1. I moved this newsletter to a new service. It’s fancy, I’m still figuring it out. It links to fb with a simple click. All the buttons work (including un-subscribe at the bottom). Deep thanks to Steven Peterson for his many years of donated email sending.
2. “Chi” changed to “Qi” in my title. Reflects public slow acceptance of pinyin. Both are pronounced “chee”. Qi Flows Naturally…
I love the feeling of openness inside the “Q”, It has a cute little curlique crossing the boundary between inner and outer space. It’s the closest letter in our alphabet to Chinese calligraphy.
3. I started a new blog: Loving the Tao of Now.
A few paragraphs every week, as Spirit moves me. For cultivators who want a spontaneous one minute Way to stay connected to energetic process while surfing the crazy waves of modern life. Here’s the first post, a bit longer than others to follow:
What is the Tao of Now? Sept. 28, 2018
Dear Lover of the Way (Tao),
Loving the Tao of Now is designed to bring Qi cultivation into sharp focus in daily life. Taoism (Daoism) was defined by Prof. Livia Kohn as 1) a religion, 2) a philosophy, and 3) a practical Way of Life. It’s important not to get stuck in any one category of cultivation, as the three modes complement each other.
I will share my own life experiences on how to integrate these three modes as they express themselves differently in different dimensions or “heavens” as the Taoists describe them. Pursuing our unique Way is a life-long journey. Most people start with the practical , using Qigong to relieve stress and cultivate better physical health or sexual vitality. Others are in a hurry to learn the secrets of immortality. In between are the folks just trying to figure out philosophically what the phrase “meaning of my life” actually means.
“NOW” is the nexus point where the practical, the philosophical, and the spiritual all meet and fuse into a single point of consciousness. So Loving the Tao of Now is about cultivating the intersection of the three energy vectors that meet in the Now.
The HORIZONTAL vector includes Earth, linear time, matter, sensory, familial, social, cultural, political energies that flow through our lives. It’s where our personality lives. The scientific imagination is great at manipulating this realm.
The VERTICAL vector is the axis of Heaven – Earth, Nature’s process of transmuting spirit/subtle breath (Qi) into substance/matter and back again. All religious deities live along this axis, as patterns of Qi given form by human spiritual imagination. This axis holds the potential for our soul to awaken to multi-dimensional realities.
The STILL POINT is the Origin from which Heaven, Earth, and Humankind all arise spontaneously (ziran). The easiest portal to access a pathway known as “Return to Origin” — the highest destiny in Taoism — is to open a portal at the crossing point of the Vertical and the Horizontal.
Diagram shows Horizontal and Vertical axes within 3 Spheres/Heavens/Dimensions. Not shown is the human ability to imagine a entirely new reality emanating from the Crossing Point. This vector would be a Diagonal that constitutes a unique Timeline in the matrix of Space. Human Free Will (expressed as imagination, patterns of Qi) is the wildcard in Nature.
Humans can activate a third moving vector, the DIAGONAL axis that creatively integrates the Horizontal, Vertical, and Still Point. When the three vectors of Qi flow merge at the same point, the Great Oneness (tai yi) radiates its divine feeling of love and blessings directly upon us.
Loving the Amazing Potential of the Now,
Michael Winn
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