Courage is not just the ability to face fear when it crops up but the willingness to create it.
In a way you do this each time you start to practice: what makes a student reluctant to practice is the fear of the shift in awareness the practice brings about. It is important that familiarity with practice doesn't just mean that you slip into a well-trodden Tai Chi groove. Each practice session should vibrate with the danger of the unknown at some point, and each should raise the hackles. Maybe not life-threatening but certainly life-changing (so threatening enough). Always be suspicious and never be content. It always irritates me when a student says they're trying their best: as if they have any idea what their best is. There is always a beyond. Having said that, little by little.
The courage required is the courage to be a different person, or to be more fully yourself. This is probably what listening is.
In a way you do this each time you start to practice: what makes a student reluctant to practice is the fear of the shift in awareness the practice brings about. It is important that familiarity with practice doesn't just mean that you slip into a well-trodden Tai Chi groove. Each practice session should vibrate with the danger of the unknown at some point, and each should raise the hackles. Maybe not life-threatening but certainly life-changing (so threatening enough). Always be suspicious and never be content. It always irritates me when a student says they're trying their best: as if they have any idea what their best is. There is always a beyond. Having said that, little by little.
The courage required is the courage to be a different person, or to be more fully yourself. This is probably what listening is.
No comments
Post a Comment