Tag Archives: Gift

Where there is Will

Gift, Kidney, Low back pain, Meditation, Spirit, Water Element, , , , ,
When intent becomes permanent, we speak of Will. (Neijing)

As we traverse the last weeks of winter, let’s examine again the spirit of Water, Zhi, which is often translated as Will.

Weight lifterSeveral years ago I became quite ill and began working with a naturopath. She prescribed an apothecary of supplements for physical purification and strongly recommended a Vipassana retreat for spiritual purification.

For those who don’t know about Vipassana retreats, they are the black belt, hard-core, take-no-prisoners style of meditation retreats. For 10 days you don’t speak, don’t look anyone in the eye, eat only two meals a day, get up at 4 am and go to bed after 9, meditate for 10 hours a day, often without moving a muscle for an hour at a time. What is more, I did my retreat at the winter solstice in Melbourne where the temperature fell below freezing at night.

I thought at the time that this was the hardest thing I’d ever done. It required tremendous willpower and effort to stay the course and not leave after even the first day. Every day, every hour, required me to continually rededicate myself to the practice.

When I was released from prison on the tenth day, I felt a tremendous sense of freedom and great satisfaction at having stayed the course. Unexpectedly, I found that I had much more will. I found I could sit at my desk and write for hours without the usual restlessness. I was able to complete tasks that I would normally put off or do in stages. Somatically, I felt a weighty presence in my belly centre, a bowling ball of will that kept me centred and stable.

These qualities of determination, steadfastness, resilience and power were developed by the initial application of effort, but after a time, the effort was transformed into will. Willpower became true will. Like bending your back to crank the engine until it sparks into life and runs on its own.

These are all resonances of the Water Element, the gifts of Zhi. Here are some suggestions for cultivating Zhi:

  • Do something you’ve never done before
  • Do something for five minutes longer when you’d rather stop
  • Do something very slowly
  • Do something no one would expect you to do
  • Postpone an action you want to do
  • Do something now that you’d prefer to postpone
  • Do a practice every day for a month

For some support in your cultivation of will, hold the acupoint Bladder 52- Zhishi– Residence of the Will which we’ve looked at previously. This point promotes endurance, helps to resolve fear (the emotion of Water), strengthens will, and restores essence (jing). For those who are driven, it softens hard willpower and supports true will.

Ultimately, true will is the will of true nature. As we align our personal will with the will of the universe, all efforting drops away and doing simply happens.

Location of Bladder 52

2.20

 

On the back at the level of the junction of the 2nd and 3rd lumbar vertebrae and 3 cun (four fingers width) lateral to the spine. It is approximately at the same level as the navel.

Deep Water – The Midwinter Solstice

Meditation, Water Element, Winter Solstice, Yin, ,

deep waterToday marks the Winter Solstice in the southern hemisphere. It is the shortest day of the year; how short depends on how far you are from the Equator. Where I live near Adelaide there are 9 hours 48 minutes of daylight and 14 hours 12 minutes of darkness. From tomorrow the days begin to get longer and the nights shorter.

In the northern hemisphere, the Winter Solstice coincides with the celebration of Christmas which became conflated with previous pagan festivals that commemorated the depths of winter. Ancient stone circles such as Stonehenge were aligned to mark the winter and summer solstices, indicating the profound significance of these days. And in the Scandinavian and Germanic cultures the midwinter festival of Yule honoured the gods in order to protect the people from starvation through the depth of winter to come.

These days there are few at risk of starvation, but the observance of the deep winter continues strongly in the northern hemisphere where Christmastide contains within it the Yuletide of old. There is a celebration of the light within the darkness in the Yule log and  Christmas tree lights. There is an echo of the winter slaughter of animals and brewing of ale in the form of Christmas feasting. And there is the tribute to the power of the tribe in the gathering of friends and family on Christmas Day.

Yet here in the Australia, we are bereft of a celebration of winter. Our Christmas Day comes at the opposite end of the year, when the days are long and the temperatures high. How can we celebrate the depth of winter? Some people have inaugurated their own ‘Christmas in July’ as a way of reconnecting to this winter spirit.

In the Five Element model, the Winter Solstice is the seasonal manifestation of the Water Element. Water represents the deepest yin: dark, cold, moist, withdrawing, self-reflective. If we can align ourselves with these qualities at this time of year, we connect with the power of yin. The more we can go to these deep places within, the more we have access the gifts of Water: Knowing, Potential, Power, Stillness, Trust, Wisdom and Will.

Our culture is not very supportive of yin. And here in the southern hemisphere we don’t have a festival to celebrate the aspects of yin. So we need to create or own personal commemoration of the Winter Solstice. Over the next days, I invite you to spend more time resting, meditating, contemplating. Sit quietly by the fire; light the  room with candles; take solitary walks in nature; tuck up in bed early. Plumb the depths of your own Water within. Cultivating your yin qualities at this time of year will provide you with the resources and the resilience to sustain you through the yang half of the year which begins in spring.

winter solstice