Tensegrity Seminars

Mountain View - June 1998 [ 1998 Index | Previous | Next ] To:   The Ixtlan Mailing List Date:   Wed, 17 Jun 1998 13:40:21 -0400 Mountain View - Saturday June 6, 1998 The workshop was held at Foothills College in one of the gymnasiums. The college is located in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains in the Southern San Francisco Bay area on hilly and wooded terrain. The gym was used for basketball, with three courts available when the bleachers were tucked against the wall and one when they were extended. The bleachers were tucked in and there was one raised square platform in the middle of the room covered with black indoor/outdoor carpeting and a black skirting. Grant came out and made some general announcements about bathroom locations, food service and parking permits. He then mentioned that the Wheel of Time was available at the bookstore and that we were the first Americans to be able to read it. Grant also mentioned the availability of the Tensegrity videos, warning that the passes on them were different than those included in Magical Passes. He then said that there were plans to make a "training video" for all the series shown in the book and that several more videos were planned. After a few minutes pause, Reni came out on stage to give her talk. She introduced herself by saying "I am Rennatta Murez and that name is my link to infinity". She then said "I belong to Carol Tiggs." She talked about the origin of the Magical passes and about how when seers see a person they see them as a luminous ball with a bright spot of luminosity behind them at the level of the shoulder blades which is the assemblage point. She explained that the assemblage point is the point of connection to the Sea of Awareness. Reni said that for the ancient sorcerers time wasn't something abstract, it was a real thing - an integral part of man and that those sorcerers conceived of it as a circle containing an infinite number of furrows which they called the Wheel of Time. She said that our self reflection forces us to stare into only one furrow but that we can move into another one. We want to turn the wheel and face time as it comes at us, not as it recedes.That is what the magical passes enable us to do. She said that the Intent series was originally called the Oakland Series because it was first taught at two workshops in Oakland CA. The Nagual had asked the participants at one of those workshops to practice it on their own for a month after the workshop which they did, both alone and in groups and this proved to the Nagual that there was a possibility for people to perform the magical passes on their own and make use of them in their lives. Reni then introduced Brandon Scott, Darian Donner, Erin Alexander, and Leroy Johnson Wilby (formally Marcus) who were the instructors for the day. Each of the instructors were on the one stage demonstrating the passes, but one of them would lead the instruction. Brandon primarily led the instruction in the individual passes of the Intent series and after a short break we returned and learned the long form version of Intent. After lunch Brandon came out to talk a bit about when he first got involved with the Nagual and started working with the passes. He is a funny and engaging speaker, embellishing his stories with movement and action to enhance what he is telling. Listening and watching him tell this story was much funnier than I can show here. He used to work in law firm and was very busy all day. He worked late and didn't even have time for TV or movies yet the Nagual wanted him to saturate himself with the passes, so Brandon did them whenever he could during the day, usually in the bathroom at work. He didn't want anyone he worked with seeing him practice so if someone walked in on him while he had his arms extended, he would quickly move his hands to his tie as if he was fixing it. After awhile he had to develop other things to pretend to be doing because how often could one fix their tie? Finally, he decided to use a stall so no one would walk in and see him but this was even worse because if someone came in they would hear him breathing heavy and grunting and then see him bound out of the stall all energetic and refreshed. People began to wonder about him. One day he went for walk with the Nagual and saw him doing funny things with his feet. Brandon displayed some of the Nagual's unusual walking. He showed us how Carlos would walk down the street and do movements like "Stepping Over a Barrier of Energy" and "Kicking a Lateral Gate". When they got to the theater and Brandon was buying the tickets, Carlos was standing there "Cracking a Nugget of Energy" and "Scraping Off the Mud of Energy". Finally Brandon couldn't contain his curiosity and being as respectful as possible he said "Excuse me Nagual, is there something wrong with your shoes?" Carlos laughed and said no, he was just doing the passes. Brandon said that we can do them where ever we are - we should work them into our lives. Brandon said Intent is not a thought or an idea, it is action. It is doing the passes. By doing the passes we are excercising Intent. Erin then led the Not Doing series formerly known as Unbending Purpose. They seemed to have changed the name of this series to Unbending Intent because that is how it was referred to all afternoon. We first learned it sitting up on our mats and then performed it lying down. Reni returned to the stage and discussed the Not Doings. She said that the energy inside our luminous balls flows in one direction but that we can break that flow wether it be momentarily or for a lifetime by doing the Not Doing passes. These passes were our opportunity to turn the wheel of time and face time as it came to us and not as it recedes. Reni said the Not Doings are very powerful, especially when done laying down and we should practice them sparingly. She told a story about herself when she first started out. At first she pretended that the story was about someone else, then towards the end of the story she playfully admitted it was her after all. She said she was a compulsive person and wanted to make as much progress on the path as quickly as possible. She was told that she should try and beckon intent, so Reni quite literally went home and went into her bathroom and began screaming "INTENT!", "INTENT!", "INTENT!" as loud as she could. The neighbors apparently became alarmed and called the police who came and went door to door asking if everyone was all right. Reni told them she hadn't heard anyone screaming. The next night Reni went back into the bathroom and again repeatedly screamed "INTENT!" This time the police sent out the swat team with helicoptors and all. Again Reni denied hearing anything. She mentioned that Nyei was in the bedroom sleeping through it all and didn't hear either her screaming or the police. She said she did this because she was ambitious and wanted to make as much progress as possible as soon as she could, but she is no longer the same person. She then mentioned that its not how loud you call Intent, but how forcefully you do it that is important. The point Reni was making is that If you are a compulsive practitioner like she was and just can't help practicing the Not Doings all the time then you should just practice the sitting up version on a regular basis and do the lying down version sparingly. She then talked briefly about the new mood of precision and affection that started in last workshop. She said that they were showing a new pass because of this new mood and talked about the blank check of affection that we should write to others, expecting nothing in return. We were asked to find a partner of the same sex and then Darian led us in the instruction of this new pass called the Pass of Affection. We performed it several times before the workshop ended to enthusiastic clapping and stomping of feet. [ 1998 Index | Previous | Next ]

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