C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Entering Deeply into Practice Bodhidharma (a.k.a. Da Mo), first patriarch of Zen*       “ While you are continuing this practice, week after week, year after year, your experience will become deeper and deeper, and your experience will cover everything you do in your everyday life.  The most important thing is to forget all gaining ideas, all dualistic ideas.  In other words, just practice zazen in a certain posture.  Do not think about anything.  Just remain on your cushion without expecting anything.  Then eventually you will resume your own true nature.  That is to say, your own true nature resumes itself. ” Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind      In a past blog entry on Zen, martial arts, and building muscle mass, I made a brief mention of entering deeply into practice .  But what does this mean, to “enter deeply into practice”?  First, and for some odd reason this seems to be a point that practitioners are apt to miss, it means that you must have a daily practice that you

      Although my posts on Stoic philosophy are not as popular as those on lifting (or drinking beer, or good literature), I am going to continue with them nonetheless.      For those interested in lifting weights – whether you’re a bodybuilder, powerlifter, or just casual lifter (or, hell, even for you Crossfitters) – Stoicism is the philosophy par excellence.  Lifting weights, particularly hard and heavy lifting, can teach us a lot about how to live our lives, but we have to learn to listen to what our lives have to tell us.  For some, the art of listening is a little more difficult.  This is where philosophy comes in.      This particular piece comes from Seneca.  Seneca has long been my favorite of the Roman writers on Stoicism.  Perhaps this is because he is not just a Stoic, for he borrows on other philosophies of antiquity when they serve his purpose.      This piece on death, and how it’s one thing to live a life, and it’s another thing to just exist, is also one of my

My Training Philosophy      I received an email today from a reader who was confused over my training methodology.  He said that he had read over several of my recent articles—ones on Texas Volume Training, my hybrid system, and my few posts on high frequency strength training (including my “Ditillo-inspired” article)—and now he wasn’t sure how it was that he should train.  He felt as if I was saying different things at different times throughout my articles, and that it didn’t make for a cohesive whole—those weren’t his exact words, but you get the drift.      After several emails back and forth throughout the morning and afternoon, I believe he now understands how he should be training based on his goals and his training experience.  I’m not going to re-hash those email correspondences here, but what I would like to do is set the record straight on how I believe you should be training based on your experience, training time available, and goals. Starting Out      I ge

      “I gave myself a full year to recover. Literally, I walked, did a little this and that, biked a bit, waded in the ocean and lived like what I call a “normal.” A normal human being. They are wonderful people, really, but they don’t wear singlets, weightlifting boots and smell of fear and chalk.”   -Dan John      The above quote from Dan john is from a post he has on his blog about his return to Olympic lifting competition.  The post, in general, can be said to be rather pedestrian – although John seems to do “pedestrian” better than most any other writers in this field – but this quote made me smile, and got me to thinking.  Thinking about the times I lived as a “normal” myself – times that I sometimes look fondly upon, sometimes view it with little other than indifference, but, on the whole, look upon it with something akin to disdain.  And then there’s the fact that I can’t really live as a “normal” even if I wanted to, even when I’ve tried to do such a thing.  (Although

      I’ve always enjoyed activities that had a sparse, Zen-like quality to them.   My first love of this kind was martial arts.   I was nine or ten when my father agreed to let me take Karate – Okinawan karate-do to be precise (Isshin-Ryu, Shorin-Ryu, Goju-Ryu). [1]   At first, I think he was reluctant.   This was probably on account of the fact that I had quit other “sport” activities that I was involved in.   I could hit a baseball hard, and had a good arm, but I hated the monotony of America’s pastime.   I played football some, but didn’t care much for it either.   But when I encountered martial arts, I encountered something entirely different.   Although I trained with others, and fought with others, the only real competition was with myself.   Okinawan karate-do focuses on very basic movements, but they must be done with precision, perfect technique, and impeccable timing.   And the only way to achieve that is with a lot of practice.   And the practice allows you to enter in

     “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to contemplate, to enjoy, to love.” – Marcus Aurelius      The Stoicism of Marcus Aurelius, of Seneca, of Musonius Rufus, and – yes – of Epictetus is a philosophy of life.  As William Wallace says in the movie Braveheart, “Every man dies, but not every man really lives.”  How many people do you know who waste their lives on things that have no purpose?  The truth is this: the vast majority of the people of this world waste their lives on trivial matters, on concerns with “fun”, on things outside of their own lives.  Let us not do this – let us return to Epictetus so that we may learn how to live, and how to imbue our training with philosophy itself, let our training be a place where we can apply philosophy so that it carries over into all of our life outside of training. Epictetus on the Importance of Training Our Minds:      When walking, you are careful not to step on a

     In the beginning of the original “Conan the Barbarian” movie, the title character’s father is discussing what you can trust and what you can’t trust in life.  In one of my favorite lines in movie history, he quips, “You must learn its discipline.  For no one, no one in this world can you trust.  Not men, not women, not beasts” – and then he points to the sword he has just forged – “ this you can trust.”      I agree with Conan’s father in that I feel the same way about philosophy (and I feel the same way about lifting weights – the iron is always the same; it never lies).  To follow Epictetus’s way – and the way of the other Stoics – is to follow a path that can be trusted.  The ways of the world are folly, but the way of philosophy is a sure path – not to success, or power, or many of the other things that humankind too often puts its faith in – but to peace of mind.      Let us return again to Epictetus’ Enchiridion, and see what other wisdom we can gain from its pages.