Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Insights (Twelve)

The holidays are over and it's back to business as usual. Or is it?

Last night Frances and I watched the movie The Celestine Prophecy. Based on James Redfield's best-selling novel by the same name, it follows the path of an out-of-work teacher who begins to pursue the synchronicities in his life. His journey leads him to Peru in search of nine ancient scrolls containing key insights that predict a worldwide spiritual awakening. Though the story is fictionalized, the prophesies that Redfield outlines seem all too real.

I read this book shortly after it was published in 1993. It was fascinating. At that time I'd been practicing T'ai Chi Ch'uan for six years, had studied first degree Reiki, and was on the verge of another discovery: T'ai Chi Chih moving meditation. Watching this book set to film after so many years of my own continued exploration and spiritual searching was delightful. Now, as a 15-year teacher and practitioner of T'ai Chi Chih, I can more easily understand the insights that Redfield describes.

Redfield has since expanded the insights to 12. While all relate to the TCC practice we're doing and the people we're becoming as a result of our practices, there are three insights in particular that highlighted my experiences in the TCC classroom:
          Fifth Insight: Insecurity and violence ends when we experience an inner connection with divine energy within.... A sensation of lightness--buoyancy--along with the constant sensation of love are measures of this connection.
          Eighth Insight: We can increase the frequency of guiding coincidences by uplifting every person that comes into our lives....Uplifting others is especially effective in groups where each member can feel the energy of all the others.
          Eleventh Insight: We are finding that faith power, positive thinking, and the power of prayer build a field of intention which moves out from us and can be extended and strengthened, especially when we connect with others in a common vision [paraphrased].
          From: http://www.celestinevision.com/
Yes. Yes. And yes. Why do I continue my T'ai Chi Chih practice each day? In part, it's due to the "sensation of lightness--buoyancy--along with the constant sensation of love" that is a direct result of a TCC practice. My continuing students often comment on how much better they feel after a practice (Fifth Insight). When we practice TCC in unison and unity, we are--intentionally or not--uplifting ourselves and all members of the group as we feel the change in energy that every one of us experiences (Eighth Insight). Moving together with the intention to relax, slow, and bring ourselves into the present moment is a highly effective way to create and make manifest our common desire to treat ourselves and each other with loving kindness as we co-create a more compassionate and peaceful world (Eleventh Insight).

If we intend and attend to the vision that we are each in this world to create a more peaceful, happy, and healthy world, then T'ai Chi Chih practice is one tremendously helpful and healthful step in that direction. And, to that end, I did my TCC practice this morning as the colors of sunrise faded into the horizon, then quietly sat to absorb the energy of earth and sky. Ahhh. Such peace.

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