#kam

Realizing that our minds control our bodies while our bodies reflect our minds amounts to understanding the most fundamental aspects of ourselves. It further equals a comprehension of the relationship between our “tools.” And since the mind and body are interrelated, this understanding makes it easier to see why coordinating them is a practical way of using these tools to greatest effect—a way of using the mind and body to live our lives as art. ↗

— H.E. Davey

#body #coordination-of-mind-and-body #ki #living #meditation

I think that my job is to observe people and the world, and not to judge them. I always hope to position myself away from so-called conclusions. I would like to leave everything wide open to all the possibilities in the world. ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#interview #job #judgement #observation #paris-review

Hey, what is it with you? Why are you so spaced out? You still haven't answered me." I probably still haven't completely adapted to the world," I said after giving it some thought. "I don't know, I feel like this isn't the real world. The people, the scene: they just don't seem real to me." Midori rested an elbow on the bar and looked at me. "There was something like that in a Jim Morrison song, I'm pretty sure." People are strange when you're a stranger. ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#norwegian-wood #space

Each action we take is an act of self-expression. We often think of large-scale or important deeds as being indications of our real selves, but even how we sharpen a pencil can reveal something about our feelings at that moment. Do we sharpen the pencil carefully or nervously so that it doesn’t break? Do we bother to pay attention to what we’re doing? How do we sharpen the same pencil when we’re angry or in a hurry? Is it the same as when we’re calm or unhurried? Even the smallest movement discloses something about the person executing the action because it is the person who’s actually performing the deed. In other words, action doesn’t happen by itself, we make it happen, and in doing so we leave traces of ourselves on the activity. The mind and body are interrelated. ↗

— H.E. Davey

#ki #meditation #mind #mind-and-body-unification #nakamura-tempu

Unity! Duty! And destiny! ↗

— Greg Farshtey

#destiny #duty #unity #vakama #unity

I'd be smiling and chatting away, and my mind would be floating around somewhere else, like a balloon with a broken string. ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#haruki-murakami #may-kasahara #the-wind-up-bird-chronicle #birds

Every once in a while she'll get worked up and cry like that. But that's ok. She's letting her feelings out. The scary thing is not being able to do that. Then your feelings build up and harden and die inside. That's when you're in big trouble. ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#japan #murakami #norwegian-wook #japan

In Japan, a number of time-honored everyday activities (such as making tea, arranging flowers, and writing) have traditionally been deeply examined by their proponents. Students study how to make tea, perform martial arts, or write with a brush in the most skillful way possible to express themselves with maximum efficiency and minimum strain. Through this efficient, adroit, and creative performance, they arrive at art. But if they continue to delve even more deeply into their art, they discover principles that are truly universal, principles relating to life itself. Then, the art of brush writing becomes shodo—the “Way of the brush”—while the art of arranging flowers is elevated to the status of kado—the “Way of flowers.” Through these Ways or Do forms, the Japanese have sought to realize the Way of living itself. They have approached the universal through the particular. ↗

— H.E. Davey

#budo #do #efficiency #flowers #ikebana

Le persone che si lasciano incantare, che seguono in massa qualcuno che non produce niente, non capisce niente, ma parla bene in maniera persuasiva. A queste persone non passa neanche per l’anticamera del cervello che potrebbero sbagliarsi. Non riescono neanche a immaginare che possono ferire qualcuno irreparabilmente, senza motivo. Non si assumono la minima responsabilità degli effetti della loro condotta. Sono loro, quelli di cui ho paura. Sono loro quelli che vedo in sogno. Nel sogno tutto tace, e mi appaiono delle persone senza volto. Il silenzio si infiltra ovunque come acqua fredda, e in quel silenzio, tutto si scioglie. ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#japanese-literature #murakami #japan

I had discovered that learning something, no matter how complex, wasn't hard when I had a reason to want to know it. ↗

— Homer Hickam

#curiosity #determination #homer-hickam #learning #october-sky