Everyone lies. Everyone has an agenda. This is why I only believe what my sensitivity reveals. What I feel.

Taiji is the art of concealing hardness with softness.
—Yang Chengfu (杨兆清)

My favourite definition of Taiji.

The teacher intimates a deeper truth – telling tales of what awaits beneath the tension & the noise.

Civilisation enables (& encourages) us to drift through life without ever fully waking up.

For me, the most important principles in Taiji are the two we share with all other internal/spiritual arts: Relaxation & Natural way Best way, and the one unique to Taiji: Turning (the waist).

The essence of all beautiful art,
all great art, is gratitude.
—Friedrich Nietzsche

All that is, is light.

—Duns Scotus

The aim of spiritual work is the dissolution of the self. Unfortunately, the self is clever and will do all in its power to keep control, including turning spiritual work into the ultimate ego trip. This is why we must be constantly on guard. The first task, once we've become quiet inside, is to locate, feel & identity the Spirit – our Divine Spark. The work, from then on, serves this spark rather than self-interest, and such work is always humbling.

The word humble comes from the Latin humus, which means ground, earth, soil. To be humble is to be down to earth. You stay grounded and do not put yourself above others.

I've reached the moment where the movement of my thought interests me more than the thought itself.

—Pablo Picasso

This blog (such an ugly word) is a journal of sorts. An accrual of daily thoughts generated by the work. It is designed to help us out of the world and into the work – put us in the mood for practice, for love.

MEDITATION

lingering

in

stillness

I am thinking about the hand of the gardener.

What does it touch? It is a loving, waiting, patient hand.

It touches what is not there yet.

It guards the distance.

—Byung-Chul Han

YIELDING:
                      reaching forward from the back (rounded shoulders)
                      pulling back the front (hollow chest)

I choose to live off crumbs because I believe they mark a trail. The value of frugal.

Knowledge bolsters the Ego
Poetry feeds the Soul

empathy is a moral obligation

We've created a society full of elderly
but devoid of elders.

in the midst of silence

When the mind truly quietens, you have no choice but to face God, and you realise there's nothing more terrifying than silence.

That's the job of art:
to undo the logic of the world.
—Sean Scully

via negativa

everything is connected

nothing is locked

The teacher provides a small set of principles which, when obeyed to the hilt, slowly wash us free of self, of sin.

The imperative of releasement

With our cherished freedom of choice, we design lives that make spiritual progress well-nigh impossible.

I spent nine years at university only to learn that if I wanted a real education I needed to look elsewhere.