Beware a teacher that tells you what you want to hear.

I'm not spiritual, I'm religious – totally bound to the path. I don't chose to practise, I practise because spirit won't allow me not to practise. The only person who understood this was my teacher.

I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately.

—Henry David Thoreau

The
next
stage
is
always
the
most
difficult

Live
subversively
:
dedicated
to
spirit

Apparently the English word religion has three possible etymological roots, all Latin:

1. Relegere "to go through again" – repetition – practice;
2. Religare "to bind fast" – duty-bound to practise;
3. Religiens "careful" (opposite of negligens).

For the artist the work is always infinite, unfinished.

—Maurice Blanchot

A poetry
uncluttered by
meaning

Stilling the mind we call liberating mind from the mind. Before we can tackle this we must liberate the mind from ignorance & stupidity, which means getting an education: acquiring knowledge, but more importantly, the ability to think clearly, rationally & critically. Having acquired these skills it takes an unusually deep soul to consider turning this tool against itself rather than merely using it to live a more comfortable, pleasurable & desirable life.

一日不做一日不食

One day not work, one day not eat

—Baizhang Huaihai

A touch
that opens up
the abyss

Mind & Nature: A Necessary Unity

Be still and know that I am God

—Psalm 46

It is not that I am empty but rather that Emptiness is I.

—Masao Abe

We live a life estranged from our true nature.

It's the root that pulls your bum in.

We spend a life avoiding the issue, especially nowadays when everything is chosen or planned or designed. It's rare to find someone who chooses the difficult path. The good student.

a sacred unity

Softness is the ability to melt

The fundamental concept in Taiji is Full & Empty (Yin & Yang). What makes this difficult to think is that both Full & Empty are endlessly changing into each other. The only way to manage such change is to stop the mind and surrender to it.

Soul is to be found in the vicinity of taboo.

—Thomas Moore

The name of the game (in a nutshell) is transformation – change. Everyone claims to want it but no one really does. If a person really wanted to change then they would. Yet everything remains the same, locked in place.

Meditation: contemplating the mysteries

And what could be more mysterious than life?

Humility, that low, sweet root,
From which all heavenly virtues shoot.

—Thomas Moore

sacred reciprocity

Weight training will change your energy in a way that Taiji could never do. With Taiji it's too easy to fake it whereas with weights it's impossible.

A relaxation
that opens up
the abyss