3.11.24

Thought

There is a Zen story about how a single breath can free us from the confines of our intellectualizing and unite us with all creation. Tokusan was a brilliant scripture scholar who went to study with Zen Master Ryutan. One night as Tokusan was leaving to go home to bed after a long evening of discussion, he noticed that it was pitch black outside. Zen Master Ryutan lit a lantern and handed it to Tokusan. Just as Tokusan reached for the lantern, Ryutan blew it out. In that moment, Tokusan experienced enlightenment and bowed in gratitude. Tokusan realized that he was not dependent upon words and teachings to light the way for him. Even in times of darkness, he could experience his essential nature directly and be a lamp unto himself.

With a single puff of air from the Zen master’s mouth, Tokusan saw what he had not been able to see up until then. All of his scripture study and discussion had not communicated what a single breath of air communicated to him. Tokusan directly experienced that awakening is not dependent on intellectual grasping. The next day Tokusan gathered all of his commentaries on the scriptures into a huge pile and burned them. He told the group assembled there that intellectual speculation is like gasping at straws and can't compare to the vastness of direct experience. The direct experience of a single breath unites us with all creation.

— Ellen Birx. Healing Zen.

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Author and naturalist John Muir on the majesty of existence:

When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty.

Moment of Gratitude 

I’m grateful for the opportunity to connect with you and contemplate new ideas every week.  

What are you grateful for?

Happy Monday,

Val

3.4.24

Thought  

Take a particular case: what does it tell you about somebody that they begin to like (for example) West African music? Well, it tells you that their focus of attention as a listener is starting to shift. Nigerian music downplays harmony and melody in favour of extremely rich and complex rhythmic meshes.

These engage a different part of you: they are extremely physical and movement-oriented. They deal with the body, an area that Western classical music (for example) rarely addresses. When a listener is moved by this music, and is allowing herself to accept the idea that her body is a fit focus for artistic attention, she is saying (in the words of the artist Peter Schmidt) that the body is the large brain. Our cultures, which have made such a big distinction between men of action and “men of thought,” might find this hard to accept: all our hierarchies are based upon the idea that the brain is good and the body inferior. I believe that in the process of being moved by Nigerian music, you begin to empathize with another view of the universe, another picture of how things work and how they fit together. And in noticing how you have the capacity to empathize with that, perhaps you take a further step and begin to suppose that the cultural values are also "possible" for you. 

— Brian Eno – Why World Music?

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Author and poet Eden Phillpotts on the universe:

The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.

Intention of the Day

My intention is to release the doing and live in the present moment.

Happy Monday,

Val

2.26.24

Thought

There are, as you know, exercises that are taught by masters of Zen Buddhism – like the koan – where the mind is to be held resolutely upon some absurdity which is impossible to think about. By holding the attention on something which cannot be thought about because of its inherent absurdity, a vacuum is finally created. In this case, the exercise is to allow for the entry of a complete insight into the nature of man; this is called Satori. But it is connected with the one essential technique: for something to enter, a place must be made for it.  

— J.G. Bennett. Living in the Medium – Creators on Creating.

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Philosopher Alan Watts on perspective:

We seldom realize, for example that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but which were given to us by our society.

Moment of Gratitude 

I’m grateful for time spent with family.  

What are you grateful for? 

Happy Monday,

Val

2.19.24

Thought

While we practice conscious breathing, our thinking will slow down, and we can give ourselves a real rest. Most of the time, we think too much, and mindful breathing helps us to be calm, relaxed, and peaceful. It helps us stop thinking so much and stop being possessed by sorrows of the past and worries about the future. It enables us to be in touch with life, which is wonderful in the present moment.    

— Thich Nhat Hanh. Peace is Every Step.  

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Spiritual leader Buddha on the nature of mind:  

"The mind is everything. What you think, you become."

Intention of the Day 

My intention today is to be willing to release anything that no longer serves me.

Happy Monday,

Val

2.12.24

Thought

Freedom, liberation, this must be the aim of aim. To become free, to be liberated from slavery: this is what a man ought to strive for when he becomes even a little conscious of his position. There is nothing else for him, and nothing else is possible so long as he remains a slave both inwardly and outwardly. But he cannot cease to be a slave outwardly while he remains a slave inwardly. Therefore in order to become free, man must gain inner freedom. The first reason for man’s inner slavery is his ignorance, and above all, his ignorance of himself. Without self-knowledge, without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself and he will always remain a slave, and the plaything of the forces acting upon him.

This is why in all ancient teachings the first demand at the beginning of the way to liberation was: “Know thyself”. 

— P.D. Ouspensky. In Search of the Miraculous.

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 Writer Joseph Campbell on purpose in life:

The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.

Moment of Gratitude

I’m grateful for the few days of pure sunshine last week.  

What are you grateful for? 

Happy Monday,

Val

2.5.24

Thought

Its like going out there naked every night. Any one of us can screw the whole thing up because he just had a fight with his wife before the gig or because he’s just not with it that night for any number of reasons. I mean, we’re out there improvising. The classical guys have their scores, whether they have them on stand or have memorized them. 

But we have to be creating, or trying to, anticipating each other, transmuting our feelings into the music, taking chances every goddamned second. That’s why, when jazz musicians are really putting out, it's an exhausting experience. It can be exhilarating too, but always there’s that touch of fear, that feeling of being on a very high wire without a net below.

— Anonymous Jazz Bass Player – Creators on Creating.

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Spiritual teacher Ram Dass on transformation:

It’s only when caterpillarness is done that one becomes a butterfly. That again is part of this paradox. You cannot rip away caterpillarness. The whole trip occurs in an unfolding process of which we have no control.

Intention of the Day

My intention is to give and receive love freely today.

Happy Monday,

Val

1.29.24

Thought

Regardless of whether or not we’re formally making art, we are all living as artists. We perceive, filter, and collect data, then curate an experience for ourselves and others based on this information set. Whether we do this consciously or unconsciously, by the mere fact of being alive, we are active participants in the ongoing process of creation.

— Rick Rubin. The Creative Act.

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Danish Philosopher Søren Kierkegaard on bold action:

To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.

Moment of Gratitude

I’m grateful for a weekend catching up with old friends.

What are you grateful for?

Happy Monday,

Val

1.22.24

Thought

The sociologist George Herbert Meade called this “the interiorized other.” That is to say, we have a kind of interior picture, a vague sense of who we are, and of what the reaction of other people to us says about who we are. That reaction is almost invariably communicated to us through what other people say and think, but soon we learn to maintain the commentary on our own, and each thought or observation is then compared to the idea we have formed. Therefore this image becomes interiorized — a second self who is commenting all the time upon what the first one is doing — and in any given situation we must either rationalize why a certain behavior is consistent with that image, or force ourselves to change that behavior, or fail to change it and feel guilty for failing. The difficulty with this is that although it is exceedingly important for all purposes of civilized intercourse and personal relationships to be able to make sense of what we are doing, and of what other people are doing, and to be able to talk about it all in words, this nevertheless warps us. We have all admired the spontaneity and freshness of children, and it is regrettable that as children are brought up they become more and more self-conscious. In this way people often lose their freshness, and more and more human beings seem to be turned into creatures calculated to get in their own way.

— Alan Watts. What is Tao?

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Japanese Philosopher Musashi on surrender:

To prefer nothing is to embrace everything. Let go of the need for control and surrender to the flow of life, allowing each moment to unfold without judgment or limitation.

Intention of the Day

My intention today is to stay present as much as possible.

What is your intention today? 

Happy Monday,

Val