Spiritual Odyssey

On my recent visit to Albuquerque I gave a talk to over 200 people on The Spiritual Life (in a busy world). Many points were similar to the Merging Sense with Essence talk [...]

At the recent, very enjoyable teachers’ conference in Albuquerque [in 1989], I was pleased to hear frequent ref- erence to the “T’ai Chi Chih community.” I do not take this as an organizational [...]

For T’ai Chi Chih to grow in the future the way it has in the past, it is necessary to maintain an idealistic attitude. I believe teachers should earn good money from sincere [...]

"When the horse in Szechuan catches cold, the cow in Hunan sneezes,” say Zen Patriarchs. This means more than the usual statement that we are all somehow connected, each “a spark of the [...]

Shambala publishes a book called Sword of No Sword by John Stevens that should be of interest to all teachers. That does not mean I agree with everything in it, but it stresses [...]

At teacher accreditation courses the candidates all make presentations. This not done for academic reasons, like doing a thesis for a Ph.D., but for very practical reasons: it gives the new teacher a [...]

T’ai Chi Chih has begun to spread. Little pockets of enthusiasm have begun to form in isolated places, and these tend to grow rather rapidly. It is exciting to see this. No amount [...]

To teach well, it is obviously necessary to do T’ai Chi Chih; I know what the practice has done for me. One can’t get the benefits without practice. But, whether or not you [...]

We stress softness and continuity in T’ai Chi Chih, and the importance of the former can be seen in the following examples: The teeth are hard and the tongue is soft, but it [...]

Vairagya, ahimsa, prajna. There! I’ve put the whole of spiritual practice into three Sanskrit words, meaning, respectively: non-attachment (or detachment), non-violence (in all forms, not only physical) and inherent wisdom. Living from natural, [...]

It is hard for students, and even teachers, to understand that T’ai Chi Chih is not just a beneficial exercise. It is so obvious that it has great physical benefits, that it helps [...]

There are many forms of Yoga in India – most are not known or practiced in the West. Jnana Yoga (the Yoga of discrimination, as with Shankara and Ramana Maharshi) and Raja Yoga [...]