Ursi's Eso Garden

It might be good to clarify a few common misunderstandings about meditation right off the bat. First, meditation is best thought of as a way of being, rather than a technique or a collection of techniques.

I'll say it again.
Meditation is a way of being, not a technique.

Why Stretch? Stretching is a natural, relaxer that can provide relief from everyday muscle tension and stiffness. It is not only pleasurable, it can alleviate pain and potentially reduce the chance of injury. Good flexibility is crucial for proper posture. Stretching helps produce and keep lubricants between the connective tissue fibers, making one more flexible.

The photographs and information in this article reflect the work of Masaru Emoto, a creative and visionary Japanese researcher Mr. Emoto has published an important book, "The Message from Water" from the findings of his worldwide research If you have any doubt that your thoughts affect everything in, and around you, the information and photographs that are presented here, taken from the book of his published results, will change your mind and alter your beliefs, profoundly.

Miraculous Messages from Water
1 Article and 2 Interviews by Life Enthusiast. (English)

Water that have been exposed to the words "you make me sick. I will kill you"

The following site offers a presentation of 20 stunning photos from Emoto's book (click the pictures for larger vies, you can also select "full screen" via F11).

I impressed by the exquisite beauty of a water crystal from Lourdes. In contrast, there's a crystal taken from water exposed to Heavy Metal Music. Finally water from a lake at Fujiwara Dam before offering a prayer, and then, amazingly, after prayers by a Buddhist monk.

Crystal of water that have been exposed with a playing of Kawachi Folk Dance Song.

... Today, with clean water piped directly into our homes and largely taken for granted, it takes a leap of imagination to consider the greater importance of water to those who fetched it daily from the riverside or village well. Deeply dependent on the local water source for their crops and animals, our ancestors had a natural reverence for those places where good, pure water emerged like magic from the depths of the earth. As a result, water has played a role in myth, folklore and sacred rites in cultures all around the globe — particularly in arid lands where the gift of water is most precious ...

Sacred Springs and Other Water Lore by Terri Windling. (English)

"Troll Witch II" by Brian Froud

Stones are memories. They are the bones of the land, the anchors of myth. They may delineate boundaries; may be fashioned into fetishes, objects of power; or may be carried as reminders of where we have been, protecting us upon our travels. Stones may also be signposts, markers on the land where we perceive enduring emblems of the ancient world. Hundreds, even thousands of years later, we can still see the same surface of the stone that the ancient people saw. Signs left on these stones appear as if they were carved only yesterday, even though a thousand years have flown their shadows across the surface of the rock. Through stones and the signs made upon them, the past speaks and reaches out to us.

In the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn one was expected to copy one's own tarot deck from a master copy and to color it; however, in only a few contemporary orders, such the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA), are students expected to even color their own decks. Although I enjoy and respect many commercial tarot decks, I believe that at some point each serious student should design his or her own deck embodying their understanding of the Arcana. Indeed, as one's understanding evolves over a lifetime, it's not unreasonable to expect to design and construct several decks. On the basis of these beliefs I started work on the Pythagorean Tarot.

Falun Gong (法輪功 — literally Practice of the Wheel of Law) is a controversial Chinese spiritual movement which was introduced in 1992 by Li Hongzhi. Central to Falun Gong are five sets of exercises (four standing, and one sitting) that involve meditation and are said to help in the purification of the mind and the body. Many teachings are similar to those in Buddhism and Taoism — though it adds a conservative morality and several New Age and apocalyptic beliefs. Also known as Falun Dafa, the practice has grown swiftly in popularity around the world.

The government of the People's Republic of China began a nation-wide suppression of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. Concerns were triggered by how quickly practitioners gathered in large demonstrations, as well as reports that significant numbers of Chinese officials (including military and police personnel) were practicing the religion.)

Falun Gong (法轮功, auch 法轮大法 Falun Dafa) ist eine aus China stammende neue religiöse Bewegung auf der Basis von Qi Gong.
Der Name 'Falun Gong' setzt sich aus 'Falun' (= 'Rad des Gesetzes') und 'Qigong' (traditionelle chinesische Übungen zur Kultivierung von Körper und Geist) zusammen. Li Hongzhi gilt als der Gründer von Falun Gong, er stellte 1992 die Technik der Öffentlichkeit vor. Seiner Aussage nach existierte die Technik bereits lange zuvor. Sie hieß damals Falun Xiulian Dafa und wurde nur von Meister zu Schüler weitergegeben.
Es werden im Rahmen von Falun Gong fünf Qigong-Übungen praktiziert, vier davon werden im Stehen und eine Übung im Lotus-Sitz als Meditation ausgeführt.

Eine gute Übersicht gibt es in der Wikipedia. (German)

Falun Gong wurde im Westen hauptsächlich durch das Verbot 1999 in China und die darauffolgende staatliche Verfolgung bekannt. Seither ist Falun Gong im Rahmen allgemeiner Verfolgung religiöser Gruppen verboten. Falun-Gong-Anhänger leiden in China unter massiven Repressionen. Im Zuge der Verfolgung wirkt die chinesische Regierung mit Propaganda auf die Bevölkerung ein, um die Bewegung als gefährlich darzustellen. Medien, die Falun Gong nicht als Sekte darstellen, werden in China vom Staat unterdrückt. Dagegen ist die Verfolgung Falun Gongs in der chinesischen Bevölkerung weitgehend unbekannt oder wird verharmlost. Millionen Kopien der Bücher, Videos und Tonträger der Bewegung wurden öffentlich verbrannt.

Designed to show the whole year in one go and tilted slighty to put the shortest day at the top and the longest at the bottom. With 365 days there's just enough space to write short notes on each day, but plenty of room provided around the inside and outside for scribbling and sticking.
Just like last year you can download the posters and print them out (at work) yourself.

2006 Lunar Wheel Calendar

For Free!

"My art is a blend of the visionary and realism. Symbolically spiritual, connecting with the Earthly realms. I specialize in totem symbols and straight wildlife art. I trust you will enjoy what I have to offer!"

Windwolf Studio: The Art of Sandra SanTara

Headline of the week!

All of literature and media is but an extension of the more basic urge to tell a good story. The advantage of storytelling, though, is that you do it in person - right there, right in front of people, so you get to see, hear, and feel their reactions. Unlike books and television, storytelling is much more interactive and personal. You don't do it alone, unless you're quite psychotic.... but that's another story.

The Kagyu Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism traces its origins to Shakyamuni Buddha through Marpa the Great Translator, who three times traveled to India to bring back authentic Buddhist teachings to Tibet. His teacher, Naropa, received the lineage transmission from Tilopa and so on, back to the Buddha himself.

The Kagyu Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, one of the four major schools of Buddhism preserved and practiced in Tibet. The term Karma Triyana Dharmachakra is from the Sanskrit and translates loosely as "the place under the spiritual guidance and protection of His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa (Karma) where all three (Tri) levels (yana) of the Buddha's teachings (Dharma) are preserved and taught (chakra)."

Naropa / 1916 - 1100

• Weather Wars: John Kettler investigates to see if secret technologies are aggravating nature.

• The Legend of Markawasi: Robert Schoch explores one of Peru's greatest mysteries.

• Metal From the Fires of the Gods: Will Hart asks who taught its secrets to our ancestors?

• Underwater Bases and Alien Technology: David H. Childress on the real story behind the Hollywood fantasy.
• San Francisco's Pyramid Saga: Stephen O'Rourke with the history of a secret masonic agenda.

In fact, the earliest known representation of the trinity is in a french cave at Angles-sur-l'Anglin - 3 Goddesses (each with prominent pubic triangles) carved in rock about 15,000 years ago.

Three seems to have a special significance, not only in the depths of the human psyche, but in the exterior cosmos as well. Three is the totality of time (past, present, and future) and the totality of space (length, width, and height). It is the domains above, the domains below, and the world in between. It is the Macrocosm of the incomprehensibly big, the Microcosm of the impenetrably small, and the Mesocosm of our everyday experience. But this painting is not about the trinity ...

Forest Mist -- Click it for a larger view