Had to go into the City yesterday morning instead of my usual work.  Traffic, traffic.  All the crazy drivers… me too.  Car-crazy America.  A model for the world.  But driving has its pleasures.

Just sitting in a cushy seat, looking out at the world going by.  And there’s always a chance to practice something.  Like remembering stillness.  A little kernel of it, anyway.  So I did and I noticed that reactions that arise out of stillness are different than reactions that arise out of not-still.

Sitting still, standing still.  What do we mean by that, it seems redundant.  But no… it’s better to sit or stand well, without fidgeting.  Without wishing to be someplace else.  If you wish to be someplace else, then go.  But you can’t go and stay at the exact same time.  Not even in taiji…             :)

Have you ever rung a bell or a gong and then struck it again too soon?  The sound is different, not round and full.  Attenuated.  You don’t want to ring out when you’re already ringing.

As an amateur musician I know a trick for this.  Whether drum, cymbal, or string, sometimes you need to stop the ring.  Or things will get sloppy.  So you touch the sucker in an adroit way to instantly quiet it.  Then you’re ready for what’s about to happen.