Taiji, on one level, is about the process of actualization: the principles governing being and becoming: how things appear from the void and disappear into the void: how the future spews into the past – the External. In this sense taiji is a means to investigation – it enables us to better understand the world and its workings. For me it is a far superior method than any offered by the usual channels of education (university in particular) because it appreciates that for one's understanding to deepen one's energy must strengthen and refine, and so that becomes its main concern – energy work. On another level however taiji is (or contains) an ancient ritual practice passed down through the ages from master to student, a practice designed to tune the adept directly into the workings of the Tao (to use our terminology). This is the Internal aspect of taiji and in many respects it is the opposite of its external counterpart. The Internal doesn't aim to clarify or to understand but simply to connect and stay connected. It has no interest in clearing the air to better see but instead draws a veil or cloak over the external world  –  a gentle mist  –  in order to foreground that connexion. This connexion is pure heart and is out of linear time.