The Way of the Gong™

The water is warm, with bubbles dancing on the surface. I immerse my hands and pull out a plate, feeling its porcelain smoothness against my skin. It drips a steady, diminishing stream back into the water as I pick up the dish rag, then make a series of steady swirls across the white surface. The little clumps of dried food are released and disappear beneath the bubbles.    The room is quiet and I can hear my own breathing as I rinse the plate and position it in the drying rack. I repeat these steps with more plates, then cups, then tableware. There is a serenity about it. I focus on what I'm doing. The water is warm. The air is cool. These sensations dance across my skin. There is nothing else in this moment. I am content. Mindfulness Mindfulness is just another term for paying attention . Too often in today's world we are constantly distracted by sights and sounds crowding into our personal space. We always seem to have our phone, our computer, our television, or

alchemy [ al -k uh -mee]  noun ,  plural  alchemies  for 2, 3. 1. a form of chemistry and speculative philosophy practiced in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and concerned principally with discovering methods for transmuting baser metals into gold and with finding a universal solvent and an elixir of life.  2. any magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value.  3. any seemingly magical process of transforming or combining elements into something new. Alchemy For me it's a ritual. I play these sounds, these vibrations—and I try to transform them into something else, something more. I also try to use them to transform my surroundings. This idea of transformation is really central to working with sound, as sound is a very strong and transformative force. Think about how you feel when you listen to your favorite song or composition. What does it do to you, to your state of