The other is sacrosanct. But that shouldn't put you on the back foot – shouldn't intimidate. Your feeling for the other should draw you forever forward, through the posture, through the work and through your life. When the other is not present – during solo practice – you find or create a surrogate – an image of the other. This can be the imaginary opponent (shadow boxing), or an image you have of your teacher doing the posture, or the corrections you've been given, or something broader – a feeling for perfection whether it be the perfect posture, the perfect union, or simply the deep conviction that to be in the process of constant correction – getting closer all the time – is the only way to live. There is nothing quite so soul destroying as standing still.
The reason most people die a miserable death (like a dog in a ditch as the Tibetans say) is because spiritually they have ceased living a long time before that point. They have settled into comfort and conformity and rejected the bitter and vicious bite of life. The only healthy way to cope with life is to bite back – pluck up your spirit and engage – become an onslaught equal to that you are faced with. This is what your teacher expects when you are in his company at least. His job is to fully represent – to become – just for you – an image of reality. He shows you the way things really are – he becomes the onslaught you have to face – a force of nature – and to properly engage you must become equal to him – better than you are. Your teacher represents real life, and the process of your interaction represents the natural process which should constantly be drawing you out of yourself and into it's whirling workings. Life forces you to be your best. If you aren't regularly touching this bleeding edge then your practice is coming from the wrong place – it is all arms and legs with no real feeling for either the other or the beyond.
Take Dr Chi for example. If you look at his postures they look pretty bad – no ward-off, knees collapse, head cranes forwards, but the feeling that comes from those photographs is immense. Spiritually he's flying high and he's stopped caring whether his body can keep up – he's long left the physical far behind. He's so forwards, so engaged, that he enters your soul and truly inspires, even from a photograph. One gets the feeling that somewhere he is still at work, still loving Jesus – for him the ultimate image of the other – no longer hindered by either his physical frailty or mundane concerns.
The reason most people die a miserable death (like a dog in a ditch as the Tibetans say) is because spiritually they have ceased living a long time before that point. They have settled into comfort and conformity and rejected the bitter and vicious bite of life. The only healthy way to cope with life is to bite back – pluck up your spirit and engage – become an onslaught equal to that you are faced with. This is what your teacher expects when you are in his company at least. His job is to fully represent – to become – just for you – an image of reality. He shows you the way things really are – he becomes the onslaught you have to face – a force of nature – and to properly engage you must become equal to him – better than you are. Your teacher represents real life, and the process of your interaction represents the natural process which should constantly be drawing you out of yourself and into it's whirling workings. Life forces you to be your best. If you aren't regularly touching this bleeding edge then your practice is coming from the wrong place – it is all arms and legs with no real feeling for either the other or the beyond.
Take Dr Chi for example. If you look at his postures they look pretty bad – no ward-off, knees collapse, head cranes forwards, but the feeling that comes from those photographs is immense. Spiritually he's flying high and he's stopped caring whether his body can keep up – he's long left the physical far behind. He's so forwards, so engaged, that he enters your soul and truly inspires, even from a photograph. One gets the feeling that somewhere he is still at work, still loving Jesus – for him the ultimate image of the other – no longer hindered by either his physical frailty or mundane concerns.
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