The Future Of T’ai Chi Chih
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 of planning can cause this result; T’ai Chi Chih is [...]
T’ai Chi Chih Practice Notes
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 want to do T’ai Chi Chih is entirely up to [...]
What is Meditation?
So far we have talked mostly about the effects of meditation. Now it is time to ask the question, “What is meditation and how does it work?” “A candle does not flicker in a windless spot.” This is a description of the state [...]
Introduction to Joy Thru Movement
Having practiced the ancient T’ai Chi Ch’uan for many years and having taught it at universities and elsewhere, I finally realized that the form is difficult for most people to learn and almost impossible for some people to do. The benefits are many [...]
Softness & Continuity
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 is the tongue that outlasts the teeth. Water is soft [...]
Meditation for Healing Chart
RELIEF FROM STRESS • Japa (for complete rest due to immersion in non-ego) • Breath-Dhyana (for a trance-state) ENERGIZING • Reverse Meditative Breathing (which directly stimulates the intrinsic energy or Chi) • Nei Kung (which directly stimulates the intrinsic energy or Chi) • [...]
Wabi-Sabi
To understand Japanese culture, one must know something of the wabi-sabi concept. The Japanese sense of beauty, unlike some of the elaborately embellished Chinese manifestations, usually relies on delicate understatement. What is left out is just as important as what is put in. Cultivated [...]
Three Little Words
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, intuitive inherent wisdom is the reward for successful practice. And [...]
Living the Meditative Way
It had been a cool morning. Expectedly, there had been a number of phone calls – one from a student who asked if he could make up the meditation class he had missed, one from an older woman who had vague psychological problems, and [...]
