Stilling the mind we call liberating the mind from the mind. Before we can tackle this we must first 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 simply using it to profit and 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

Meditation: sitting quietly and allowing the heart to fill with the smile of the Buddha

If the notion of God turns you off then instead think Destiny: a Truth both calling from afar and aching to burst forth from your deepest recesses.

The truth is precisely that which we are running from.

wúxin   無心   no-mind

wúwǒ   無我   no-self

If, despite all your work, there's little progress, then maybe you haven't taken the teaching to heart.

The conventional world puts a veil over your eyes.

—Sergio Larrain

Meditation: sitting quietly and waking to the bigger picture.