The Gompa Electronic News Letter - Vol.1 #2. September 2000. Copyright© IAM Co.2000. Reprints for friends allowed. Distribution of contents for sale or profit is a violation of federal copyright laws. The Gompa or place of quiet study was created by John Painter Ph.D. ND to provide an intimate setting for a personal learning experience in the Chinese and Tibetan internal health and martial arts. The Gompa as part of IAM Co. and the Life Sciences Qi Research Institute just celebrated its 29th year of instruction. The center enjoys an international reputation for excellence in teaching the Chinese and Tibetan healing, philosophical and martial art practices. THE GUA OF THE MONTH. GUAN # 20 In the Yijing the concept of solar and lunar energies as they have an influence over the internal cycles of people and the planet are expressed by twelve of the Gua from the book of changes. In Jiulong Bagua Qigong we study and use these cycles by circle walking with the corresponding posture to better harmonize our mind and body with these influences for a more harmonious life experience. This month energy form is: Guan # 20 (Contemplating) The penetrating wind moves over the receptive earth. This is a time of opening the mind and moving about in society to experience new ideas in order to stimulate growth within. This energy cycle is for that of the 8th. Moon and corresponds to the western month of September. FEATURE ARTICLE Quiet Sitting "Day after day alone on the hill, The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still." Daoists came to feel that man can never fully comprehend the scope and magnitude of the Dao, but he can watch, listen and learn its methods and ways by becoming conscious of the flow of Dao through all natural things. The more he understands the better he is able to go with the flow and the less problems he will encounter in his journey through the ever constant, ever-changing currents of existence. There is nothing outside of the Dao. Even one who is not aware of Dao is within it and even those who wish to be separated from it can no more leave it than a fish can leave the waters that are its natural home. What one can do is to move against or with the current and in so doing choose a life of constant strife or one of unity with all of the myriad forms of nature. Western man developed the mind's capacity for logical, analytical understanding of the world and classified everything in nice, neat little boxes, while the Eastern mentality developed along more intuitive lines. We might say that the Westerner hears the sound; the Easterner hears the silences. An ancient saying is: "The beginning of wisdom is silence." So if we choose to follow or learn from the concept of Dao perhaps we should also sit in silence each day to allow our mind and body adjust to the rhythms of nature. There are many ways to do this. All of them if they produce the desired results are good. For beginners here is a way to start. Basic Quiet Sitting. 1. Sit in a comfortable position in a chair with feet on the floor or on the floor with legs crossed. 2. Place your hands on your knees or in your lap left on bottom right on top thumbs touching. 3. Keep the head lifted from the crown and the spine straight. 4. Concentrate on feeling the breath go in and out in gently. 5. Do not try to remove thoughts just sit and feel the breath come in. 6. Have no goal just sit. 7. Let the body, shoulder and arms relax but keep the spine straight yet not stiff. 8. Do this for about ten minutes the first week and then fifteen minutes from then on. 9. To be of benefit this must be done at least five days a week. READERS QUESTIONS. Q. Which is better, standing meditation or sitting meditation? - Kevin, New York. A. The answer depends on what your goal is. Sitting meditation is the first thing we teach students at The Gompa because it produces an awareness of the center and a feeling of stability with it because of the seated posture. When the student can allow the mind to settle and remain calm we start the standing practice. Standing practice are most often associated with martial arts although they are used for healing types of Qigong also. One can of course do standing without doing seated meditation first or can practice sitting at one part of the day and standing at another. It is really a personal choice. I do both types with seated in the morning around sunrise and standing in the evening around sun down or at midnight for the best results. - Dr. Painter. APOTHECARY Allergy Relief, Stinging Nettle and Small Nettle. Urtica dioica L., Urtica urens L. Urticaceae. These two species of the genus Urtica are nowadays common weeds the world over, though they are native to Eurasia and Africa. Elsewhere, mainly in North and South America and Australia, they have become naturalized. The leaves and stems together with the leaves of both are used medicinally and contain practically the same constituents: a large amount of chlorophyll, vitamins A, B2, C, E, and K1, folic acid, histamine, acetylcholine, formic acid, acetic acid, and butyric acid, and fairly abundant mineral substances. These give nettle primarily diuretic, antirheumatic, and 'blood-purifying' proper-ties, the latter being produced by the effect of speeding up the metabolism. Taking the powder or tea form has also been shown to have positive results in reducing many allergy symptoms from air born strains of pollen and other allergens. External Use. Externally use is made of the inflammatory effect of the stinging hairs in the drug. The herb is used in the form of a decoction prepared from one tea-spoon of crumbled leaves or one tablespoon of crumbled stems and leaves to one cup water, boiled briefly for five minutes, and taken three times daily, best of all after meals. It is used as a diuretic tea in the treatment of rheumat-ic complaints as well as for oedema caused by poor heart function and for circulatory disorders. In place of tea it is possible to use the pressed juice from freshly picked plants which have first been ground. The dosage is one tablespoon three times daily taken for a period of four to six weeks. Externally, for rheumatic pains, lumbago, and sciatica, it is recommended to apply fresh nettles to the sore area two to three days in succession followed by an equally long interval before applying them again. Stinging Nettle is a robust perennial with a creeping rhizome that is difficult to eradicate. All parts of the plant are covered with stinging hairs. The stalked leaves are heart-shaped at the base and coarsely serrate; the upper side is covered with appressed hairs and partly with long stinging hairs. The green flowers are arranged in long clusters of either male or female examples; the fruit is an ovoid achene. The species is quite variable.

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