Friday, October 22, 2010

Myanmar Update

In Yangon, Myanmar at present. Myanmar is a land of monks and potholes. The potholes in the roads are winning. I suppose its the perpetual rain at present and more to come as a low pressure system moves into the Bay of Bengal. I hope it doesn't dump too much rain onto the lower Irrawaddy Delta because (from the air) its in full flush with a great rice crop in the making.

I guess I'm only human and presently have a persistent stomach bug which has taken home somewhere in my intestine tract. I wish it would take its leave from my previously balanced (Chi tuned) body.

Of concern was postponement of travel plans to visit Myauk-U and its temples. The tropical low hopefully will abate and I'll return in two weeks time and try again. I had a feeling the temples and their landscapes would connect with me in a spiritual sense and satisfy the quest of my journey. I think we all have a spirit out there somewhere waiting for us to recognise and connect with it. Many find their spirits through the Church, Synagogue or Temple. Although some of us don't take that pathway and try to find a spiritual connection elsewhere. Its a personal thing and part of our inner self wanting to come out.

Myself, I'm on a spiritual journey in the looking of my inner self and feel my spirit lies with nature and surroundings free from human change and dominance. Those temples in Myauk-U could have met my dream. Although Bagan is coming up (next week or so) and for many its splendour is very spiritual and to some a home of the spirits. Mankind at peace with nature and harmony transcending over the landscape.

We'll see what occurs over the next 2 weeks.

Keep well, Ross

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Sustainable Feng Shui


Jannette Tibbs and myself have finally got Sustainable Feng Shui Gardening into a draft stage for reviewing. I found the book thought provoking as I sought new ideas and applications for the garden.

Feng Shui definitely has a place for those wanting to practice sustainable gardening. By balancing Yin and Yang and encouraging Chi to remain healthy and abundant, the garden basically practices its own form of sustainability. Recognising Sha Chi and getting the gardens five-element balance right also assist.

Of interest were my findings in the Personal Garden section. (I split the book into a discussion of four gardens – Feng Shui, Energy, Natural and Personal). One of the findings suggested sustainability within us is as important as sustainability in our surroundings. If we get our body and mind balanced in its Chi, we’re practicing sustainability.

I was drawn to the relevance of personal sustainability while visiting the garden of a friend last weekend. This garden is over 2 hectare or five acres and cared for by a full time gardener, the garden in its spring flush with Chi flow stimulated and abundant and our connection to it very stimulating to our mind and soul.

Discussing Fingers of Energy (my next Ebook) I mentioned we couldn’t really connect and enjoy our surroundings unless we felt harmonious. I recalled my Yin hand energies and its five fingers suggesting our body balanced in its rhythm and flow; mind being clean and free; spirituality and its two words of love and peace; relationships and the two words of humour and contentment and finally; the last finger (five on each hand) knowledge and its two – tolerance and fulfilment. Not a bad package at all to call upon and keep ourself in harmony. Sustainability comes along for the ride.

Geeing up the mind for the O/S trip of Borneo, Burma and Bali (the 3 B’s), I thought about themes and ideas including the notion all things have energy and through our Zen (for a better word), they have a spirit. Wow, interesting stuff and not a bad idea to work with and hopefully coming away from the trip with some resolutions to that notion and others.

I hope to discuss and identify the difference between Chi energy and spiritual energy and ask a lot of questions to myself and of the reader when ‘’Spirit of a Place’’ comes into reality. I hope I tread new ground.

Keep well, Ross

Saturday, October 2, 2010

No.3 Lorikeet is now behind me...


Sorry about the delay in getting an updated blog prepared. Number 3 Lorikeet Lane (a relocatable home I have purchased and doing up) has been a drain on time and energy, but now ready for occupation. I hope to sell my own and move across to it sometime later in the year.

I’ve completed two articles on Number 3 and its gardens. Of interest is the technique I used in laying out a design theme for the garden. I call it ‘’Gardening on the Curve’’ and basically ensuring whatever was introduced was fitting into a curved pattern of arrangement. No straight lines and set out to stimulate Chi but still encourage its presence (Chi likes to meander and not be rushed). There are some photos accompanying the articles to explain something of curves.

The garden is in its Yang phase at present (as are some bare and new constructed gardens), still disjointed and unsettled, but Yin has been shown through the entry, likes what it sees and is taking residence. Yin will quickly influence and convert the garden into something of its naturalness (Wood, Water and Earth elements) expressed in the green and meandering curve of lawns and garden beds taking hold, giving me the opportunity later on to introduce some Yang elements such as figurines or such, an urn and statue of a Buddha image carefully sited somewhere to show off the garden’s peacefulness and harmony. These will stimulate the Chi and enhance the gardens overall appearance. I’ll wait until I return from another trip away before introducing these elements.

Suggesting I leave for the three ‘’B’s’’ of Borneo, Burma (Myanmar) and Bali on October 15th for five weeks. My journey is to find and connect with places and hopefully become entranced in the imagery of a place to put pen to paper and write about the ‘’Spirits of a Place’’. This will form another publication and it’s going to be a beauty and in part exploring the role of Chi in our surroundings and influences of Yin and Yang. I believe all things have a spirit and it’s their collective energy which makes up the spirit of a place. As to how they fit I’m not too sure but the site and their spirits will let me know. I’ll be treading new ground with some ideas, so in time it will be out there for others to read and I hope enjoy.

The publication ‘’Sustainable Feng Shui Gardening’’ has reached a final draft form and over the next week or two I’ll arrange with Jannette Tibbs to install photos and a number of diagrams to illustrate some of the ideas. It turned out to be a beauty and broke new ground and ideas for recognising and practicing sustainability. Feng Shui enthusiasts already understand the influence Chi flow and Yin and Yang balance have on sustainability so I’m testing it with other approaches in the garden. I’ve split the book into four garden approaches (Feng Shui, Energy, Natural and Personal) and each has an important role to play in sustainability. I hope a publisher finds and makes something out of it so it’s not lost out there in the void of the internet.
’Fingers of Energy’’ and ‘’Me, Chi and Harmony’’ are likely to be added to the website while I’m away and hopefully these two broaden the scope of the website and offer something deeper in the way I see things.
 
I’ll run an update to my blog when I’m away as much as possible. I don’t have a laptop or one of those fancy phones which can connect anyone to anyone and have to rely like many backpackers on an internet cafe. Doing emails in Myanmar maybe difficult because the elections are underway and the Government becomes sensitive to what is potential expressed. To myself I keep away from that stuff and concentrate on the marvels of Burma’s lost cities and the mighty Irrawaddy River.

Finally, in early 2011, I’m going to prepare 2/3 DVD’s on Harmonious Chi Gardening to explain the text more openly and introduce some new ideas and techniques in gardening for enhanced and sustained Chi flow, harmony still treasured and waiting there for us to meet with it and that of nature. If you know of anyone who lives in the SE Queensland or Northern New South Wales and is good at working a video recorder, let me know.

Keep well, 

Ross