Dave Kelly Spirituality

Meditation on the Tragedy of Confirmity

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With the U.S election upon us this entry seems somewhat appropriate given the respective track records of the two main candidates.

Ultimately the beauty of teaching and preparing lessons brings with it the opportunity for the teacher to evolve and deepen his or her own learning. Reading an article in High Existence I noticed the opportunity to adapt Nietzsche’s lesson on the tragedy of conformity into a positive affirmation I can use during my own meditation class.

This lesson and the affirmation compliments the visualisations I am using with my middle and high school students in order to make them feel more secure grounded and confident, therefore less reactive and more in control throughout the day.

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A traveller asked the wise man. “What attributes are found in every man?” The wise man replied ‘The propensity for laziness and fearfulness.’ They hide themselves behind customs and opinions.’

In your heart you know that you will be in this world only once, there is no second chance. Will you let laziness and fear control your being?

Will you spend your life in fear of your neighbor, in fear of someone who demands conformity and cloaks himself with it?

I am fearless, I am neither lazy nor timid, I do not fear inconveniences and my dealings with my friends display unconditional honesty and unburdened kindness.

Through my actions I reveal my true self. My strength my confidence. I am a unique miracle. I dare to show myself as I am. I will show my uniqueness with every last movement of my muscles, consistent in my uniqueness I am beautiful, and worth regard.

When the great thinker despises mankind, he despises its laziness: for it is laziness that makes men seem like factory products, things of no consequence and unworthy to be associated with or taught.

A man or woman who does not wish to belong to the masses needs only to cease taking him or herself easily; I will follow my conscience, which flows with strength and shines with confidence.

Adapted from Friedrich Nietzsche Lesson on the tragedy of confirmity

Dave Kelly Health & Fitness, Martial Arts, Spirituality

The Path of Mindfulness

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The oldest evidence for walking on two legs comes from one of the earliest humans known, Sahelanthropus. Walking upright may have helped this species survive in the diverse habitats near where it lived—including forests and grasslands. Today the habitat of the modern humans are urban areas and walking no-longer is matter of life and death but quality of life.

As a low impact exercise over 10,000 steps are recommend each day so its not an exercise that will help you loose pounds like running will. However, the benefits of walking can not simply be measured in weight loss or even fitness gains. Walking is much more than that. Walking is about the maintenance of overall physical and mental health. A evolutionary leap that is one of the most natural parts of our lives.

As a child our first steps are greeted with joy and as an adult our last with sadness. Walking is central to our being whether as a means of movement, a health exercise, a de-stresser, a way to clear your mind, think or connect to your own body or nature. As a result it’s a natural choice for an active meditative exercise that everyone can do.

Here’s a simple set of instructions for one form of walking meditation that focuses on connecting you to your own body and your surroundings.

1. Be aware of your posture, reduce your speed, relax and regulate your breathing with long slow deep breaths .

2. Using your five senses, listen to your surroundings and take a moment to become aware of them. Turn your attention to smells and touch, smile and explore your surroundings with wonder.

3. Become aware of your body, its movements its sway and connect to the sensation of walking. Observe how your body feels during the process of walking and enjoy these sensations for short periods of relaxed mindfulness.

So if you’re in Beijing here are my top three parks in Beijing for mindful walking:

1. The Temple of Heaven

2. Beihai Park

3. The Temple of Earth

Check out this app that is designed to help you integrate mindfulness into your daily routines. https://itunes.apple.com/hk/app/gps-for-the-soul/id586099254?mt=8 or alternatively. Leave your phone behind and get rid of all technological attachments for a mindful walk.

Check out www.StudyMartialArts.Org for martial arts adventure travel and training options in Beijing and World Wide.

Dave Kelly Healing Modalities, Health & Fitness, Martial Arts, Spirituality

A Lesson on Breathing

From Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

by Shunryu Suzuki

A path between a bamboo forrest.
A path between a bamboo forrest.

When we inhale, the air comes into the inner world.  When we exhale, the air goes out to the outer world.  The inner world is limitless, and the outer world is also limitless.  We say “inner world” or “outer world,” but actually there is just one whole world.  In this limitless world, our throat is like a swinging door.  The air comes in and goes out like a swinging door.  The air comes in and goes out like someone passing through a swinging door.  If you think, “I breathe,” the “I” is extra.  There is no you to say “I.”  What we call “I” is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale.  It just moves; that is all.  When your mind is pure and calm enough to follow this movement, there is nothing:  no “I,” no world, no mind nor body; just a swinging door….

Tozan, a famous Zen master, said,

“The blue mountain is the father of the white cloud.  The white cloud is the son of the blue mountain.  All day long they depend on each other, without being dependent on each other.  The white cloud is always the white cloud.  The blue mountain is always the blue mountain.”

This is a pure, clear interpretation of life.  There may be many things like the white cloud and blue mountain:  man and woman, teacher and disciple.  They depend on each other.  But the white cloud should not be bothered by the blue mountain.  The blue mountain should not be bothered by the white cloud.  They are quite independent, but yet dependent.  This is how we live….

When we become truly ourselves, we just become a swinging door, and we are purely independent of, and at the same time, dependent upon everything.  Without air, we cannot breathe.  Each of us is in the midst of myriads of worlds.  We are in the center of the world always, moment after moment.  So we are completely dependent and independent.  If you have this kind of experience, this kind of existence, you have absolute independence; you will not be bothered by anything.

BOOK LINK – http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Informal-Meditation/dp/0834800799

www.StudyMartialArts.Org