You see,
what I am
matters enormously, because I have
created this society;
I have put it together with my demands, my prejudices, my hatreds, my
religions and my nationalism.
I have divided the world into fragments and if I, in myself, am divided,
my relationship with the world will be broken; it will have very little
meaning.
But if I do not function in fragments, but act completely, totally,
then I have quite a different relationship with the world.
(Krishnamurti)
Taoism
Taoism is not the sole origin of tai chi chuan.
Taoists were loafers who would not care for the discipline of the
martial art.
They were happy to drift around doing nothing in particular; at one with
nature and existence.
Indifferent and relaxed.
Just being.
Impractical taoism
Taoism may fail when you actually want to do something constructive.
At its best, it can help you to 'go with the flow' and cease resistance.
At its worse, taoism
is impractical.
It advocates being without internal conflict; not opposing anything.
You must become empty, at one with all else.
This is not as straightforward as the words suggest.
Or perhaps it is, and we simply do not see it?
Being practical
Huanchu Daoren pointed out that it is easy to be serene and
calm when you live in a retreat and have no intrusive distractions to unsettle
you.
He suggested being calm in the midst of everyday life.
This is a much harder proposition.
Tai chi owes most its origin to taoism.
The rest is Zen Buddhism and Confucianism.
Buddhism
Buddhism is not about worshipping statues.
That is a twisted offshoot of the religion.
The real discipline is concerned with "what was your original face before you
were born?".
In other words, who is the real you, before society, parents and your
environment conditioned and changed you?
This topic was also at the heart of many Krishnamurti discussions.
Confucianism
'Kung fu' means hard work and was also applied to a man - Kung Fu Tzu
(hard work man) or Confucius as we normally spell it.
He was obsessed with order and protocol, of everything being just so.
The 'chuan' in tai chi chuan is very much a consequence of Confucian
thinking.
Synthesis
Huanchu Daoren's Back To Beginnings book perfectly demonstrates the value
of these 3 approaches combined.
Tai chi (and much of ancient Chinese thought) is a synthesis of these 3 influences.
Page created 18 January 1999