Spiritual Odyssey

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 [...]

When I gave an evening course of this nature at the Monterey Peninsula College, I was amazed by the amount of interest it developed. Apparently people are not only concerned about making a [...]

A good T’ai Chi Chih teacher must be able to detect the faults of the student – and then be able to correct them. This means that, through his or her own practice, [...]

It is interesting to speculate about Cosmic Rhythm. Although Buddhism says all effects come from causes (there being no “first cause”), many events seem the result of cyclic, not causal, influences. The plum [...]

In speaking or writing about vasanas, it is easy to give the impression that they are something “bad.” Actually, these habit energies are neither good nor bad. It is impossible to live everyday [...]

All organisms are in a constant state of purification – both spiritually and physically. Physically, the activity to throw off impurities brings on what we call “illness.” To put chemicals in the body [...]

Most students come to T’ai Chi Chih feeling, “I am going to do a beneficial exercise.” Eventually they find it is beneficial – and joyous – but they still think of it as [...]