About Zero Parallax
When you look at an old fashioned clock, the kind with a round face and a minute hand, an hour hand and a second hand, then depending on where you are standing you can see a different view of the time. Standing straight in front of the clock the time might look to be 12:00 but stand slightly to the side and the clock looks like it is saying 12:03.
Depending on what you need to do at the time that difference can be an important difference or it may not matter at all-“It’s around 12 o’clock!”
When we look at the clock straight on we get an unimpeded view of the truth. The clock is showing 12:00. When we look at it from the side it looks like it is showing 12:03, (or from the other side 11:57) Viewing error like this is called parallax. When we stand straight in front of the clock we “Zero Parallax.”
But there is another way we can Zero Parallax. If we are standing at the side and we are aware of our relationship then we can take this into account. Looking at the clock it might look like it is saying 11:57 but taking into account our position we guess that it is saying 11:59 or maybe even 12:00. And so we can help to zero parallax by understanding where we are in relationship to the clock.
If we are standing straight in front of the clock we get a single view of the clock. It is not the only view and while for telling the time it may be the best view but it doesn’t mean that the other views or positions are any less valuable. Looking at the clock from the side we can see that the hands stand proud of the face and so we understand that depending on where we stand we all have a different view of the truth. And so Zero Parallax is understanding that no view is “wrong” it is just a different view and when we can see from all points of view, that is when we can maximize our understanding. We can understand that for the best view of the time we stand straight in front of the clock. We understand that by standing at the side we can see how each hand is at a slightly different distance from the face of the clock. If we have a cutaway view clock we can actually see the gears of the clock from the side if the clock actually does have gears and isn’t driven by an electric motor.
So really zero parallax is understanding both how we relate to an object and how the parts of the object relate to each other and how other people relate to that object. How is this beneficial? What are the advantages of seeing from all points of view?
For a long time two different parties debated over whether light was more like a particle of more like a wave. There was experimental evidence to support both points of view. But both parties thought that light had to be either one or the other. With the advent of quantum mechanics it was realized that both views were right, that light is both a particle and a wave, it depends under which circumstances you view it. And this model applied to not just light but all sub atomic particles. This new understanding is responsible for the state of digital electronics today. Without this understanding we may not have the computers we have now.
And so understanding different points of view and how they are both views of the same thing gives us more possibility as opposed to less. It gives us more choices on how to do things and how to view things. It opens us up to the world of possibility and understanding.
And so zero parallax, this website, is geared towards providing you tools so that you can see both yourself and the world around you more clearly and so that you can choose from a greater space of possibility. It is understanding that we all have a different view of all that is, and that perhaps that is why we are here, experiencing life, so that all that is can know itself by us experiencing life to the greatest extent possible, by realizing our greatest and best possibility.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Realizing Where We are
REALIZING WHERE WE ARE
1.1 After taking a career course I had some rough ideas on what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to lead people, inspire them, cheer them on and I wanted to express myself. I wanted to be able to use my mind to see solutions. And I wanted to grow and at the same time stay young. The biggest and most important thing to me seemed to be working with my body but at that time I wasn’t sure in what context. So I focused on the other things that I thought I might like to do.
1.2 I looked into management at the company I was with. I thought that maybe I would like to get into management. I also started to take acting lessons to see if that was something that I would like. I was dimply aware that I wanted to work with the body but I wasn’t sure in what context.
1.3 Thinking that I wanted to be famous actor, I quit my engineering job fully believing I was going to be discovered and taken to Hollywood. Somehow, that didn’t quite happen. Instead I started to teach more and more yoga, which was good because my retirement savings were running out. Meanwhile I still thought that I wanted to act. Actually what I wanted to be was famous and I though acting was a pathway towards that. But then I realized that what I really wanted was a job that made me happy.
1.4 I continued to teach yoga but even after a few years I still didn’t think of myself as a teacher. When I met other teachers, especially famous or well known ones, I didn’t like telling them I was a teacher because I’d never been to India to study with a Guru, I’d never been given approval and I’d learned from a book. But I was teaching, and I was helping people and eventually I realized that the only person who really needed to approve of me as a teacher was myself.
1.5 Of course the irony of it all is that when I’d taken the career course I knew that I wanted to work with my body in some way. I just didn’t realize that teaching yoga I was doing exactly that. And even when a roommate commented that I appeared to like teaching yoga better than I did doing acting it still didn’t click.
1.6 I realize now that sometimes we have what we want, we just don’t realize it, as if clarity applies to not only knowing what we want but also recognizing it when we have it.
1.7 It reminds me of what happened to me in university once when I got one of my math tests back. I’d solved one of the problems correctly but didn’t realize it and crossed out my answer. The Teaching assistant who marked it gave me a perfect mark because I did know how to solve the problem even though I had crossed it out.
1.8 In acting, knowing what we wanted in a scene, that want pulled us along, we didn’t have to think, we just had to let go and let our desire pull us. And I believe that is what happens when we know what we want in life, once we recognize that idea, it pulls us towards itself even when we forget what the idea is.
1.9 Maybe that’s a little like Love. Love pulling us towards the things we love even if we don’t know it or realize what it is that we love (or whom).
1.1 After taking a career course I had some rough ideas on what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to lead people, inspire them, cheer them on and I wanted to express myself. I wanted to be able to use my mind to see solutions. And I wanted to grow and at the same time stay young. The biggest and most important thing to me seemed to be working with my body but at that time I wasn’t sure in what context. So I focused on the other things that I thought I might like to do.
1.2 I looked into management at the company I was with. I thought that maybe I would like to get into management. I also started to take acting lessons to see if that was something that I would like. I was dimply aware that I wanted to work with the body but I wasn’t sure in what context.
1.3 Thinking that I wanted to be famous actor, I quit my engineering job fully believing I was going to be discovered and taken to Hollywood. Somehow, that didn’t quite happen. Instead I started to teach more and more yoga, which was good because my retirement savings were running out. Meanwhile I still thought that I wanted to act. Actually what I wanted to be was famous and I though acting was a pathway towards that. But then I realized that what I really wanted was a job that made me happy.
1.4 I continued to teach yoga but even after a few years I still didn’t think of myself as a teacher. When I met other teachers, especially famous or well known ones, I didn’t like telling them I was a teacher because I’d never been to India to study with a Guru, I’d never been given approval and I’d learned from a book. But I was teaching, and I was helping people and eventually I realized that the only person who really needed to approve of me as a teacher was myself.
1.5 Of course the irony of it all is that when I’d taken the career course I knew that I wanted to work with my body in some way. I just didn’t realize that teaching yoga I was doing exactly that. And even when a roommate commented that I appeared to like teaching yoga better than I did doing acting it still didn’t click.
1.6 I realize now that sometimes we have what we want, we just don’t realize it, as if clarity applies to not only knowing what we want but also recognizing it when we have it.
1.7 It reminds me of what happened to me in university once when I got one of my math tests back. I’d solved one of the problems correctly but didn’t realize it and crossed out my answer. The Teaching assistant who marked it gave me a perfect mark because I did know how to solve the problem even though I had crossed it out.
1.8 In acting, knowing what we wanted in a scene, that want pulled us along, we didn’t have to think, we just had to let go and let our desire pull us. And I believe that is what happens when we know what we want in life, once we recognize that idea, it pulls us towards itself even when we forget what the idea is.
1.9 Maybe that’s a little like Love. Love pulling us towards the things we love even if we don’t know it or realize what it is that we love (or whom).
Scanning so we can see Everything at Once
SCANNING SO WE CAN SEE EVERYTHING AT ONE
1.1 Trying to notice what is around us it’s difficult to notice everything at once. We can learn to see everything at once, but in the beginning it’s helpful to notice one thing at a time and so that we see everything one at a time it’s helpful to scan.
1.2 Scanning, I like to think of radar screens where the beam of light sweeps around in a circle and as it passes over objects those objects get momentarily brighter on the screen then slowly fade till the beam passes over them again. It smoothly scans an area looking at one section while staying aware of the others.
1.3 Scanning our body, we can smoothly move the focus of our awareness from point to point, perhaps from joint to joint, while staying aware of our whole body, what we are doing. Or we can scan the world around us keeping our eyes open but moving the focus of our attention around our field of vision. In either case as we shift our gaze we stay aware of the residual image of what we have just seen, like a blip that slowly fades until it is refreshed again.
1.4 I scan my body when I do yoga (and teach it). If I am doing a pose and I am starting from the ground upwards, I work my awareness upwards from my feet, adjusting my feet, my legs, my hips, spine and then my arms and then my neck, making adjustments, changes to each joint as I go. And then because all of that affects my whole body, I go back to my feet and start again, each time going a little bit deeper, finding my way into the pose.
1.5 I work in synch with my breath so that each inhale I move my awareness upwards or outwards through my body. If I move my awareness slowly I have the opportunity to see more but scanning quickly, I see less, but I also notice changes a lot quicker and so can act on them sooner.
1.6 Feeling our body one section at a time we can take action, adjusting each point, each joint so it is balanced. However, when we change one joint we affect all of the others. It’s one of the challenges of yoga (of life). Every time we change one aspect of a pose, it affects everything else. And so scanning, we can see how one change affects the whole body.
1.7 Scanning our body while doing yoga, we can learn to feel our entire body and adjust it, without missing anything. Eventually, we learn to feel our entire body at once, in a single sweep as it were.
1.8 And likewise driving, we learn to open our eyes in such a way that we see everything at once. We may need to turn our head from time to time, but as we do we keep our eyes wide open seeing as much as we can. It’s like finding the ease in a pose instead of fighting or using strength. In the same way it’s allowing the eyes to see rather than focusing.
1.9 Scanning the pieces, the parts, the relationships, we are training ourselves to notice those things one at a time, then, once we’ve trained ourselves we move on to notice another type of little thing, another detail. Then once we’ve trained ourselves to notice all the little things that matter it is easier to notice in a single glance all the little things at once, and it is easier to notice when one of those things is out of place or different in such a way that it requires more of our attention.
1.10 Eventually when we are able to feel our entire body at once, we can go into the pose instantaneously. Not just bit by bit, but all at once, the whole body unified. It’s like riding a bike and acting as one, turning as one, the bike and our body an extension of one mind. Like a group of skaters all aware of the leader, accelerating as one simultaneously, staying together, working together, one.
1.11 Seeing everything at once, it’s like looking at the center point of a circle and seeing the edge of the circle at the same time.
1.1 Trying to notice what is around us it’s difficult to notice everything at once. We can learn to see everything at once, but in the beginning it’s helpful to notice one thing at a time and so that we see everything one at a time it’s helpful to scan.
1.2 Scanning, I like to think of radar screens where the beam of light sweeps around in a circle and as it passes over objects those objects get momentarily brighter on the screen then slowly fade till the beam passes over them again. It smoothly scans an area looking at one section while staying aware of the others.
1.3 Scanning our body, we can smoothly move the focus of our awareness from point to point, perhaps from joint to joint, while staying aware of our whole body, what we are doing. Or we can scan the world around us keeping our eyes open but moving the focus of our attention around our field of vision. In either case as we shift our gaze we stay aware of the residual image of what we have just seen, like a blip that slowly fades until it is refreshed again.
1.4 I scan my body when I do yoga (and teach it). If I am doing a pose and I am starting from the ground upwards, I work my awareness upwards from my feet, adjusting my feet, my legs, my hips, spine and then my arms and then my neck, making adjustments, changes to each joint as I go. And then because all of that affects my whole body, I go back to my feet and start again, each time going a little bit deeper, finding my way into the pose.
1.5 I work in synch with my breath so that each inhale I move my awareness upwards or outwards through my body. If I move my awareness slowly I have the opportunity to see more but scanning quickly, I see less, but I also notice changes a lot quicker and so can act on them sooner.
1.6 Feeling our body one section at a time we can take action, adjusting each point, each joint so it is balanced. However, when we change one joint we affect all of the others. It’s one of the challenges of yoga (of life). Every time we change one aspect of a pose, it affects everything else. And so scanning, we can see how one change affects the whole body.
1.7 Scanning our body while doing yoga, we can learn to feel our entire body and adjust it, without missing anything. Eventually, we learn to feel our entire body at once, in a single sweep as it were.
1.8 And likewise driving, we learn to open our eyes in such a way that we see everything at once. We may need to turn our head from time to time, but as we do we keep our eyes wide open seeing as much as we can. It’s like finding the ease in a pose instead of fighting or using strength. In the same way it’s allowing the eyes to see rather than focusing.
1.9 Scanning the pieces, the parts, the relationships, we are training ourselves to notice those things one at a time, then, once we’ve trained ourselves we move on to notice another type of little thing, another detail. Then once we’ve trained ourselves to notice all the little things that matter it is easier to notice in a single glance all the little things at once, and it is easier to notice when one of those things is out of place or different in such a way that it requires more of our attention.
1.10 Eventually when we are able to feel our entire body at once, we can go into the pose instantaneously. Not just bit by bit, but all at once, the whole body unified. It’s like riding a bike and acting as one, turning as one, the bike and our body an extension of one mind. Like a group of skaters all aware of the leader, accelerating as one simultaneously, staying together, working together, one.
1.11 Seeing everything at once, it’s like looking at the center point of a circle and seeing the edge of the circle at the same time.
An Idea is a Relationship between Consciousness and Energyo
At the most basic level an idea is a relationship between conscious and energy. Consciousness and energy have many forms so to understand ideas we can look at ideas and choose which aspect of an idea is its “consciousness” part and which part is the “energy.”
Consciousness tends to have the following quantities: mass, form, heaviness, pulls inwards, straight lines, focus, sensitivity/sensing, the ability to sense relationships, limits and limitation, choice, decision, decider, awareness
Energy is light, tends towards formlessness and expansion, curved lines, expression.
When these are looked at as aspects of an idea, they will probably rarely be completely energy or completely consciousness. They will have flavors of both but one will dominate and that dominate feature determines whether it is more consciousness or more energy.
When two people dance together we can label the person leading as the person playing the roll of consciousness because they look around to sense the limits within which they can move on the dance floor. They also sense their partner and where they are (relationship) and they choose at any moment in time the movement they will do next. Meanwhile the follower expresses them. She may have the more complicated footwork. But usually she is the center of attention, what draws the viewer’s eye. But really they are both consciousness and both energy, it’s just at in the context of the bigger idea, one is more conscious and one more energy. In the end they become the dance.
A rider and their motorcycle, the motorcycle can be energy because it is expression guided by the consciousness of the rider. Or together the are expression guided by the limits of the road they are on. Or the bike is consciousness (form) and the gas that fuels it is energy.
So really, consciousness and energy in all of these contexts depends on the way in which we view the idea. They are relative to each other. So how is that useful?
It is a way of looking at ideas that can help us understand them more. Looking at the rider and a bike, because the rider is consciousness, they become the one responsible for making the decisions. Nothing can be the bikes fault, not really, so it is all up to the rider. Dancing, the lead is responsible for making decisions, and choosing where to go, but here it is important to realize that the lady has to be conscious as well. She has to be consciousness enough to realize what the lead is telling her. A bike is limited, there is not choice for it to think by itself but she has that ability and so for two people to dance well together they both have to be consciousness and energy its just that one is a little bit more of one and less of the other.
We all know that now adays light is viewed as both a particle and a wave. In some situations it is a particle and in others it is better viewed as a wave. We could say that the wave aspect is the energy part while the particle aspect is the consciousness part. And that they are both aspects of the same thing. Before this model came about people argued about whether light is a particle or whether it is a wave. Now that we understand light better, that it is both, and that this model also applies to sub-atomic particles, the door has been opened to the world of silicon technology as we know it today. All those fancy cars with the cool lighting affects are possible because scientists realized that light acts as both a particle and a wave, they found a way of modeling light as both.
So why look at an idea as consciousness or energy, why try to understand ideas as having both, because it opens the door to more possibilities. Because the more we understand, the more we can see the more potential we can realize.
And failing that, it’s another way of seeing the world and enjoying it, especially when the two aspects come together.
We become light when we realize that two opposing views are actually different views of the same thing.
Consciousness tends to have the following quantities: mass, form, heaviness, pulls inwards, straight lines, focus, sensitivity/sensing, the ability to sense relationships, limits and limitation, choice, decision, decider, awareness
Energy is light, tends towards formlessness and expansion, curved lines, expression.
When these are looked at as aspects of an idea, they will probably rarely be completely energy or completely consciousness. They will have flavors of both but one will dominate and that dominate feature determines whether it is more consciousness or more energy.
When two people dance together we can label the person leading as the person playing the roll of consciousness because they look around to sense the limits within which they can move on the dance floor. They also sense their partner and where they are (relationship) and they choose at any moment in time the movement they will do next. Meanwhile the follower expresses them. She may have the more complicated footwork. But usually she is the center of attention, what draws the viewer’s eye. But really they are both consciousness and both energy, it’s just at in the context of the bigger idea, one is more conscious and one more energy. In the end they become the dance.
A rider and their motorcycle, the motorcycle can be energy because it is expression guided by the consciousness of the rider. Or together the are expression guided by the limits of the road they are on. Or the bike is consciousness (form) and the gas that fuels it is energy.
So really, consciousness and energy in all of these contexts depends on the way in which we view the idea. They are relative to each other. So how is that useful?
It is a way of looking at ideas that can help us understand them more. Looking at the rider and a bike, because the rider is consciousness, they become the one responsible for making the decisions. Nothing can be the bikes fault, not really, so it is all up to the rider. Dancing, the lead is responsible for making decisions, and choosing where to go, but here it is important to realize that the lady has to be conscious as well. She has to be consciousness enough to realize what the lead is telling her. A bike is limited, there is not choice for it to think by itself but she has that ability and so for two people to dance well together they both have to be consciousness and energy its just that one is a little bit more of one and less of the other.
We all know that now adays light is viewed as both a particle and a wave. In some situations it is a particle and in others it is better viewed as a wave. We could say that the wave aspect is the energy part while the particle aspect is the consciousness part. And that they are both aspects of the same thing. Before this model came about people argued about whether light is a particle or whether it is a wave. Now that we understand light better, that it is both, and that this model also applies to sub-atomic particles, the door has been opened to the world of silicon technology as we know it today. All those fancy cars with the cool lighting affects are possible because scientists realized that light acts as both a particle and a wave, they found a way of modeling light as both.
So why look at an idea as consciousness or energy, why try to understand ideas as having both, because it opens the door to more possibilities. Because the more we understand, the more we can see the more potential we can realize.
And failing that, it’s another way of seeing the world and enjoying it, especially when the two aspects come together.
We become light when we realize that two opposing views are actually different views of the same thing.
Frameworks Guiding Expression
FRAMEWORK FOR EXPRESSION
1.1 A long time ago I took improv lessons as part of my design to become an actor. It was one of the things I enjoyed the most while acting. Like living life but knowing that it was all a game at the same time.
1.2 We were given some guidelines for our skits as the do in the show “Whose Line is it Anyway.” In one scenario three of us would do a scene together, and we would come in one at a time. The first person was given a basic setting, the kitchen. He started of tidying up or making breakfast. Then the second person enters with a given agenda, then the third person, me.
1.3 As first one actor and then the other set the scene I wondered what I was going to do. The minute I stepped on stage I knew what to do by seeing what was around me.
1.4 Luigi’s character sarcastically mentioned me and my whole grain bread. I sidestepped and mentioned the girl I’d met last night who given me her phone number. But Doug had thrown it out, and the garbage truck had already been by and picked up the garbage and we carried on from there.
1.5 “Why did you throw it out?”
1.6 “Because I felt like it...”
1.7 Once we were in the scene it carried us. And we expressed it, simply from being given a few simple instructions, frameworks within which to express ourselves. In this case the framework was quite open. A kitchen. It didn’t say what kind of kitchen. And oh, we were housemates, that was the assumption. And I was looking for something, a girl’s phone number. It was enough to give us room to express ourselves.
1.8 Because we were given a setting and a set of relationships we had a framework within which to express ourselves. We were all relating or creating relationships with each other. Each of us an idea connecting to other ideas in different ways, three housemates arguing over a lost phone number and a loaf of whole grain bread. When each of us understood the ideas that we were portraying and the relationships between them, when we understood the limits within which we were working, then we were free to express ourselves within them.
1.9 Frameworks, guiding expression.
1.1 A long time ago I took improv lessons as part of my design to become an actor. It was one of the things I enjoyed the most while acting. Like living life but knowing that it was all a game at the same time.
1.2 We were given some guidelines for our skits as the do in the show “Whose Line is it Anyway.” In one scenario three of us would do a scene together, and we would come in one at a time. The first person was given a basic setting, the kitchen. He started of tidying up or making breakfast. Then the second person enters with a given agenda, then the third person, me.
1.3 As first one actor and then the other set the scene I wondered what I was going to do. The minute I stepped on stage I knew what to do by seeing what was around me.
1.4 Luigi’s character sarcastically mentioned me and my whole grain bread. I sidestepped and mentioned the girl I’d met last night who given me her phone number. But Doug had thrown it out, and the garbage truck had already been by and picked up the garbage and we carried on from there.
1.5 “Why did you throw it out?”
1.6 “Because I felt like it...”
1.7 Once we were in the scene it carried us. And we expressed it, simply from being given a few simple instructions, frameworks within which to express ourselves. In this case the framework was quite open. A kitchen. It didn’t say what kind of kitchen. And oh, we were housemates, that was the assumption. And I was looking for something, a girl’s phone number. It was enough to give us room to express ourselves.
1.8 Because we were given a setting and a set of relationships we had a framework within which to express ourselves. We were all relating or creating relationships with each other. Each of us an idea connecting to other ideas in different ways, three housemates arguing over a lost phone number and a loaf of whole grain bread. When each of us understood the ideas that we were portraying and the relationships between them, when we understood the limits within which we were working, then we were free to express ourselves within them.
1.9 Frameworks, guiding expression.
Frameworks for Seeing, Frameworks for Expression,
RATIO, ANOTHER WORD FOR RELATIONSHIP
1.1 Before I joined the army one of my favorite past times was hanging out in bookstores. I normally hung out in the Sci Fi/Fantasy Section but on one occasion I was in the art section.
1.2 I came across a book called “Dynamic Figure Drawing” by a man named Burne Hogarth. It was filled with sketches of human figures drawn without using models. They’d been drawn instead from an understanding of the relationships within the human body. The author used his understanding of these “ratios” (relationships) as a framework for drawing basic human figures.
1.2.1 They served as a framework for drawing non-ideal, real figures.
1.3 The book discussed the ratios that related all the parts of the body to each other using the head as the basic unit of measurement. From the front the torso from the pubic bone to the base of the neck was three heads tall. The legs, from the crests of the pelvis down to the soles of the feet, were four heads tall. From the back view the torso measured from the bottom crease of the buttocks was three and a half heads tall.
1.4 Testing some of the ratios on my own body I noticed that when I was kneeling that my sitting bones did indeed rest on my heels. That meant the distance from my heels to the knees was about the same as the distance from my knees to my sitting bones.
1.5 Hugging my knees I saw that they came up to about the top of my chest, so that meant the distance from my knees to the hips was approximately the same as the distance from my hips to my collarbones. And sure enough my face from my chin to my hairline was just about the length of my hand. That ratio can change with age.
1.6 My parents also had a lot of fun testing these ratios. One in particular was interesting. Our arms when stretched out from finger to finger measure the same as our height. So in Leonardo’s sketch the use of a square is appropriate. With arms outstretched we are as wide as we are tall.
1.7 Buying “Dynamic Anatomy” I started to study and learn the relationships between the different parts of the body so I could see how its parts relate. Dynamic Anatomy taught me a particular “Cannon of Proportion” for relating parts of the body by length.
1.8 A cannon of proportion is a way of noticing the relationships within the human body. It’s a starting point both for seeing the body and being able to portray it. And because it is a starting point it doesn’t really matter which cannon of proportion we use. We can vary from them to suit our needs.
1.9 In dynamic anatomy I learned a cannon of proportion where the basic body was eight and a half heads tall. Other cannons might have slightly different proportions or starting points. Perhaps a body that is seven heads tall. What mattered was that I became aware of the relationships between the parts of the body, whatever those relationships were. Then I could adjust the relative ratios of the legs and body to give a figure either a long legged look or a short-legged look. I could do the same with the arms and the body.
1.10 So that the body could draw be drawn in any position and from any viewing angle Dynamic Anatomy showed how the relationships between parts of the body changed depending on the way we were viewing the body. The head appears wider the more side onwards we view it. The upper body becomes thinner the more we view it from the side, unless we’re drawing or looking at someone with a generous abdomen. The limbs appear relatively longer or shorter depending on how we view them but their width remains the same.
1.11 I learned to see how the parts of the body related to each other and also how they related to the person who was viewing them. I was learning how to draw any figure in any pose from any viewing angle. Dynamic anatomy was teaching me to draw the human figure without needing a model but the same tools enabled me to see people as well.
1.12 Painting or drawing or just plain seeing someone I could look at them and see how all of their parts related. I could look at them and understand that because I was viewing them from a particular angle certain relationships appeared different. I could see how I related to that person.
1.13 Teaching yoga, some of the poses use the leg as a fulcrum but if a person has a long torso and shorter legs then such a pose won’t work very well for them because their legs are too short for their arms to cross their thighs easily. Understanding this if I noticed someone with legs a lot shorter than their torso I could modify the pose to suit the person, using blocks or other means of changing relationships so that the pose did suit them.
1.14 Learning a cannon of proportion I learned how to see freely, I learned how to see why someone may not be able to do a pose or why someone looked different. I began to be able to see how people were different and how they were beautiful.
1.1 Before I joined the army one of my favorite past times was hanging out in bookstores. I normally hung out in the Sci Fi/Fantasy Section but on one occasion I was in the art section.
1.2 I came across a book called “Dynamic Figure Drawing” by a man named Burne Hogarth. It was filled with sketches of human figures drawn without using models. They’d been drawn instead from an understanding of the relationships within the human body. The author used his understanding of these “ratios” (relationships) as a framework for drawing basic human figures.
1.2.1 They served as a framework for drawing non-ideal, real figures.
1.3 The book discussed the ratios that related all the parts of the body to each other using the head as the basic unit of measurement. From the front the torso from the pubic bone to the base of the neck was three heads tall. The legs, from the crests of the pelvis down to the soles of the feet, were four heads tall. From the back view the torso measured from the bottom crease of the buttocks was three and a half heads tall.
1.4 Testing some of the ratios on my own body I noticed that when I was kneeling that my sitting bones did indeed rest on my heels. That meant the distance from my heels to the knees was about the same as the distance from my knees to my sitting bones.
1.5 Hugging my knees I saw that they came up to about the top of my chest, so that meant the distance from my knees to the hips was approximately the same as the distance from my hips to my collarbones. And sure enough my face from my chin to my hairline was just about the length of my hand. That ratio can change with age.
1.6 My parents also had a lot of fun testing these ratios. One in particular was interesting. Our arms when stretched out from finger to finger measure the same as our height. So in Leonardo’s sketch the use of a square is appropriate. With arms outstretched we are as wide as we are tall.
1.7 Buying “Dynamic Anatomy” I started to study and learn the relationships between the different parts of the body so I could see how its parts relate. Dynamic Anatomy taught me a particular “Cannon of Proportion” for relating parts of the body by length.
1.8 A cannon of proportion is a way of noticing the relationships within the human body. It’s a starting point both for seeing the body and being able to portray it. And because it is a starting point it doesn’t really matter which cannon of proportion we use. We can vary from them to suit our needs.
1.9 In dynamic anatomy I learned a cannon of proportion where the basic body was eight and a half heads tall. Other cannons might have slightly different proportions or starting points. Perhaps a body that is seven heads tall. What mattered was that I became aware of the relationships between the parts of the body, whatever those relationships were. Then I could adjust the relative ratios of the legs and body to give a figure either a long legged look or a short-legged look. I could do the same with the arms and the body.
1.10 So that the body could draw be drawn in any position and from any viewing angle Dynamic Anatomy showed how the relationships between parts of the body changed depending on the way we were viewing the body. The head appears wider the more side onwards we view it. The upper body becomes thinner the more we view it from the side, unless we’re drawing or looking at someone with a generous abdomen. The limbs appear relatively longer or shorter depending on how we view them but their width remains the same.
1.11 I learned to see how the parts of the body related to each other and also how they related to the person who was viewing them. I was learning how to draw any figure in any pose from any viewing angle. Dynamic anatomy was teaching me to draw the human figure without needing a model but the same tools enabled me to see people as well.
1.12 Painting or drawing or just plain seeing someone I could look at them and see how all of their parts related. I could look at them and understand that because I was viewing them from a particular angle certain relationships appeared different. I could see how I related to that person.
1.13 Teaching yoga, some of the poses use the leg as a fulcrum but if a person has a long torso and shorter legs then such a pose won’t work very well for them because their legs are too short for their arms to cross their thighs easily. Understanding this if I noticed someone with legs a lot shorter than their torso I could modify the pose to suit the person, using blocks or other means of changing relationships so that the pose did suit them.
1.14 Learning a cannon of proportion I learned how to see freely, I learned how to see why someone may not be able to do a pose or why someone looked different. I began to be able to see how people were different and how they were beautiful.
Training the Brain
Training the Brain
1.1 On a recent holiday I picked up a book called “training the brain” while I was at the airport. It was a reasonably pricey book for what it was, a bunch of worksheets filled with simple math problems. I bought it anyway, thinking that somehow it might be worth it to help exercise my brain. I was remembering the feeling I used to get when I solved math problems as a kid. Perhaps this would help me get it back again.
The “Brain Training” involved solving very simple math problems as quickly as possible. That was the goal, to solve them as quickly as possible. After each timed session we could then check our answers to see how many we got right. Then after every five sessions we had a special quiz to test our brain’s prowess.
1.2 Doing my brain training every morning I noticed that sometimes I was into it and sometimes not. Sometimes I’d do miserably and on other times I’d be in the flow and steadily and slowly my times began to improve.
1.3 One day it occurred to me that I needed a better way practice and the thing that I needed to practice wasn’t getting the numbers right but flowing. The problems were pretty simple. I knew most if not all of the answers because I’d learned as a kid. So instead of worrying about correct answers started to practice trying to write with a smooth flow, doing each test over and over again but focusing on writing something, whether right or wrong. It’s a challenge when you want to make sure everything is right. Actually, just writing fast was a challenge. You really do have to be on the ball. There is not time for thinking, at least not if you want to get the “Gold” level time standard.
1.4 So that I could flow and maximize my chance of getting the answer right I started to preview the next question. I’d look at the next question while writing the answer to the previous question and the flow was making myself move my eyes the moment I’d finished the previous question. I had my eyes lead my hands by one question.
1.5 Doing those math equations, once I’ve looked at a question and finished the previous question, even if it is one that I am finding difficult at the time, I moved on anyway, and let my brain take care of figuring it out, and sure enough it did. It’s like my brain and hands already knew the answers I just have to let them know what we were doing so that they can get on and do it.
1.6 That was the answer for flowing. Leading with my mind and letting another part of me take care of the details. In a way it is very much like looking to the horizon while riding a bike. There I was looking for the furthest point ahead that I could see so that I could go there. Here I was looking at the next question so that I could answer it. It’s not so much looking ahead in time as it is looking ahead in space to see the immediate future.
1.1 On a recent holiday I picked up a book called “training the brain” while I was at the airport. It was a reasonably pricey book for what it was, a bunch of worksheets filled with simple math problems. I bought it anyway, thinking that somehow it might be worth it to help exercise my brain. I was remembering the feeling I used to get when I solved math problems as a kid. Perhaps this would help me get it back again.
The “Brain Training” involved solving very simple math problems as quickly as possible. That was the goal, to solve them as quickly as possible. After each timed session we could then check our answers to see how many we got right. Then after every five sessions we had a special quiz to test our brain’s prowess.
1.2 Doing my brain training every morning I noticed that sometimes I was into it and sometimes not. Sometimes I’d do miserably and on other times I’d be in the flow and steadily and slowly my times began to improve.
1.3 One day it occurred to me that I needed a better way practice and the thing that I needed to practice wasn’t getting the numbers right but flowing. The problems were pretty simple. I knew most if not all of the answers because I’d learned as a kid. So instead of worrying about correct answers started to practice trying to write with a smooth flow, doing each test over and over again but focusing on writing something, whether right or wrong. It’s a challenge when you want to make sure everything is right. Actually, just writing fast was a challenge. You really do have to be on the ball. There is not time for thinking, at least not if you want to get the “Gold” level time standard.
1.4 So that I could flow and maximize my chance of getting the answer right I started to preview the next question. I’d look at the next question while writing the answer to the previous question and the flow was making myself move my eyes the moment I’d finished the previous question. I had my eyes lead my hands by one question.
1.5 Doing those math equations, once I’ve looked at a question and finished the previous question, even if it is one that I am finding difficult at the time, I moved on anyway, and let my brain take care of figuring it out, and sure enough it did. It’s like my brain and hands already knew the answers I just have to let them know what we were doing so that they can get on and do it.
1.6 That was the answer for flowing. Leading with my mind and letting another part of me take care of the details. In a way it is very much like looking to the horizon while riding a bike. There I was looking for the furthest point ahead that I could see so that I could go there. Here I was looking at the next question so that I could answer it. It’s not so much looking ahead in time as it is looking ahead in space to see the immediate future.
Monday, June 23, 2008
A break and checking the answers, making an idea a part of us
A BREAK AND CHECKING THE ANSWERS
1.1 While I was in the army I loved studying mathematics. Whenever I had time to spare I’d find a place to sit and then get pleasantly lost in the process of solving problems. I found it soothing, like a form of self-hypnosis. But it wasn’t easy, at least not straight away.
1.2 I remember that the first time I looked at Binomial Coefficients, they looked so challenging that I put the book down after barely a quick glance. The next day I read the instructions again and was surprised because even though my first look at the new material had been quick, it was enough that while I rested I somehow began to open up it. Then the problems seemed easier, more understandable and so I began to try to solve them. A lot of my solutions were incorrect but I had the answers in the back so that I could see afterwards straight away where I went wrong. I didn’t have to wait for the teacher to correct my work. Instead, looking back over my attempted solutions, I saw for myself where I went wrong, and then carried on practicing.
1.3 While I was doing the problem I was “in it.” Afterwards, when I was checking the answer, I was resting and looking at the problem from another point of view, from the outside. The more regularly I changed my view of the problems, from being in them to looking at them from the outside the quicker I learned, and the quicker I was able to make the idea of what I was learning a part of me. And then I rested from it for a while and did something else.
1.4 After a while I got to a stage so that as I practiced the solutions would flow from my pen, and they were correct, as if the idea of what I was doing was a part of me and I was able to express it. I was able to check the answer as I was doing the problem. Those were the times when time seemed to stand still.
1.5 Learning a new idea, resting we get a chance to see that idea from another point of view, so that we can make the idea a part of ourselves. When have we learned the idea? When we can express it freely, when we can check our answers as we answer the problem, when we can watch ourselves doing what we are doing. Expressing an idea freely it’s like we are riding a wave, and the wave is time and because we are on the wave of time, time stands still.
1.1 While I was in the army I loved studying mathematics. Whenever I had time to spare I’d find a place to sit and then get pleasantly lost in the process of solving problems. I found it soothing, like a form of self-hypnosis. But it wasn’t easy, at least not straight away.
1.2 I remember that the first time I looked at Binomial Coefficients, they looked so challenging that I put the book down after barely a quick glance. The next day I read the instructions again and was surprised because even though my first look at the new material had been quick, it was enough that while I rested I somehow began to open up it. Then the problems seemed easier, more understandable and so I began to try to solve them. A lot of my solutions were incorrect but I had the answers in the back so that I could see afterwards straight away where I went wrong. I didn’t have to wait for the teacher to correct my work. Instead, looking back over my attempted solutions, I saw for myself where I went wrong, and then carried on practicing.
1.3 While I was doing the problem I was “in it.” Afterwards, when I was checking the answer, I was resting and looking at the problem from another point of view, from the outside. The more regularly I changed my view of the problems, from being in them to looking at them from the outside the quicker I learned, and the quicker I was able to make the idea of what I was learning a part of me. And then I rested from it for a while and did something else.
1.4 After a while I got to a stage so that as I practiced the solutions would flow from my pen, and they were correct, as if the idea of what I was doing was a part of me and I was able to express it. I was able to check the answer as I was doing the problem. Those were the times when time seemed to stand still.
1.5 Learning a new idea, resting we get a chance to see that idea from another point of view, so that we can make the idea a part of ourselves. When have we learned the idea? When we can express it freely, when we can check our answers as we answer the problem, when we can watch ourselves doing what we are doing. Expressing an idea freely it’s like we are riding a wave, and the wave is time and because we are on the wave of time, time stands still.
The Name of the Thing and the Thing Itself
THE NAME OF THE THING AND THE THING ITSELF
1.1 Driving a land rover on an exercise while I was in the army, my co-driver taught me about rally driving.
1.2 He told me how in rally driving corners are graded according to how tight or open they are. If a corner had a higher number it meant that it was tighter, a lower number meant that the corner was more open. The lower the number the faster we could go around it. Other information that the navigator gave the driver was the direction of the turn, left or right, and the time to the turn, a countdown.
1.3 Looking ahead he told me the direction and the grade of each turn and gave me a countdown to it. I focused on listening and adjusting my speed appropriately. As we rounded each corner I found that his grading felt very natural so that it was easy to trust his assessment of each corner.
1.4 I think part of the comfort level was the way he described each turn. It was unambiguous and natural and direct. Because he was describing exactly what he was seeing, he was providing me a direct view of the way ahead. And I was allowing him to give me that view. Neither one of us second-guessed the other. He focused on navigating and I focused on driving and together with the vehicle we were in we made the idea of driving real. And even though we weren’t actually rallying, all we were doing was that he was seeing and I was doing, it felt good to work with him in this way and I got a sense of what actual rallying and teamwork could be like.
1.5 I had a similar experience with another friend. Chatting on the phone with her as she drove to a race track, she described the route to me as she experienced it. I wrote the details down and the next day was able to follow it without a problem. This was in direct contrast to the previous morning when trying to pick her up I got lost five times and a trip that should have taken 40 minutes took 2 hours.
1.6 A long time ago as one of my oriental calligraphy projects I tried to come up with my own translation of the first verse of “The Dao De Ching.” One line in particular I found troublesome and interesting. “The name of a thing is not the thing.”
1.7 Thinking back to the time I was rallying with Taff I began to understand one possible translation of that verse. When we know what it is we are talking about, if we say what we see, plainly and clearly, so that the person listening can see what we mean then the name becomes the thing. If we express our truth so that the person is listening can see our true selves, the words become the thing we are talking about. When we understand something completely, so that it is a part of our experience, then the name becomes the thing.
1.8 So how is this relevant here? When Taff told me exactly what he saw and I understood him it was so easy to connect to him and trust him, easy to let go. And I imagine that with a good lead that is how a partner feels when they are dancing, like she can let go. And perhaps it is a letting go on both parties parts, the navigator relaxing enough, trusting that their driver will understand and so saying what they see without modification, the driver relaxing enough to trust implicitly what his or her copilot is saying.
1.9 Zero parallax, words reflecting their meaning for both the person saying the words and the person listening to them.
1.1 Driving a land rover on an exercise while I was in the army, my co-driver taught me about rally driving.
1.2 He told me how in rally driving corners are graded according to how tight or open they are. If a corner had a higher number it meant that it was tighter, a lower number meant that the corner was more open. The lower the number the faster we could go around it. Other information that the navigator gave the driver was the direction of the turn, left or right, and the time to the turn, a countdown.
1.3 Looking ahead he told me the direction and the grade of each turn and gave me a countdown to it. I focused on listening and adjusting my speed appropriately. As we rounded each corner I found that his grading felt very natural so that it was easy to trust his assessment of each corner.
1.4 I think part of the comfort level was the way he described each turn. It was unambiguous and natural and direct. Because he was describing exactly what he was seeing, he was providing me a direct view of the way ahead. And I was allowing him to give me that view. Neither one of us second-guessed the other. He focused on navigating and I focused on driving and together with the vehicle we were in we made the idea of driving real. And even though we weren’t actually rallying, all we were doing was that he was seeing and I was doing, it felt good to work with him in this way and I got a sense of what actual rallying and teamwork could be like.
1.5 I had a similar experience with another friend. Chatting on the phone with her as she drove to a race track, she described the route to me as she experienced it. I wrote the details down and the next day was able to follow it without a problem. This was in direct contrast to the previous morning when trying to pick her up I got lost five times and a trip that should have taken 40 minutes took 2 hours.
1.6 A long time ago as one of my oriental calligraphy projects I tried to come up with my own translation of the first verse of “The Dao De Ching.” One line in particular I found troublesome and interesting. “The name of a thing is not the thing.”
1.7 Thinking back to the time I was rallying with Taff I began to understand one possible translation of that verse. When we know what it is we are talking about, if we say what we see, plainly and clearly, so that the person listening can see what we mean then the name becomes the thing. If we express our truth so that the person is listening can see our true selves, the words become the thing we are talking about. When we understand something completely, so that it is a part of our experience, then the name becomes the thing.
1.8 So how is this relevant here? When Taff told me exactly what he saw and I understood him it was so easy to connect to him and trust him, easy to let go. And I imagine that with a good lead that is how a partner feels when they are dancing, like she can let go. And perhaps it is a letting go on both parties parts, the navigator relaxing enough, trusting that their driver will understand and so saying what they see without modification, the driver relaxing enough to trust implicitly what his or her copilot is saying.
1.9 Zero parallax, words reflecting their meaning for both the person saying the words and the person listening to them.
Maximizing Possibility
MAXIMIZING POSSIBILITY
1.1 Flying a plane and not understanding that we are sitting to one side in a plane we will have difficulty flying the plane straight, or trying to land along the center of the runway. We could be flying the plane so that it is skewed, and landing like that would be like skidding it on the tarmac instead of rolling along and using the brakes to stop.
1.2 If we are conscious of where we are in relationship to the plane, then we can fly it straight. We know where we are in relationship to it and the earth and we can make it go exactly where we are looking. We can make the plane do what we want safely without it bumping into the earth.
1.3 Fishing with a spear, not understanding that light refracts we won’t catch any fish unless the fish is a very big fish. Conscious that light refracts when it moves from water to air we can look straight down at the surface of the water so the image of a fish lines up with the actual fish and we can hit what we are aiming at.
1.4 Sometimes we have no choice but to be off center, but then being conscious of our relative position we can make allowances so that we can act centered even if physically we are not.
1.1 Flying a plane and not understanding that we are sitting to one side in a plane we will have difficulty flying the plane straight, or trying to land along the center of the runway. We could be flying the plane so that it is skewed, and landing like that would be like skidding it on the tarmac instead of rolling along and using the brakes to stop.
1.2 If we are conscious of where we are in relationship to the plane, then we can fly it straight. We know where we are in relationship to it and the earth and we can make it go exactly where we are looking. We can make the plane do what we want safely without it bumping into the earth.
1.3 Fishing with a spear, not understanding that light refracts we won’t catch any fish unless the fish is a very big fish. Conscious that light refracts when it moves from water to air we can look straight down at the surface of the water so the image of a fish lines up with the actual fish and we can hit what we are aiming at.
1.4 Sometimes we have no choice but to be off center, but then being conscious of our relative position we can make allowances so that we can act centered even if physically we are not.
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