The ancients said, “The movement of Yin and Yang gives rise to all manifestations.”

Chi – Essential Energy – is behind, or inherent in, all manifestations. The movement/energy/expression that we call Chi arises when Yin and Yang potentials are activated. Like the positive and negative electromagnetic charge that holds atoms and molecules together, Yin and Yang describe inherent potential for attraction/repulsion.

We could say that how much Chi something “has”, and the quality of that Chi depends on, and arises in relationship to its environment. For example, a big fish in a small pond expresses Yang effect and Yang potential by “just being there”. A small volcano in a field of giant volcanoes defines Yin Chi in that environment. This small volcano in a cornfield is very Yang.

From my practice of Feng Shui, it is clear to me that Chi expression is also affected by intention, not least because of the response it creates when encountered. We see this in art, design, or dance.

The Five Elements Cycle, like Yin and Yang, identifies and qualifies expressions of Chi. The Five Elements Cycle identifies and demonstrates the cause-and-effect relationships between elements like wood and fire. In this way we can understand how it is that all beings, objects, and arrangements develop and express a unique and dynamic quality of Chi, and understand the how and why of specific Chi expressions.

I often say that Chi IS flow. Like the steady spinning movement of a dynamo, this flow must be sufficient to effectively produce useful Chi. In other words, for health and well-being our bodies and environments need a regular, relatively high frequency input/output cycling to generate healthful, life-supporting chi. Over centuries, types or qualities of Chi were named and organized according to the stage or phase of their expression on the Yin/Yang continuum. This produced five phases, often called the The Five Elements or Five Seasons of Change. These are referred to in all Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), feng shui, shiatsu, and even Tai Chi.

Chi is at the heart of all Sanctuary Earth offerings. Our work is to arrange your space or to align your body’s components to activate and amp-up the Chi flow in your life to manifest health and well-being. Well and healthy beings support peace on earth and generate movement aligned with their intentions. More ways to talk and think about Chi:

• Inherent in the body: Chi is the force that animates living beings - if there is no chi in the body, there is no life in the body.
  
  
• Chi flows throughout the body along a network of channels known as "meridians" which, as a whole, function like a responsive distribution system providing energy to each of the various organ systems.
  
  
• Chi flows along the earth in response to topography and features like mountains, valleys, rivers and deserts. See feng shui origins for more on this.
  
  
• Chi quality in feng shui is defined by the effects these features have on the Chi flow/expression.
  
  
• Chi quality in the body is defined by effects arising from its movement through the various organs.
  
  
• We can distinguish "liver chi" or "heart chi" from "lung chi" or "spleen chi" and devise specific exercises or interventions to improve flow and to tune-up quality.
  
  
• A healthy body is one in which all organ systems have ready access to optimum levels of chi.
  
  
• A healthy and appropriate environment is one that supports our intentions and manifests our calling.
  
  
• Our calling or our Tao inspires Chi movement as we progress through each phase of our development and bring ourselves fully alive.
  

To define the Chi of an object, person or system is really to define the action potential it expresses in its relationship to everything around it

Accumulation of Yang Chi naturally attracts and/or activates Yin Chi, and vice-versa.

Allowing and encouraging and tuning the activation of this natural potential in our local environment is the work of Feng Shui. Activating, restoring and sometimes calming this flow in the body can be achieved many ways: Tai Chi, Chi Kung, Shiatsu and Acupuncture.

What is Tao?

Speaking of the Tao has always been considered a fool’s errand, and yet, it seems I must risk playing the fool because understanding Tao is essential understanding the Sanctuary approach. Certainly, we won’t nail down “The Tao” of anything by separating it from the actuality or the experience of that any-thing as it happens, arises or manifests in the world.

A significant part of this certainty comes from observing that Tao arises as a confluence of many or “myriad” forces, just as a river comes from many tributaries. The Tao Te Ching, a primary sourcebook for Taoist wisdom, offers insight into the essence of Tao within its title. To play with the words a bit: where “Ching” translates simply as “book”, we could easily/provisionally substitute “River” for the word “Tao” and insert in the place of “Te” the word “tributary”. Hence, this great explication of the Tao can be called, if you will, The River-Tributary Book.

To generate a more literal translation of the book’s title: where “Tao” means “Way” and “Te” means “Integrity”, we might propose an alternative title: “A Guidebook to Integrity along the Way”. This suggests that Tao means a literal journey, which, while somewhat helpful, implies movement or direction and possibly even intentional goal-orientation. What’s missing is the idea that Tao arises not from a plan but as the natural outcome of things – objects, beings, systems – being just-what-they-are with integrity.

Yes, it is redundant to say that things might be just-what-they-are “with integrity”, but this emphasizes the point that the “Tao of things” is the sum-total expression of the true/expressed nature of each and all of its components. As the components interact they give rise to a Tao uniquely expressing their relationship. Hence, when speaking of the Tao of Calligraphy or the Tao of Archery we understand that skills, tools, and the moment of action join to express or become the “Tao” of these art forms.

In other words, Tao represents a natural outcome of things-as-they-are expressing with unmitigated integrity. One simple example from the Tao Te Ching: an infant’s crying arises from things-as-they-are in the child – the implication is that there no artificial agenda, just natural arising response: this is the “Tao of baby”. We know much about the Tao of magnets and steel: what arises when they are in relationship becomes the Tao of that relationship.

The work of Sanctuary Earth – the Feng Shui, the Shiatsu, the Tai Chi, Chi Kung, and meditation – all operate on Taoist principles. Understanding outcomes, manifestations or even potentials in our lives and world depends on recognizing the true nature behind the ingredients and/or the antecedents of these outcomes.

Like soup, the taste of a spoonful will depend the current state of all of the selected ingredients after preparation and cooking. The integral parts, their transformation process, and even the intention and overall energy of the cook, kitchen and service become the “Tao” of that spoonful. Add to this the palate and the condition of the eater, and you have the “Tao of Tasting Soup”.

So, while there are many helpful ways to talk about the Tao, there is no way to identify “a Tao” that is constant or transferrable. This would be like taking wind from your sails to use later as air-conditioning.



Our Avatar Strikes Again – at Sandy Hook Elementary School

The inconceivable and horrific trage tragedy that took place at the Sandy Hook Elementary School has flushed out some of our deepest fears, and, I believe, virtually all Americans are aware and actively concerned. The fact that some (should I say most?) would choose to limit their Second Amendment rights in order to achieve safety and security at home is a significant testament to the changing will of citizens. I also believe that it is time to examine and expose humanityÕs historic tendencies toward violence with a sense of general ownership and responsibility. To help us move toward a true Sanctuary Earth, you may not have to give up a gun, but most likely, to effectively examine and change humanityÕs historic tendencies, youÕll have to give up shame, blame and guilt. The Avatar Ð Where Did Shooter Adam Lanza Come from?

An avatar is defined as a manifestation of deity in bodily form on earth. In some mystical circles it is believed that planet Earth hosts several of these avatars at any given time, providing stability and guidance for humanity, even as they represent and mitigate the Òcollective mindÓ of all humanity. Alternatively, in todayÕs video games avatars are created by the game players to represent themselves inside their virtual world of gaming. In this environment, the avatar stands in for the will and the accumulated power of the player(s) they represent or serve. How can I suggest that David Lanza is our avatar acting on behalf of our unconsciousness?

ÒWe have met the enemy, and it is Practiced Unconsciousness and General ComplicityÓ

Do we all contribute, unintentionally, to this wellspring of killing and violence? Under the concept of ÒGeneral ComplicityÓ, I offer some basic statistics: Our defense budget (for non-classified expenditures) amounts to about $11,000 per person per year, equivalent to 40% of the ÒaverageÓ individual personal income. (Average American income now hovers at just below $28,000 per year.) If we were to say that monetary contributions and responsibility are equally distributed, the ÒweightÓ of each personÕs contribution tips their personal, individual scale significantly toward these types of defensive expenditures. Of course, statistics such as these ÒlieÓÐ each of us also contributes a great deal to education, health and environmental care also. The difference is that we tend to deny our spending on guns, bullets and the killings they are made for Ð preferring to keep schools, healthcare, and environmental protection in our mind instead.

The Effect of General Unconsciousness (Or: ÒPlease DonÕt Feed the ShadowÓ):

The fact is that most, if not all of us, would admit that we would prefer undertaking these massive defensive expenditures to the prospect of suffering a homeland overrun by oppressive or abusive forces. The trouble here is that even the most conscious among us have a tendency to deny such a hawkish position, even while we would happily and energetically defend our own and othersÕ rights to dignity, self-expression, and Òco-operative freedomÓ.

That is, when given the choice to Òkill or sacrifice human rightsÓ the most conscious among appear to deny that we side with our men and women of warfare, under-playing this very important historical pattern/solution. Yet, with no alternative intention or will to create a genuine non-killing approach to world community, powerful Americans remain largely unconscious on the subject. Unfortunately, this leaves the dichotomy of Òkill or be killedÓ buried in our general unconsciousness, stored away in perfect bloody form, ready for use when panic ensues (and functionally limited reasoning rules).

Carl Jung Saw It Coming: The Unconscious Goes Collective Groundbreaking psychologist Carl JungÕs life work produced, among many other things, the concept of the ÒCollective UnconsciousÓ. He proposed, and much subsequent research has indicated, that humanity shares memories, feelings, urgings, etc. and that the Collective Unconscious serves as the repository for these Ð accessible to all Ð throughout time. Supporting this understanding, mystics throughout human history have reported experiencing an unbroken Unity of All Beings: a beautiful, transcendent Oversoul or Òcollective being-nessÓ, in which all participate eternally. Much greater than the sum of its parts, I would instead call this our ÒCollective ConsciousnessÓ, affirming my understanding that full consciousness is the forward goal of individual and collective being.

ÒOur American SpiritÓ Ð most Americans would happily claim Ð has had a large and positive effect in supporting the rights and dignities of beings all across the planet. And this is true. This is also a very easy truth to keep conscious. On the other hand, the amount of killing or the Òcredible threatÓ of killing we have utilized to achieve these high goals is a truth that is not so readily kept in mind.

Onethousandcoffins.org Ð Human Cost of the Iraq War Ð Applying Consciousness 101

An Internet search of Onethousandcoffins.org will turn up images and ideas around the first of our many Òpeace actionsÓ utilizing flag-draped mock coffins we facilitated beginning in 2004. In essence, we held the position that George W. BushÕs attempt to downplay the human cost of that war by prohibiting the publication of any images of the many returning warriorÕs flag-draped coffins was irresponsible and misguided as well as disrespectful. Our position was that, without proper ÒaccountingÓ (or consciousness) of this human cost of war, Americans could not possibly generate an informed Òcollective willÓ. By presenting a full-count Memorial for all the lost soldiers, we insisted that Òconsciousness must be informed and appliedÓ. Our intent was not to hate or place blame, but to instead honestly assess our investment and its effectiveness so that our optimum next step could be made. (And to honor those men and women became our investment, our heroes, and our human cost for pursuing the Iraq agenda.)

Is Adam Lanza Our Avatar?

Carl Jung also developed the concept of Òthe shadowÓ, which he defined as that portion of our individual selves, good or bad, that we cannot or do not see. Jung suggested that the function of Òthe shadowÓ was to cloak the portions of our self that are in existential conflict with the our self-perception. I believe it is fair, and very important, to say that we, as a Òpeace-lovingÓ society, have accumulated and stored a great reserve of denied hawkishness in our collective unconscious. The denial of this, simply put, has become our Òcollective shadowÓ. JungÕs great insight (and clinical experience) was that the shadow continuously gathers strength or causative power as denial is piled upon denial. In his practice, he found that his clientÕs shadow-originated behavior or Òacting outÓ was at typically great odds with their self-perception and their conscious intentions. As citizens of the most militarily powerful country in the world, each and every American is responsible for the expression of a great warlike strength, whether they know it, admit it, or agree with it. As we place the ÒweightÓ of that 40% of our annual incomes onto the Òwar sideÓ of the scale of Peace versus War, we are clearly responsible. We may deny our contribution to the killing act, or the credible threat of killing because we withhold or donÕt pay the relevant taxes, but as we collect our personal rights and freedoms from American society, we wrongly deny our complicity or our participation. This effectively adds to an further empowers our ÒCollective ShadowÓ. We should therefore expect more unpleasant surprises.

If we want to call ourselves ÒPeacemakersÓ we must bring our warlike habits and tendencies Ð in all forms Ð to the table for mitigation. We must do this without blame or shame. Humanity must change. Americans could lead the way.

At Sanctuary Earth, we recognize that the trajectory of human existence must be changed significantly for all of us to reach a livable future. We cannot move forward sensibly if we do not know where we are, right now, accurately. We will never effectively know where we are now if we deny where we have come from historically. Pointing the finger or placing full responsibility on others clearly denies the collective nature of our experience. Such denial would also ensure improper ÒGPS locatingÓ, and plenty of further mis-stepping. Perhaps more ominously, this denial would add more causative power to the Òcollective shadowÓ of our society and would give rise to other, possibly worse, atrocities.

In short, if we feel we must judge our past as ÒbadÓ, the chances of us owning that passed and taking appropriate action to change grow ever smaller.

This pattern of denial seems to be an historical part of human nature Ð no shame, we are human and we are changeable. But consciousness must be applied for positive change to occur. We will keep moving Ð the question is: Can we bring consciousness and the rights and dignities of all beings along with us?