Softness and Spirit

I was struck by the thought that came out of the writing process the other night (Teaching below) – stimulated no doubt by the softness of the sleeping cat I was cradling in my left arm (forcing a one-handed deliberation to the typing) – that attributes and abilities such as intelligence, talent, softness, application, can all be developed if that is what the student really wants. We all have energy – the ability to get things done – so if we don't do the work, or if we do it wrong, then it's because somewhere along the line we've made a conscious decision that our way is best – certainly superior to the teacher's. Of course this decision is being made all the time – it's called not listening, or not connecting – and it expresses itself in a multitude of different ways which agglutinate into what we call self. The marvel of human beings is their shear inventiveness – the seemingly infinite number of ways they've found of getting it wrong. It's the problem with Tai Chi, Heartwork, or any other teaching, that unless the student is correctly motivated – moving from the correct place and towards the correct place – they'll find a way of getting it wrong, that is their work will entrench them more firmly in the mire of self rather than working towards liberation. A correctly motivated person will tend to get things right – they have that secret pliant drift towards reality. So what is correct motivation? It's moving with the thrust of our basic humanity towards connectedness, and away from isolated selfishness. There are two qualities absolutely imperative: softness and spirit, the female and the male. Spirit, or focus, is the ability to husband your energies and bring them to bear solely on the task at hand – it tends to drift towards hardness, and softness is stripping yourself bare so that you have at least a chance of connecting to what's there rather than ignorantly and coarsely besmirching everything with you – it tends to drift towards dissipation. Softness and spirit stimulate and regulate each other – they need each other – and in a sense your work should be a healthy and garrulous conversation between the two. This is what I mean by dynamic equilibrium – the lively balance that's struck between male and female. When these interact then there is no end to the softening or enlivening process – the softer we become the stronger the spirit, and our vitality – our essential energy – is measured by the strength of each – the space between these two extremes. To progress correctly the student must bring these two qualities to bear and must become consumed by an interest in each and in their consequence – connectedness. Real progress will only happen when this interest consumes their own self-interest. It's like striving for an ideal – the image of the gallant knight battling the dragon (his own demons) to win the hand of the unimaginably soft maiden. Or perhaps a more interesting interpretation would be the gallant knight using the dragon (his energetic body) and his softness (the purity at his core) to attain the holy grail – divine connexion.