"Keep to a beginner's mind", is recommended in most martial arts, especially those with an internal aspect. My friend, the Tai Chi Master Christian Birch considers it the most important principle of Tai Chi. What does it really mean and how do we keep to it? Well beginners have a freshness, an openness, a willingness, an enthusiasm, a lack of pretentiousness & expertise, that makes them naturally connected & open to the learning process. All natural processes are similar, especially in their internal workings, so being immersed in the learning process is not too dissimilar to being immersed in the great river of Tai Chi, or, indeed, the Natural Process (the Tao) itself. So, how do we experienced Tai Chi adepts keep to this beginner's mind? I think the secret is not to get bored. Novelty in our culture has connotations of superficiality; however, I think it is very important because it keeps things new and fresh. You must constantly search for ways of keeping your practice fresh; that feeling that you're finding things out for the first time rather than grinding through the same old stuff. An element of play. Like kittens. They learn by playing together. This is why companionship is so important on this path of ours. The injection of a little energy from a different source to your own can really enliven your spirit and the work you do. The difficulty is not to get distracted. The good student naturally understands the importance of beginner's mind and has tentacles reaching out into many nourishing areas. However, these tentacles always bring energy back into the central core of an internally driven and directed life. Liang called this: "Enlightened self-interest".
For the Tai Chi student the best way to maintain a beginner's mind is to keep regular contact with the teacher. She will always make you feel a complete beginner, without being too discouraging. For the Tai Chi teacher it is the students that inspire their beginner's mind: the teaching keeps it all fresh.
They say that when a good Tai Chi master puts their hands on you you should feel lost and not be able to move (not without falling over anyway). This is usually interpretted as superior sticking: the Master sticks to you, feels your root, and pins you into it so that your movements are restricted. I have felt this many times and I can say that it is not that interesting. It is simply one person dominating another with superior skill. However, in the presence of a great Master you feel lost and undermined because this is exactly how they feel all the time and their energy and openness are forcing you to empathize. This is real beginner's mind, a mind free of any clinging landmarks enabling an open emanating heart that seeps and surrounds everything. This we call saintliness. Dr Chi possessed this in abundance. You can see it in his face. The rapture of loss.
For the Tai Chi student the best way to maintain a beginner's mind is to keep regular contact with the teacher. She will always make you feel a complete beginner, without being too discouraging. For the Tai Chi teacher it is the students that inspire their beginner's mind: the teaching keeps it all fresh.
They say that when a good Tai Chi master puts their hands on you you should feel lost and not be able to move (not without falling over anyway). This is usually interpretted as superior sticking: the Master sticks to you, feels your root, and pins you into it so that your movements are restricted. I have felt this many times and I can say that it is not that interesting. It is simply one person dominating another with superior skill. However, in the presence of a great Master you feel lost and undermined because this is exactly how they feel all the time and their energy and openness are forcing you to empathize. This is real beginner's mind, a mind free of any clinging landmarks enabling an open emanating heart that seeps and surrounds everything. This we call saintliness. Dr Chi possessed this in abundance. You can see it in his face. The rapture of loss.
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