BUILDING
with the
BREATH of
LIFE
Chi Energy and the Sacred in Design

TOM BENDER

 

Draft Two - Full text - © 8 Jan. 1999
Revised and illustrated book is now published, available from Fire River Press


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CONTENTS

FOREWARD

PART I - ENERGY, PLACE, AND THE SACRED

Chapter 1. OUR NEED FOR THE SACRED IN OUR SURROUNDINGS

Chapter 2. BUILDING WITH THE BREATH OF LIFE

* OUR SURROUNDINGS AS MIRRORS
* A CHI-CENTERED UNIVERSE
* PRINCIPLES OF ENERGETICS OF PLACE

Chapter 3. ACKNOWLEDGING CHI

Chapter 4. THE PAST

* UNFOLDING A NEW SENSE OF THE POSSIBLE

- Maya Community Portals to the Spirit World
- Initiatory Temples of Egypt
- Setting Intention of a Nation in Han China
- Feng Shui of Chinese Cities
- Water, Chi, and the Spirit World in Khmer Water Temples
- Learning from the Dagara to Heal Our Ancestors
- Living in the Belly of A Bird in a Kawakiutl Village
- Visits of the Kami at Izumo Shrine, Japan

Chapter 5. RESTORING PLANETARY BALANCE -
An Evolutionary Perspective on Change

* PARADIGM SHIFTS - ENERGETICS
* RESOURCE EXHAUSTION, POPULATION GROWTH, AND THE END OF OIL
* THE NON-ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF SUSTAINABILITY

-Curing Diseases of the Spirit
- Life Without Fear
- An Economy of Giving, not Taking
- Living from the Heart
- Sacred Surroundings
- Change from a Legal to a Sacred Basis for Society
- Life without Failure
- Vital Resources are Inner Ones

* CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ENDURING SOCIETY
* MULTICULTURAL SYNTHESIS

Chapter 6. THE THREE "I"S - Core Elements of Energetic Design

* THE THREE "I"S

- CHI - Subtle Energy
- LI - Intention and Purpose
- TUMMI - Trusting Our Guts

*- SIGNIFICANCE and DURATION
* ELEMENTS OF ENERGETICS OF PLACE

Chapter 7. ORDER AND CHANGE - Chi in a Meterial World

* YIN and YANG - Relationships and Transformation
* SO - Numbers, Resonance, and Injunctive Experience
* HSING - Outward Forms of Appearance
* CHIH CHUNG - Relationships at a Distance

PART II - TOOLS

Chapter 8. ENERGETIC DESIGN TOOLS

* HAVING CLEAR GOALS

- Becoming Native
- Resources and Communities
- Free Nature
- Affirming the World We Believe In
- What does Gaia want?

* MIND TOOLS

- Looking at the World Whole
- Following the Threads

* PLACE TOOLS

- Empty Minds and X-Ray Vision
- Maintenance and Caring

* ENERGETIC TOOLS

- Spiritual Centering
- Trance Design
- Ritual
- Working with Chi
- Earth Energy

Chapter 9. GETTING TO KNOW A PLACE

* SURROUNDINGS

- Natural features
- Human Elements
- Invisible Forces
- Chi and Intention

* NEIGHBORHOOD
* SITE AND SITE BUILDINGS

- Topology and topography
- People - past, present, and future
- The Past, the Present, and the Future
- Connections and Barriers

* INSIDE BUILDINGS
* POSSESSIONS

PART III - PUTTING INTO PRACTICE

Chapter 10. BUILDINGS WITH A SOUL

*BUILDINGS WITH SOUL
* ENTRIES
* INSIDE HOMES

Chapter 11. GARDENS OF THE SPIRIT

* SEEDS OF HEALTH
* SPIRIT OF PLACE GARDENS

- Winter Gardens

* GARDENS OF THE SPIRIT

- Computer Zen Gardens
- Gardens of Death
- A Garden of Time

* GARDENS OF CELEBRATION

- Cloud Gardens
- A Wind Garden

Chapter 12. CITIES OF PASSION

* WHAT MAKES A CITY LOVEABLE?
* FINDING A PASSION
* CHANGING COMMUNITY CHI

Chapter 13. SACRED PLACES

* HOLDING PLACES SACRED
* VARIETIES OF SACRED PLACES
* EXPRESSING SACREDNESS
* THE SHRINE OF THE MOUNTAIN AND THE WATERS

Chapter 14. TAKING ACTION

* SEWAGE IS ART!
* THE COLOR OF LIGHT
* A PLACE OF THEIR OWN
* INSTITUTIONS HAVE HEARTS
* TAKE CARE WHAT MIRRORS REFLECT
* THE RICHNESS OF EDGES
* HONORING THE SPIRITS OF ALL LIFE
* THE PEACE OF SANCTUARY
* BE WITH, NOT ABOVE
* SILENCE AND INTENTION

Chapter 15. ALL THINGS IN TURN

BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX

APPENDIX A - Life Force Energy List