discipline(1/2)
Practice embryonic breathing
Embryonic breathing is a Qigong practice: Qi (chi/energy) and gong (kung/practice which takes great energy and time to master). Was originally two characters translated “no heat” and “water rice” because first “no heat” describes peace (where to have heat was to be out-of-balance) and second “water rice” describes the sources of energy to the human body. The practice of Taiji (Tai Chi) and Qigong have similar aims. While Qigong can span from intense physical activity to motionless meditation, it typically falls in the middle, as does Taiji.…
Few serious artists are able to live lives which are without interruption
Many people in walks of life which do not involve creation, are completely unaware of the necessity for discipline. It is not only that few serious artists who live lives of debauchery produce a large body of work, but that few serious artists are able to live lives which are without interruption. We do not shed all obligations when the children leave home. I am working on this section of this manuscript while teaching an intensive four and a half hour credit course, and neither may be skimped.…
The greatest moments of prayer come in the midst of fumbling
To work on a book is for me very much the same thing as to pray. Both involve discipline. If the artist works only when he feels like it, he’s not apt to build up much of a body of work. Inspiration far more often comes during the work than before it, because the largest part of the job of the artist is to listen to the work, and to go where it tells him to go.…