落 (luò) 地 (dì)

To put it down - To drop it. -

To land on earth (as in an airplane landing.) These are some of the definitions of luo di. But, in the grand scheme of Daoist cultivation, it becomes " The willingness to let go."

You have only to look at the "fall" season. Observe nature. Trees are willing to let go of their leaves as part of their own preparation for winter's conservation of energy. So, it is with one's own preparation for winter - or in a more subtle text - one's own preparation for meditation - stillness - a temporary winter's hibernation of nothingness. What are you "willing" to drop - to set down? The stress of the moment - the day - the "story" you tell yourself? (see previous blog)

Are we so full of stress or worry or fear or our past that we carry it around like a backpack full of rocks? (My own Shifu's analogy) To let it go becomes a learned habit (unlike trees who are just being their tree-ness)

Start with the decision to Luo Di. Then practice feeling it wash from your body into the earth or to dissipate like vapor. Practice until you can call that luo di feeling up at will.

When leading a dozen Qigong Women in the Wilderness Retreats - participants were invited to put all their worries and troubles into the worry basket upon entering the retreat. Jokingly, they were told if they REALLY wanted them back at the end of the week they were more than welcome to collect them. I did not have the word Luo Di back then - but it is what we were doing.

- A tree does not take back its leaves