About 30 years ago I read of a tribe of African pygmies who believed that as objects move away from you they actually shrink in size. At the time I laughed and scoffed (being a budding scientist for whom space and time were absolutely linear), but now I'm delighted by such a world view. It implies a rich interdependence where significance depends upon proximity, where space is distorted by the objects within it, and where the world of objects and the world of relationships are intimately bound up.
We have already established that perception depends upon posture: when you are correctly aligned you connect better: you feel things more acutely and your presence is more immediate in the sense that your energy is more readily available. This is clear in martial interactions: correct posture improves your performance, otherwise we wouldn't bother with it.
Perception also depends upon energy. As your energy improves with the work we do your perceptive powers deepen. So does your understanding. For this reason arguing with your teacher, or doubting them, is ridiculous. They will always see and feel more deeply than you: they are better connected. If you ever overtake them then the teaching was not a living internal one and you've been wasting your time.
It is very important to look after your energy. The biggest drain is bad company. Unfortunately this often means family and friends: people who are in the habit of regarding you in a certain way. The Tibetans say that the biggest hindrance to spiritual progress is your family. As you progress in your Tai Chi your energy will improve and you will start to change as a person. It is vital that those closest to you recognize, approve and admire this otherwise you will have a needless and draining battle on your hands (one reason teaching others is so good for you - your students and spiritual companions naturally regard you correctly). The best way for them to show their admiration and appreciation is to join you in the journey and take up Tai Chi or something similar themselves. If they don't then I'd either move on or be very careful about the time and energy I put into the relationship because it wont be long before you either leave them behind or start to be held back by them. My sister once said to me, "It is so much better to be on your own than with the wrong person". To behave this ruthlessly you must believe that this work is your life and is vital not just for your own salvation, but for everything you are connected to (which ultimately is everything). Such changes will happen naturally if you do what you do openly and freely and don't repress and don't hold back. As they say, "Follow your heart".
We have already established that perception depends upon posture: when you are correctly aligned you connect better: you feel things more acutely and your presence is more immediate in the sense that your energy is more readily available. This is clear in martial interactions: correct posture improves your performance, otherwise we wouldn't bother with it.
Perception also depends upon energy. As your energy improves with the work we do your perceptive powers deepen. So does your understanding. For this reason arguing with your teacher, or doubting them, is ridiculous. They will always see and feel more deeply than you: they are better connected. If you ever overtake them then the teaching was not a living internal one and you've been wasting your time.
It is very important to look after your energy. The biggest drain is bad company. Unfortunately this often means family and friends: people who are in the habit of regarding you in a certain way. The Tibetans say that the biggest hindrance to spiritual progress is your family. As you progress in your Tai Chi your energy will improve and you will start to change as a person. It is vital that those closest to you recognize, approve and admire this otherwise you will have a needless and draining battle on your hands (one reason teaching others is so good for you - your students and spiritual companions naturally regard you correctly). The best way for them to show their admiration and appreciation is to join you in the journey and take up Tai Chi or something similar themselves. If they don't then I'd either move on or be very careful about the time and energy I put into the relationship because it wont be long before you either leave them behind or start to be held back by them. My sister once said to me, "It is so much better to be on your own than with the wrong person". To behave this ruthlessly you must believe that this work is your life and is vital not just for your own salvation, but for everything you are connected to (which ultimately is everything). Such changes will happen naturally if you do what you do openly and freely and don't repress and don't hold back. As they say, "Follow your heart".
2 comments
'Perception also depends upon energy. As your energy improves with the work so do your perceptive powers deepen. So does your understanding. For this reason arguing with your teacher, or doubting them, is ridiculous. They will always see and feel more deeply than you: they are better connected.'
I agree with the first part about perception and understanding improving. However, I have to challenge the third and fourth sentence. When you stop questioning things life stop moving forward and developing. No one is perfect, even teachers. The very wise can be wrong and the beginner can have a deep insight. Even teachers carry around personal baggage which on occasions affects their perception.
To me it seems very unhealthy to stop challenging, particularly the parameters (but obviously in a respectful way). There's an awful lot of bullshit out there and there's an unquestioning attitude by people who are into personal development. Some accept the most outlandish statements and look for the mystical interpretation for commonplace events.
I heard a story that Cheng Man Ching said you had to massage your stomach 36 times after completing the form to store your chi. If you did it 35 times or 37 times you had to start again because it would have no effect. Maybe 36 times is the optimium but I'm sure 35 or 37 times is beneficial.
By the way I enjoy the blog a lot. It's thoughtful, challenging and informative. The poetry is beautiful. There's nothing quite like it that I've come across.
Maybe I should have said fighting your teacher is ridiculous. The teaching resides within the teacher. If it is a living internal teaching then it is bound up in energy, spirit & destiny rather than techniques. My teacher's most important teacher gave him no techniques, nothing to practice, they just spent time together shooting the breeze. Receiving the teaching requires listening, softness and sympathy, not questioning. If there is any questioning it will come later because the thinking mind, of which it is an irritating tool, itself always comes later. What I'm struggling to put into words is that truth has nothing to do with verifiable fact and everything to do with connexion. Nothing really to do with technique and everything to do with the vibrating, connected space you create when you believe. Love is probably the best word.
An acute, probing intelligence is necessary as well, along with a good memory and excellent proprioceptive powers; without it a student wouldn't last a month on our regime. However, it is for your own private use during your own private practice. A truly intelligent person is acutely aware of the limitations of intelligence as a tool to understanding. It is no substitute for connectedness and actively works against it when allowed free rein.
I have seen my teacher give the same technique to a number of people and change it slightly for each person so that each has something that is uniquely theirs, the practice of which will uniquely connect them to the teacher and the teaching, but only if they get it exactly right. I have also seen talented students actually improve a technique they have been given and fall into disconnectedness as a result. "I prefer to it this way" is a sure sign of self-importance.
Cheng Man Ching was probably trying to impress upon his students the importance of doing precisely as they're told. He was a notoriously bad teacher though so it may just have been his self-importance expressing itself (I doubt it though). Why should a student want to do it 35 or 37 times? If they loose count then they should go back to the beginning & start again (many meditation techniques involve this). If they're being awkward and superior then they need to understand that they may receive the benefits of the technique but they will not be receiving the benefits of the teaching, which is all about belonging to a long tradition (lineage), having the humility and grace to stand beside the great masters whose eternal presence is conjured by the student's faith, respect, dedication and connexion. We glow together.
Many thanks for the feedback. I really appreciate it. It is far easier (& more real) to respond to intelligent quest(ion)ing than to invent each time.
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