Unconditionality

This is the fundamental quality we all need to develop. It is the basic thrust that gives your life meaning, beyond yourself. It simply means putting giving above and beyond anything else, especially receiving. It is this that Hugo and Pip and Roberto possess, and it is this that gives them the magical quality of having joined with each and every situation in such a way that they have prior knowledge. This is the real meaning of forget self and become one with the Tao. It is the opposite of the measured and careful approach. People who have it have learnt at some point in their life that the only way forward is to give unconditionally from the heart to each and every moment as it unfolds. (The feast is forwards.) They have then put that principle into practice long enough for it to have become internal - for it to have seeped into their soul. It has then become part of them - they do it all the time with their energy regardless of how they feel. These are the magical beings, super human if you like, truly soft. I learnt quite early in life that if I studied hard then the subject of study became really interesting and engrossing and infectious at which point study no longer became a bind - when I gave whole-heartedly to the study then it gave back enormously and I achieved academic accolades in abundance. However, I didn't have the humanity to realise that I had discovered a principle that could and should be applied to everything in life, not just bookish study. It did though bring me to Tai Chi and my teacher who introduced me to the concept of principle ("If something works then do it all the time") and in particular to the principle of unconditionality: shaking your energy loose and casting it carelessly and willingly into whatever it is that you're doing. This is what you (should) do each time you practice your Tai Chi, and the more regular and frequent your practice the better you become at it. At this point the student begins to glow with the energy of Tai Chi - the bloom of health - and they feel empowered. This is a crucial point. If they have it in them then the teacher will help them direct this energy into deeper and more difficult aspects of the work, to do with eradicating self and establishing raw and tender connectivity as the constant of life instead. If not then these students go on their way, often using their new found energy and insights to positively change their lives in astonishing ways. Those that stick at the Tai Chi are in for a difficult time. The next 10 years or so will feel like laboriously and painfully digging a deep hole in which to eventually bury themselves. However, they are in fact sinking a well down to the source of it all, which when tapped floods their life with light and meaning. This is the point at which they have become forever unconditional: they have become the source, and their energy is no longer limited in any way. If this energy is used to feed the source rather than dissipate into worldy affairs then these students become truly divine. If this isn't enlightenment then I don't know what is.