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Yang Style Long
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Tai Chi Chuan
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Lesson 36:
This Lesson Contains:
Thoughts on Violence
Energy and
the Mind
Thoughts on Violence
Tai Chi Chuan is a martial art. That is a
fact. When most people think of martial arts, their minds flow to all the
movies that are popular today where senseless killing and acts of violence are
common. Those of us involved in the martial arts know that is a completely distorted
view. The
ultimate goal of any martial art is self-defense, keeping others and ourselves free
from harm. How this is done varies from art to art. I can only speak with
authority about Tai Chi Chuan.
It is my personal goal
to live a life of peace and harmony, to do no harm to other people and things
on this planet. More than that, I want to leave the planet a better place
because I have lived my life. This is the over-riding guiding principle of my existence.
I started my studies of Tai Chi because I needed help. My life was out of
control. I found improved health and well being as I learned and practiced Tai
Chi. I didn’t know Tai Chi was a martial art when I started and might not have
even started had I known that it was. I had all the common misconceptions about
martial arts, thinking my peaceful desires of the 1960’s would be compromised.
Fighting was the last thing I wanted anything to do with, blessing my lucky
stars I had gotten out of the Viet Nam war.
As my studies of Tai Chi
increased, I learned the history and philosophy of this art, and by that time,
was so deeply involved that nothing could shake me loose. And, best of all, I
found out that the martial aspects of Tai Chi blended in perfectly with my own philosophy.
My understanding of Tai
Chi as a martial art is to do the least harm to an opponent while maintaining a
control of the situation. Keep the other person or persons from hurting others,
or me and at the same time, not hurting him or them. This is so difficult to do
on both a physical and an emotional level. But I don’t want that to stop me
from trying.
As I write this, it is a
week after the World Trade Center Towers were bombed. There is much talk about
war and revenge. Of course, that is to be expected. I am so sad and angry at
this event. So many innocent people have lost their lives, and the survivors
will never be the same. There is hate, distrust, and cries for blood from every
corner. I can understand this whole-heartedly.
Yet I know it will not help in the long run to act out in the manner being
discussed right now - for the U.S. to use any and all measures to root out the
terrorists wherever they exist. I know what that means. Many more innocent
people will die.
I am not wise enough to
know how to deal with this situation. In my heart, I feel that love and
understanding will be the necessary tools to overcome the dark forces. We as a
society of people must discourage evil and wrong doing by example. In this
country we do not kill those with mental illness. We try to help them. If we
think of ourselves as a sane society we must do all in our capacity to help
those in need to feel good about themselves, to help all people see that they
are valuable and can contribute to the betterment of mankind. I truly feel that
all of us are born with a loving nature and a desire to love and be loved. Suicide
bombers are recruited because thy think they will be loved by God for all eternity
if they do as they are instructed by the people in authority.
Tai Chi has taught me
that fear, hate, anger, all bred tension and tension is easily overcome by
relaxation. A clear mind, free from these emotions, can see the situation and
react accordingly. A person who overcomes his enemy with love in his heart will
gain the respect of those he has conquered. So let’s work on clearing ourselves
by meditation, strengthening the body by exercise, studying the teaching of non
violent philosophers, and doubling our efforts to bring peace and harmony to
our families, communities and world.
Energy and the Mind
The mind plays an
integral part in any activity of our life. People are declared legally dead
when their brain is dead, not when their body no longer functions. Tai Chi is
totally concerned with the body/mind connection. For this reason, I feel I need
to talk about the mind and share some of my insights.
The first person to make
me aware of how the mind functions was Master Subramuniya. He is a Hindu Yoga
Master, and I had the honor of being his personal chef at his ashram in Hawaii.
His knowledge of the workings of the mind came from first hand experience,
through meditation. His super-conscious mind could watch how his conscious mind
works. He was aware that the body, mind and the entire universe, is made of
energy, and this energy can be perceived by man as light, vibration, and sound.
As he meditated, he noticed that he heard different sounds in different parts
of the mind. As his awareness flowed to new areas, he would remember how he got
there and the sounds along the way - sort of like a road map. He would then
lead us, his students, on a journey through the mind by reciting the vibrations
he had heard or felt on his previous mind wanderings. It was much like
chanting, but the sounds had no meaning other than being the actual vibratory
sound of a particular part of the mind. It was a wonderful time of discovery
for all of us.
It is becoming common
knowledge that the mind is divided into areas where similar experiences are
filed. It has to be that way in order to learn how to act in life. You can
imagine how difficult it would be otherwise. The more that an area is used, the
easier it is to get back to it, as the road or energetic pathway, gets larger
and more clearly marked. The most basic mind functions, the ones concerned with
survival, are located at the base or entrance to the brain so that they are
easily gotten to. The higher functions, like abstract thinking, are way in the
front of the brain or embedded deep within. These functions aren't necessary to
survival so are harder to get to and the last formed.
Let's look at a couple
of examples. When you were young and you first saw a fire you instinctively
reached for it because it was so interesting and beautiful. Almost everybody
would. If you moved quickly and tried to touch it before anybody could stop
you, you probably got burnt. That experience was filed away in the survival,
fear part of the brain. The next time you saw a fire, your consciousness flowed
to that same area and you remembered pain so you didn't try to touch the fire.
If you had a particularity painful experience the first time, you might even
turn away or move away even though there is no threat now. The path way was
well reinforced. Now let's say that as you reached for the fire someone moved
your hand away and said “no, that will hurt you”. The next time you see the
fire you still might reach for it because the survival pathway wasn't strongly
reinforced - the “no” didn't mean very much. Yet, if each time you reached for
the fire somebody kept you from it and said no, that path would eventually get
strong enough so you wouldn't want to do it anymore. Repeated small
stimulations add up to large ones. That is how habits get built and are
difficult to break.
When you were young your
parents might have stroked you and said, “I love you”. That warm experience was
filed away in the being loved part of the brain. If later in life someone
strokes you, your consciousness would probably flow to the being loved part of
the brain and appropriate warm feelings would probably follow. Your
consciousness would not go to the survival/fear part. There would be no reason.
Like experiences are filed together so they can be compared, condensed,
evaluated, and gotten to quickly and appropriately.
This is where Tai Chi
comes in. After you have been practicing Tai Chi for some time, you will
develop pathways to a certain area of the mind - the Tai Chi area we'll say. It
involves movement and relaxation among other things. Whenever you start to
practice, your mind automatically flows to that area and even before you start
the practice, you relax. It's a conditioned reflex. The body already knows what
to expect to a certain degree. Of course, each session of practice will be
slightly different, but you are already in a relaxed part of the mind where
learning is easy. If you are practicing
to gain martial ability, you do so from this relaxed state. If you ever needed
to use Tai Chi to defend yourself the chances are good that you would be relatively
relaxed. You have connected Tai Chi with relaxation and therefore they tend to
go hand in hand. If you have been practicing Tai Chi with meditation in mind,
you'll more than likely associate Tai Chi with meditation and even when doing
movements with vigor you'll remain in a meditative state. Tai Chi will be
pleasurable and enjoyable.
If you were forced to
practice Tai Chi by your parents or had a teacher who worked you in a way that
brought you pain, your practice would lead your awareness to an uncomfortable
area of the mind and you'll shy away from learning, even if you think that the
learning of Tai Chi will bring some benefit in the future.
The state of mind that
we approach our learning and practice of Tai Chi, or anything for that matter,
has so much impact on what we get out of it. We can use this knowledge to our
advantage at any time. Say you find yourself in an area of the mind that you
don't want to be in, like depressed or angry. Instead of fighting against this
state which makes it stronger, or trying to go deeper into it to understand why
(which doesn't always work), just practice Tai Chi and you'll almost surely
move your awareness into the relaxed, pleasurable area. The more you have
practiced, the easier it will be for you to move your awareness. We all find
ourselves in unpleasant areas sometimes. The wise person knows that he doesn't
have to stay there if he doesn't want to.
To summarize, the mind
is divided into areas. Like feelings, experiences, thoughts are stored in the
same or closely related areas. The more powerful the stimulation is, the
stronger the path to the place where it is stored will be. Repeating even small
stimulations make the path large and easy to follow. We have control over our
feelings and moods. If we want to change our mood, just change the area of the
mind that you are in. This is accomplished by thinking or doing something that
is attached to the area of the mind you want to be in. Once in a particular
area of the mind, we tend to remain there until something stronger catches our
awareness and moves it. Also, it is how we perceive an experience that
determines where in the mind it will be placed and the outcome we derive from
it. A slap could either be pleasure (a friendly slap on the back from a friend)
or pain (the rejection of an action). The physical experience might not be
different, but the mental experience surely is.
Think about this and meditate on it. See if you can use it for your
health and well-being. Tai Chi can become a powerful tool for your mental and
spiritual growth, and one that will only get stronger as you practice and age.