I’m Picking Up Dude Vibrations

The Art of Flowing

By Rev. Andrea Favro

Hi Dudes, today I’m gonna talk about flowing, or being in harmony with Tao.

As Dudeists we all know what we mean with the word Tao. If you’re not too clear on it, please take another look at the Dude De Ching. So, how can we flow in a Dudely way? There are many ways of course; I’ve found this one which seems to be quite simple and I hope it will be useful for you fellow Dudes.

Flowing means being in harmony with Tao, and, if you have read my article on Your Own Personal Genie you know that you have only to ask for it to achieve. Vibrating in harmony with Tao has the advantage, as explained in our sacred book, to give you the ability to achieve almost anything; and this is how it can be simply done.

I use the term "energy" as for me it’s the best to express the concept, but you can use something else if you like. Everyone knows that human body is in electric tension, just like in the movie Matrix, with positive and negative charges, so if you are not into the whole Eastern thing you can pick this other explanation. There may or may not be a literal connection, depending on how you look at it.

First a little theory: a representation of Tao in its two components, yin and yang, can be seen as Sky and Earth. In every given moment we are under the influence of these two "energies", we live with our feet on the ground and our head in the air. In Chinese tradition, the Earth is usually seen as yin and the Sky as yang. The physical act of breathing, the single most important thing that we do, not only gives us oxygen but recharges our inner energy and let’s us exchange energy with the Universe. In this respect breathing in is yin (expanding) and breathing out is yang (contracting). So with every breath we absorb yin energy through our head to our feet to the Earth and then we expell back to the Sky yang energy from the Earth through our feet through our head. Just think of an upside-down Y, two feet and one head.

Let’s go!

Tao Breathing

Find a comfortable position, but not too much, put your hands together and begin to breath with your belly, calmly, slowly, deeply.

With every inhalation imagine that the yin "energy" from the Universe enters your body, flows through each and every cell and goes to the ground through your feet.

With every exhalation then imagine that the Yang "energy" flows from the Earth through each and every cell to the Universe back again.

Imagine as if you’re breathing through your feet, so to say.

Now, imagine that somewhere around your navel there a point, usually called by Chinamen DanTien, that is the center of you. The center of your physical, "energetic" body, your connection with the Universe, etc. According to Aikido practitioners, it is also the center of the Universe too. Like a hologram, each of our centers is the center of the universe, reflecting and representing all other centers. If the Universe is indeed infinite,  then any point can be its center. And that center is your navel. Far out!

Imagine that with every breath that you bring towards this center gets crossed by both energies, recharged and kept in equilibrium and balance. That is, yin and yang inside you are in equilibrium, and you are in harmony with Tao. In that case, you are flowing with the Tao. If you are centered, balanced and in equilibrium in your DanTien then all of you is centered. It simplifies a lot all the stuff about meridians, energy channels and so on, which we need not go in to.

After having done this at least for ten times focus on your DanTien and imagine that with every breath Tao flows from the Universe to your navel and then back from your navel to the Universe. Think to be a kind of human sponge breathing and flowing in accordance with the Universe. Words are not sufficient to describe how this feels, but believe me Dude that you will think that you haven’t ever breathed for real before.

Then, after having done this for at least ten times say this mantra to yourself twenty times: "I want to be in harmony with Tao, flowing effortlessly through life."

After some more breaths say the wrapping-up mantra: "From now on I am always in harmony with Tao, flowing effortlessly through life."

That’s it. But this is just the beginning. With practice you will see what the old fella Lao Tzu meant when he said that being in harmony with Tao makes the impossible possible. And the concepts of Tao and yin and yang will begin to unfold.

Ideally you should practice Tao Breathing every day but if you want a little quick Tao recharge, just take some breaths and repeat ten times the mantra: "I am always in harmony with Tao, flowing effortlessly through life." It will soon become second nature, just like driving around or the occasional acid flashback.

Obviously if you find another sentence that you feel better use it, what’s important is the concept, not the words.

So, just to have a little regimen:

10 Yin-Yang breaths
10 Tao breaths
20 (+1) Mantras

Or at any time during the day:

5 Yin-Yang breaths
5 Mantras

Just a little warning Dudes: it can happen that "changing" your vibe can remove some blockages we all carry around with us, like old feelings, things from the past, and it can even happens that you could be a little sick or depressed. But enduring this, or better yet, Abiding, it will soon pass and you will begin a completely new life: flowing like water in a river or, if you prefer, surfing the sea of life as skillfully as the late Donald Theodore Kerabatsos, may he take ‘er easy in peace.