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The Beginning & End of Life

[a letter to my QiGong instructor]

Dear XXXXXXX,

Regarding the key political issue behind the objection to Kavanaugh (women’s rights), from an entirely ‘scientific’ point of view, what is ancient TCM’s [Traditional Chinese Medicine’s] view on when humans are endowed with individual awareness – shen or consciousness?

I assume the presumption is that we acquire all three human aspects (jing, chi & shen) [form, energy & consciousness] simultaneously – that seems consistent with the TCM calendar calculating age from conception.

Is that same ‘scientific’ argument applied at the end of life? In other words, when do we lose our shen, the intangible aspect of ourselves?

Specifically, if a human body is no longer physically or energetically independent, does it still have shen? That answer is easy: yes! Everything is infused with shen.  If a rock has consciousness, so does a human body regardless of its condition.

While Western medicine says it’s OK to pull the plug on someone in a vegetative state, from a yogi’s point of view, someone in a vegetative state is actually, literally in the penultimate yogic state – in which their consciousness has nothing to be aware of other than itself – and the eternal aspect of each of us rests in the awareness of itself.

So from a wholly objective, non-judgmental, scientific (as opposed to heartfelt) point of view, a yogi’s position would be: no abortion; no pulling the plug.

But that’s obviously not a practical application of yogic theory. Yogis come from the heart.

Just wondering what the ancient Chinese thought about the beginning and end of shen.

Thank you, Skip 🙏

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PUBLIC LOVE LETTER

So wish you could see through my eyes.

I wish you could see yourself laugh and smile. I can’t express the feeling it triggers. It’s as close to heaven on earth as I’ve been – and you know how deeply I’ve searched.

We’re like energetic onions [sorry for the unromantic analogy]. Most people never see beyond the paper surface – let alone tap into the source of an onion’s unique appearance, taste, smell: it’s essence.

You are divinity incarnate.

I cry when I think about living without you – yet [unfortunately for you?!] you KNOW we will ALWAYS be together: you and I (as well as S & J, our parents, their parents – and infinite others) have always and will always “be”.

We are infinite consciousness living on what’s left of the Garden of Eden.

We just each “see” life from from one of an infinite perspectives. We’re here but for the blink of an eye having this indescribable “life” experience.

It stabs like a knife through my heart that I didn’t see you for who and what you are long ago – but you’ve got my attention now.

DO NOT LEAVE ME HERE! Not until you come home with a few more tennis championships under your belt. Preferably with your doctor’s permission!! I’m seconding Sarah’s house rule that NONE of us ever dies: I can’t live without you.

You are my everything.

Love, Skip (my name sounds different when you say it. I know when I’m in trouble (most of the time) but I don’t want to live without hearing you say it everyday.

Knock the fuzz off that f&cking ball!

Yours ‘til the end.

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THANK YOU FOR LISTENING

Here’s a link to a post about our three invisible parts:

“Find your three invisible parts”

This is NOT theoretical. That’s the problem: people teach it as if it were!!

Witness it for yourself. You can distinguish between your invisible parts the same way you distinguish between your elbows & knees!

Practice.  Practice.  Practice.

 

Here’s a starting exercise:

Remember, Conscious Mind (the part you hear) – for all her power, can literally only “do” one thing at a time. She “thinks” thoughts the way your lungs and heart breathe and beat: singularly! Therein lies the key to bliss.

The next time you’re doing something you’ve done a thousand times (e.g., dishes, laundry, showering) occupy your Conscious Mind by reciting the alphabet (a string of 26 individual conscious “thoughts”) – relax and observe. EVERY thing else your body is doing (other than focusing on the alphabet) is evidence of your Sub-Conscious Mind at work.

When it “clicks” it’ll freak you out. Your body will seem to be moving all by itself!!

The answers to all your questions will come once you can discern between these invisible parts of yourself – and begin to identify with the subtlest aspect of yourself: your Inborn Voice*.

That’s Patanjali’s promise – and mine, as long as you adhere to his discipline!

Continue listening for and honoring your inborn voice; it’s lead you to teach yoga! You KNOW “she” has “your” best interest in mind!!

May you see life from your unique, essential vantage point always, and may you know the distinction between your mind and your essentially divine awareness.

Thank you for listening – and inspiring this post. Hugs, Skip

 

* my teacher, Milena Origgi’s expression for our “human fingerprint”: our subtlest, tangible personally-unique human essence

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FIND YOUR THREE INVISIBLE PARTS

Meditate and experience these invisible parts of yourself!

Your Conscious Mind

  • is your noisy “thinking” mind;
  • is the part you’re aware of;
  • is the part you use to make decisions;
  • is home of the voice in your head;
  • is evidenced largely by words;
  • functions like a metronome: the same way our heart and lungs function: singular, sequential, hopefully constant: beats, breaths, and thoughts.

In terms of meditating,

This is the densest, outer or first “layer” to settle. To “meditate” in this tradition, you first need to learn how to “concentrate” or pause (to literally drop beneath) this naturally noisy, chaotic mental “layer”.

Your Sub-Conscious Mind

  • is your quiet “doing” mind;
  • is the part that ‘runs the ship’ silently in the background;
  • has three progressively-subtle energetic draws or responsibilities: (i) processing senses and movement, (ii) memory storage, and (iii) housing our most subtle human “function”: our unique sense of “being” or “I am”-ness;
  • is evidenced largely by images, sensations, insights, and intuition;
  • functions like a thousand simultaneously firing fully automatic machine guns. Be thankful you can’t hear it!!

In terms of meditating,

Descending through the three energetic layers of your sub-conscious mind requires patience and guidance. It’s like mindfully tiptoeing across a minefield – in this case, of memories and their corresponding emotive potential!

Your Awareness

Underlying your Sub-Conscious Mind is your Awareness, the aspect without which you could still read this – you just wouldn’t realize you were!!

THIS part of YOU is the holy grail of Patanjali’s personal discipline of Raja Yoga. You might think of it as “the land glimpsed by someone lost at sea for too long” – imagine the relief that might elicit!

See that part of yourself – meditate.

God bless, Skip

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CALLING FRIENDS OF THE BIBLE

Is meditation consistent with your understanding of God?

Judge for yourself:

Here’s how I “meditated” this glorious Sunday morning, I:

  • …sat in my favorite spot with purpose and humility [aside: my personal intent is to better understand and serve God]; I smiled and relaxed

  • …bowed my eyes (not closed) and allowed my outer body (arms/legs) to settle

  • …allowed my breathing settle into a soft, subtle rhythm, calming my internal bodily systems

  • …recited the Lord’s Prayer – mindfully – a dozen times, without “thinking”; rather, I simply “observed” the sensations and mental images that arose [ideally, the only words you want to hear in your mind are those of the prayer]. [fyi – this is a “concentration” exercise; at this point, I’ve left my physical body behind]❤️😊🕉

Up to this point, I’d been settling my physical body and conscious “busy” mind, preparing to witness to my unique and otherwise sub-conscious sensations, images, and insights – cultivating my intuition, and a deep sense of “connectedness” or “union”.

  • …let go and simply listened/observed (like fishing: patiently waiting) to what my otherwise sub-conscious mind wanted to bring up [fyi – this is a “meditation” exercise; at this point, I’ve left my “busy” conscious mind behind]❤️😊🕉

 

So what great insights arose? It strikes me that the Lord’s Prayer is comprised of three parts:

Invoking:

our Father,

Which art in heaven

hallowed be Thy name,

Thy will be done

in earth, as it is in heaven

[“Establishing the day by reaffirming that God is all-powerful, loving and caring.” – my most yogic friend ❤️]

Beseeching:

give us this day

our daily bread

and forgive us our debts

as we forgive our debtors

and lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from evil

[“Re-establishing our relationship to God and what we can rely on God for.” – my most yogic friend ❤️]

Venerating:

for Thine is the kingdom

and the power

and the glory

forever

[“Knowing this is true, not just for ourselves, but for all who seek to know God.” – my most yogic friend ❤️]

Take prayer to another level. Meditate!

 

God bless, Skip

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THE MAKING OF SUPERMAN (a bedtime story)

Once upon a time…..

A Prince was born to the King and Queen of an ancient magical kingdom.

As a child, the Prince wanted for nothing – except love.

It was the one thing the magic kingdom was virtually devoid of.

 

The adorable, gifted Prince grew up believing he was an ugly duckling that didn’t fit-in. He was sad.

The Prince coped with his emptiness and dis-ease by burying his natural uniqueness (his “Inborn Voice”) in the deepest recesses of his sub-conscious mind where nothing could reach it…not even his own conscious mind!

After burying his natural, clever, artistic, creative, sensitive, giving essence (that of a “poet”), the Prince covered his tracks to keep his oldest sub-conscious secret: he became something he wasn’t naturally meant to be: strong, independent, and confident (a “samurai”!): a sheep in wolf’s clothing!

As a boy, the Prince hid his true nature behind an impenetrable energetic shield: he channeled his considerable talents and energy into being an indestructible champion of underdogs (sub-consciously protecting his Inborn Voice): Superman, the Green Hornet, Batman, Kung Fu (the guy could become invisible and walk thru a pit of snakes – and he had dragon and tiger tattoos!!), and the best guy with a gun, the Rifleman!

In addition to growing up cultivating some serious Green Hornet energy, the Prince was convinced that his first childhood hero, the Queen’s father, was correct: all he had to do was “Be the best at whatever you do, and you won’t go hungry.”

“Won’t go hungry” sub-consciously resonated with the young Prince as an end to his perpetual internal sense of emptiness and longing. He was committed.

How many things did the Prince undertake and become “the best” at? A lot. At what cost? Right: also a lot. Garbage in equals garbage out; the Prince’s motivations were fundamentally flawed: they were selfish.

Nothing provided the Prince with lasting relief until at the age of 58, after thirteen years of obsessing over Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, something occurred to him.

Something “stupid simple” yet so well hidden in plain sight it can’t readily be seen.

 

The Prince’s life changed in that moment.

But let’s back up a bit…….

From red capes and plastic guns to business suits, a wife and two children, the Prince remained unwavering in his quest for relief.

 

The beginning of the end of the Prince’s suffering came when he met an enchantress in 2003.

It’s no coincidence she appeared before him as a loving, caring, sensitive, attractive young mother.

She lit a fire in the Prince that fueled his initial enthusiasm for what became his faith: the one thing in which he’d found not just relief but meaningful peace.

The enchantress told the Prince fantastical stories about a great teacher, Patanjali, who’d written the Yoga Sutras, an ancient “magic” 200-line poem which contained the essence of humanity: the good, bad and ugly – and outlined a means to find faith within one’s self and live peacefully.

The Yoga What? Patanjali Who?

 

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras are a precursor to the Ten Commandments and the source of the universal Serenity Prayer. Those two aspects make up most of the “Preparation” section of Patanjali’s poem; the rest of the poem sheds light on the science and discipline of mindfulness, and enumerates superhuman affects experienced by Patanjali’s predecessors.

So what’s the bottom line? How do YOU find mind-blowing, life-altering and lasting peace, and experience the incomprehensible?

Always let go.

Follow the Golden Rule.

Practice “cleanliness is next to godliness” and

“proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance”.

Never surrender.

Meditate. Meditate. Meditate.

 

NEVER stop being mindful and thankful for the ability to be so [for being alive!!] When that does happen naturally, ALWAYS pick the torch back up and carry on!

Faith fuels strength. Meditate; tap into yours.

And what became of the Prince? He lost his silver spoon but found something priceless: his “Inborn Voice”.

Dedicated to Jessica Badonsky and Milena Origgi 🙏

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MEMO TO MY GUN-LOVING FRIENDS

Think of your conscious mind (evidenced by your thoughts; specifically, words in your head) as a semi-automatic machine gun hooked up to the same energy source that pumps your heart and lungs. This is your “thinking” mind; it’s noisy.

In that scenario, your sub-conscious mind is 1,000 fully automatic machineguns all firing simultaneously – silently. Those are some kick-ass silencers!! This is your “doing” mind; it runs the ship so you don’t have to think in order to walk, talk, chew, smell, mate, eat and poop – all the fun stuf!!

The aspect of YOU that’s under your sub-conscious mind, your awareness itself, without it you wouldn’t realize you were holding your gun and firing – and what would be the point of being at all?

See yourself inside out. It’ll blow your mind. Meditate.

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BIO FOR LOCAL YOGA STUDIO

ALLAN (SKIP) DOWDS

In 2015, at 58 Skip retired from an accounting career to teach and promote Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (Raja Yoga) the classic holistic discipline he’s practiced since 2003.

In 2011, he received a 500hr yoga teaching certification from a student of BKS Iyengar, the 20th century master of classical yoga postures.

Raja Yoga includes a physical component but is largely a mental training that relieves symptoms of a distracted mind, including:

>  carelessness >  indecision
>  confusion >  inefficiency
>  craving >  laziness
>  distraction >  negligence
>  doubt >  procrastination
>  dullness >  sensuality
>  idleness >  uncertainty

If you suffer from any of these, Skip can guide you through Patanjali’s mindfulness exercises to holistically relieve your own suffering!

Skip says, “I suffered from an unwarranted lack of self confidence bordering on anxiety until a few years ago. Ironically, it drove me to become a successful accountant – but it came at great personal cost, mentally and emotionally. Physical exercise helps but nothing beats Patanjali’s mindfulness practice for lowering stress and fostering faith in oneself. Nothing. I’d be honored to share what I’ve learned with you.”

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WHO I AM

I spent the first 58 years of my life searching for fulfillment and acceptance.

“If I could just excel at something [games, projects, school, art, hobbies, sex, drugs, alcohol, karate, work, bicycling, skiing, motorcycling] MAYBE I’d be worthy of love.”

 

Notice there are no group sports or activities on that list. I don’t play well with others. I spent most of my life searching for self-validation – and failing that, some sort of immediate gratification.

No regrets but no success either – until late in 2015 when I FOUND what I was looking for!!! I had an epiphany about the nature of our consciousness.

I’d been studying and practicing Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras for thirteen years.

Patanjali’s 200-line prehistoric poem codifies and outlines the practice of Raja Yoga, the science and practice of mindfulness, which inspired the Ten Commandments and the Serenity Prayer, and fuels my faith in the existence of something omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent: God.

 

The crazy thing is – once it clicks, it’s stupid simple.

Ironically and unfortunately, I can’t simply give it to you! Believe me, I’ve tried!!

YOU have to practice incessantly first to “see” it, and then to continue “seeing” it. Living in full awareness (without ignorance of the divine nature of our own consciousness) is a full-time discipline but as with everything we do, we get better at it and the rewards are cumulative. 😉

Once you see it – after a few head smacks and several “ARE YOU F@CKING KIDDING ME?!” moments you’ll smile a LOT more.

See the miracle of life from the inside out. Meditate!

 

Love, Skip

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For The Young Woman Who Waited On Me This Morning And The Old Friend I Had Lunch With

It’s simple. It just requires CONSTANT practice. Like everything else, it eventually becomes habitual; ironically, the only habit without ill affects!!

The good news is the benefits are almost immediate and cumulative. 😉

Here it is:

We have two main energetic mental operating frequencies:

Our conscious mind – is our natural mental state. Whatever we’re aware of in any given moment is what’s reflected on this aspect of our mind. It’s our “thinking” mind; it does the decision-making, the heavy calculating, and judgmental, analytical work. It’s evidenced by the “voice in our head” (i.e., words).

Our sub-conscious mind – naturally runs below our conscious mind’s radar. This part of us runs the ship; it’s our “doer”; it’s responsible for walking, talking, breathing and other bodily systems: anything we don’t literally have to consciously process to do. It’s evidenced by intuition, images, and sensations.

Guess which one’s the troublemaker.

Being mindful in any moment is a matter of consciously deciding where to direct our attention.

String enough mindful moments together and our go-to state of mind becomes the one we chose!

With every breath we have a choice to either allow our attention to stay where it settles naturally (on whatever is on our conscious mind),

OR

We can direct our attention where we want: on the conscious noisy decision-maker when we need to, and on the silent executioner when we don’t.

 

How? When you begin consciously controlling your attention (i.e., “concentrating”, “meditating”, or generically, “being mindful”), the easiest way to redirect your attention from your otherwise noisy conscious mind, is to purposefully focus (concentrate) on whatever you’re sub-conscious mind is up to (e.g., what your body is doing right now).

Specifically, HOW?

What are you doing RIGHT NOW (I know you’re multi-tasking)? Maybe you’re eating ice cream. With the next obscenely delicious mouthful, I invite you to dial-in 100% of your attention to the sensations generated by doing just that: eating the ice cream!!

What flavor is it? What does it look, feel, smell and taste like? Are you making any noise as you enjoy it? ARE you enjoying it? Without judgement simply observe. Don’t ask the questions; rather, let the information come to you.

Sensations, memories, and our sense of being are the realm of our sub-conscious mind. This is the aspect that tastes the ice cream and remembers it!

Sitting down? Want to go deeper? What’s beneath our functioning sub-conscious mind?

Consciousness: the uninterrupted awareness OF our constantly streaming thoughts.

 

Without consciousness (perhaps gratefully) you could still read this post – you just wouldn’t be aware that you were – let alone of any thoughts, emotions and sensations triggered by it!!

Consciousness is responsible for ALL pleasure and pain – even though consciousness itself never changes. Personal opinion: there’d be no point without it.

Deeper?

Ask yourself – consciously consider – the nature of your own consciousness: the awareness OF your thoughts. And then ask yourself where THAT part of you comes from! Couple hints:

it NEVER changes;

yours is EXACTLY like mine;

you can readily verify it’s existence (e.g., you realize you’re still reading this!).

 

That’s the crux of Patanjali’s Raja Yoga: part of you (yogis maintain the most miraculous part) never changes.

Fall in love again – from the inside out. Meditate.

Happy trails. Make every breath count: the good, bad and ugly.

I’m here to help. Skip