the most important thing in this game is a sense of humour 

the play in the system

play the system

Taiji is all about connexion. Even when alone we are not one but two (at least): playing

left : right

upper : lower

inside : outside

in breath : out breath

The conscious agenda-planning ego occupies a very tiny territory, a little cubicle somewhere near the gate, keeping track of some of what goes in and out (and sometimes making expansionistic plots), and the rest takes care of itself. The body is, so to speak, in the mind. They are both wild.

instead of being sceptical of anything that threatens the sovereignty of the self, be sceptical of the self itself

energy is issued on the bounce

this work is not for everyone
and if it were then it wouldn't be worth doing

Listen to the right brain. Only possible if you quieten the left brain. Right brain whispers; left brain shouts.

A key term is practice: meaning a deliberate sustained and conscious effort to be more finely tuned to ourselves and to the way the actual existing world is. “The world”, with the exception of a tiny bit of human intervention, is ultimately a wild place. It is that side of our being which guides our breath and our digestion, and when observed and appreciated is a source of deep intelligence.

as the environment becomes more polluted and less natural so do our minds

a daoism that remains connected to animist and shamanist roots

practice : otherwise it's all just lip service

Practice is a way of honouring the real connexions we have in life. Firstly the connexions with teacher, teaching, destiny. And then all the others. It is all about heart.

We must ground ourselves in the dark of our deepest selves.

ego gets dangerously out of control when it learns to overrule the conscience

touch lightly

tread softly

spread thinly

be a good person
become a better person

a mensch

Use energy not force. This involves developing a mind that can use the body as an instrument that transmits energy rather than an instrument that imposes force. A mind stimulated and guided by spirit.

a commitment to practice and to support others through practice

advanced work is simply mind continuous and nothing else : no breaks no holidays

the only person you should expect to be perfect is yourself

supplication and sacrifice and humility

cleaning the mind until the stream of consciousness runs crystal clear

And so on these walks you lose yourself, you become a vessel of energy in harmony with your environment.

a mind attending the unfurling of the natural process

feel the resistance to everything you do

a salmon of wisdom
swimming against the current

When you work your muscles hard then the next day you'll be sore and tired. When you work the spirit with focus and intensity (or the spirit works you) then the next day expect to feel out of sorts. Strung out.

Standing on the bare ground—my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space—all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.

Life is sometimes a wave I must learn to surf, and sometimes a current I must learn to swim against. Yin & Yang. Central Equilibrium.

I am an eye gazing outward

start the day with a teaspoon of ghee melting in the mouth
and if you dislike the taste then change your mind

We're all a little bipolar. We inevitably have our ups & downs. And that, we assume, is life. Yet Daoism embraces both poles at once and lets them play. The play of Central Equilibrium.

And yet in that utter visibility
The stone's alive with what's invisible:

meditation: put cares & woes aside and come back to the bliss of inner peace

perineum always tightening

feeling the headtop
the ceiling is low and you're afraid you may bang your head

I once asked my teacher for a mantra. I was expecting something akin to Om mane padme hum or Jesus Christ have mercy on me — something with a spiritual reputation. Instead he said I AM NOT AFRAID. I still use it occasionally.

the noble trees are gone already from this island to feed the cauldron

For the health of your spirit, assume the world is a dangerous place. And if you have the energy, make it a dangerous place.

Why waste a life drifting from one distraction to the next?

elastic – juicy springy resilience – of all aspects of body and mind

Civilisation despirits reality to make a world where ego can flourish. Endeavour to do the opposite: rekindle your world and make it real.

And my lower body, beneath the navel—sometimes a nature preserve,
wild, frightening, amazing, an unpreserved preserve,
and sometimes a Japanese garden, concentrated, full of
forethought.

life becomes real when you get into the dantien and thereby the legs

spirit is the mysterious principle
it makes everything strange

the effectiveness of the yield depends on the sincerity of the welcome you extend

Don't get trapped by what you know. Always willing to let it go and see the world afresh. Negative capability.

Faith in one god is still heavy.

if prayer is speaking with god then meditation is listening to god

self is just a really bad habit

the effectiveness of the yield depends on how empty you can become

Mind in dantien is a steady fearlessness in the face of death. An imperturbability.

I made no haste in my work, but rather made the most of it.

you only fully understand something when you take it to heart

the courage to change

yield the earth up into you

a sense that life is an outpouring of a special energy we call joy

everything is learnt by two things: listening & playing

extending our range: connecting with deeper energies and higher frequencies

let the words be words of praise

as soon as the mind starts thinking then the intensity has slackened

Bear in mind that a technique can only ever provide an approximation, and a biased approximation at that. In some way it always misses the point.

a world harlequined with spirit and its afters

unfolding into world rather than folding into self

let the practice work on you

a sense that taiji is doing you

Avoidance is refusing to face something that needs to be dealt with. It may give short term relief but on the long term there is always a gnawing anxiety. The most obvious modern day avoidance is a refusal to countenance death. We scoff at the religious for their comforting belief in an afterlife, yet if it helps them relax into this life then why not?

the concocted complexities silencing truth

we're not trying to get rid of the ego but go beyond it

what holds us back is lack of courage (of our convictions)

ego loves to dabble

Just because you've been given an instruction, and you've understood that instruction, it doesn't mean that you're doing it. It's amazing how many students fail to appreciate this.

The joy of the spirit indicates its strength.

energy (if truth be told) is simply the experience of the world when the mind stops

eradicate flab & slack

everything the mind tells itself is a lie so best ignore it

This is a warrior path. Warriors don't have friends. They have comrades. Comrades-in-arms. Fellows they would die for.

How gently time collapses into poetry.

ego appropriates everything good and ruins it

staring death

in the face

a welcoming smile

respect lends a necessary formality

I love my zabuton. A raft drifting downstream toward the ocean of oblivion. All I can do is sit and smile at death's inevitability.

that is who I am: a self with no right to say "I" or "we"

don't be tempted to believe your own publicity

tread gently
comsume less
keep a low profile

in the world softly
sidling our way against the trend

Ours is a warrior path not a consciousness path. We prepare for battle; then we fight. In particular we fight oppression. The oppressive force of the majority. Especially that of our own, and anyone else's, ego.

Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth, that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning; that there is always another dawn risen on mid-noon, and under every deep a lower deep opens.

the only person you should be hard on is yourself

spirit can be neither counted on nor accounted for

energy is the play of yin & yang
where 'contradictory' becomes 'complimentary'

The most important part of Taiji is the partner work – the so-called Pushing Hands. You must appreciate that in the encounter with the Other, especially the tactile encounter, you become a different person, you have the possibility of becoming a better person, and the world becomes a richer place.

Some paint comes across directly onto the nervous system and other paint tells you a story in a long diatribe through the brain.

dantien is a lair
where your inner animal sleeps

feel the value in discipline, consistency and reliability

only skip practice if you are sick, injured, over-tired or if someone you care for needs your time

A teacher must be inspiring. They will only be reliably so if they are inspired. The student inspires the teacher by practising what they've been taught. Then what comes out of the teacher during the lesson is exactly what the student needs.

Every man is wanted, no man is wanted much.

a quiet mind without spirit is a dud

meditation: learning to listen

become attractive & amenable
active listening draws the world towards you

Our important words—relax yield listen soft open spirit energy soul—all blend together into the one thing we call Taiji.

The name of God is the name of something unconditional that is going on in the world, of some spark in the world to which we respond with the vocabularies of poetry and religion.

listen not to the words but to the energy

make a song & dance of it

practising taiji you are both operator and operand

If you cannot relax, release and let your energy out then you cannot receive energy either—you cannot listen.

The ability to hear inside the intention and meaning of the moment at hand, in a soulful and creative way, represents a key element shared across a wide spectrum of not just music but all sorts of other things in life as well.

listening as a way of life—a religion

thinking is the barrier we interpose between the heart and the real

1. learn the form
2. practise daily
3. let it change you

look after the body: it's the only thing that's really yours

feel no obligation to play a song the same way twice

immediate—without mediation—words if at all stammer out

a pure consciousness pouring into the world rather than folding back on itself in endless complication

change is our only constant

Abandon the sanctuary of the opinionated mind and venture into the real. You don't need to travel to exotic locations. You can do it on your cushion.

you must wish to consume yourself in your own flame

practising: the practice changes and the practitioner changes