Door VI · Part Two · The Night: Of the Mirror Without a Face
«When the mask falls, the gaze learns to see».
Touch the door to open it.
Open the Window and Gaze at the Moon
This form gathers three movements: Carrying the Sun and the Moon, The Immortal Shakes His Sleeves, and Beauty Gazes in the Mirror.
The book describes this form step by step. The description accompanies learning with an instructor and, afterwards, helps you remember the movements.
«I have decided not to teach these arts to anyone under eighteen». Common Guide to the Practices.
- Opening
- Sense, soften, and smile from the heart.
- Repetitions
- The choice, frequency and repetitions of each form are learned with the instructor.
- Closing
- When you finish, leave room for the flow of Chi and for stillness. Complete the common closing at the lower Dantian and the facial massage.
- Care
- If a movement causes pain or dizziness, stop.
To carry into the day
A personal gesture for this door, the same one that opens the story:
- Sit before your altar, or in a place where you can gather yourself.
- Close your eyes “to see better,” as the Abuela teaches.
- Say softly a name that matters to you: to name is to belong.
- One long exhalation. Open your eyes.
Many names, one Mother. One heart, one Lord.
Seven days
Each day, close your eyes and say softly a name that matters to you. Then mark the day.
0 of 7 days
«If something does not serve you, let it go». What you mark stays on this device.
More about this door
«Para venir a gustarlo todo,no quieras tener gusto en nada.[…] Para venir a saberlo todo,no quieras saber algo en nada.[…] Para venir a lo que no sabes,has de ir por donde no sabes».
To go by a way you do not know. John’s lines keep me company as I remember how I came to recognize presences I did not expect to find.
St. John of the Cross · Dark Night of the Soul · Ascent of Mount Carmel · Spiritual Canticle · Sayings of Light and Love
St. John of the Cross in the book- Coromoto
- Our Lady of Coromoto, patroness of Venezuela.
- Madonna del Carmine
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel in her Italian devotion; the author’s name comes from her and from his paternal grandfather.
- Kuan Yin (Kuan Shi Yin Pusa)
- Bodhisattva of compassion, “she who hears the cries of the world.” The author links her presence with the maternal dimension of his own devotion.
- Kek Lok Si
- A great Buddhist temple on Penang Island, Malaysia.
- La Montaña Azul
- A retreat center in the mountains of Costa Rica where the author practiced with his master; the mountain of his mother’s dream (Doors II, VI, VIII, and IX).
- Abuela
- The name the author gives Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, author of Women Who Run with the Wolves, with whom he worked in the Heart of the Wounded Healer circle.
- At nine
His mother takes him before the Virgin of Guadalupe.
- 2008
Malaysia, Penang Island: the Kek Lok Si temple.
- A dream
His mother speaks to him within the dream: “Buy La Montaña Azul.”
The full story is in the book.
A letter every month
Once a month, a short letter from Sifu Carmine «Tony» Colarusso, in Spanish, English, or Italian. You can unsubscribe from any letter.
Of the Tunnel of Yellow Light
«The garment becomes light. The body unclothes itself without shame to enter the space where there are no longer two».
Enter through Door VII«You can read one door a week, or stay longer in the one that asks for it».
How to walk through the doorsBack to the thirteen doors