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Archive for January, 2006
human race koan
Author: mark
One day I was sitting with an enlightened master. There was a discussion taking place about the various human races, including how they had evolved, how climate had effected various physiological changes, why differences had developed, blending between races, and so on.
After a while the teacher interjected a question. “Do you want to know why there are different races?” The students looked towards him expectantly.
“Because they are in a race.”
read comments (10)bruce lee’s 1″ strike
Author: mark
In a comment to a post, Brownbelt said,
Mark,
Do you happen to know Derren Brown? I just came across him yesterday on Internet and on TV. This guy is amazing. He is almost perfect. In a filmed demonstration he asked a wing-chun master to demonstrate the one-inch punch made famous by the late Bruce Lee. The young master made an impressive strike but obviously didn’t hurt the recipient, one of his students; he just made a backward roll. Of course, I could do this do too, without much practice, as puncher or the punched.
What did Derren do? He demonstrated his own technique. He punched this guy in the stomach without even touching him. And this guy just collapsed from the pain. Derren just kept telling him: “It’s all in the mind”. To drive away his pain and fear. And then he did it again, this time from behind. The same result. This unsuspecting student, his teacher, and other students were really amazed. Do you know anything about this?
Brownbelt,
I have not heard of Derren Brown, so I went on the net and found out a bit about him here, here and here. Derren is a self-confessed ‘mentalist’, who seems to focus on demonstrating people’s gullibility. As far as I can tell, he does not claim to be a spiritualist, psychic, etc. I assume he also does not claim to be a martial artist. By no means can I comment on him or his abilities.
Regarding Bruce Lee’s one-inch punch, I can only frame it from the perspective of my own teacher. I have experienced this punch from my teacher, and can tell you that it is a devastating strike… at least if the person throwing it knows what they are doing. It is incredibly penetrating, exceptionally painful, disturbing and upsetting.
The energetic qualities of the punch are hard to describe. It can change your outlook significantly. In my opinion, an essential quality in making this punch successful is the depth of the inner connection and coordination of the person who is throwing it, including how centered and connected their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies are. The more connected and coordinated they are, the more disturbing the strike’s effect can be.
My personal experiences, with respect to the ‘disturbing’ qualities of the strike, have to do with encountering a deeper aspect of my self than I am used to facing. This can be a very distressing experience. Administered by a master, it can make you feel like you are facing and even experiencing death.
perfection
Author: mark
“The path to perfection is constant improvement.”
— wise saying of an ancient teacher, who also gives us this gem:
“Perfection, in this world, is all about being able to balance yourself in a world of right and wrong.”
deeper studies
Author: mark
If deeper things are beyond understanding, then how can we possibly understand them?
problems and purpose
Author: mark
One of my co-workers has a cool tagline at the bottom of his business signature block in Microsoft Outlook. It reads:
“Every problem has a purpose“
It prompted me to write back that, “every purpose has a problem.”
I enjoyed James’ reply, “Remember, when dealing with purpose - it is not about me – it is about Him and them. My problem is I try to focus on myself.”
Me too, James.
revelation
Author: mark
Howard Stern’s new radio hang out is Sirius Satellite Radio. I used to listen to Howard years ago when I lived in NY, but I’m not really into him anymore. He recently said that his first day on the air (yesterday) in his new location would be a day of personal revelations that neither he nor his staff had ever revealed. Well, here is my personal revelation:
I am left-handed. So what, you ask? Well, I did some research during those years of commuting into the City on the Long Island Railroad. I dug and dug and finally ended up finding the world’s foremost researcher on left-handedness, a professor located at Duke University. He had written a thick book on the topic. I’ll keep it short and say that one of his conclusions is that all left-handers are brain damaged.
This may explain certain left-handers in your life! And it is not a joke… it really is true. The author claimed he had proven ALL left-handers have some kind of brain damage. It could have occurred during fetal development, during birth (those darn forceps), or even after birth when a too proud father dropped junior on his head.
Well, obviously when I got to that part in the book I slammed it shut in disgust. After all, I had gone into my research to ‘discover’ that left-handers were particularly brilliant or possessive of some highly desirable positive virtues, only to find out that we are all damaged goods.
That musty old library book sat in my briefcase for at least a week or two. While I was subconsciously mulling over this unfortunate turn of events, a light suddenly came on. It was a pivotal moment in my life because I had realized that the dark news wasn’t nearly so dark after all. It was almost too much to contain… I now had an excuse - I was brain damaged! Ah, the waves of relief and joy that washed over me were beyond words.
So… what’s your excuse? 
beyond understanding
Author: mark
If deeper things are beyond understanding, than how can we possibly understand them?
__________________________________________
In a recent post (one hand clapping), Beard described:
In my training and studies, I have found that when I am in this state that Beard describes, I am the most receptive to understanding the things that are beyond my understanding. How? Here is how it works for me:
I don’t try to understand. Sometimes I don’t even listen to the words. Instead, I just let them flow in. The more open I am, the less resistance I have, and the more I am in a child-like state (but not surrending my maturity), than the deeper the ‘indecipherable understandings’ can penetrate. And the deeper they can penetrate, the more likely that they will find the most fertile soil. In my opinion, the most fertile soil is the deepest. So, having landed in that soil, the understandings eventually sprout and begin to grow. At some point they get big enough that I notice them and say to myself, “Well, look at that! I remember hearing about that from my teacher 2 or 3 years ago. And now I am beginning to understand. How about that!” It’s like when the gardener plants bulbs and the following spring they begin to grow. All of a sudden I notice them.
In my experience, it is about being able to open up sufficiently for the things that are beyond my comprehension to have a chance to be planted in fertile soil. And it is about being willing to step aside and allow that to happen. What I mean by that is to not worry about understanding. Don’t be so mental. Or, as a Shinto teacher said, “Stop thinking so much.” The understanding will grow.
This is my personal experience as a student. Certainly a teacher in these matters could elaborate much more lucidly, seeking to find fertile ground in which to plant, and also in a way that just might be more than a little hard to understand.