God’s Location & The Cloud of Unknowing Part 2

Description

We revisit the theme from the previous class — God’s Location: The Cloud of Unknowing — and add some material I felt was missing. It’s a commonly expressed idea that God’s location is everywhere and in everything, but the mystics’ teachings explore how to have a direct bodily felt experience of this. One way is through being in the state of non-knowing rather than certainty. And in our last class on this we explored Rabbi Zvika Krieger’s (Rabbi of Chochmat Halev) Torah interpretation, where the cloud that led the Jews through the desert becomes a metaphor for our own inner cloud of unknowing. This is a symbol for the Jewish (and other mystical traditions) view that divine knowledge, wisdom, and experience is found by accessing our inner receptive state of not-knowing. The Jewish mystical tradition reads Torah on four levels — literal, allegorical, interpretive, and mystical — and the deepest teaching is to be with not-knowing rather than acting as if we have all the answers. Out of unknowing, wisdom arises.

In the last class and this one we explore how to find “G-d’s location”  across various traditions: The Greek myth of Zeus swallowing Metis (feminine wisdom/insight), who gives birth to Athena from within — wisdom born out of the patriarchal self (in its process of  transformation). . Socrates held still Standing for many hours while the army came and went, what was he doing? The Taoist farmer’s teaching story of never knowing what will happen next in life and being non attached to life’s ups and downs. All these traditions point to the same truth: insight arises from stillness and unknowing.

The key addition from the previous class is Eugene Gendlin’s Focusing practice — the idea that the felt sense in the body is where wisdom actually lives. Gendlin studied hundreds of therapy recordings and found that the turning point in effective therapy was always a moment of pausing and feeling into something beneath the surface emotion. You’ll learn how this is a modern psychological operationalization of what the mystics have always taught.

In this class we’ll explore how the practices e of Bodymind Healing Qigong is a Taoist path to experience “the location of G-D.”

Some specific things You’’ll learn:

• What are the Four levels of interpretation of the Torah, and how does  this relate to the Four Purposes of Tai Chi/Qigong practice?
• • What makes therapy work according to Dr Eugene Gendlin’s research. How do feelings differ from “the felt sense,” and how does this differentiation relate to various cross-cultural wisdom traditions, for example the soul of Qigong/Tai Chi practice.
• How are the Greek mystical tradition, Jewish and Taoist mystical traditions similar with relationship to “not knowing” and how does stillness bringing one closer to a divine state?  How does this differ from “authoritarian knowing.”
• Lesser known Tai Chi Ruler postures: “Pouring Honey” for preventive medicine for the kidneys and hip joint. “Rolling the Bowling Ball” for developing sticking and listening  power (Ting Jin and Nian Jin).
• Learn the distinction between a “feeling” and your “felt sense,” and its importance for your psych-spiritual healing. Discover how Standing Meditation Qigong  can be a path to finding not only the spirit of Qigong but also the “soul of Qigong,”  by incorporating Gendlins’ Focusing.
• Learn how you are and have always been a Qigong master.

Opening / Lecture

Dr. Mayer opened by revisiting the theme from the previous class — the Cloud of Unknowing — and adding material he felt was missing. The central idea is that God’s location is everywhere and in everything, but the mystics teach that the way to experience this is through non-knowing rather than certainty.

He drew on Rabbi Zwika Krieger’s Torah interpretation, where the cloud that led the Jews through the desert becomes a metaphor for our own inner cloud of unknowing. The Jewish mystical tradition reads Torah on four levels — literal, allegorical, interpretive, and mystical — and the deepest teaching is to be with not-knowing rather than assuming we have all the answers.

He connected this across traditions: the Greek myth of Zeus swallowing Metis (feminine wisdom/insight), who gives birth to Athena from within — wisdom born out of the patriarchal self. Socrates holding still for hours while the army came and went. The Taoist farmer’s story of never knowing what’s good or bad. All pointing to the same truth: insight arises from stillness and unknowing.

The key addition from the previous class was Eugene Gendlin’s Focusing practice — the idea that the felt sense in the body is where wisdom actually lives. Gendlin studied hundreds of therapy recordings and found that the turning point in effective therapy was always a moment of pausing and feeling into something beneath the surface emotion. Dr. Mayer sees this as a modern psychological operationalization of what the mystics have always taught.

Practices Covered

• Arm swinging — activating yin and yang, stimulating the chongmai (penetrating vessel)
• Bouncing — single heel bounce to build energy
• Standing meditation — with the question: “What are you standing for?”
• Shape-shifting into a tree — rooting, reaching for light, using the tree as a model for boundaries and resilience
• The circle that arises from stillness — not making a circle but allowing it to emerge; the smaller the circle, the greater the chi
• Tai Chi commencement — the first movement arising from doing nothing, holding golden balls in the waters of life
• Postural initiation — each posture as an initiation into something personal
• Ocean wave breathing — letting go on the out-breath, receiving on the in-breath
• Classic Tai Chi Ruler — reversing circles, breathing coordination, building kidney chi, fear response reversal
• New Tai Chi Ruler movement (from Chris’s request) — hands out, shifting weight side to side, making smaller and smaller circles; includes a partner visualization for developing listening skills and redirecting incoming force
• Dispersing stagnant chi — wiping off, tapping, milking, axis rotation, electromagnet hands, wounded healer’s prayer
• Turtle practice — neck stretch, sending healing to others
• Golden ball from heaven — entering the imaginal realm, bringing divine energy down to the heart
• Internal organ exercises — wood, fire, earth, metal, water sequence with sounds, crane balance, lung arrow release, kidney sounds
• Walking meditation — weight shifting, wrists rising naturally, animal forms (wrapping snakes, monkey grasps fruit, tiger)

Closing Theme

The practices kept returning to the same thread: out of stillness and not-knowing, movement arises. Out of unknowing, wisdom arises. The body is not separate from the mind — it is the mind. Every posture has four dimensions: physical, psychological, spiritual, and martial. The smaller the circle, the greater the chi. The less you force, the more that comes.

Closing image: human beings are stars wrapped in skin. The light you’ve been searching for has always been within.

Q&A

One student asked for clarification on “knee straight” in Tai Chi Ruler. Dr. Mayer clarified that straight means the knee tracks forward over the middle toe — aligned in direction, not locked.