My original philosophy:
The Wheel
As I sit down at my potter’s wheel with a few pounds of clay in my hands, Ras Das gazes out of my garage/pottery studio and off into the distance. “Please observe carefully.” I say, surrounded by shelves full of my students’ drying pots, accumulated tools and assorted pottery supplies. “I will demonstrate my technique, and then will watch you do it and walk you through it step by step.” He looks over at me captivated and nods happily. “First thing is to resolve to have fun, because it takes a lot of practice to get good at it, and if you’re not having fun you won’t want to persevere. Apart from that, there’s not one right way to start,” I tell him softly, passing the clay from one hand to the other, giving it an extra pat or slap here and there. “Some potters slam the clay down on a wet wheel, but I like to place it gently as close to the middle of a clean dry wheel as possible.” I look down at the wheel and place the symmetrical ball in the center. “This is the first step of what I call the three steps of dry centering. As you get a feel for the clay and the process, you’ll develop your own style for yourself just like every potter eventually does.” he smiles and nods again. “The first step was to place it, the second step is to press it down evenly so that the clay adheres to the wheel. You want the widest part to be at the base, and the narrowest part at the top.” As I press with both hands and twist the wheel manually, I tell him “During this step, you set yourself up for success by maintaining the symmetry of the clay. The more centered it is at this stage, the better.” I pull my hands away from the clay so that he can see what I’ve done. I place my foot tenderly on the foot pedal. “There’s a rheostat in this petal, like a dimmer switch on a light bulb. The more you press the pedal, the faster the wheel goes.” I press lightly and the wheel begins to spin slowly. “The third step is to seal it on there so that no air bubbles find their way in at the bottom.” I put half of the pad of my middle finger on the wheel, and half on the clay making a smooth seal between the clay and the wheel. “Those are the three steps of dry centering.”
I spin the wheel faster and splash some water on the clay. “You’ll notice that I’m stable and centered. My elbows are anchored on my thighs and my center of gravity is over the wheel before I even touch the clay. As I maintain my own stillness, I impart my own centeredness into the clay.” My hands wrap around the spinning wet ball and when I pull away the clay is perfectly centered and in the shape of a mound. “You make it look so effortless…” says Ras Das, staring at the spinning wheel. He continues,
“This shape looks like a stupa to me. Was Buddha a potter? Could you see yourself wanting to be interred in a mound like this? The centered mound is the basic shape of the stupa, the pregnant mother’s belly. It is a symbol of fertility…”
“Wow, interesting questions Ras Das” I say “this clay has the potential to turn into anything, any form at all. Contained within this fertile mound of centered clay is infinite possibilities, especially once it’s on the wheel, spinning, wet, and centered like it is now.”
Mas Das
I look into Ras Das’ deep set eyes. “What kind of vessel does this mound of clay want to become?” He smiles through his heart and replies “An alms bowl perhaps?” I nod “To start, I compress the clay more and make it wider at the base. Now it’s ready for the hole in the center.” I grab my right wrist with my left hand and assume a variation of the bhumisparsha mudra.
Bhumisparsha mudra comes from the story of Buddha’s enlightenment under the banyan tree near the Vedic city of Gaya where Mara’s armies attack the Buddha. After the attack, Mara says ‘I am supreme, I have so many witnesses of that fact’ pointing to his army. ‘If you think you are supreme, then where are your witnesses? Buddha, who had not responded to any of the attacks until that point, spontaneously touches the Earth, which quakes. In doing so, the Earth acknowledges the Buddha’s consciousness as superior death, thereby securing his victory over Mara.
As I touch the earth directly in the center of the spinning wheel, I say “stillness is paramount at this stage. See how I’m anchored with my elbows on my legs still? I am moving the clay, it is not moving me.” As I speak, the clay yields to my fingers and a symmetrical hole appears. “Let the wheel do the work. The clay is very responsive to the touch of the potter when it is spinning like this. Just retain your own stability and the clay will remain centered. On the material plane, after the Buddha’s bodily death he was cremated and used as a devine excuse to move and mold huge mounds of earth. Stupas were formed around the relics and Buddha’s 4 noble truths and 8 fold noble path spread. The awakened Buddha Mind, Bodhi Chitta, is a pleasurefull abiding centered around the spiritual fertility found on the trail of nothingness.”
Ras Das blinks twice and chimes in: “This reminds me of the 11th chapter the Dao De Ching that says ‘form clay into a pot; It is the emptiness in the center which makes it useful’.” “Exactly!” I exclaim. “I like Ted Wrigley’s translation of the end of that chapter that says: Having something is good only to the extent that it makes nothingness usable".
Please Enjoy More of my Writings:
The Wheel
As I sit down at my potter’s wheel with a few pounds of clay in my hands, Ras Das gazes out of my garage/pottery studio and off into the distance. “Please observe carefully.” I say, surrounded by shelves full of my students’ drying pots, accumulated tools and assorted pottery supplies. “I will demonstrate my technique, and then will watch you do it and walk you through it step by step.” He looks over at me captivated and nods happily. “First thing is to resolve to have fun, because it takes a lot of practice to get good at it, and if you’re not having fun you won’t want to persevere. Apart from that, there’s not one right way to start,” I tell him softly, passing the clay from one hand to the other, giving it an extra pat or slap here and there. “Some potters slam the clay down on a wet wheel, but I like to place it gently as close to the middle of a clean dry wheel as possible.” I look down at the wheel and place the symmetrical ball in the center. “This is the first step of what I call the three steps of dry centering. As you get a feel for the clay and the process, you’ll develop your own style for yourself just like every potter eventually does.” he smiles and nods again. “The first step was to place it, the second step is to press it down evenly so that the clay adheres to the wheel. You want the widest part to be at the base, and the narrowest part at the top.” As I press with both hands and twist the wheel manually, I tell him “During this step, you set yourself up for success by maintaining the symmetry of the clay. The more centered it is at this stage, the better.” I pull my hands away from the clay so that he can see what I’ve done. I place my foot tenderly on the foot pedal. “There’s a rheostat in this petal, like a dimmer switch on a light bulb. The more you press the pedal, the faster the wheel goes.” I press lightly and the wheel begins to spin slowly. “The third step is to seal it on there so that no air bubbles find their way in at the bottom.” I put half of the pad of my middle finger on the wheel, and half on the clay making a smooth seal between the clay and the wheel. “Those are the three steps of dry centering.”
I spin the wheel faster and splash some water on the clay. “You’ll notice that I’m stable and centered. My elbows are anchored on my thighs and my center of gravity is over the wheel before I even touch the clay. As I maintain my own stillness, I impart my own centeredness into the clay.” My hands wrap around the spinning wet ball and when I pull away the clay is perfectly centered and in the shape of a mound. “You make it look so effortless…” says Ras Das, staring at the spinning wheel. He continues,
“This shape looks like a stupa to me. Was Buddha a potter? Could you see yourself wanting to be interred in a mound like this? The centered mound is the basic shape of the stupa, the pregnant mother’s belly. It is a symbol of fertility…”
“Wow, interesting questions Ras Das” I say “this clay has the potential to turn into anything, any form at all. Contained within this fertile mound of centered clay is infinite possibilities, especially once it’s on the wheel, spinning, wet, and centered like it is now.”
Mas Das
I look into Ras Das’ deep set eyes. “What kind of vessel does this mound of clay want to become?” He smiles through his heart and replies “An alms bowl perhaps?” I nod “To start, I compress the clay more and make it wider at the base. Now it’s ready for the hole in the center.” I grab my right wrist with my left hand and assume a variation of the bhumisparsha mudra.
Bhumisparsha mudra comes from the story of Buddha’s enlightenment under the banyan tree near the Vedic city of Gaya where Mara’s armies attack the Buddha. After the attack, Mara says ‘I am supreme, I have so many witnesses of that fact’ pointing to his army. ‘If you think you are supreme, then where are your witnesses? Buddha, who had not responded to any of the attacks until that point, spontaneously touches the Earth, which quakes. In doing so, the Earth acknowledges the Buddha’s consciousness as superior death, thereby securing his victory over Mara.
As I touch the earth directly in the center of the spinning wheel, I say “stillness is paramount at this stage. See how I’m anchored with my elbows on my legs still? I am moving the clay, it is not moving me.” As I speak, the clay yields to my fingers and a symmetrical hole appears. “Let the wheel do the work. The clay is very responsive to the touch of the potter when it is spinning like this. Just retain your own stability and the clay will remain centered. On the material plane, after the Buddha’s bodily death he was cremated and used as a devine excuse to move and mold huge mounds of earth. Stupas were formed around the relics and Buddha’s 4 noble truths and 8 fold noble path spread. The awakened Buddha Mind, Bodhi Chitta, is a pleasurefull abiding centered around the spiritual fertility found on the trail of nothingness.”
Ras Das blinks twice and chimes in: “This reminds me of the 11th chapter the Dao De Ching that says ‘form clay into a pot; It is the emptiness in the center which makes it useful’.” “Exactly!” I exclaim. “I like Ted Wrigley’s translation of the end of that chapter that says: Having something is good only to the extent that it makes nothingness usable".
Please Enjoy More of my Writings:
| jordi_hadzabe_hunter_gatherers_2014.pdf |
| jordi_bates_senior_thesis_2015.pdf |
| jordi_on_american_education.pdf |
| jordi_intro_human_design_&_gene_keys_2023.pdf |
| language_of_the_ancestors_marques_2024.pdf |
Back when I was the firing technician at the Hui No'Eau, I fired these cone ten kilns all the time!
I love YouTube… here are some of my favorite videos:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtNwbOd4m9I - Ajahn Brahm
www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1xbyByFPs8 - Thanissaro Bikkhu
www.youtube.com/watch?v=W78EeA1UiZg - Kripa
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcV7lSoj3oo - Debashish Banerji
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ5I8sFOJEw&t=616s - Eben Alexander
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWQrNkKm7qM - James Tunney
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx3nCQMKHfM&t=239s - Joseph Gallenberger
https://youtu.be/wUP229ZPsV4?si=FldfuVJ016U0ZJQO - Whitney Webb
https://youtu.be/YsGXbW_FR70?si=B1qnn5MLON7zm9jK - Paul Levy
https://youtu.be/LZMl4GyqljE?si=Isf4wvNKEcrzpWzY - Jason Reza Jorjani
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtNwbOd4m9I - Ajahn Brahm
www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1xbyByFPs8 - Thanissaro Bikkhu
www.youtube.com/watch?v=W78EeA1UiZg - Kripa
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcV7lSoj3oo - Debashish Banerji
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ5I8sFOJEw&t=616s - Eben Alexander
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWQrNkKm7qM - James Tunney
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx3nCQMKHfM&t=239s - Joseph Gallenberger
https://youtu.be/wUP229ZPsV4?si=FldfuVJ016U0ZJQO - Whitney Webb
https://youtu.be/YsGXbW_FR70?si=B1qnn5MLON7zm9jK - Paul Levy
https://youtu.be/LZMl4GyqljE?si=Isf4wvNKEcrzpWzY - Jason Reza Jorjani