Speaking of Tensegrity
It seems strange to me, that of all the Castaneda related message boards and groups i’ve found on the internet, no one seems to be talking much about magical passes.
I know there are people out there doing them. I’ve been to a few workshops and there are lots of people there. On the Cleargreen website, there are loads of practice groups listed around the world.
I know that a great aspect of this knowlege is action instead of talking, but that doesn’t stop people from talking about other topics; dreaming, stalking, etc.
Does anyone have any experiences or questions about Tensegrity they would like to discuss?
I for one can’t get enough of the magical passes. They slowly creeped into my life until they have now become a constant thing. And they are changing me. This I know for sure. They have helped me in numerous ways. More energy. More powerful decisions. More calmness. More clarity, etc. etc.
Has anyone else had similar experiences?
D5 Creation
ofcourse…magical passes are amazing..they must be felt and they require 100 percent action. There is nothing really to say about magical passes except that a person must try them to experience them. Like you I can not get enough of them.
I like money and Cleargreen also does!
Don’t we all? But i suppose it’s what you do with your money that counts.
So far I noticed that the passes move the centre of perception higher, the body feels lighter, this effect wears off later. Very similar to stopping the internal dialogue.
And, the pain. Some passes seem cause it, either b/c of doing them wrong (?) or something else. The pain can be intense or not, often like a small dot, can last a few days or a few hours, and sometimes a real physical damage can be dealt. It can feel like pressure sometimes, such pressure will pull something in the body and will last for days (accompanies intense pain or physical damage), even though its pulling feels like something half-physical.
Any thoughts on that?
Interesting. I can’t say that I’ve felt any pain from doing them.
I don’t know if this will relate at all, but for a while I took kung fu. Part of our training was running two or 3 miles before each practice. I wasn’t used to running, and my right calf had a lingering pain that was pretty much constant for 2 or 3 weeks. It didn’t feel like a sore muscle from running too much. It was more like a dull/sharp pain deep in my calf muscle. I asked my instructor about it, and he said he had had the same issue when he first started. He said to just keep going and it would eventually go away. And in fact it did.
On the other hand, when I’m doing tensegrity, I notice that some of my joints tend to pop, or click, or rub together more than others, and more so with certain magical passes than others. Rather than ignore that and just keep going, I slow down and even do some of the passes almost in slow motion for a while. As I learn exactly how my body moves and reacts to the passes, I’m able to learn how to do them without causing any damage to my body. And also, I feel like this helps in gently building the muscle around certain joints to cushion them.
When I’ve been to a few workshops and practice groups, I’ve noticed that some people (especially men) tend to do the passes extremely fast. As if they’re in some kind of hurry. I personally don’t see any reason for this. In my experience, its very useful to start out gently and learn to do them with power and precision, rather than racing to see who can go the fastest.
I don’t know if any of this addresses you’re question. And I’m not sure what you mean by “real physical damage”. I’d say if anything you’re doing is causing real physical damage, then you must be doing something wrong.
My only advice is, listen to your body and be gentle with it.
Hmm, one person told me that pain means that the energy centers aren’t functioning properly and that it must weaken and disappear the more you activate the centers. It even makes sense. I noticed that the pass that led to… disjoint in the spine (is that called that way in English, sorry:)) now only arouses a distant pulling sensation for a while.
Doing the passes slower never occured to me, thanx for the advise :).
Can anyone tell exactly what�s the difference between Tensegrity any other movement practices, such as Tai-chi, which is also powerful and focusing on energy, the chi?
Okay I’m going to pull an older version of carlos and ask a dumb question.. lol 😉
What ARE the movements? I have no idea.. I haven’t read magical passes yet, thats the one I need to read… so for a taste of whats to come… what is one of the movements.. ?
I’ve never done tai chi, but from what I gather its movements are slow, flowing and graceful. Tensegrity on the other hand, has many quick striking movements, perhaps closer to kung fu than tai chi. The striking movements of tensegrity though, are directed at energy pockets; areas where energy drains to and gets crusted on the luminous shell. the striking movements break this energy up and redirect it to the vital centers in the midsection of the body.
But there are also many other movements that aren’t strikes, as well as many deep breathing magical passes.
Here’s a small list of some magical passes that are described through notes taken at workshops. This may give you an idea of what they are like. However, the book and dvds go into much greater detail about the meaning behind each magical pass.
[url=http://members.aol.com/saucerer/pasindex.html]http://members.aol.com/saucerer/pasindex.html[/url]
The difference is the intent behind Tensegrity. You don’t have the intent to stop the internal dialogue when you do yoga exercises (though you might try), and you don’t intend to join your left and right side together while practicing Tai-chi. If you catch the right intent, you’ll go with the flow – I mean, you’ll join the powerful intent of people who discovered the passes and practiced them, and it should guide you in the right direction of the warrior’s path.
I heard a rumor that the passes should be done either with your internal dialogue off or in second attention, and that otherwise they’re not effective… Maybe that’s why people often complain that they get no results. At least I know that I got little or bad results until I started to do passes with ‘right’ intent and without talking to myself.
The intent to stop the internal dialogue doesn’t automatically come along with Tensegrity, either. Actually, I’ve witnessed some people actually strengthen their internal dialogue (self-image) with the energy derived from the magical passes.
That’s horseshit. How can you pursue cessation of internal dialogue with the passes if the requirement for their functionability is the lack of internal dialogue?
I think many people should shut up and concentrate on actual training instead.
The magical passes are the only system that I’ve encountered this far that is so “otherworldly” in its intent. It’s not just about balancing the energies of the physical body to get more vitality and longevity, it’s about gaining awareness and control of the energy body and getting closer to second (and third) attention. There’s a vast difference between the purpose and the scope of Tensegrity and, say, Qi Gong and Yoga, although some similarities can be noted. And I’m not trying to discredit other systems of practice in anyway, they do have their own purpose and they can be applied into warrior’s life just like anything else from bodybuilding to self-immolation… go with your predilection.
Taijiquan (tai chi) is originally a martial art, i.e. it’s about fighting and self-defence, and balancing and strengthening the energies of the physical body. I.e. it’s for health and it’s for fight. I haven’t heard of a Taijiquan style that would emphasize the concept of second attention, recapitulation, dreaming attention and left/right side bodies. Practising Taijiquan or Yoga can effectively help you shut down your internal dialogue and raise your energy level to some extent, but the real question is about what you’re doing with the newly acquired energy and silence?
I’m having an exercise in the art of eating right now, and I feel my inner silence growing. Now, what’s the difference between eating and Tensegrity?
Taijiquan can be done with exploding power, too. The movements you usually see are in slow motion, but the martial applications are lightning speed. The same movements, different speed. Don’t get fooled!
Kung fu… which style are you speaking of? There are like 10,000 of them. Some also train in slow motion as a part of their training. Some Japanese martial arts do so as well. You increase speed when you’ve really learned the form and can be sure you do it properly and don’t just try to hide your mistakes behind speed (and possibly break yourself and/or your training partner).
Tensegrity is about causing an effect on yourself, on your luminous being. The speed and the nature of movements in Tensegrity practice are dictated by different things. You’re not doing techniques against an opponent, so the question of speed rests on different matters. Besides, there are also some series of Tensegrity that are slow and restful by nature. Just think about Wheel of Time, Mapping the Body and the Running Man, for example. And you can do all the movements with different types of intensity. This has been exercised in the seminars and workshops as well.
Those not talking about them in internet are probably too busy practising them. <_<
It’s easier to mentally masturbate over those other topics as they have a certain kind of “shaman mystique” surrounding them; you can play intellectual games about them and throw endless quotes from the books and write down 5000 line descriptions of some chaotic dreams you just had (or made up). However, dreaming and stalking are as much about true discipline as everything else on the warrior’s way.
Maybe one reason for the phenomenon is that the topic is not really discussed in the books before The Sorcerers’ Crossing and Magical Passes? You know, some people are still stuck in the first book and seeking an ally from the desert while high on peyote buttons they just bought from the local drug dealer…
I started with them some ten years ago and have been practising on daily basis since then. Sometimes more, sometimes less. And I feel I should be doing more of them, I have a sense of duty… duty to myself and the spirit, perhaps. A kind of hunger that never seems to end.
Stay Hungry! B)
Well put! (My comparisons above were rather superficial)
And I’ve thought for a long time that it seems that the people who are really serious about practicing, tend not to be the ones talking much online. This is understandable. It is a busy, busy life.
Yet communication certainly isn’t worthless. And I’d be quite interested in hearing how others are doing out there.
Good to have you here. 🙂
Tensegrity is a great way to gather energy and help yourself to become free… but it can also be a tool to gather energy to boost your egotism and strengthen the shackles. It’s something you can’t just practice without a proper philosophical-pragmatic framework. It will not automatically lead you anywhere.
And yet, it’s so damn powerful.
How’s your “daily training”, ensoÃ?±ar?
Some days I spend hours on practising the passes, some days I just go with the bare minimum… I’ve felt a long time that I’m not “quite myself” if I don’t do the passes daily. It’s like an addiction. Addiction to something purposeful. And it’s also a discipline.
Instead of playing the role of a “spiritual man”, I’ve paid a lot of attention to the energetic significance of the physical body, especially during the past 13 years or so. Taking care of your tonal is a key to a balanced life and without it, it’s hard to stay focused and “rooted” on all the journeys.
I’ve found frequent stretching, strength training, long walks, and such very helpful. I tend to pay constant attention to the way I move, attention to my postures, to slight details in all situations… It’s all about flow of energy, although it manifests itself in the realm of what we known as physical.
I haven’t yet entered into the “learn as many movements as possible” stage. It’s more like that I’ve tried to get the most out of the passes I already know, and practice them diligently and rigorously every day.
Hatha yoga, a new thing for me, has helped me in balancing the spine, becoming more aware of the meaning of symmetry in bodily balance… and I’ve become more aware of the importance of spine. This has, in turn, made the magical passes even more effective for me than before.
It’s weird how all these practices can go hand in hand. However, if I had to drop everything else — all “physical exercises” — I’d still be doing Tensegrity. It’s beyond any physical practice that I know, it’s an act of beckoning power itself.
My ‘daily training’ is currently being pummeled by the persistence of my monthly cycle… or is it yearly cycle? I’m in a momentary sinkhole again looking for an opening.
However, I am considering trying out yoga for a time in the very near future. I’m beginning to aquire a hunger for extreme flexibility. Do you have any suggestions for a good method of self-training?
Finally I get the URL with important info about tensegrity.
The original source is in spanish
Carta Abierta a los practicantes de tensegridad.
[url=http://www.angelfire-2.com.ar/cartaa.html]opened letter[/url]
Umm, is my Old site =)
I need say i am not the autor of the Open letter, but have many good points.
Next a fragment from this letter.
to be continue…
I think the translator chose “the Rockets” instead of “the Flyers” … isn’t that interesting? … if you’re interested in language, that is. (this whole computer translator business is really fascinating, actually! and I hope chipola continues to post these excerpts here because I need to read them again.)
By the way, though, chipola, be sure to do what this “Blue Finder” says: Read the Books. (Which I might also recommend for anyone who actually wants to know what Pinchbeck is saying and isn’t.)
Any ideas on what passes to start off with. I have the book & there are so many of them that I don’t know where to start. Actually I did tentatively try the masculinity passes for a while. I stopped because I could not handle the energy & became violent, kicking my furniture around & cursing all the negative things in my life. Still it proved to me that they worked.
It would be hard to say which ones you should start with because it is probably different for everyone. i started with the Series for Preparing Intent pretty much because it was at the beginning. If i recall correctly, after i learned the series and did it complete for the first time, i got so hungry. And it was Thanksgiving day so i did have the opportunity to gorge myself.
As for the Masculinity Series, i don’t get violent, but i do get a bit aggressive. Then again, i haven’t learned a great deal of them, so i don’t know what would happen if i did all of them. For some reason, they are hard for me to remember and hard for me to do for a long period of time due to their ferocity.
Does anybody read complete Carta Abierta a los practicantes de tensegridad opened letter?
Never heard of it.
In the last link is the entire version of the document.
Nick, have you tried the ones for recapping?
No I never really started the magical passes. I am finding it hard to motivate myself that way. Also, I have not started any recapping yet. When I set aside time for recapping I get rather tense and cannot relax, so I have been putting it off. Your question has prompted me to get moving on it again. I can be a bit of a lazy git. Have you had any recapping experience yet?
A few. I have a hard time concentrating and I had been getting pissed off at having to do it. Ensonar metioned something to me that prompted me to accept the fact that if I want to continue further along on this path I’ve GOT to recap. So I’ve been doing it till it HURTS, which is about 15 min at a time 🙂 Anyhoot I mentioned the ones for recapping to you Nick because for me it was a nice way to combine 2 new things. Tootles!
That is a good idea doing recapping for small amounts of time, at least to begin with. I will try that. Also I am going to try the magical passes again. I am going to do one new pass a day until I have mastered a set. Slowly but surely ha ha. 😆
It’s so appropriate that this Nagualist message board doesn’t have people posting on it so much. I guess that means were all busy stalking, dreaming, and trying to accrue inner silence. 🙂 I can say that I’ve gotten invaluable impetus time and again from reading thru conversations, or just taking advice and general comments to heart. Almost every bump up in energy in me has been preceded by something someone has said here. Not that their is knowledge on this site or on the web in general that we haven’t already gleaned from reading CC’s books, yet for some reason I find it valuable. Soooo THANKS.
Ok with that being said I bet your wondering why I posted the previous comment under tensegrity, well I’ll tell you; In CC magical passes book it talked about the 3 kinds of breaths. Upper shallow breaths, middle breaths , and abdominal breaths that are refered to as animal breaths. Up until about 10 min ago I performed the passes using the middle breaths and then it clicked in my head what a animal breath really was. So I distended my belly and WHOA!, I GET IT. But then it made my think of why it feels so weird doing that. And then it hit me… BAM!!
ouch 🙁 I’ve been walking around with my stomach sucked in trying to look good for the ladies B)
Try not to limit yourself in that way. I’ve learned the passes i know very slowly, but often in large chunks. i was able to learn the passes on the 2nd video in about an hour, quite unexpected. On the other hand, other movements have taken years for me to get to a satisfactory level. Just have to keep stalking myself as i do them, never thinking that i’ve mastered anything.
And if you’re inspired to do more, great! Keep at it!
Thanks Bratsche. I think I will get a video of the passes. It may make it easier to learn them.
If you hear your joints crack or pop in a non-painfull way can that be an indication of the proper execution or the tensing of the correct muscles during the movements?
i don’t think you can say that just because your joints crack, you have successfully done the movement. i used to think that after i did a certain series of movements and i got a shiver down my back, i did them right…and then i was told that i was seeking a routine.
Just be careful if/when you crack your joints, and you feel pain or discomfort, STOP! i used to do that when i was stretching during the day and it contributed to some major arm problems.
For more info, read page 10 in Magical Passes.
Thanks. Sometimes my unbending intent gets the best of me and it becomes tempting to attempt to rip my ligaments from their bone. :angry: You said it has taken you years to perfect certain passes. How so? could you elaborate on that.
I know what ya mean. Sometime (especially during the masculinity series) i feel like i could be so aggressive that i would rip myself apart! Doing them when i’m pissed, angry or frustrated may be dangerous.
Actually, i said that it has taken me years to get some passes to a satisfactory level. Every so often, i’ll feel like i’m not doing a certain pass”correctly” or i’ll forget how it goes (usually one of the longer ones). So i’ll pick up the book and review it.
And for some reason, the Masculinity Series beyond the first group evades me. Just can’t remember 99% of the movements. But i can’t say that i’ve tried to hard to get them. Partly ‘cos i’m a bit lazy and they take a lot out of me (can’t do them for long periods).
Can someone help me with some questions about the passes. It’s kinda hard for me to explain. Sorry if I’m making this harder that it is.
1.The first question has to do with passes 35 and 36 on page 67. The first figures for both passes ie; fig.84 and fig.87, are identical. Both figures show hands bent at the rist and pointing to the sides. Yet in the description for pass 35 the fingers are described as “pointing forwards”. Put simply. Why doesn’t the picture for pass 35 match the description for that pass. Which is right?
2.Also concerning this same pass (35 on page 67) the hands are described as being 4 or 5 inches apart. I’m assuming that’s talking about the distance from hand to hip and not hand to hand.
3. Ok two more. sorry. Pass 37 on page 69 requires that you move the hands 3 times in alternating succession ending when the heel of the hand touches the lower rib cage. This implies that the hands are brought closure with each movement so that on the 3rd movement the hand will come to rest on the rib cage. Right?
4. It’s the same thing with fig 92 for that same pass (37). The description is that the thumbs are “nearly touching each other” yet the picture clearly shows both hands in-line with each foot upon completion. Help!
1) i do it like the picture. Fingers facing out. Don’t think that there is a wrong way. As long as the Intent of the Pass is there, its fine.
2) Yes. The distance from hip to hand.
3) No, it just means that after you move your hands forward/back and side to side, the heel of your palm touches your rib cage.
4) i do it like the picture.
Remember, there is no right or wrong way and yet we have to do them impeccably.
Wow. ok, thank you. That helps alot.
after practicing tensegrity for four years i have started to see results, firstly i feel i have more energy. secondly after doing it last time, i turned into a crow. Im typing this using my beak, which is a bit difficult. Also in the books it doesnt say how to turn back into a human, so im kind of stuck like this at the moment, which is a worry.