2004-10-11 - 7:33 a.m.
This weekend was one of those times when everything seems to converge all at once. Once a year I play in a martial arts tournament, in particular tai chi, to help support our system. Pretty much it blows all of Saturday since my open hand division is in the morning and the weapons are in the afternoon plus I was not certain I was going to participate this year so I waited until the last minute to register. I have yet to be at a tournament that has started on time, and this year was no exception, although they skipped the lunch break an my weapons division actually started early. Still got out at about the same time since there were so many people dong weapons this year.
Then on Sunday I went down to Universal Light Expo in Columbus which is about a 2 hour drive. This is a large metaphysical conference. Although I did not get to spend as much time as I would have liked to, I did get to see some Tibetan Buddhist monks working on a sand mandala. It was absolutely beautiful and the level of detail they get with just a little metal tub to slowly sprinkle sand in place is amazing. If you ever get a chance to see this process please take the chance. I wish I could have stuck around for the dismantling ceremony. I did walk around the vendors, and just for paying for my admission on Sunday I got a free book on tape from one of the lecturers. I did pick up the next set of CDs from The Monroe Institute, in particular Wave II from their Gateway series. I have not gotten all the way through Wave I, but I like what I have gotten out of it so far. Even just the first exercise, which they call Focus 3, got my body relaxed in ways I have never felt before. Wave VI, the last in the series, takes you to Focus 21. If you do any kind of meditation or energy work it maybe worth checking out.
