and if,

and again

or

and if a body,

these islands

you

as a set of lines, of

of speed, geogra-

can get into

particles, of passions,

phy, the mind

the always open,

philosophy, the

Coming to a point

listen to its

recomposed elements

of speechless

Coming, breath

of Nothing,

thunder, Sweet

already there,

and if, everywhere

clouds of breath

Settle,

the spirit of

coursing

listen to the

Without, the question

through thought,

Myriad

again,

Socrates,

spontaneously

of particles,

Socrates, not he,

Gather into

of planes, these longitudes

no holding,

the now

of if, of

no origin, yet

of no-action,

reality preceding

the passions

the gentle latitudes

the ultimate,

structure the laws

of Yin, holding

respond, respond,

of determined

mountain, holding

and how this radiant

Therefore,

movement to

Nature

its summit frozen,

the fire,

requires a

and

Everywhere

 

and,

 

and

 

and

 

and,

not

alternating

to Gather,

again,

holding

between

from

to Settle

one’s

an already

the always

into

breath,

existing

acting

the heart

Coming

structure

Nothing,

of

to

and

another

living

terms

what

order

sound,

withwhat

is

the moment

teaches,

Having

of

lines,

of

listen,

 

how

there,

lines

latitudes

the energy

now,

come

altered,

of

the variable

longitudes,

latitudes

together

Nourishing

this

the unformed

 

to become

the elements

comes

together,

of

place,

 

between

the radiant

recomposed

 

to Be

noset

relations

 

 

as

the sound

of

Everywhere

so,

and

now,

to understand,

one Enters

to consider

through one’s open

the energy, and

the clouds of

experience,

one Enters again

caressing

what unites

each moment, there

change, as this day

fire and water,

to listen

comes into

what happens

to the quiet

its full,

When water is in

Middle, the

the idea of a body

the fire, and so on,

unformed, open, now

altered, the social

what happens

to assemble into

recomposed,

When, through

another order, yet

listen,

living, living

elements of the same

as you were being taught,

crystallizes

immanence, a

treat it gentle,

into

pairing of lines

the sounds

particles of light,

that we come to call

will sound unlike

by which

longitudes and

anything Before,

we are taught

latitudes, same thing

origin returns to fire,

another way of

whether geography

extension set free,

the heart, indeed

or

slowness

the human

body being

teaches

Meridiana root texts

 

Gilles Deleuze

In short, if we are Spinozists we will not define a thing by its 

form, nor by its organs and its functions, nor as a substance or a 

subject. Borrowing terms from the Middle Ages, or from geogra-

phy, we will define it by longitude and latitude. A body can be any-

thing; it can be an animal, a body of sounds, a mind or an idea; it 

can be a linguistic corpus, a social body, a collectivity. We call lon-

gitude of a body the set of relations of speed and slowness, of mo-

tion and rest, between particles that compose it from this point of 

view, that is, between unformed elements. We call latitude the set 

of affects that occupy a body at each moment, that is, the inten-

sive states of an anonymous force (force for existing, capacity for

being affected). In this way we construct the map of a body. The

longitudes and latitudes together constitute Nature, the plane of

immanence or consistency, which is always variable and is con-

stantly being altered, composed and recomposed, by individuals

and collectivities. …

What is unique about Spinoza

is that he, the most philosophic of philosophers (unlike Socrates 

himself, Spinoza requires only philosophy …), teaches the phi-

losopher how to become a nonphilosopher.

 

 

Benedict de Spinoza 

… Nothing happens in Nature which can be attributed

to any defect in it, for Nature is always the same, and its virtue and power of

acting are everywhere one and the same, that is, the laws and rules of Nature,

according to which all things happen, and change from one form to another, are

always and everywhere the same. …

Therefore, I shall treat the nature and powers of the affects, and the

power of the mind over them, by the same method by which, in the preceding

parts, I treated God and the mind, and I shall consider human actions and

appetites just as if it were a question of lines, planes, and bodies. …

… The mind and the body are one and the same thing,

which is conceived now under the attribute of thought, now under the

attribute of extension. The result is that the order, or connection, of 

things is one, whether Nature is conceived under this attribute or that;

hence the order of actions and passions of our body is, by nature, at one 

with the order of actions and passions of the mind. …

For indeed, no one has yet determined what the body can do, that is,

experience has not yet taught anyone what the body can do from the 

laws of Nature alone, insofar as Nature is only considered to be corpo-

real, and what the body can do only if it is determined by the mind. For

no one has yet to come to know the structure of the body …

 

 

Gilles Deleuze

“Spinoza: Practical Philosophy,” by Gilles Deleuze. Translated by Robert Hurley. City Lights Books, San Francisco. 1988. Lines 1 through 16, p. 127-128. Lines 17-20, p. 130.      

 

Benedict de Spinoza

“A Spinoza Reader: The Ethics and Other Works,” by Benedict de Spinoza. Edited and translated by Edwin Curley. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1994. Lines 1 through 9, p. 153. Lines 10 through 20, p. 155-156.

 

 

Meridiana: Lines Toward A Non-local Alchemy

Introduction

Essay

Texts

Scores

Graphics

only

and

already

to get stuck

what

the affects

on the terrace

will happen

of

of method,

When

the preceding

the map

the anonymous

are firing into the

of planes, of

comes into

apertures

polar forgetting,

the corporeal, the

of the passions,

seeking

real Nothing,

alternating

the short terms,

this living moment,

between

attached

where

stuck frozen

to the already,

Nature crystallizes

elixir

holding on

into the point

of Yin and

to the force of

between

animal breath,

latitudes,

heaven and

only to force

to the mechanism

heart,

its way into

of motion, to

this moment,

the states

the way

before

of the already

of Spinoza,

being, before

existing, according

drunk

spirit,

to the laws

on substance

before

of quiet

forgetting

and

and

and

and

to be

not

to come,

again,

there,

holding

with

acting

open,

on

all

on

not

to

your

existing

just

the already,

body,

geography,

in

for

into

to change

mind,

a moment

the pairing

the time

but

being

of

elements,

in

free

these

settle

terms

of

lines,

into

of

time,

in

what

body,

frozen

Sweet

happens,

of

particles

awareness,

respond

breath,

of

of

to

Coming

 

together

the same

each movement,

its

energy,

slowness,

 

speed

the call


of

this

moment

and

but

and

going into

not forgetting

now, before

Spinoza,

breath, the way

going back into

in what he

it functions, awareness

the Nourishing latitudes

(or we) will call

of its movement,

of Nothing,

God sive Nature, and

clearly experience each

we remain

how we can come

Coming, going,

for another moment

to understand

naturally alternating,

with the laws of

what goes on

now holding, careful

Yin and yang, with

under all these terms,

according to one’s capacity,

the appetites and apertures

body, lines, the affects

at rest, be

in Spinoza, and

and so on, not

the between,

the lines between them,

only as functions

speed already altered,

to understand the connection,

of thought, of extension,

Sweet slowness

if any,

as appetites for terms,

become vital

and to listen, again,

but in the full force

spirit,

to the stringless

of living relations, you and I

immanence of yang

sound

together, alone,

will emit, spontaneously,

of

being this

clouds of

all

whole, existing and not

mountain dew

Myriad things

Recordings

Sun Bu-er

Before our body existed,

One energy was already there…

A particle at the point of open awareness,

The gentle firing is warm…

Gather the breath into the point where the spirit is frozen,

And living energy comes from the east.

Don’t get stuck on anything at all, 

And one energy will come back to the terrace…

The energy returns, coursing through the three islands;

The spirit, forgetting, unites with the ultimate.

Coming this way and going this way,

No place is not truly so…

The relic from before birth

Enters one’s heart one day

Be as careful as if you were holding a full vessel,

Be as gentle as if you were caressing an infant…

In time the elixir can be culled;

With the years, the body naturally lightens.

Where the original spirit comes and goes, 

Myriad apertures emit radiant light. 

 

 

Lü Yen (Lü Dongbin)

Nourishing vital energy, speechless, maintain it.

Settle your heart, do no-action.

In movement and quiet, know the origin.

Inactive, who are you seeking?

In reality, you should respond to things.

Respond to things, but don’t be attached to them.

Without attachment, your spirit will remain steady.

With spiritual steadiness, Qi returns naturally.

When energy returns, elixir spontaneously crystallizes,

in the pot pairing water and fire.

Yin and yang arise, alternating over and over again,

everywhere producing the sound of thunder.

White clouds assemble on the summit,

sweet dew bathes the polar mountain.

Having drunk the wine of longevity,

you wander free, who can know you?

You sit and listen to the stringless tune,

you clearly understand the mechanism of creation.

The whole of these twenty verses

is a ladder straight to heaven.

 

  

Sun Bu-er

“Immortal Sisters: Secrets of Taoist Women,” translated and edited by Thomas Cleary. Shambhala, Boston and Shaftesbury, 1989. Lines 1 through 4, p. 25. Lines 5 through 8, p. 28. Lines 9 through 12, p. 37. Lines 13 through 16, p. 45. Lines 17 through 20, p. 48.

 

Lü Yen (Lü Dongbin)

Lines 1 through 8 translated by Master Zongxian Wu, from the no longer existing blog http://saintpaullodge.org/joomla/index.php/component/content/article/77-clay-anderson-daily-blog/235-the-one-hundred-character-tablet Lines 9 through 20 from “Vitality, Energy, Spirit: A Taoist Sourcebook,” translated and edited by Thomas Cleary. Shambhala Classics, Boston and London, 2009, p. 72.

 

Publications

 

and if,

and again

or

and if a body,

these islands

you

as a set of lines, of

of speed, geogra-

can get into

particles, of passions,

phy, the mind

the always open,

philosophy, the

Coming to a point

listen to its

recomposed elements

of speechless

Coming, breath

of Nothing,

thunder, Sweet

already there,

and if, everywhere

clouds of breath

Settle,

the spirit of

coursing

listen to the

Without, the question

through thought,

Myriad

again,

Socrates,

spontaneously

of particles,

Socrates, not he,

Gather into

of planes, these longitudes

no holding,

the now

of if, of

no origin, yet

of no-action,

reality preceding

the passions

the gentle latitudes

the ultimate,

structure the laws

of Yin, holding

respond, respond,

of determined

mountain, holding

and how this radiant

Therefore,

movement to

Nature

its summit frozen,

the fire,

requires a

and

Everywhere

 

 



only

and

already

to get stuck

what

the affects

on the terrace

will happen

of

of method,

When

the preceding

the map

the anonymous

are firing into the

of planes, of

comes into

apertures

polar forgetting,

the corporeal, the

of the passions,

seeking

real Nothing,

alternating

the short terms,

this living moment,

between

attached

where

stuck frozen

to the already,

Nature crystallizes

elixir

holding on

into the point

of Yin and

to the force of

between

animal breath,

latitudes,

heaven and

only to force

to the mechanism

heart,

its way into

of motion, to

this moment,

the states

the way

before

of the already

of Spinoza,

being, before

existing, according

drunk

spirit,

to the laws

on substance

before

of quiet

forgetting

 

 


so,

and

now,

to understand,

one Enters

to consider

through one’s open

the energy, and

the clouds of

experience,

one Enters again

caressing

what unites

each moment, there

change, as this day

fire and water,

to listen

comes into

what happens

to the quiet

its full,

When water is in

Middle, the

the idea of a body

the fire, and so on,

unformed, open, now

altered, the social

what happens

to assemble into

recomposed,

When, through

another order, yet

listen,

living, living

elements of the same

as you were being taught,

crystallizes

immanence, a

treat it gentle,

into

pairing of lines

the sounds

particles of light,

that we come to call

will sound unlike

by which

longitudes and

anything Before,

we are taught

latitudes, same thing

origin returns to fire,

another way of

whether geography

extension set free,

the heart, indeed

or

slowness

the human

body being

teaches

 

 


 

 

and

but

and

going into

not forgetting

now, before

Spinoza,

breath, the way

going back into

in what he

it functions, awareness

the Nourishing latitudes

(or we) will call

of its movement,

of Nothing,

God sive Nature, and

clearly experience each

we remain

how we can come

Coming, going,

for another moment

to understand

naturally alternating,

with the laws of

what goes on

now holding, careful

Yin and yang, with

under all these terms,

according to one’s capacity,

the appetites and apertures

body, lines, the affects

at rest, be

in Spinoza, and

and so on, not

the between,

the lines between them,

only as functions

speed already altered,

to understand the connection,

of thought, of extension,

Sweet slowness

if any,

as appetites for terms,

become vital

and to listen, again,

but in the full force

spirit,

to the stringless

of living relations, you and I

immanence of yang

sound

together, alone,

will emit, spontaneously,

of

being this

clouds of

all

whole, existing and not

mountain dew

Myriad things…





 

and

and

and

and

to be

not

to come,

again,

there,

holding

with

acting

open,

on

all

on

not

to

your

existing

just

the already,

body,

geography,

in

for

into

to change

mind,

a moment

the pairing

the time

but

being

of

elements,

in

free

these

settle

terms

of

lines,

into

of

time,

in

what

body,

frozen

Sweet

happens,

of

particles

awareness,

respond

breath,

of

of

to

Coming

 

together

the same

each movement,

its

energy,

slowness,

 

speed

the call


of

this

moment