Nov 11

I know I am a living system because my heart beats for others besides itself, my lungs breath for others besides itself, my eyes see, my ears hear, and my tongue tastes all for others besides themselves. My actions, and my functions never exist in isolation and each cell and tissue of my body, no matter how conscious, cannot go on living, interacting, and functioning without so many other cells and tissues that support them. I am living because I say that I am and you say that I am and because they say that I am. I don't know if there is any way for me to prove otherwise. I feel, I interact, I grow, and I decay. I do all these things because of so many others and from this I say that I am a living system.


Biophysics and Oriental Medicine

I read wikipedia's definition and scope of biophysics. While I was reading it this voice in my head was saying "why?", "why?" This is of course a very simple response and by no means do I want to pull the plug on all modern scientific exploration/adventure, but as I was reading it all made the world something very complex. Waking, exercising, eating, interacting with others, eating again, working, and then sleeping seems complex enough, not to mention, relationships, family, aging and all else. So why with all of our knowledge do we still not understand the balance of life? We excessively explore outside of ourselves and we create a complexity of life that, while bringing tremendous knowledge, also contributes to disease and disorder. It seems the more complex life becomes the more extreme the measures are needed to protect it. A better balance should be struck, and if not, then there will be too much searching for life and not enough living of life.

Oct 28

Our energy efficient culture (is not so energy efficient)


When I think about how we humans have used our natural resources I have to sigh. I mean it's really a shame how much we have wasted. There is no area that we have not plundered. Anything that has not been completely ravaged by modern people is because it has been purposefully 'saved' (at least for the moment) or because we just haven't got around to it yet. Meanwhile, we have had the knowledge and the ability not to continue in this way for quite some time. In fact, we (humans) have done it in the past. For example, it's safe to say that the Americas were relatively pristine before the last few hundred years. We can manage our resources better (and some companies do) and usually that proves to create more resources over a longer period of time - like indefinitely. And we also can practice and create energy efficiency (and some do). We also already know how to do that and have for some time. So what are we to do?  It is all very simple yet extraordinarily complicated. The politics, the money, the differing opinions, the differing values, the lack of education, the education, and ultimately the desire and the consciousness that allows us to fumble the precious gift we have all been given. One thing is clear and that is that there is great opportunity. Nature has taught us about interconnection and interdependence. All we have to do is apply this to our technologies and cities on a massive scale. Oh, and we just have learn how to be happy . . .
with a bit less (stuff).


Newton’s Three Laws and me


Newton is everywhere (well almost). Despite the limitations of his 'laws' Newton has indeed identified the parameters of the common world. Newton can not explain the world of the yogi, or the quark, the lama, or the gluon, but he surely is there when you run out of gas and have to push an automobile many times your weight. We salute Newton for being sagely in his knowledge and ordinary in his limitation.   


We need to be careful who we listen to


Rene Descartes really missed the bus in a number of areas. I know he was a sharp guy and I will not attempt to simplistically rebut his philosophy, but he is a great example of how wrong things can go when we use your mind without reference or reverence for the body. "I think therefore I am." But, don't we feel before we think? One of the first things one is taught in the east is that one is not their thoughts and that the thoughts are not their own. And the reductionism and the applying auto (or cart) mechanics to all aspects of life. We have reduced and we have reduced we have tried to fix and fix and where are we today? For 500 years Descartes has ruled. Let us pray that it will not be 500 more. 

Oct 21

Fractals

The subject of Fractals is fascinating! I've always thought it very cool that when I look at a small piece of the terrain, a rock, a tiny cove on a river that it is the same scene that I have seen magnified millions of times. A pebble turns into a mountain, a piece of ground beneath my feet turns into a vast dessert. A tiny sandy eddy turns into a huge beach. And the magnification and shrinking of any aspect of the world appears endless! It makes great sense that nature exists in patterns. After all we know that there is no disparate part. The intelligence of the world is just that. Sense all objects and all entities are related and come from the same source, why would they not share similar characteristics of design?  

Ordered Chaos

This sounds like Autopoiesis and Entropy. It sounds like yin and yang. It sounds like a paradox. It sounds like life.

Consciousness and Chaos

When I think of chaos I think of movement and fluctuation to a staggering degree. I think of all the thoughts, actions, and movements of the entire world and the entire universe happening simultaneous again and again in every moment in the great flow of life. This is too overwhelming to actually know; that is to experience. But, with all of this there is still life, there is still order. Consciousness on one level is the totality of this life and on another level it is limited and individual.

Oct 14

Not all vibes are good vibes 

There are good vibes and there are bad vibes and many in between (OK vibes). These vibrations exist on many levels. Some are very physical, as in earthquakes, and some are very subtle, like those given off within a space, or by a person who is silent. Vibrations are everywhere because it is very plausible that vibrations create, surround, emanate from, and are all manifestations. Naturally it follows that there are vibrations that are 'good' and those that are 'bad.' There are those that support life and those that destroy life. What is good and bad depends on the person who receives these stimuli according to their own vibration and their own resonance with those vibrations in the external world.

Resonance

I usually use the word resonance in a positive sense. As in "that resonates with me," or, "that did not resonate with me." Yet closer to the reality is that resonance occurs for better and for worse. We need not look further then the physical reality of structures to know that during earthquakes resonance is not a good thing. On a more subtle level, I remember a man saying, "If you are in the habit of being annoyed, then the world is full of annoying things." This is another form of resonance, yet it is one that we greatly influence by our minds inner reality. So it seems that there are many forms of resonance based on the many layers or aspects of our Self/self. Perhaps there are those that happen organically and naturally from the basis of our greater or higher Self and those that happen based on a more limited experience as in the case of our current state of mind or current physical state. Whatever the case, it seems that to resonate is to be strongly moved by something in a conscious way; after all we are always under the influence of something. What particular aspect of us is resonating, why it is resonating, and whether it is a beneficial is a whole other thing?

Energy and Qi

Hmmmm. I wonder what is the translation of the word energy into Chinese and when did this word come about? I would guess that there was a time when the word energy was not in the mandarin language. In other words, there was not one word for energy and another for qi. If so, then energy and qi are simply two words that are attempting to describe a subjective experience in the body and an observation in the world. If so, I only know what it feels like for me to be and to move. That is, I know my own physical sensations and as I live I also get to observe life (movement, qi, energy) in others. Whichever language one speaks one still feels it. In that case, 100 words from 100 languages may not capture it, yet in the same breath those who have studied it most, and know how to use it, probably have a word that better describes it. 

Oct 7

(A)Symmetry

When I look through books about sacred geometry there are always pictures of natural objects like shells and leaves. The objects themselves are never completely symmetrical, from a geometric viewpoint, like the human tracings that surround them. They seem to take these images and impose a degree of perfection to the objects. Symmetry has another meaning and that is balance. Nature is balanced and thus is symmetrical. Symmetry is also equated with beauty and nature is indeed beautiful. There is form and there is energy as well. Forms in nature, whether they be human or otherwise, don't seem to be perfectly symmetrical - as in geometry. Energy on the other hand may be. But energy fluctuates and when there's fluctuation and movement it would be difficult to pinpoint symmetry. If you look at the sun it appears symmetrical, but when you see it up close then you quickly see that it is not. There are flares and explosions that emanate from its roundness that are alive - not symmetric. But what if you looked closer, what would see? Or even closer. What ever one finds, nature seems to care much more about balance then it does about perfection. It is balanced to the degree that is necessary and no more. Nature is no perfectionist.


CP Violation

People like to make laws, and then scold people for violating them. A law is only good as long as it is useful. It is not good to think of it an absolute sense. It may be that a certain substances acts the same way 100,000 times. What's the use of then saying that it can never act differently, and if it does, why get bent out of shape about it? I think it's cool that the universe still surprises people, and especially those who think they can someday master it. People are of nature. Not the other way around.

Sacred Geometry and Physics

Physics and sacred geometry are intimately connected. Physics is the study of matter and energy and sacred geometry is the study of . . .  uhh, matter and energy. There's just a different focus. A physicist is more broad. Anything is ripe to study and how that study relates to human society and human experience is less defined. Sacred geometry on the other hand is at least in theory more concerned with the connection between nature and human society and human experience. It seems that in sacred geometry there is the idea that sacredness is inherent in the world, or nature, and that humans can learn from nature to copy, recreate, or create sacredness. A physicist may not feel it to be in his or her bounds to use the term sacred because of notions of objectivity. Every art is a science and every science is an art. There's always some form of human imposition or assumptions being made. Physics and sacred geometry are just two studies of the same world.

September 30

How has E=MC2 affected my life
Mass is a wonderful thing, but it has a downside. That is, that it can feel heavy, sluggish, lethargic, and in so many ways stuck. In other words, there are physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual consequences and qualities to our concrete reality. Some of these are positive, some are negative, and of course none can live without the other. In spite of any perceived or experiential downsides mass is fundamental to life. Mass allows us to experience life. People, and especially wise people, throughout time have understood that mass is not as heavy as it may seem to be. It may not be as stuck or as inert as it seems to be and even the most massive of obstacles can be transformed and converted into something more useful and conducive to life. Einstein understood this fact of life as E=Mc2. This knowledge has most likely given way to other "discoveries" and developments in the realm of science, but there is also the internal experience of the coin that is mass and energy. Who knows how far and to what degree someone can use or utilize this aspect of reality? For me, the knowledge of it has a liberating quality for those reasons mentioned above. Our mass can be daunting but understanding that life is all a movement of energy is less so.

How would you compare The 4 forces
It is possible that the four forces are one force that are differentiated by the mind in order for us to conceptualize them more clearly. In other words we categorize to understand. With this said, we also live in a multifaceted and, at least temporarily, differentiated world. So up, down, to the outside, and to the inside matter. This like the 4 forces cannot be ignored.

There are some things that seem to be intrinsic to life. Out of a sense of arbitrariness I will state 4. Transformation as in birth and death, cohesion, or that which keeps things together, attraction and repulsion, or movement, and interdependence. Perhaps these relate to the weak nuclear force, the strong nuclear force,  electromagnetism, and gravity respectively, or maybe I've made a huge mistake in trying to synthesize or connect that which I don't fully understand. ???


What is the function of Gravity
Gravity keeps me grounded and connected to that which sustains me. Physically it allows me to act in the world with much more ease than if everything were floating about. It's very convenient. Mental gravity reminds me that I am not just a head, blabbing and lost in thought. Gravity ties me to a greater reality rather than a limited one of my own making. On any level gravity does its part.

Sept 23

Synchronicity
Synchronicity only happens when people subscribe meaning to their lives, but of course most people do. Synchronicity assumes there is a subtle connection between people that sooner or later draws them together, even when they don't consciously plan to do so. There are so many anecdotal stories about synchronicity. There are many in my life as well. When I think of its evidence I think about vibration and resonance. I think about attraction, and how an ear, human or otherwise can only hear certain frequencies. I think about language and how creatures create a bond that only members of their group can understand. I think about how we emit energy that must travel infinitely into space. I think about electrons that respond to their pair no matter how great the distance. I think about mind as a universal phenomenon, and knowledge as an inherent part of reality that's not confined or owned by the heads that temporarily contain it. Sinchronicity is a just a label created by a mind that is often looking for a particular outcome. What ever it is it may be happening much more then we think.

Connectivity
Connectivity is the basis for synchronicity. Without it we couldn't experience what ever we think it is. Connectivity can be explained in thousand of ways. It just depends on how you wish to define it. There are those that are more concrete and easier to explain and then there are those that are subtle that are difficult to explain. It's clear to me that this physical world is a vast web, an organism even, that has many parts, many systems that support a greater whole. In eastern medicine, this is explained through the concepts of the macro and microcosm. This evidence is everywhere. Outside there is sun and inside there  is heat. Outside there are rivers and streams and inside there are arteries and veins. If you magnify a little piece of ground it turns into a vast mountain chain. There is no end to how one of us or one part influences another. This is all connectivity.

Quantum Mechanics
Uncertainty
Quantum mechanics tells us that the physical world is more uncertain than previously believed (by scientists), but this uncertainty is up until now mostly confined to laboratories and to the minds that run them. From any given vantage point the world is more or less certain depending on who you are and your particular experience with reality, which includes the culture you were brought up in. The rising and the setting of the sun, the placement of a non volcanic mountain from one day to the next, the cardinal directions, and gravity are all things that we can rely upon, after all the chief characteristic of the earth element is stability. But as the tai ji symbol teaches us, there is always yin within yang and yang within yin. Even a mountain changes, the earth shakes, the sun will eventually not rise, and the possibility exists (even from a western science perspective) that a person can walk straight through a wall to the other side. What is deemed certain or uncertain may be accurate or may not be. Uncertainty after all only arises through not knowing. Perhaps there is someone on earth who knew when and where I would meet my wife. What does that say about uncertainty?

Causality
Causality is quite similar to uncertainty. Just as many things seem relatively certain many things also seem to be easily connected to a particular cause. If someone falls and hits their head against a wall then the bump that arises was probably not due to something that they ate. If I then ask why they fell in the first place then that quickly becomes complicated, as I must consider why they were not paying attention, why they were at that particular place at that particular time and on and on and on. Causality quickly becomes messy. There are thousands, if not millions of influences on us at any given time, who is to say how they conspire and who has the strongest tug?

Is the world Wierd?
There are two types of wierd. Wierd cool and wierd not cool.

Reflections on the first class

I thought it was good practice to look at the concept of time from two opposing perspectives. One perspective that concerns itself with measurement and an another that acknowledges the subjective nature of time. Both perspectives offer something useful about the world. At first glance, the "western" notion of time seems to not have much dimension to it. From this perspective, time is constant except at speeds that are not practical to reach. The "eastern" notion of time is more dynamic in that it looks into how we relate to time, which may be better understood as change or movement, and it concerns itself with how that relationship effects our experience in the world. From this view "time," or change is something that has many dimensions, which offers the possibility for transformation for the individual.

Time

Time is a great conundrum. On one hand it is steady on another it is not. When I was in elementary school and high school I new all to well how steady time was. That famous clock that hung in every room was consistently steady - that is when I watched it. When I was not watching the clock it would either seem to travel slow or fast depending on the particular day. It seemed that the more bored I was the slower it would move.
The other example of the inconsistency of time is around my birthday. When I was young my birthday's seemed to be so far apart. When one came it seemed that the last one was eons ago. Now that I am older a year goes by quite fast and each new year seems to go faster. Both of these are examples of how our subjective experience effects the flow of time. One year for a five year old is one fifth of their life, and one year of a 33 year old is one thirty third. My life experience and the activity that I am engaged in alters my relationship to time.

What do I, honestly think of physics, really?

I understand that physics is an inherent part of life. Being in the medical field, and having a great passion for all the learning that it involves leads me naturally to the point of saying that I love physics. I am not sure how I could separate my study of medicine from a study of physics. The concepts of time, of velocity, of direction, of cause and effect are all woven into the study of medicine. It is in fact the study of medicine itself. If there is any issue I have with physics it is that its study would somehow be unnaturally separated from its influence on day to day life, or divorced from its ability to shed light on life in its broadest sense. Physics is all around us and while I acknowledge the greatness in the many specializations of physics I am much more interested in its broader concepts and learning what people from all cultures and view points have gained about the world.

What attracts me to chinese medicine?

I am attracted to Chinese medicine simply because I am interested in health and gaining greater understanding the world that I live in. This interest coupled with my study of tai ji and hatha yoga, along with my interest in my connection with the natural world has taken me in the direction first of ayurveda and now into Chinese medicine. In my view, medicine should be preventative, natural, have no side effects, and should have at its core an understanding of the connection of mind and body as well as knowledge of those connections between individuals and the greater world and energies that surround them. Chinese medicine has this understanding and that's why I have come to study it.