Tag: Taoism

ArticlesLeave a comment

The Coin Of Desire

Steve Rowe

Someone said the other day that you have to get off your arse, follow your desires and live – or you’re just existing. The thought struck me that sitting still, not being subject to your desires and just existing is actually better. The Buddha said that suffering is borne from desire. When you get to appreciate that desire is the survival mechanism of the body and actually doesn’t belong to you, you can see it objectively instead of being subject to it. Desire is a thirst that can never be fully quenched, it will always want more or go from … Continue reading The Coin Of Desire

ArticlesLeave a comment

Get Real

Steve Rowe

Doesn’t matter how much you imagine it, it’s never the same as direct experience. Be it violence, cancer, enlightenment, mental health problems, amputation, or penetrating the shell to get that spontaneous freedom within your art. I feel sorry for the people that have an ‘easy life’ because without that essential hardship and paying their dues, they never get the essential insight and wisdom. So many are just travellers in life, wearing the masks and having an easy time, and it makes me wonder, WTF are they doing here? They’re like the ‘copy and paste’ internet version of humans. If you … Continue reading Get Real

ArticlesLeave a comment

The Bottom Line

Steve Rowe

When you plumb down to the bottom line of any martial art, past the dogma and politics, past the flowery hands and embroidered feet, you discover that although there are many paths, the bottom line is the same. Anyone who thinks it’s not, they haven’t got there yet. When you plumb down to the bottom line of any philosophy or religion, past the dogma, past the buildings, robes, and the rituals, you discover that although there are many paths, the bottom line is the same. Anyone who thinks it’s not, they haven’t got there yet. Truth is truth. It’s unchanging. … Continue reading The Bottom Line

ArticlesLeave a comment

Buddhism Saved My Life

Steve Rowe

Buddhism saved my life.It’s a toolbox for the mind and emotionsIt’s diagnosticYou look at the symptomsYour fears and anxietiesYour rage and angerYour insecurities and addictions. Then you use mindfulnessTo sustain awareness and concentrationLeading to insight and wisdomEnabling you to drill downAnd find the root causeOf all those problems. The magic isThat when you can see the rootsOnce you know the name of the devilHe can’t hurt youJust by observingWhat they areWho you really areThey go away. Instead of looking at life through a microscopeGiven to you by othersYou are able to see the entire vistaOf life, death and the universe. … Continue reading Buddhism Saved My Life

ArticlesLeave a comment

Hope Less To Enlightenment

Steve Rowe

You must have hopeYou can’t live without hopeThis is not trueWhen you reach a point in lifeWhere there is nothing leftNothing in the futureNothing you can haveEverything is out of reachNothing you wantNo desiresAs the self diesThere’s nothing to hope forYou are dead insideIn that darknessIn that stillnessIn that silenceLies immortalityUniversal consciousnessThe language of wisdom and insightNormally hidden by wantsAnd not wantsDesires and addictionsWhen hope diesSo does the selfAnd enlightenment arises.By Steve Rowe Continue reading Hope Less To Enlightenment

ArticlesLeave a comment

Dependent Origination

Steve Rowe

Your DNA goes back to the emergence of life on this planet about 4 billion years ago when simple self replicating molecules occurred. Every part of evolution after that is still inside of you. You have died and been reborn millions of times to become who you are. Every time you feel small or worthless remember how you got here and what you’re made of. It’s all in your DNA, it’s there for you to call on when needed. Dig deep, meditate on every life inside of you, not just human, but every life form, through mammal to reptile right … Continue reading Dependent Origination

ArticlesLeave a comment

Yang Family (Yeung Gar) Tai Chi Chuan

Steve Rowe

Historical facts about the founder of the Yang family (Yeung Gar) style of Tai Chi Yang Lu Chan are varied and often disputed, but he did teach in the Imperial Palace and also many high level dignitaries. I would speculate that this contributed to his notable skill and his ability to deal with opponents utilising the Tai Chi skills of a ‘soft front and a strong back’, often referred to as ‘a sharp needle, or iron bar wrapped in soft cotton’. He needed to be effective but retain a dignified approach, negating an opponent’s force with a blend of skill … Continue reading Yang Family (Yeung Gar) Tai Chi Chuan

ArticlesLeave a comment

You’re Enchanted!

Steve Rowe

You’re living inside a witches ‘glamour’ spell. You’re enchanted. Put inside a meat vehicle and subject to the spell’s glamour, you think that life is precious, you think it’s full of love, joy and happiness, not realising that your body is gradually rotting, will get sick and die and you will not be able recognise those glamours without an equal amount of anxiety, anger, unhappiness and pain. How do you deal with this? Life is movement, so sit still, breathe deep and you can get outside the spell, you can see the illusion and when seen, the glamour disappears… Continue reading You’re Enchanted!

ArticlesLeave a comment

Seated Meditation

Steve Rowe

Find a kitchen chair or something similar (as in the photo) to sit on. Breathe in by expanding the lower abdomen and back, then opening the ribs, stretching (but not stiffening) upwards through the crown of the head with the entire body, opening and filling with energy all the spaces and cavities, including joints and all tissue. When the breath in is complete wait to allow all the energy to finish rising until you would have to stop yourself from breathing out before placing the tongue to the top palette and releasing the breath, and energy, softening down, draining the … Continue reading Seated Meditation

Articles, PoemsLeave a comment

What Are Immortals?

Steve Rowe

What Are Immortals?Immortals are not humans that live forever.They are humans that have discovered their consciousness.They are ‘stream enterers’.Immersed in universal consciousness.Knowing what they were before they were born.What they will still be after ‘death’.What gives their body life.What is looking out of their eyes.Listening through their ears.Smelling through their nose.Tasting with their tongue.Understanding that they are an aperture.Through which the universe experiences itself.From a sea of consciousness.That has no beginning or end.From which everything rises and falls like waves.Where the shape changes but not the form.We are all immortal.If only we knew it. Continue reading What Are Immortals?