Sound
In India the people speak of “vibration before sound,” the catalyst for the beginning of creation. This probably has the same meaning as, “In the beginning was the Word.” Almost all beliefs agree that sound is the matrix of creation. The fanciful phrase “music [...]
Sinking into the Essence
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 control weight, and that, without effort or perspiration, it greatly [...]
Yoga
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 (the Kingly Yoga of eight sections) require long years of [...]
A Spiritual Life In A Materialistic World
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 living, developing meaningful relationships and coping with the inevitability of [...]
Teaching Tips For T’ai Chi Chih Teachers
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, the teacher must have come to more than a shallow [...]
Cosmic Rhythm
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 blossom pushes through the snow in February in Japan, and [...]
How Our Lives Are Built
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 life without building such habit energies. You would not be [...]
Spiritual & Physical Purification
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 (pain-killers, sleeping pills, and others) simply adds to the impurities [...]
Our Very Nature
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 exercise, and still put the “I” in there. As they [...]
