Monday, February 16, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Week 6 Assignments: Vibrations
Are all vibrations "good"?
So, this is actually kind of a metaphysical question to me; vibrations are not really "good" or "bad", they just are, they exist. I guess the question is more along the lines of degrees of "goodness", so vibrations that ultimately result in a favorable outcome. But frame of reference seems to apply here, because while one level of vibration might be more than my body or mind or whatever can handle - some other entity or structure even, might actually benefit from that level of vibration and might not experience any adverse reaction at all. And "favorable outcome" is also a subjective concept - it again depends on who or what is receiving the vibration and what the desired outcome ultimately is.
Resonance in my world:
I find that I seek resonance in my world and that I am disquieted and faintly disturbed when it does not exist. For example, music has always been very important to me; both the creation of it when I played, for instance, the violin or when I was singing in a choir - or just in being able to listen to it. When I was playing the violin or singing, hitting the notes and getting them right was only a part of it and I was able to "feel" the resonance when I was able to achieve a perfect pitch - it was a very different feeling than when I was almost there but not quite, a very physical reaction for me and one which is hard to describe. I experience something similar when I listen to music performed by others; again it is a physical thing for me, I feel when it is right. When resonance is not present, it is also a physical sensation that I have that is very uncomfortable for me and which I will go to great lengths to change, or failing that I will have to move away from the source of discord...
Connections I can make between Energy and Qi?
Well, the most obvious connection would be that energy and qi are the same thing...but which is also a bit simplistic and not entirely true. I think energy and qi are in some ways the same thing, but that qi is a bit more complicated - sometimes I feel that qi is a sentient entity and may be more tied to the concept of a soul. I do, however, feel that energy is a good way to describe the basic function of qi in our bodies - the way that it flows (or doesn't flow, as the case may be) and the way that it affects our health - and that for lack of a better way to describe it energy helps the novice to understand the basic premise of qi.
So, this is actually kind of a metaphysical question to me; vibrations are not really "good" or "bad", they just are, they exist. I guess the question is more along the lines of degrees of "goodness", so vibrations that ultimately result in a favorable outcome. But frame of reference seems to apply here, because while one level of vibration might be more than my body or mind or whatever can handle - some other entity or structure even, might actually benefit from that level of vibration and might not experience any adverse reaction at all. And "favorable outcome" is also a subjective concept - it again depends on who or what is receiving the vibration and what the desired outcome ultimately is.
Resonance in my world:
I find that I seek resonance in my world and that I am disquieted and faintly disturbed when it does not exist. For example, music has always been very important to me; both the creation of it when I played, for instance, the violin or when I was singing in a choir - or just in being able to listen to it. When I was playing the violin or singing, hitting the notes and getting them right was only a part of it and I was able to "feel" the resonance when I was able to achieve a perfect pitch - it was a very different feeling than when I was almost there but not quite, a very physical reaction for me and one which is hard to describe. I experience something similar when I listen to music performed by others; again it is a physical thing for me, I feel when it is right. When resonance is not present, it is also a physical sensation that I have that is very uncomfortable for me and which I will go to great lengths to change, or failing that I will have to move away from the source of discord...
Connections I can make between Energy and Qi?
Well, the most obvious connection would be that energy and qi are the same thing...but which is also a bit simplistic and not entirely true. I think energy and qi are in some ways the same thing, but that qi is a bit more complicated - sometimes I feel that qi is a sentient entity and may be more tied to the concept of a soul. I do, however, feel that energy is a good way to describe the basic function of qi in our bodies - the way that it flows (or doesn't flow, as the case may be) and the way that it affects our health - and that for lack of a better way to describe it energy helps the novice to understand the basic premise of qi.
Week 5 Assignments - Symmetry and Sacred Geometry
My (a)symmetrical world:
On a physical level, my body is constructed in a symmetrical fashion; I have two arms, two legs, two hands, and two feet - all of them arranged more or less equally, and so I am essentially a symmetrical being. Of course, on closer examination, one arm or leg might be a little bit longer than the other, there may be profound differences between either one of my hands or feet, and as is well known, the right side of my face is not the same as the left side...I have even noticed that my hair is different on one side of my head than the other.
This makes me think about the spiritual concepts of karma and reincarnation, or at least of my understanding of those concepts; karma being in some ways an illustration of the concept of cause and effect, and reincarnation in one way an illustration of how a soul will return again and again in an attempt to finally become fully "enlightened" or "balanced", before being granted entrance to the state of nirvana or final resting - and how these are states of striving for balance which may or may not ever really become balanced, and indeed perhaps should NOT do so.
So I suppose that the bottom line here is that while nature strives for balance and equality, the reality is that this state rarely, if ever, actually exists. And this is probably a good thing when one considers that, if equal amounts of matter and anti-matter existed at the same time they would cancel each other out and so the universe would cease to exist...
Just what does this CP violation really mean?
What has stood out for me in trying to get my head around this concept is the whole thing about matter and anti-matter and how they would cancel each other out if they did indeed exist in equal amounts at the same time...and the other bit about this that I find significant is the time factor - that the anomaly exists when one tries to move backward in time. I don't think that I am capable of understanding this idea more than just getting the bare bones of it, so to try to ascertain what it means is beyond me - but it feels like something I could meditate on further and perhaps have some sort of "aha" moment about later on....
Are there connections between Sacred Geometry and Physics?
Short answer to this question, yes.
I believe ancient cultures actually had a pretty good handle on this concept, and that symbols that exist in all of the world's major religious traditions reflect this. I also think that the modern phenomena of crop circles may be related in some way; there has been some research to suggest that they have a connection to music and sound as well (I have a book and DVD about this, but can't remember the title or author right now and they are both in a box somewhere from my recent move...sorry!).
On a physical level, my body is constructed in a symmetrical fashion; I have two arms, two legs, two hands, and two feet - all of them arranged more or less equally, and so I am essentially a symmetrical being. Of course, on closer examination, one arm or leg might be a little bit longer than the other, there may be profound differences between either one of my hands or feet, and as is well known, the right side of my face is not the same as the left side...I have even noticed that my hair is different on one side of my head than the other.
This makes me think about the spiritual concepts of karma and reincarnation, or at least of my understanding of those concepts; karma being in some ways an illustration of the concept of cause and effect, and reincarnation in one way an illustration of how a soul will return again and again in an attempt to finally become fully "enlightened" or "balanced", before being granted entrance to the state of nirvana or final resting - and how these are states of striving for balance which may or may not ever really become balanced, and indeed perhaps should NOT do so.
So I suppose that the bottom line here is that while nature strives for balance and equality, the reality is that this state rarely, if ever, actually exists. And this is probably a good thing when one considers that, if equal amounts of matter and anti-matter existed at the same time they would cancel each other out and so the universe would cease to exist...
Just what does this CP violation really mean?
What has stood out for me in trying to get my head around this concept is the whole thing about matter and anti-matter and how they would cancel each other out if they did indeed exist in equal amounts at the same time...and the other bit about this that I find significant is the time factor - that the anomaly exists when one tries to move backward in time. I don't think that I am capable of understanding this idea more than just getting the bare bones of it, so to try to ascertain what it means is beyond me - but it feels like something I could meditate on further and perhaps have some sort of "aha" moment about later on....
Are there connections between Sacred Geometry and Physics?
Short answer to this question, yes.
I believe ancient cultures actually had a pretty good handle on this concept, and that symbols that exist in all of the world's major religious traditions reflect this. I also think that the modern phenomena of crop circles may be related in some way; there has been some research to suggest that they have a connection to music and sound as well (I have a book and DVD about this, but can't remember the title or author right now and they are both in a box somewhere from my recent move...sorry!).
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Week Four Assignments: Energy, Matter and the Four Forces
E=mc2 and me:
So, I have never really spent a significant amount of time pondering the meaning of this equation, since it IS an equation and I generally avoid anything mathematical as much as humanly possible (with the exception of say recipe conversions, cocktail measurements, etc…). The idea of wondering how it has affected me is also pretty alien to me, but I will give it a shot.
I think the one thing that jumped out at me during our discussion of this concept was that essentially mass (or matter) and energy are the same thing. What occurs to me, again, is that this is another example of the yin/yang principle that keeps coming up for me as I study TCM. To digress, the single most compelling thing that I learned about yin and yang is that they are constantly in motion and constantly becoming each other. I had always visualized yin and yang as being static, as they appear in the universal symbol of the black and white circle; it was really amazing to find that this representation of the two forces was indeed an idealized concept – it illustrates that the ultimate goal of the two forces is to be in this balanced state – and yet, the dynamic reality of the energy is something quite different.
I guess the way that I apply this to myself, is that I am always in motion, always becoming something different, and that my ultimate goal is to someday become balanced and static; perhaps I will never achieve that in this lifetime, or perhaps that is when I will die????
Comparing the Four Forces:
It seems to me that a study of the inter-relationship between the four forces is in some ways an expansion of the same concept above – but with more than just two elements striving for some sort of balance.
It also strikes me that the attempt by Western science to in some way explain the forces in some sort of organizational structure that in some way equalizes them is again an illustration of the difference between the western and eastern mindset. If one were to consider each of the forces as a person existing in a societal construct, say a community – then one would automatically allow for individual differences in each of those persons; while still acknowledging the intrinsic value of each of those individuals. The contribution that each of these people would make to the whole of the community might easily appear to be disparate in nature, because each person would possess their own unique skills and gifts that would be of use to the community as a whole; and yet the mere fact that each of these persons contributed those skills and gifts to the community equalizes them and renders them useful and indeed necessary to the whole.
In the same way, each of the four forces is necessary to the whole of the way that our world works – despite the obvious differences in quantifiable properties existent in the forces individually.
Function of Gravity:
Well, it seems to me that a genuine and thorough definition of the function of gravity is beyond my simple mind; after all, physicists and greater scientific minds than my own seem unable to really get their heads around it.
However, simply speaking, I would say that the function of gravity is to keep everything in some sort of order and relative control – while at the same time providing the environment necessary for change to occur. What I mean is that gravity seems to be the force that keeps humans and everything else on this planet from floating off the planet and out into space. At the same time, it appears that gravity exerts this same control on the planets as they go through their cosmic dance with one another; and indeed apparently gravity maintains this order in some way or other throughout the universe. In some majestic way, gravity maintains things in their place and space in time, while those same elements are busy moving about and evolving and doing whatever else they do. In a way, gravity is there doing its job, so that those other elements don’t have to worry about doing it – it facilitates whatever processes are taking place and keeps those elements safe while they are doing it….
So, I have never really spent a significant amount of time pondering the meaning of this equation, since it IS an equation and I generally avoid anything mathematical as much as humanly possible (with the exception of say recipe conversions, cocktail measurements, etc…). The idea of wondering how it has affected me is also pretty alien to me, but I will give it a shot.
I think the one thing that jumped out at me during our discussion of this concept was that essentially mass (or matter) and energy are the same thing. What occurs to me, again, is that this is another example of the yin/yang principle that keeps coming up for me as I study TCM. To digress, the single most compelling thing that I learned about yin and yang is that they are constantly in motion and constantly becoming each other. I had always visualized yin and yang as being static, as they appear in the universal symbol of the black and white circle; it was really amazing to find that this representation of the two forces was indeed an idealized concept – it illustrates that the ultimate goal of the two forces is to be in this balanced state – and yet, the dynamic reality of the energy is something quite different.
I guess the way that I apply this to myself, is that I am always in motion, always becoming something different, and that my ultimate goal is to someday become balanced and static; perhaps I will never achieve that in this lifetime, or perhaps that is when I will die????
Comparing the Four Forces:
It seems to me that a study of the inter-relationship between the four forces is in some ways an expansion of the same concept above – but with more than just two elements striving for some sort of balance.
It also strikes me that the attempt by Western science to in some way explain the forces in some sort of organizational structure that in some way equalizes them is again an illustration of the difference between the western and eastern mindset. If one were to consider each of the forces as a person existing in a societal construct, say a community – then one would automatically allow for individual differences in each of those persons; while still acknowledging the intrinsic value of each of those individuals. The contribution that each of these people would make to the whole of the community might easily appear to be disparate in nature, because each person would possess their own unique skills and gifts that would be of use to the community as a whole; and yet the mere fact that each of these persons contributed those skills and gifts to the community equalizes them and renders them useful and indeed necessary to the whole.
In the same way, each of the four forces is necessary to the whole of the way that our world works – despite the obvious differences in quantifiable properties existent in the forces individually.
Function of Gravity:
Well, it seems to me that a genuine and thorough definition of the function of gravity is beyond my simple mind; after all, physicists and greater scientific minds than my own seem unable to really get their heads around it.
However, simply speaking, I would say that the function of gravity is to keep everything in some sort of order and relative control – while at the same time providing the environment necessary for change to occur. What I mean is that gravity seems to be the force that keeps humans and everything else on this planet from floating off the planet and out into space. At the same time, it appears that gravity exerts this same control on the planets as they go through their cosmic dance with one another; and indeed apparently gravity maintains this order in some way or other throughout the universe. In some majestic way, gravity maintains things in their place and space in time, while those same elements are busy moving about and evolving and doing whatever else they do. In a way, gravity is there doing its job, so that those other elements don’t have to worry about doing it – it facilitates whatever processes are taking place and keeps those elements safe while they are doing it….
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