I have two…two rescue cats…I always mind the cat!

In issue Number 64, the Spring 2009 issue of The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter, Mark Hovis shares these thoughts about harmonizing chaos:

Minding the Gap, Harmonizing Chaos

Several years ago my family enjoyed a brief visit to London. The subway system called the Underground was easy to use, and we used it often. I remember hearing a recording of a woman’s voice each time we boarded an Underground car. The voice said, “Mind the gap!” which means to be careful of the space between the car and the landing. “Mind the gap” is a phrase that we heard many times while we moved through the London Underground.

Recently I saw a bumper-sticker with the Underground logo next to the phrase “Mind the Gap”. And a few days later, as I was entering a supermarket, I noticed someone leaving wearing a t-shirt that displayed the words “Mind the Gap”. With that incident, I asked myself what is the meaning of “Mind the Gap”?

When the word “gap” is assigned a numerical value: g=7, a=1, p=16. Add them together and “gap” = 24. Our Safety Energy Lock 24 expresses Harmonizing Chaos. Is minding the “gap” minding the 24 (harmonizing chaos)?

Our mind is often in a state of chaos. Allowing a gap or space in our thinking mind is an important part of meditation. Meditation is minding the gap and gapping the mind in order to harmonize our mental chaos.

On the 24th day of a recent month I was reading Eckhart Tolle’s best-selling guide to enlightenment, The Power of NOW. In the book on pages 23 and 24, Tolle speaks about the Gap:

“Glimpses of love and joy or moments of deep peace are possible whenever a gap occurs in the stream of thought. For most people, such gaps happen rarely and only accidentally in moments when the mind is rendered ‘speechless’, sometimes triggered by great beauty, extreme physical exertion, or even great danger. Suddenly, there is inner stillness. And within that stillness there is a subtle but intense joy, there is love, there is peace.”

(Aside: this reminds me that I can find the instant of “still” at Safety Energy Lock 7, when exhale becomes inhale.)

To be continued…