When there's a
motive for search,
the end of the search is already known.
Being unhappy, you seek happiness;
therefore you have ceased to seek,
for you think you already know what happiness is.
(Krishnamurti)
Not knowing
If you
think you know what tai
chi is
about, then that very knowledge will hamper your progress.
Knowing assumes familiarity and understanding.
To learn, it is crucial to
let go of what you think you know.
Learning is a process, not a conclusion.
Blind learning
Many of the training methods
and activities in tai chi will not make any apparent sense to a
beginner.
It will like as though you are working on a jigsaw without benefit of the
picture.
Unlike the jigsaw, there isn't a final picture.
The learning will just continue and the understanding will grow.
Seeing is not enough
You cannot trust what you see.
Tai chi is an
internal martial art and this means that
much of the practice happens beneath the skin, within the body.
Even if you could see what is happening, it may not make sense.
We can only make sense of things by experiencing them for ourselves.
Unspoken
Words are inadequate when the
subject being explained cannot be
expressed verbally.
Tai chi is physical and energetic, not verbal.
There is much in life that is beyond words.
Words are just a means of expressing ideas, they have no actual substance in
themselves.
Can you explain the colour 'red' to a blind person?
Learning
Tai chi requires a person to
have some
faith.
It will not be possible for a
beginner to understand or even perform tai
chi correctly at first, so the
teacher will help the student to explore what
they are doing.
By finding out for yourself how and why something operates,
the understanding is
real because the experience is tangible, not just words.
The tai chi
journey must be the responsibility of the student; the teacher
serves only to assist, not to lead.
Page created 27 March 2001