only original source for these claims (which have never been independently verified.) The routines he taught have very little similarity to the routines passed down from the Ching Wu Society. Early video footage of Moy performing Tai Chi in Toronto in the early 1970s shows movement similar to novice students of traditional Yang Style. He is known to have briefly taken classes with the highly respected master, Raymond Y.M. Chung of Vancouver, before moving to Toronto. When Moy moved to Toronto he created a Fung Loy Kok Taoist Temple, and later founded the Taoist Tai Chi Society of Canada. The ties between the Society and the Temple have always been very strong, and one may have funded the other. Unlike the other schools of Tai Chi, Taoist Tai Chi Society students have often been discouraged from researching other styles, or interacting with other schools. The Taoist Tai Chi Society also has one of the highest attrition rate of any school. Reports from former Taoist Tai Chi instructors are that more than 90% of the students quitting within the first year. Former instructors of the Taoist Tai Chi society say that this attrition rate did not concern the founder. The claims that Moy was a master, or that he “put the tai chi back in tai chi chuan” have caused a lot of eye-rolling among the wider tai chi community, as has the remarkably short time required to become an instructor, and the cult-like attitude found in the organisation. But the heavy marketing done to promote the Taoist Tai Chi society did a great deal to introduce thousands to tai chi. Many of the people who once learned “Taoist Tai Chi”, including this author, have since gone on to study traditional Tai Chi. In spite of the many criticisms of the style by traditional teachers, many people claim to have benefited from the practice of Taoist Tai Chi. One reason for this may be the style’s emphasis on stretching and twisting. While some traditional tai chi masters may deride the “Taoist Tai Chi” routine, calling it “20 minutes of choreographed yawning,” this very same quality may improve the circulation of blood and lymph, as well as provide a beneficial myo-fascia release which could produce many positive health benefits. People with allergies, arthritis, and other illnesses affected by the accumulation of antigens in the body may get relief from their symptoms due to the improved toxicity levels and nutrient circulation. These benefits are also found in traditional routines, but with less extreme stretching. It is the degree of stretching, twisting and leaning that concerns traditional teachers, Some point out that, unlike traditional routines, the “Taoist Tai Chi” routines get the stretch by moving through improper ranges that can aggravate back, knee, neck, and shoulder problems. It is not difficult to find traditional instructors who claim to have experience correcting the problems encountered by former students of the “Taoist Tai Chi Society” Whatever the case, the Taoist Tai Chi Society has many fans and devotees, and doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. Most traditional teachers are accepting of this fact, pointing out that, while there may be some negative side effects to practising some exercises, these side effects are often far less severe than the side effects of widely accept drug treatments. Also, it is understood that no school is right for every student, and no student is right for every school. As a great physiotherapist once said, “There are no bad exercises. There are just some exercises that are not appropriate for some people.” Ultimately, it is the student who must decide. © 2007 Ian Sinclair

Ho tu

2010-05-20T11:31:00.004-05:00

(Taras Balderdash)

widget

2010-04-08T12:32:00.004-05:00

http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/reference/iching.html

http://synchronizm.com

pup

2010-03-07T17:22:00.004-06:00

From Princeton University Press’ I Ching CD-Rom

Homework: Computer Emulations of the Yarrow Stalk Method

2010-03-03T18:56:00.006-06:00

Whatever else the I Ching/Yijing (the Book of Change) might be, it is one of the oldest surviving examples of a hypertext document. The central core of this ancient Chinese text is a series of sixty-four six line images, referred to as hexagrams. Each of the six lines can be broken/yin or unbroken/yang. Each line can be young/stable/unchanging or old/moving/changing.

Each hexagram has a text associated with it. Traditionally these texts are ascribed to King Wen (~1165-1115 B.C.E.). King Wen is also traditionally credited with arranging the sequence of the hexagrams as they appear in the text. Each of the lines also has an associated text. According to tradition, these texts were written by one of King Wen's sons, the Duke of Zhou/Chou. This earliest strata of the text is known as Zhouyi, The Changes of Zhou/Chou. (The historical/critical approach to the study of the Book of Change has suggested other possibilities for the origin of the text.) The oldest layer of commentary, the Ten Wings, together with the Zhouuyi comprise the basic text of the Book of Change. Commentaries and interpretations have proliferated in great number ever since.

A particular hexagram is selected by a process of manipulating a bundle of fifty stalks of yarrow (or milfoil), or by tossing three coins. (There are many other methods, but these two are the most commonly employed.) The text relating to the resulting hexagram is read. Usually a passage from Xiang Zhuan , the third and forth wings, which explains the hexagram in terms of its component trigrams, is also read. If the hexagram includes changing/moving lines, the text associated with these lines is also consulted. As lines of the prevailing hexagram change, a new hexagram (depicting the emerging situation) is formed. The text of the second hexagram is considered as well.

The Book of Change is usually approached in one of two ways. Scholars of the Chinese language study it as an ancient text and either try to recover the “original meaning” of the text or investigate what the text meant to readers in various historical periods. Other folks use it as a tool for contemplating what might be a favorable course of action in a particular situation. There have always been people who have considered the Book of Change as a predictive prognosticator, a fortune teller, a magic eight ball with 4096 possible responses. However, most folks who find the Book of Change a helpful aid to decision making understand it not as describing the future, but as a tool for exploring the texture and structure of the present moment . The moment is understood as experiential, lived time, as distinguished from the instant of abstract, calculated punch clock time of physics and train schedules. The Book of Change is momentous, rather than instantaneous. Sometimes the calming ritual of manipulating the yarrow stalks can help clarify the mind even before the text is consulted.

Before the establishment of the Zhou/Chou Dyansty, the rulers of the Shang Dynasty (c. 16th-11th century BCE) consulted bone oracles . Animal bones or tortoise shells were heated until they cracked and the cracks were interpreted. The interpretation (and sometimes subsequent events) were inscribed on the bone or shell in pictographs known as Oracle Script . This is the earliest known form of writing in the Chinese language.

Although the Zhou/Chou yarrow oracle displaced the Shang bone/shell oracle, there is evidence of the influence of the earlier method in the text of the Book of Change. One example is found at hexagram 41, line 5 . One legend relates that a numerical chart related to the eight trigrams was revealed to Emperor Yu on the back of a tortoise which crawled out of the River Lou. (Swetz 9-12). The Shang tradition of oracular pronouncements may have influenced the text of the Book of Change.

Before the I Ching/Yijing appeared in a form we would recognize as a book, the text was inscribed on strips of bamboo which were strung together with a piece of leather. Legend asserts that Confucius studied the Book of Change so intently that he wore out its leather bindings three times (Cheng Man-Ch'ing 144). Tradition has ascribed Confucius as the author of the Ten Wings, the earliest commentaries. Although there is no real evidence for this attribution, The Book of Change is one of the Five Classics of the Confucian canon (Nylan 202-252).

The first translations of the Book of Change into a Western language were Latin versions make by Jesuit missionaries to China (Rutt 60-68). Western fascination with the digital structure of Book of Change began when a Jesuit missionary, Joachim Bouvet, provided Gottfried Leibniz with a diagram of the hexagrams. Leibniz saw a correspondence between these hexagrams and the binary numeration system he was developing.

According to Tom Van Vleck: “The first computer implementation of this ancient text that I am aware of was done in the early 60s on CTSS by C. Tillman. It is documented in the Second Edition CTSS Manual, section AJ.11.03, dated 9/24/65. The program was called ORACLE” which ran on an IBM 7094 at MIT. Some distributions of Unix included an I Ching/ Yi jing program in the games tree.

Since these early efforts, numerous computerized versions of the I Ching/ Yi jing have been implemented. This discussion will examine three web sites which emulate the yarrow stalk method of casting a hexagram. Instructions for the yarrow stalk method can be found on pages 721-723 of the Wilhelm/Baynes translation. On the web, the instructions that Gia-fu Feng (translator of one of the most popular English versions of the Tao Te Ching ) imparted to his wife, Jane English, are available at her Earth Heart website.

Emulating a coin toss, randomizing a heads or tails outcome, is a fairly elementary programming exercise. By repeating the process with three coins six times it is possible to indicate a hexagram. Many I Ching/Yi jing web site use this approach to provide an inquiry with a single hexagram and its associated text. Including moving/changing lines which produce a second hexagram is somewhat more complicated.

A complication arises when it is understood that the statistical probabilities of the yarrow stalk method are not the same as those of the three coin method:

old yang Yarrow: 3/16 Coins: 1/8 (stable)
young yang Yarrow: 7/16 Coins:3/8 (moving)
young yin Yarrow: 5/16 Coins:3/8 (stable)
old yin Yarrow: 1/16 Coins: 1/8 (moving)

(Huang , 64, 68)

YarrowStalk.ORG is a website developed by Ralph Abraham who is a Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of California Santa Cruz. His many interests include investigations into the relationship between Renaissance magic and the emergence of the scientific method (http://www.biroco.com/kaos/lodge.pdf pp. 34-49). This semester he is teaching a class in the Digital Arts and New Media MFA Program, DANM 221: Mathematics the Arts.

The simple interface of YarrowStalk.ORG provides a significant amount of information about the Book of Change, including Prof. Abraham’s understanding of the text in terms of chaos theory. The instructions for “Simulation of the YSO” (Yarrow Stalk Oracle) indicates that one should “Click on the postage stamp once, you get one hyperline. Write it down for the bottom line, then repeat five times.” The “postage stamp” is a rudimentary graphic image portraying 49 yarrow stalks being divided into two groups (fig. 1). The stalks in the picture do not move, but returning to the graphic from the previous page shows them in a somewhat different configuration.

Clicking on the image reveals, not a hexagram line, but what appears to be a cgi script. Considering the instructions provided, this appears to be an unintended feature. Since I have no experience with cgi, I have no understanding of what it required to have a cgi script run rather than being displayed. Although I have no understanding of cgi vocabulary, anyone with some knowledge of programming who had any interest in how a math professor approached the problem of emulating the yarrow stalk probabilities in 1999 might be able to learn something here. Prof. Abraham indicates that YarrowStalk.ORG is not his top priority, but he continues to work on it as time allows.

Russell Cottrell is a psychiatrist at the Chico, California V.A. Outpatient Clinic. His website includes sections on his military medical career, photography, genealogy, instruction in ancient Greek, a fractal mandala generator, a Celtic calendar, and also Virtual Yarrow Stalks. Dr. Cottrell describes his approach:

"Most automated I Ching programs and scripts operate via computer-generated random numbers. This is not unlike the flip of a coin, which is how many people consult the I Ching. But the yarrow stalk method, in addition to an element of randomness, involves a volitional act on the part of the user, in the division of the stalks into two groups. The Virtual Yarrow Stalks I Ching seeks to duplicate this by having the user click on a group of virtual yarrow stalks of varying widths. Done without conscious effort, this is much closer to using real yarrow stalks than is instructing the computer to generate numbers."

The inquirer is presented with a graphic image representing fifty yarrow stalks, with one removed before the consultation begins. The mouse is moved over the bundle to divide it into two heaps. This action is repeated three times to produce a line. When the hexagram is completed, the changing lines reveal a second hexagram and the associated texts are presented. Only the Judgment and the texts of the moving lines are provided, the basic material from the Zhouyi without the Image from the Xiang Zhuan. Three different translations are offered. This is not the place to explore the texts in great detail, but at this hour I am indeed Exhausted and whenever I try to write there is always Difficulty at the Beginning.

An interesting feature of Virtual Yarrow Stalks is the section which presents thirty-three translations of the text of the Judgment and the first line of hexagrams 3 and 36. This will definitely be a helpful resource if I ever find time to compile a presentation of the Book of Change that would draw upon a different translation for each of the sixty-four hexagrams. This project is not my top priority at the present moment.

S. J. Marshall, the author of The Mandate of Heaven: Hidden History in the I Ching, maintains an elegant web site called Yijing Dao, which includes a review of LiSe Heyboer's web site, Yi Jing, book of sun and moon :

"LiSe Heyboer is one of the few whose interest in the Yijing has inspired her to research the original etymology of the Chinese characters . . . This is an excellent site, and encouraging to any who delve into the Chinese characters themselves. There is a complete translation of the Zhouyi, as well as an ever-expanding selection of essays. Her commentary on her own translation shows great insight, clearly derived from divination experience. Some of the translations are speculative, but based on her study of early graphs."

LiSe credits the yarrow stalk emulation on her Dutch website to Emanuele, who is someone with an Italian yahoo email address. At the beginning of the consultation the inquirer is presented with a beautiful illustration of yarrow in bloom. The yarrow stalks appear as a bundle and are counted off by fours at a speed controlled by the user after they are divided into two groups by clinking on the bundle.

Dr. Cottrell appears to give the user more control over how the bundle is divided, but the process of moving from the division to determining the line is much more detailed on this site. Both as instruction for using physical yarrow stalks and as a computer emulation of the process, this site is the best that I have yet found. The feature which allows the user to control the speed of the process can accommodate someone who is in a hurry, as well as someone who has time to devote to a more contemplative experience.

The text presented is LiSe's translation, which features her interpretation of Oracle Script (fig. 10). A link in the text takes the reader to a glossary of key terms illustrated with Oracle Script . The Wilhelm/Baynes translation is also made available (fig. 12) This assignment is certainly a Turning Point in the unfolding of this course. Hopefully when I Return to class this paper will be completed. What should I write? Fu advises me to “Follow your own road, your own Tao.”

Although the traditional text of the Book of Change can be appreciated as poetry (Huang 33-34), Yi Jing, book of sun and moon includes a section that is even more directly related to the concerns of our course:

“The Yi Lin, Forest of Changes, "written around 25 BCE by Jiao Shi (Jiao Yanshou) or Xu Jun. It has a verse, usually of four x four characters, for every possible change from one hexagram into another” [4096]; “the 'change' is from the hexagram of the particular day, to the hexagram you cast yourself.”

Here is the verse for hexagram 2 changing to hexagram 1:

Valley winds, life energy starts moving
All things come to life
Germinating in great numbers, growing up and nourished
Magnificent leaves in flourishing abundance

Very few of the verses have been translated. Anyone with skill in translation from Chinese to English is invited to participate in this project.

A web search for “i ching yarrow” indicates that there are thousands of pages that could be explored. Of the few I have spent time with, these three are the most interesting. They will keep me busy for quite awhile.

008:173 Topics in digital media: New Media Poetics

I Ching Me, timeless wisdom for modern cubicles'.

2010-01-16T16:29:00.002-06:00

I Ching Me, timeless wisdom for modern cubicles

I Ching/Yi Jing

2009-09-13T13:33:00.012-05:00

Old Fogey's Guide to the Book of Change

This is version o.23 (August 1995)

version 2.6a

version 2.5

More About I Ching/Yi Jing

"Of all the records of the soul the I Ching/Yi Jing is among the most ancient and most holy."
It is also one of the earliest surviving examples of a hypertext document.

At its most basic level the I Ching/Yi Jing is a collection of sixty-four figures each of which is comprised of of six lines. Each line is either broken or unbroken, open or closed, off or on. Each six lined figure, called a hexagram, represents a particular situation. Over the years several basic texts and innumerable commentaries have been associated with each hexagram in order to describe the situation it represents.

Consult the classic of change/the changing classic

On-line

There are at least two web pages from which it is possible to use a
Sun workstation to cast a hexagram in order to investigate the texture
and structure of the present moment and seek some clue about the
prevailing and emerging situations.

One page is at UCLA.

Another page is available from the folks at Enternet Communications.

At one time an I Ching program was included as part of the Sun operating system.

Disk of Change/I Ching/YiJing programs for the home computer

If you would like to consult the I Ching/Yi Jing without being online
Talis has an I Ching program for Windows. Several Macintosh HyperCard
versions of the I Ching/Yi Jing are available. Several versions are
also available for MS-DOS computers. Consult the bibliography for
further details.

Traditional methods

There are other methods of casting a hexagram which require less
machinery. These include the three coin method and the yarrow stalk
method.

Introductory material and commentaries

A brief history of the development of the I Ching/Yi Jing is available from Talis.

Rick Le Mon's I Ching page includes some introductory information
about trigrams and an English translation of the basic text.

An article by Terrence Payne which describes the structure and
relationships of the hexagrams is available from his page Tao of I Ching.

A brief introduction to the I Ching/Yi Jing by Paul Williams appeared
in Crawdaddy! magazine in 1973.

Bibliography.

The Ten Wings and other commentaries

Beyond the basic text the earliest layer of commentaries is known as
the Ten Wings. This material was compiled by the ealy Confucians.
Check back again later for more details.

Thanks

Thanks for visiting this web page. Hopefully it will be updated
frequently, so stop back again sometime soon.

This page is maintained by [old fogey] for milfoil communications
and was last updated August 7, 1995.

Thanks to Global Information Analysis Networking Technologies for
providing Silicone Prairie as a public web server.

Thanks to Panda and the Information Arcade at the University of Iowa
Library. Without these two projects it would not be possible to make
this presentation.

"I don't believe in I Ching."--John Lennon

"You don't have to believe in it for it to work."--Chester Anderson

I Ching at the UCLA CAD Lab (1993)

2009-09-13T13:13:00.003-05:00

I Ching

SERVER CHANGE
Please let me know if there are any problems
I-Ching Information
Do you strive to understand.....

Try to grasp the forces that affect your life.....

This document will perform an I-Ching reading for you. There is also
some additional information regarding how this program generates
readings.

Explore the power of prophecy and how it can affect you.
Concentrate on a problem or question facing you now, when you have it
well visualized, select the icon to obtain your reading.

Click here to cast the coins.

Jonathan Katz (at facade.com).

Additional Information: (yes, I guess I take submissions...)

Advanced I Ching: The Structure of a Well- Ordered Family
This is an unreviewed paper written by Terrence Payne.

Implementation Notes

Here are a couple of interestion notes on how our I-Ching readings are
generated. I tried to capture how a real reading was cast to the
highest degree possible.

In pursuit of the above goal:

* Lines are generated from bottom to top.
* Random numbers of 2 and 3 are generated to capture the proper
numerical symbology

Why are you here?!?!?

Jonathan Katz: A retrospective.

[Image]

I AM CURRENTLY UPDATING THIS DARN PAGE!

(About time, dont you think?)

[

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[dbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdb]

Why Jonathan is disgruntled about his Web Server...

Well... My former goal of putting all information available at UCLA on-line
is essentially dead. InfoUCLA (an "official" group) is doing that. Perhaps,
one day, they will put up information interesting to students , but, either
way, they have made it clear that they do not appreciate me doing general
UCLA things.....

I have at least been getting good feedback on my Tarot Card, I-Ching, and
Biorhythm, servers, so, I dont feel totally quashed.

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[dbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdb]

Major Factors in Jonathan's Life...

[Image] UCLA (as a student)

Current Classes (Summer 1995)
o Physics 6B
o Physics 8AL

Current Majors
o Cognitive Science
o Micro-Biology and Molecular Genetics
Do you really want to know?

[Image] UCLA (as an employee)

* Facility Manager, UCLA Computer Aided Design Laboratory
* Facility Manager, UCLA IME Product Design Classroom

Computers were a hobby, now I work with them as a job. You too can develop
skills to obtain a position in a thankless profession. If I studied
Cognitive Science, I would say that I am getting overcompensated which is
leading to a state of discontent and lack of feeling for initial inherent
enjoyment of computers that I used to enjoy. Sure, those psych models work
for other people, but, they couldn't be working on me....

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[dbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdb]

Random Biographical Information...

[Image] 6'0", 156lb.

[Image] Brown hair & hazel eyes (look at the picture [:-)] )

[Image] Born: Feburary 20th, 1969 (bet you dont send email!)

[Image] Born/raised in Los Angeles (Like, in the valley)

[Image] Currently live in Encino (remember the song?)

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[dbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdb]

Some Things I like...

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[dbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdb]

Welp, I really don't have time now to throw in a biography, but, I guess
some obvious things to say are that I am a member of the The Magic Castle in
Hollywood, I have a dry sense of humor, and I like when people cook for me
(if you are considering this, I dont eat meat (eggs and cheese are ok) and I
dont eat mushrooms).

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[dbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdb]

My current biorhythm is here for no other reason than "because I can".
The location of my birthday in PI is here for no other reason than "because
I can".

[ ]

_______________________________________

[ ]

Finding It On the Internet

2009-09-11T12:17:00.003-05:00

Finding It On the Internet (1994)
by Paul Gilster

Page 150

A Panoply of Diverse Information

The World Wide Web does not yet have its Veronica, the all-purpose search tool for Gopher that scours a database of collected resources to simplify the search process. The best word to describe the Web in its current form is "unwieldy," a gigantic bazaar of information, which is both fascinating and frustrating to use. Rather than making quick, targeted searches into the Web, you may find yourself drawn into extended sesions of exploration Here, then, are some intriguing way stations along the search path. They are presented to hint at the Web's riches.

The I Ching

In ancient times, people cast sticks upon the ground to provide the numerical references by which to query the I Ching, the Chinese book of prophecy. Like its counterpart in Delphi, the I Ching is an oracle of unusually cryptic language, one that requires reflection and, perhaps, the powers of the subconscious mind to untangle. The telecommunications age version of the I Ching is accessed via the Internet, as shown in Figure 6.13, where the Web is using a Telnet connection to bring you information.

I found this under the listing of information by subject on the Web's home page, under a Fortune Telling category that also includes links to electronic Tarot [p.151] cards and a cyberspace reading of your current biorhythms. Hint: those in the know tell me that when using the I Ching, you should place your hands upon the keyboard and concentrate on your current situation before pressing the RETURN key, which rolls the digital dice. As for understanding what the I Ching tells you you're on your own.

Figure 6.13

Running an electronic version of the I Ching through Telnet as mediated by the Web.

I-Ching [45/162]

Obstruction:

The southwest furthers.
The Northeast does not further.
It furthers one to see the great man.
Perseverance brings good fortune.

THE IMAGE

Water on the mountain.
The image of Obstruction.
Thus the superior man turn his attention to himself
And molds his character.

THE LINES

Six at the beginning means:

Going leads to obstruction.
Coming meets with praise.

Six in the second lplace means:

The king's servant is beset by obstruction upon obstruction.
But it is not his own fault

Nine in the third place means:

Going leads to . . .

Back. Up. for more. Quit. or Help:

Gilster, Paul, (1949- )

Finding it on the internet : the essential guide to archie, Veronica, Gopher, WAIS, WWW (including Mosaic), and other search and browsing tools / New York : Wiley, c1994.

On page 135 (Table 6.1) Gilster provides an early version of the WWW Virtual Library that includes a Fortune-telling category that does not appear in later versions.

I-Ching is number [30] out of [96] entries.

Monteverde

2009-03-25T18:32:00.003-05:00

El espiritu de la colmena

2008-03-13T11:03:00.008-05:00

Cultural Project 1: Hispanic Revolutionaries

2008-02-13T23:45:00.006-06:00

Buenaventura Durruti
1896-1936

Left behind

2007-10-11T21:08:00.000-05:00

www.creativeportal.com

Tracy left behind her John Lennon t-shirt,

but we caught up with her later and gave it back to her.

Bold Marauder

2007-10-10T23:09:00.000-05:00

When the most recent (and continuing) war in Iraq began I sang this song twice.

Once at Uptown Bill's

and once at one of Virginia's parties.

2007-09-06T16:42:00.001-05:00

When did Jesus become a Republican?

solstice celebration

2007-07-02T10:58:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRGqJKpAnXw

madison

2007-06-13T18:59:00.000-05:00

Iowa Girls

2007-06-07T11:32:00.001-05:00

Donna Reed

Marjorie Cameron

elangrafa

2007-05-31T12:08:00.001-05:00

brief comment

2007-05-24T12:58:00.000-05:00

brief comment on

Lesson from the River:

another river another day
may 20

twenty two miles on the des moines river
in a canoe
selma to keosauqua iowa

few words
just paddle

great blue heron used to guide our way
this time did not appear
until near the end of our excursion

Links

2007-03-11T14:58:00.000-05:00

This blog has been linked by Contrary Triangulation,
so maybe it's time for a bit of an update.

The Alchemists' Guild has moved to Oregon.

Urban Squirrel Stunt Design no longer has a gallery in the Hall Mall,
but does have a blog.

More updates later.

D A O

2006-11-14T15:30:00.000-06:00

DAO: A JOURNAL OF

COMPARATIVE PHILOSOPHY

Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy [ISSN: 1540-3009] is an official publication of the Association of Chinese Philosophers in America, co-sponsored by the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, National Taiwan University, and supported by the Philosophy Department of Kutztown University.

2006-10-22T16:32:00.000-05:00

T A O I S M
AND THE ARTS OF CHINA

The Art Institute of Chicago
November 4, 2000, to January 7, 2001

Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
February 21 through May 13, 2001

An article by Thomas Christensen (aka Uke Xensen) about this exhibit
appeared in Treasures,
the member's magazine of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.

Xi Wang Mu

2006-09-07T11:46:00.000-05:00

Queen Mother of the West

[Wikipedia] [Taoist Culture and Information Center] [Zinck]

Inage from http://www.jampers.com/chines/deuseschina.html

More about Xi Wang Mu:

Divine Traces of the Daoist Sisterhood

Transcendence and Divine Passion
The Queen Mother of the West in Medieval China

by Suzanne Cahill,
professor of History and East Asian Studies at the University of California, San Diego.

2006-08-20T16:14:00.000-05:00

Americans Are Brainwashed

Dissent is Patriotic!

2006-07-27T17:39:00.000-05:00

Pravritti

2006-07-16T15:35:00.000-05:00

Rick, we can see you've been back in town again.
Your cards were scattered all over the place
(especially on the third floor of the university library).

Just one question:

President of what?

p.s. Perhaps you could include a sample poem or two on your website,
so that folks could have some idea what your book is like.

www.iowapoetblackie.com

war is not the answer

2006-06-28T08:54:00.000-05:00

(Friends Committee on National Legislation)

Iowa City Police
Daily activity log

6/18/2006 11:15:00 PM

Activity : Information Only

Details: comp advising her anti-war sign and a neighbors anti-war sign taken from their yards probably overnight did not wish to speak to an officer now will call back if requesting further assistance.

sunday after work

2006-06-26T08:56:00.000-05:00

Sunday after work I attended the Iowans for Peace fundraising dinner for the Pastors for Peace Cuba Caravan
at Ten South.

Afro-Cuban music was performed by Euforquestra.

Later in the evening, after returning home, I stopped in at the Copy Exchange.

on the way home

2006-06-25T13:38:00.000-05:00

Thursday afternoon Pomedome stopped by the library where I work.

After my shift was finished we took care of a couple of errands and then stopped in at the Glass Lodge before heading back to my home.

tai chi

2006-05-25T14:48:00.000-05:00

Tai chi videos and websites

My first taoist tai chi class

the tao/dao that can be told

2006-05-24T13:24:00.001-05:00

is not the constant Tao/Dao

"The Tao is basically utterly open.

Utter openness has no substance.

It ends in endlessness, begins in beginningless."

The Book of Balance and Harmony, Part Two

Perhaps this is all you need to know.

"How can we understand Taoism?" Thomas Christensen ponders this question in his article "Taoism and the Arts of China."

A more detailed explanation is provided in the introduction to Livia Kohn's book Daoism and Chinese Culture, which has been made available on line by Three Pines Press.

I Ching/Yi Jing

2006-05-23T14:44:00.001-05:00

Old Fogey's Guide to the Book of Change

version 2.6a

version 2.5

Of old it has been said that of all the records of the soul the Book of Change is among the most ancient and most holy.

It is also one of the oldest surviving examples of a hypertext document.

In 1995 I was able to find about a dozen I Ching/Yi Jing related web pages.
Most of them were links to the site that become facade.com.

Today Google tells us that there are more than five million I Ching/Yi Jing related web pages. You can wade through as much of that as you want, but it might be helpful to start out with these web sites.

I Ching Bookmarks

The I Ching on the Net

Yijing Dao

Yi jing The Chinese Classic of Changes

tai chi videos and websites

2006-05-23T14:35:00.000-05:00

Q: What I'm wondering is if anyone can recommend a video for Tai Chi...any references, interweb sites, books, videos or anything else...would be extremely wonderful. Thanks.

From a skiing discussion website:

"As for Tai chi chuan, I don't know what's the most popular style down under. I have read that there are world champion Chen style artists from there. Chen style is one of the faster and aggressive styles. Yang style is probably the softest and slowest style, and the one that has been distilled the most for western health comsumption. But don't discount it's application as a true martial art. Even the Chen style is still considered a soft internal art, focusing on internal energy cultivation.

Disski, there is an excelent Yang Style Short Form video that would get you started if your interested. It's called Tai Chi for Health, by Terrance Dunn, distributed by Healing Arts Publishing Inc. I think Wayfarer Publications carries this tape also. Later,
__________________
Ric B "

Tai Chi for Health with Terry Dunn
Vol. 1 Yang Short Form
Vol. 2 Yang Long Form

Healing Arts Vido
321 Hampton Drive, Venice CA 90291
1-80-0-2-LIVING

Wayfarer Publications that Ric B referred to
seems to have an extensive selection of tai chi
videos:

www.tai-chi.com

The library where I work has eleven tai chi videos. Can't really recommend any particular one. Haven't seen them all and don't know enough about tai chi to evaluate them.

David Carradine's Tai Chi Workout:

Praying Mantis Productions
Distributed by Goldhil Video, Thousand Oaks, CA.

www.goldhil.com doesn't seem to be an active website yet.

Tai Chi Chih! Joy Thru Movement
taught by Justin Stone

Good Karma Publishing, Box 511
Fort Yates, ND 701-854-7459

www.taichichih.com

Tai Chi Fundamentals: Fitness & Health
Joshua Grant, Yao Li, Dorri Li
Video Treasures
500 Kirts Blvd, Troy, MI 48084

Boston Kung Fu Tai Chi Institute
www.taichi.com

T'ai-Chi: The Inner Teachings Vol. 1

T'ai-Chi Exercises for Seniors

Bob Klein

Artistic Video
87 Tyler Ave, Sound Beach, NY 11789-2639
516-744-5999

Long Island School of Tai-Chi-Chuan
www.movementsofmagic.com/School/Index.htm

T'ai Chi Ch'uan: The Ultimate Exercise

David-Dorian Ross

New Age Fitness
503-223-9312

David-Dorian Ross Tai Chi DVDs:
www.gaiam.com/retail/category.asp?catalog_name=gai&cate...orianRossChiTeachers

Gentle Tai Chi: Meditation in Motion
Dagmar Munn

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005A1U...765-5448635?v=glance

Tai Chi for Older Adults

Paul Lam
www.taichiproductions.com

One more video:

Tai Chi for Busy People
with Dr. Kieth Jeffery

Terra Entertainment
310-264-2128

914 Westwood Blvd Ste 290
Los Angeles, CA 90024

This page of FAQs about Tai Chi comes from Dr. Keith Jeffery, who is determined to bring Tai Chi to everyone through his videos, seminars - and this site.

http://healing.about.com/od/taichi/

That's all for now.

blogs

2006-05-02T20:23:00.000-05:00

A Cowboy Taoist
The Cometemporary Taoist

western taoism

2006-03-19T16:54:00.000-06:00

Posted 23 November 2004 06:23 PM
at http://reformtaoism.org

While the official WRTC web site was down,
Travis started a WRT discussion at
www.livejournal.com.
Here's something I posted there in response to
a question:

October 6,2004

Hey guys.
I was looking around gathering books for a used books sale at school when I found an old copy of the Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. My interest in Taoism began when I read the Te of Piglet. I could easily relate to Piglet and saw that Taoism embodied many of my personal beliefs. Now, through the Taoist Restoration Society, I've learned that there are different Taoist sects within China. I was just wondering, is Taoism, as some members of the TRS pointed out, so influenced by Chinese culture that it cannot truly be appreciated elsewhere where knowledge is somewhat limited? I'll not say my opinion until I've gotten responses so that I won't influence anyone.
In Tao,
Katie

October 26, 2004

Although Taoism emerged within a particular cultural context, it teaches an appreciation of universal principles. Shadow and light are global phenomena. Yin and Yang are universal principles.

Although we find ourselves following China through the alternation of night and day, always finding ourselves on the opposite sides of the planet, we are in phase with each other throughout he cycle of the seasons, sharing the Northern hemisphere. The division of the planet into south and north is a much more objective distinction than the arbitrary separation of east and west. New growth springs forth as the seed unfolds through the fallen, decaying leaves of the previous autumn.

Although there are questionable appropriations of spiritual traditions, the Tao is unfolding all around us. With every inhalation and exhalation, with each beat of the heart, the Tao is unfolding within us. Can we learn to find a way to become attuned to this process?

Although some occidental travelers have made a pilgrimage to the east, seeking to become authentic Chinese Taoists, certified carriers of a traditional lineage, we find ourselves where we are. There is much we can learn from the reports such pilgrims send us. Some of us might attempt to follow their path. However, finding ourselves where we are, if we attempt to become mindful of the breath, of the beating of the heart, it might become possible for an authentic Taoism to emerge within our lives, within our community, here where we are.

Although such a Taoism might appear as different from traditional Chinese Taoism as night is different from day, an authentic Taoism will learn to recognize and appreciate these differences as complementary, as night follows day, together with each other, through the Spring and Autumn.

For a more detailed discussion of this question you might want to take a look at:
Clarke, J. J. (John James),
The Tao of the West :Western transformations of Taoist thought / London ; New York : Routledge, 2000. ISBN: 0415206200 (pbk.)

Most of the land in the state where I live is under agricultural cultivation. There are over ten million acres that are used for growing soybeans. When three tenths of the area of the state is devoted to soybean production, it is my feeling that other Asian influences will begin to manifest themselves whether they are deliberately sought after or not.
Katie, I'd be glad to hear your opinion, if you are ready to share it.

Old Fogey

Posted 22 September 2005 02:30 PM
Several months ago I read a book entitled Taoist Meditation: Methods for Cultivating a Healthy Mind and Body, which is a collection of texts translated
and compiled by Thomas Cleary. The translators's introduction includes some
comments that seem relevent to this topic, the possibility of western taoism.

As soon as I have time I post an excerpt from this introduction.

Posted 22 September 2005 02:53 PM
From the introduction to Taoist Meditation:

Taoism, one of the most ancient of Eastern traditions, is drawing increasing
attention in the modern West. Interest in Taoism is no longer confined to fringe
elements, as some would prefer, but has become part of the normal mentality of
conscious individuals and cosmopolitan thinkers in many areas of contemporary life.

Part of the popularity of of Taoism in the West migh be due to the fract that
Taoism is scientific yet also humanistic and spiritual. Taoism has a capacity
for subtle pervasion because ist can be understood and practiced withn the
framework of other world religions, or without any religious framework at all.
This selfless adaptability may be why Taoism has been able to penetrate Western
cultures without the limitations of theological doctrine or religious identity.

Some of the specialized arts originating in Taoist tradition, such as
bare-handed martial disciplines, acupuncture, herbal medicine, and therapeutic
massage, are becoming increasingly familiar in the West. Taoist social
philosophy and strategic thinking have also proved to be of great interest to
Western people in various walks of life.These are among the dimensions of Taoism
that have attrracted the attention of professionals in many areas--political and
military; agricultural, industrial, and commercial; educational, medical, and
scientific.

Meditation is one element of Taoism that interests a broad spectrum of people,
because the state of mind is central to the well-being and efficiency of the
whole organism. Taoist meditation is for enhancement of both physical and mental health, as these two facets of well-being are intimately related to one another. Modern scientific understanding of the mind-body continuum confirms tradtional Taoist beliefs about the effects of mental states on physical conditions and vice versa.

Posted 12 January 2006 02:26 PM
The strongest argument I have seen for the difficulty (or impossibility) of an authentic Western Taoism was presented at October 20, 1997, at the University of Tennessee by Professor Russell Kirkland of the University of Georgia.

The Taoism Of The Western Imagination And The Taoism Of China: De-Colonializing The Exotic Teachings Of The East

Posted 19 January 2006 02:15 PM
Profressor Kirkland tells us that:
"As an element of Chinese civilization, Taoism is indeed a rich and rascinating reality, a tradition, for instance, that virtually alsways found a place for women as leaders. But we do terible violence to that reality if we impose upon it the intellectual and spiritual needs of Americans today -- a need, for instance for humanistic individualists to imagine themselves as "free" to reject "society" and "religion" in favor of a "pure spirituality," something interpreted and practiced by the solitary individuals without the so-called intereferece of "tradition" or "organized religion."

Since he considers Taoism to be an expression of Chinese culture, Kirkland finds it difficult to imagine the possibility of an authentic Taoism emerging outside of that particular cultural context.

19 January 2006 02:23 PM
Thomas Cleary has a different point of view. In his introduction to The Book of Balance and Harmony he tells us that.:

"Taoism is not, as usually thought, a product of Chinese civilization. Rather it is the other way about -- Chinese civilization was originally a product of Taoism in the sense that like all successful original cultures it was initiated and guided by people in contact with the Tao or universal law."

This point of view opens up the possibility of the Tao finding expression in a variety of cultural contexts.

Fine Printing by Howard Zimmon

2006-01-16T11:03:00.000-06:00

Matheson Books

70354. McCullough, Ken. Creosote. Illustrations by Nana Burford. [Iowa City] The Seamark Press, 1976. Decorated paper boards, printed paper labels on the spine and front cover. Binding worn at the head and foot of the spine, otherwise very good. Black pastedowns and black front and rear free endpapers. First edition. One of 500 copies printed by Kay Amert and Howard Zimmon. Full-page inscription on a front endpaper. The inscription is headed "For El Cid" [in the light of what follows this is probably Cid Corman]. The heading is followed by five lines in Japanese attributed to Narihara, then a sketch of an imaginary bird, followed by "with appreciation / Ken McCullough / Thanksgiving 1982 / Iowa City". $75.00

70388. Miller, Chuck. Oxides. Iowa City, The Seamark Press, 1976. Paper boards. Fine, without dust jacket, as issued. First edition. "Kay Amert & Howard Zimmon made this book". $25.00

Truepenny Books

The Stone Wall Press 27. CARGO, Poems by Paul Nelson, 1972. 8 x 5 1/4; 63 pages; 14-point Emerson, handset; title in stencil-letter, printed blue 250 copies on Tovil; bound in blue cloth boards, with label on spine, by Howard Zimmon. Printed with Kay Amert and Howard Zimmon; a joint publication with the Seamark Press. (57)

T A O : O A T

2006-01-14T13:45:00.000-06:00

TAO : The Anarchy Organization

has become

OAT: Organizing Autonomous Telecomms.

Taoist Tai Chi

2006-01-11T17:42:00.000-06:00

Attended my first Taoist Tai Chi class this afternoon.

Missed the first session earlier this week, because I was out of town visiting a friend.

My previous instruction includes about three hours over the past twenty-five years.

Once I attended a session with a group of folks who did tai chi and then watched the X-Flies together. They were more advanced in their practice, and as a beginner I couldn't keep up.

One year the staff inservice included a tai chi workshop which was led by a Tai Chi Chih instuctor.

Several years ago I shared a Thanksgiving dinner with another Tai Chi Chih instructor, although I have never studied with him.

My first experience with Tai Chi was a brief introductory workshop at the Black Hills Survival Gathering.

Howard Zimmon (z'l) (1938-1999) studied and taught tai chi for more than thirty years. Although I never studied tai chi with him, I learned from each conversation we shared. Howard was a poet, a fine-book printer, a bookseller, and a technical draftsman for the University of Iowa Physics Department.

Cardinal

W O W !
I just saw a cardinal out there

There is a red cardinal
In the tree.

I saw a bright red cardinal

W O W !

there is a bright red cardinal
out there in the tree

He's still there look!

he's on the grass look!

whoops he flew away.

2.

When I come back
I want to come back as a cardinal
(the bird that is)

& I am going to have
the crimsonest feathers

& the neatest red crown

& I am going to eat
sunflower seeds
from Howard's feeder

& I am going to perch
on a branch
and sing all day.

This time around
I am practicing
for when I come back
as a cardinal.

--Howard Zimmon

Iowa Review,
Volume Twenty-Nine Number Two, page 97

A F T E R I M A G E S

2006-01-10T19:56:00.000-06:00

Trying to reactivate a couple of aged blogs, but I'm receiving error messages whenever I attempt to update them. Posting here instead for now.

from:
free flowing vol. 3 no.6 July 1976 page 10

A F T E R I M A G E S

Existence is beyond the power of words
To define:
Terms may be used but none of them are absolute.
In the beginning of heaven and earth there were no words,
Words came out of the womb of matter;
And whether a man dispassionately
See to the core of life
Or passionately
Sees the surface,
The core and the surface
Are essentially the same.
Words making them seem different
Only to express appearance.
If name be needed, wonder names them both:
From wonder into wonder
Existence opens.
-Lao-tze

I know I am deathless,
I know this orbit of mine cannot be swept by a carpenter's compass
I know I shall not pass like achil's carlacue cut with a burnt stick at night . . .
I exist as I am, that is enough,
If no other in the world be aware I sit content.
And if each and all be aware I sit content.
One world is aware and by far the largest to me, and that is myself,
And whether I come to my own to-day or in ten thousand or ten million years,
I can cheerfully take it now, or with equal cheerfulness I can wait.
My foothold is tenon'd and mortis'd in granite,
I laugh at what you call dissolution,
And I know the amplitude of time.
-Walt Whitman

Star Morals

Called a star's orbit to pursue
What is the darkness, star, to you?

Roll on in bliss, traverse this age-
Its misery far from you and strange.

Let farthest world your light secure.
Pity is sin you must abjure.

But one command is yours: be pure!
-Friedrich Nietzche

The Rose of Sharon
By the roadside
Was eaten by the horse.
-Bassho

A fallen flower
Returning to the branch?
It was a butterfly.
-Moritake

This dewdrop world
It may bew a dewdropo
And yet, and yet - -
-Issa

The Half of Life

With yellow pears the country,
Brimming with wild roses,
Hangs into the lake,
You gracious swans,
And drunk with kisses
Your heads you dip
Into the hold lucid water.

Where, ah where shall I find,
When winter comes, the flowers,
And where the sunshine
And shadows of the earth?
Wall stand
Speechless and cold, in the wind
The weathervanes clatter.
-Friedrich Holderlin

Ah Sun-flower! weary of time,
Who countest the stops of the Sun,
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller's journey is done;

Where the Youth pined away with desire,
And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow,
Arise from their graves and aspire,
Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.
-William Blake

I Ching looks like a book . . .

2006-01-04T12:03:00.000-06:00

The "I Ching" looks like a book but isn't really.

By Paul Williams

from his column The Sources of the Nile which appeared in Crawdaddy! magazine (April 1973, page 10)

The nature of the future is that there isn't any. It's January as I write this, and by the time you read it there still won't be any future, only the same old present with its endless implications, possibilities, and unperceived realities. I suppose when we talk about the future we are really talking about the unperceived realities of right now.

Scumpy told me that the theme of this issue of Crawdaddy would be, loosely speaking, the future and how to prepare for it. As far as I've been able to figure out, the best and probably the only preparation for what is to come is awareness of what's going on today. There is a device, an ancient variation of a [digital] computer, that I have found to be extremely helpful in this kind of work. It's called the I Ching.

The I Ching looks like a book, but it isn't really. It's a geometrical structure, with texts attached. The structure might be described as an inverted polygon (I mean, you look at it from the inside, like the universe) with 64 faces. Each of these faces has six sides (not in space but in time-space, if we can make that distinction), and is called a hexagram.

This 64-faced representation of the world we live in can be entered and studied for clues as to what's going on in "reality", and for this reason is called an oracle. An oracle is something that can be consulted. The simplest method of consulting the I Ching is to throw three coins six times. Assign an arbitrary value of "2" to heads and "3" to tails.

[Editor's note: Some folks arbitrarily, or otherwise, make the opposite designation and assign a value of "3" (yang) to heads and "2" (yin) to tails. You should decide which designation makes sense to you before you begin. If you find the choice too confusing you might consider using the yarrowstalk method which is a bit more complicated. Instructions for the yarrow stalk method can be found on pages 721-723 in the Wilhelm/Baynes edition of the I Ching. End of editor's note; back to Paul's article.]

So when you toss the coins you get a total of 6, 7, 8, or 9. Seven is represented by a solid straight line. Eight is a broken line. On or off: yin or yang. (Six is a broken line that has the inherent tendency to change to a solid line; nine is a solid line that changes to a broken.)

You toss the coins six times, drawing a solid line the first time if you got a 7 or 9, a broken line if you got 6 or 8, then drawing the next line above the first, continuing up till you have a stack of six. This is called a hexagram. There's a chart in the back of the book that tells you which of the 64 hexagrams you got.

. . .Uh, I can't go on with this rap. Actually in my first draft I did go on with it, on and on, telling you what you already know if you're into the I Ching and probably couldn't care less about if you're not. I started consulting the I Ching (the Whilhelm/Baynes translation, published by the Princeton University Press) almost five years ago. Since then the book has influenced my life to an immeasurable degree, both directly by giving specific advice at critical moments, and indirectly by giving me continuous instruction in a philosophy of living, a way of seeing the world and a way of acting that has become inseparable from by own way. My character seems to have fused to some real extent with this ancient book. Feels good.

The most remarkable thing about the I Ching is ability to speak directly to the person consulting it, to go right to the heart of your immediate personal and private problem and give sound and appropriate advice...often describing the situation with an accuracy that takes your breath away. How does the book do this? It doesn't. It merely allows itself to be approached correctly. By throwing the coins six times (or going through a complex but equivalent process involving yarrow stalks) and concentrating on a particular question (bearing in mind what it is you wish to know), the supplicant somehow crosses the line between probability and synchronicity, removes himself from a physics in which as Einstein pointed out, there is no way of proving that two things actually happen at the same time, and moves into a realm (far more sophisticated, more "scientifically" advanced I think) in which it is understood that there is a simultaneity to events, and a lot can be learned from coincidence (divine footprints everywhere). Jung knew this, priests and politicians have always understood and made use of it, and evidently the Chinese built this awareness into their Bible (or Book, or Encyclopedia) five thousand years ago.

I Ching, by the way, is Chinese for "Book of Changes." Except there aren't any literal equivalences between the Chinese and English languages--a fact which makes the present work less a good translation than an out and out miracle, or at least a heavy Heavenly hint as to what's going on, I mean what time it is.

The I Ching I'm talking about, I must repeat, is the one that's available only in hardcover, translated from Chinese into German by a man named Richard Wilhelm, and from German into English by a woman named Cary Baynes. Accept no substitutes.[Ed. note: There are many more English language versions these days than there were in 1973. Although the Wilhelm/Baynes edition is still the standard, you might find one or more you like better.]

I'd really like to tell you how this book has changed my life. There was a year when I consulted it every morning, keeping track in a little notebook, to get a reading for the day (which I would meditate on, or anyway think about, as things happened to me). There has been many a time when I found myself turning to the book many times a week for critical advice, like a sailor consulting his sextant: Where am I? There have been times when the book told me to leave it alone for awhile, and I tried to obey. Nowadays I don't consult it more than once a week, if that. But I think about it every day, and I know very often what the book would tell me now if I asked, which means I don't need to ask. But I do need to pay attention. There never comes a time when you don't need to be told, just maybe a time when you can tell yourself instead of making others do it for you.

Some people think the I Ching will tell you about the future. But there isn't any future. There's only the present and what it's threatening to become. If you're interested in what Chester Anderson calls "the news before it happens," look into your local book of changes. ("Take tea and see.") It's later than you think.

This article has been placed on the web with the permission of the author.

Chester Anderson

2006-01-04T12:00:00.000-06:00

http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/habib.html

ARCHIVE/MANUSCRIPT

Author: Anderson, Chester, 1932
Title: Chester Anderson papers, [ca. 1963-1980].
Description: 1 box (.4 linear ft.)
Notes: Records (Jan.-Sept. 1967) of the Communication Company (San Francisco, Calif.), a member of the Undergound Press Syndicate, including broadsides, flyers, and handbills printed for the Diggers, San Francisco Mime Troupe, and the Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood Council, among other organizations, individuals, and events, including Human Be-In and the Invisible Circus at Glide Church. Also includes copy of a letter, 9 Feb. 1967, written by Chester Anderson to his friend, Thurlonius Benjamin Weed in Florida, discussing his move to San Francisco, his work, and his involvement in the Haight-Ashbury community. Also, includes edited typescripts of "Puppies" (Entwhistle Books, 1979) and "Fox & Hare" (Entwhistle Books, 1980).

Literary figure of the Beat Era and the Haight-Ashbury community of San Francisco, Calif. in the 1960s. Founded the Communication Company, an innovative news service in 1967. Published works under his own name and a pseudonym, John Valentine. Anderson died in April 1991 in Homer, Ga., where he lived with relatives.

Location: University of California at Berkeley, Bancroft Manuscript Collection 1

Chat with Ted

2006-01-03T19:36:00.001-06:00

Ted Nelson: So, are you Dr. Macintosh?
Old Fogey: No, i'm just a non-professional library worker.
TN: Oh, an NPLW.
OF: Yes, that's right.

(This converstion took place after Ted Nelson's keynote address
"Tomorrow's Docuverse: Its Issues of Structure, Access, and Freedom"
at the Symposium on Scholarly Communication: New Technologies
& New Directions, University of Iowa, November 14, 1991)

Tattered remnants?

2006-01-03T19:34:00.000-06:00

"Nothing to say right now, but maybe I'll try to collect some of the tattered remnants of my previous activity on the web."

. . . previous activity on the web?? It would probably be a better use of my time to transfer data from double density floppy disks while there are still functioning drives that will read them.

tattered remnants

2005-12-31T16:51:00.000-06:00

Nothing to say right now, but maybe I'll try to collect some of the tattered remnants of my previous activity on the web.

2005-12-29T15:41:00.000-06:00

"I've got nothing to say,
but that's ok."

the fab four

2005-12-27T19:37:00.000-06:00

the cat who walked up spirit mound

a name that can be named is not the constant name

occupy iowa

Four

Lotus Dragon

Cheng Man-Ch'ing

Bubbling Well

Taoist Tai Chi

Aims & Objectives

Ho tu

widget

pup

Homework: Computer Emulations of the Yarrow Stalk Method

I Ching Me, timeless wisdom for modern cubicles'.

I Ching/Yi Jing

I Ching at the UCLA CAD Lab (1993)

Finding It On the Internet

Monteverde

El espiritu de la colmena

Cultural Project 1: Hispanic Revolutionaries

Left behind

Bold Marauder

solstice celebration

madison

Iowa Girls

elangrafa

brief comment

Links

D A O

Xi Wang Mu

Divine Traces of the Daoist Sisterhood

war is not the answer

sunday after work

on the way home

tai chi

the tao/dao that can be told

I Ching/Yi Jing

tai chi videos and websites

blogs

western taoism

Fine Printing by Howard Zimmon

T A O : O A T

Taoist Tai Chi

A F T E R I M A G E S

I Ching looks like a book . . .

Chester Anderson

Chat with Ted

Tattered remnants?

tattered remnants