When Human Beings Take It To The LimitWritten by Jesse S. Somer
In life we all have dreams and goals, aspirations to follow a certain path that will lead to social achievements and personal growth. We all hope to fulfill a destiny where we can put all of our efforts into one activity or more that helps world in one way or another. Recently I went to see a musical group called Taikoz and I believe I was witness to a certain level of human achievement that was simply mind-blowing. These people have obviously trained and practiced so much that they have reached a level of mastery. They have taken human life experience to limit.Taikoz are a multicultural group based in Australia who focuses on ancient art of Japanese Taiko drumming. One of group’s members, Riley Lee, also plays a traditional Japanese bamboo flute called a shakuhachi. He is world renown for being first non-Japanese person to be given title Grand Master of this sacred Zen Buddhist instrument. Let me give you an idea about this concert. It was held in a relatively small opera-style, three-tiered theatre and I was fortunate enough to get front-row middle seats. Throughout evening handful of drummers played approximately 50 different drums, and play they did! For over two hours they beat out multiple complex rhythms, sometimes whilst dancing, and occasionally intermingled with most beautifully peaceful flute accompaniment you have ever imagined. Now, what truly got to me was these people’s physical, mental, and spiritual presence. The drums, some two and a half meters high, hit every single person in crowd right in stomach. However, it was intensity in drummers’ eyes and muscle-strained bodies that infected crowd with an electric energy that left everyone feeling like they had run a marathon by end of night. Of course all we were really doing was sitting down. As group assembled for a song at front of stage, kneeling down to play Japanese snare drums that would later take my spirit out of body and throw it into thundering rain clouds, I saw many faces of human perfection. Eyes like tigers’, bodies straining like bunches of twitching ropes, sweat dripping in puddles around them; I saw and felt feeling that one feels when you have taken a certain activity to limit. Totally entranced, as serious as one could ever be in concentration, yet smiling now and then as realization of what they were doing, fun they were having, and endorphins flowing like wind through their systems all culminated into one beautiful feeling. I tasted it in air. I drank it in. I connected to their energies with my own, giving them all my love and appreciation. Most of all, I was inspired.
| | Increase Awareness With One Simple QuestionWritten by Catherine Franz
There are many ways we can increase our own personal awareness about our life and what we want to make out of it. Yet, we seldom ask question, "Why am I doing this?" By consciously becoming more aware of what we do and why, we can then make phenomenal changes. Usually in leaps and bounds. This includes losing weight, being happier, working in a job we love, and all rest of things that most of chase.Here are four easy ways you can begin increasing your own personal awareness. These methods are around you all day long and you will not need to do anything difference except slow down and ask question. Further down I'll explain why. 1. Listen to others communicate. It is easier for us to name what we don't want than what we do want. Since this is case, by listening to others converse, we can then decide what we don't want. What language we don't want to use. What beliefs we don't want to have. What...etc. we don't want to have. It is important to not stop there if you are finding your awareness through don't door. If you are not coming through that door and enter through ‘I want’ door then by listening to others communicate you can decide what you do want in your life. Listen to others -- what they say and how they say it. Take notes on what you agree with and disagree with, or even neutral line -- what you aren't sure about. 2. Read a variety of publications. We read all time, yet what is our awareness from what we've read. If you read before bed time in a tired numb state it’s difficult to be aware of anything. Do you read only work material that is dry and boring? Do you only read science fiction or some other particular genre? What does this type of reading help you become more aware of in your life?
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