Happy Dragon-Tiger Dance
…This is the image that I want to leave you with today for this point in time, as we welcome the Year of the Dragon and the Moon of the Tiger in the auspicious alignment of a new cycle of the sun and the moon. This dynamic interplay between the two most powerful animals of the Chinese zodiac, the earthly tiger and the heavenly dragon. Fire and Water, Yang and Yin, down and up, tiger’s dense material elemental presence and dragon’s ephemeral intangible soaring above the clouds. Both of them roaring symbols of the unpredictable and uncontrollable force of nature…
Another Happy Goat Update
Another update on the Happy Goat Expansion….You may have noticed that I have been less proactive about publicizing the auction, and the related GoFundMe campaign, than I should have been lately. I owe you all an explanation. This update is going to be short, however, because I am thick in the midst of trying to make my Happy Goat Expansion actually happen. It’s one of those days!
Nurturing and Discerning
Here is a guest post by Claudine Paille, who is an Imperial Tutor member and sent the following message to Leo Lok and myself, in response to our latest podcast episodes, “Eating for Old Age” for the public Pebble in the Cosmic Pond, and “Nurturing and Discerning” for the Imperial Tutorial.
A Rounded Rock
On this sweet quiet Sunday morning, I am reading Astra Lincoln’s essay “Lessons on Vanishing” from the latest Authors Guild Bulletin. Here is a simple student’s quote from that piece that went straight to my heart just now, describing the effect of experiencing the fraying edge of the Juneau glacier:
“A river stone is round as a way of carrying everything that happens to it.”
Expanding Happy Goat Productions: An Update
It’s been two days since I shared my dream for the next stage at Happy Goat Productions with the general public in the form of this GOFUNDME crowdfunding project. And it’s hard to believe but it’s been less than a month since my life got turned upside down when I took the dog for a stroll and happened to walk on the other side of the street.
Dos and Don’ts of Winter
Suwen 2 on winter: Don’t mess with your Yang, sleep a lot, lay low, and pull out the wool socks….
Congee to the Rescue
… to nourish life and seek peace and joy is not a matter lying deeply buried or far away and therefore difficult to know. It is situated between sleeping and eating. Hence this book was written to urge people to eat congee every day, and not laugh at it. (Zhang Lei’s Zhou Ji)
Crumbling Walls
What can I personally do right now, in this moment, to be a force for goodness and peace in the world?
In some iteration, this question has been with me since October 7, and before that since last year’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Most days, I wake up with it and go to sleep with it. I scribble in my notebook. I contemplate it while walking the dog. I discuss it with friends and neighbors, near and far. Every once in a while, I hit on something small but useful, like a fundraiser last year for herbs and needles for my Polish friends treating Ukrainian refugees. Or that healing soundbath I recorded for Brenda.
Medicinal Effects of Chrysanthemum
In honor of 重陽節 (“Double Ninth Festival” chóng yang jié), which is celebrated today, on the ninth day of the ninth month, according to the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar, here are some bits of information on the medicinal effects of chrysanthemum.
Jiggling the Jing
How do we cultivate inner stillness, powerful healing presence, mastery of medicine (perhaps even with a capital “M”) beyond technique, or whatever you want to call it? We were playing with concepts like “concentrating the yì (intent) and unifying the shén (spirit/s), to stop the jīng essence and Qì from separating, …so as to gather in the (patient’s?) jīng (essence)” 專意一神，精氣不分…以收其精 (Lingshu 9). In this context, Leo mentioned the phrase 搖精 yáo jīng, which I have, somewhat fancifully, translated in the title of this short article as “jingling jīng,” but which you could also render as “rattling the essence.”
Learning to Be Human, or a Waste of Time?
…I need to ask myself critically not just HOW to teach busy practitioners the art of reading the Chinese medicine classics but, more importantly: WHY SHOULD WE ALL SPEND OUR TIME READING THE CHINESE MEDICINE CLASSICS IN THE FIRST PLACE?
Moderating the Liver?
For the past two weeks, much of my attention has been taken up by a course on “Nurturing the Fetus: The Ten Months of Pregnancy in the Chinese Medicine Classics and the Modern Clinic,” which I am currently teaching with my clinical colleague and friend Andrew Loosely. A student in that class had a great question about the recommendation for the first month of pregnancy. Here is the information and advice, as worded in one of our sources, Bèijí qiānjīn yàofāng 2.3 《備急千金要方》…
Lillian’s List of Lucky Leckerlie
What follows is a long list of lucky foods that my dear friend and soul sister Lillian Pearl Bridges compiled two years ago after a Tea Time Talk event where several people in the audience requested it. Lillian always emphasized the importance of surrounding yourself with lucky foods (and other items) during the new year celebration and made sure I followed her advice.
Celestial Gluten
Making Mooncakes on the Equinox and some Sorting Things Out with Zhuāngzi
The Story Behind “Imperial Tutor”
My mentoring work around “Imperial Tutor” is rooted in my desire to share what I have learned from the ancient Chinese classics (medical, philosophical, cosmological, and otherwise) with dedicated practitioners and students of the Chinese healing arts, or of “medicine” in the largest sense of that potent word…
Empty Words? The Problem with Suo
To be upfront with you all, my general intention for this post is threefold. Throughout this post, I use the particle 所 suǒ to make my points:
Explain the concept of “empty words” or 虛字 xūzì;
Demonstrate the importance of “empty words” and the problems associated with not understanding and appreciating them properly;
Explore how you can learn about “empty words.”