Recently had the pleasure of sitting with thirty or forty others, on a tent-covered flagstone patio, at a mountain retreat center -- elevation 8,500 feet or so, just off of Peak-To-Peak Highway, north of Ward, Colorado.
Thirty or forty other humans, that is -- all of us "official" Dharma practitioners -- though of course there were many non-humans in attendance also. On this particular afternoon, it was the songbirds I was most aware of: a playful warbling allegro, from the pine trees off to my right.
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If you've not yet meandered about on this website as a whole - or even if you have - here's a suggested itinerary: an index of Taoism articles which offers a general overview of Taoist history, philosophy and practice. Enjoy!
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"I set out on a journey of a thousand leagues, packing no provisions. I leaned on the staff of an ancient who, it is said, entered into nothingness under the midnight moon. It was the first year of Jokyo, autumn, the eighth moon. As I left my ramshackle hut by the river, the sound of the wind was strangely cold."
~ Matsuo Basho
The doe pauses, then
crosses the street, her two
fawns bounding after.
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One of the requirements - in my role as a qigong and yoga instructor at the City of Boulder's recreation centers - is to maintain current CPR and first aid certifications. So, several weeks ago, I drove out several miles east of town, with a fellow teacher, to complete this mandatory training.
In the morning, we practiced CPR, and learned how to use AED (automated external defibrillator) machines. Then, in the afternoon, learned how to deal with anaphylactic shock, third-degree burns, amputations, snake-bites - and a host of other injuries which, with more-or-less equal improbability, might occur within the context of a yoga, qigong or taiji class :)
The most interesting part of the day turned out to be the conversation with my new friend and fellow teacher, about the phenomena of "drop-in" yoga (or any other contemplative art/science) classes. My friend's thesis was that it is the advent of drop-in classes, more than anything else, that is responsible for the superficial, spiritual materialist approach to yoga that one more and more encounters here in the U.S.
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