from Siddhartha

And time after time, his smile became more similar to the ferryman's, became almost just as bright, almost just as throughly glowing with bliss, just as shining out of thousand small wrinkles, just as alike to a child's, just as alike to an old man's. Many travellers, seeing the two ferrymen, thought they were brothers. Often, they sat in the evening together by the bank on the log, said nothing and both listened to the water, which was no water to them, but the voice of life, the voice of what exists, of what is eternally taking shape. And it happened from time to time that both, when listening to the river, thought of the same things, of a conversation from the day before yesterday, of one of their travellers, the face and fate of whom had occupied their thoughts, of death, of their childhood, and that they both in the same moment, when the river had been saying something good to them, looked at each other, both thinking precisely the same thing, both delighted about the same answer to the same question.

Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse

Earth

Sluggish after all the parties, staying with the earth. Heavy, moving slowly. Carried by the firmness of the ground, slowed by the grade of the hills. Re-entering in, the effort predominates. Re-connecting, re-membering, re-earthing.

Posts

With my son out of school and being slammed at work, the posts will be intermittent for the next couple of weeks.

Someone shouts at Nasrudin sitting on a river bank, "How do I get across?" "You are across." he replies.

Just do it

Saturday morning, late night, a little bit flat. Moving through the routine, riding the loop.

Movement

Staying with the water element, moving with the feeling of fluidity. Endurance and gravity come into view.Letting instinct to burst out subside, staying with the rhythm and flow.

Water moving uphill, water entering the stream of energy, easing mind, calming thoughts.

Later in the bathtub, feeling more of the subtleways that water moves. Whirling patterns, soft flows, holding heat for a long time, all embracing.

Wind

Very windy the last couple of days. Rode a little bit with Susan, maybe we will ride together a bit more. She had a near collision doing a u-turn on the trail.

Took the short route this morning, chased by the storm. Right on the edge of the weather all the way home. Jubilant ride as the storm comes near. Made it in, but the storm still hasn't hit yet.

Reading some Krishnamurti this morning:

Renee Weber: But you have said that if one really were serious and wanted to do it, it would happen.

K: Of course.

RW You see, it sounds so simple and people have heard you say that and they have tried and it doesn't happen!

K: You can't try it. You don't try not to put your hand in the fire! You know fire burns and you don't go into it.

(from Questioning Krishnamurti, p. 226)

Air: Breathing the world

Returning again to air, lightness, fullness. Expanding out from the body, into the road, the rain and the passing riders. Suddenly, opens the world, air so tangible, open, giving. Permeating the space, providing moment to moment, molecule to molecule sustanance.

Nearly pure energy, perhaps not as subtle as light, but nearer to the physical, embracing the world.

Air (con't)

Little focus, riding on auto pilot. Chaos, ride, chaos, ride.

Breath, still cleaning it out.

Air (con't)

Staying with the air yesterday, breath deeper, smoother, more expanding. The body filling like a vase, air pouring into the channels of core, the limbs. At a fast enough aerobic rate,the thoughts are almost self cut.

Air (con't)

Rode to a gig today. Easy ride, staying with the breath, letting thoughts come and go. Feeling the components of smoothness, breath, strength, timing, long rhythms, a way back count.

Air (con't)

Walk yesterday with a heavy backpack, gravity was to the fore.

Good ride today, blustery weather, relatively warm. Into the chaos of air, the swirling, gathering, inconsistent qualities. Stabilizing for a few moments then off again into the whirl.

White like clear light, like lightness, like flashing, sometimes just a drop of awareness goes a long way, like dye in water.

Time lag

It snowed this last week in Seattle, not a rare event, but still unusual. No biking most of the weeek, though I took a short ride on Friday.

Funny how fragmented awareness can be, how the loss of an external flame generator (breath, gravity and force) can stop the awareness.

Dropping down into awareness (resting) rising up into awareness (lifting), letting go, opening up.

Heading out for a ride or walk later today, back to air.