There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful
than the risk it took to blossom.
(Anais Nin)
Perspective
Your perspective changes everything.
This is why
taoism
and zen seek to whittle away at the 'self' in the hope of producing an
unbiased interaction
with the real.
Ambiguity
Ambiguity is the source of tremendous fun, mischief and problems.
Meaning cannot be unambiguous.
Its very nature precludes this possibility; meaning is protean and relative.
Why are so many
tai chi schools
performing a different art?
They all see it differently and
value different things.
Clarity
Clarity is also relative to meaning.
As clear as you may believe yourself to be, you must allow for the listener,
for the reader.
They may find a wildly different meaning to you.
The
tai chi classics
are far from definitive; the treatise suggest favourable qualities but
seldom elaborate upon the
means.
Understanding can only be found through the
exploration of
the art.
Essentially, the task of any student is to re-invent the
art, re-discover it afresh.
Can you afford to accept what somebody else thinks, knowing that their
understanding of the meaning cannot be the only one?
Message
When you are planning to provide a message, it is important to
break it down into constituent parts and explain each thoroughly.
Make no assumptions concerning
prior knowledge or experience.
This helps to provide a background context.
Unfortunately, this is not always feasible and in some cases, prior
knowledge may exist.
If you can offer a select facet for study, the focus is clearer and
there is less room for interpretation.
Meaning can be uncovered within a limited sphere and the various
possibilities explored.
The difficult then lies with the re-integration of the component with the
whole.
Purpose
Even if you imagine that you have a clear purpose, this will be
underscored by a variety of unspoken considerations and assumed values.
Few things are distinct, sharp and clear - we do not act in isolation.
Consider a photograph.
There is nearly always a background.
The focus of the picture is not independent of that background; they exist
together as one.
It is useful to remember that everything in life is
connected to
everything else and that meaning cannot be separated from context.
Meditation
Meditation
is a condition of seeing that arises from the removal of the 'self'.
When you no longer
think, you do not
differentiate between this and that, self and other, here and there, then
and now...
Meaning is no longer relevant because the phenomena is not being
interpreted.
Page created 4 June 1999