This week at Kinship Cafe, we explore an intriguing phrase found in the Daodejing (Tao Te Ching): “Darkness is the entrance to understanding the mystery.” We prefer the known, the mapped out, and named. But the Daodejing claims that this is not the ultimate reality. To more fully understand humans and our relationship to nature, we have to start by noticing what lies behind the known, the mapped, and the named. The Daodejing calls this Absence. Absence is not a nothing. Rather, it is the undifferentiated generative source of all that we experience (Presence). This is an open, discussion-based gathering. No prior knowledge needed. Just curiosity. 📍 Drop in anytime 🗣️ All perspectives welcome ☕ Thoughtful conversation, grounded in a naturalistic reading of the Daodejing (Tao Te Ching) With your account at Kinship Cafe, you can: 1. Join the live online sessions on Fridays at 7am PT. The link is in the community's Calendar section. 2. Watch the past session recordings at your own time. The videos will be in the community's Classroom section. 3. If you happen to live near Fallbrook, CA, you can join our in-person session on Sundays at 9am. Hilltop Spiritual Center, 331 E Elder St., Fallbrook, CA 92028 I look forward to seeing you there!

Starting this Wednesday we will have a time for community sharing of our experiences and challenges living in light of the Dao

This week at Kinship Cafe, we explore a powerful idea from the Daodejing (Tao Te Ching): We miss vital aspects of our world because we don’t realize we have been trained to look at it a certain way. What happens when you shift your focus? In this session, we’ll explore: - How attention itself shapes what we perceive - The difference between observing mystery and observing named reality - How two completely different views of reality can point to the same underlying unity The text invites us to practice seeing: To observe deeply. To notice what’s usually hidden. To hold two perspectives… until they resolve into one. I look forward to seeing you there!

@Jim Jones Just came across this conversation that touches on something we were just talking about the other day.

Is anyone here familiar with the work of Dr. Michael Levin on bioelectric fields and cellular development? I think it points towards a plausible mechanism for the "qi" phenomenon central to acupuncture and qigong, and this article from a Taoist perspective reviews a recent scientific study of energy healing and cancer that seems to point in the same direction. I think this area of research is very promising and highly worthy of further investigation. https://www.diegosanmiquel.net/blog/biofield-therapy-cancer-research-md-anderson-medical-qigong