Re-Membering Who We Are....

When it comes to suffering injustice, there are two types of people. The first says, 'I can't wait to turn around and do this to someone else.' The second says, 'This was done to me, and I do not want to do it to someone else.'

When it comes to spiritual accomplishments, there are two types of people. The first says, 'I will press on for myself because my knowledge was won so dearly.' The second says, 'I will help others, because I know how difficult it is to walk a spiritual path.'

When it comes to facing death, there are two types of people. The first says, 'My life is at an end, and I am bitter.' The second says, 'In sharing, I became more than myself and cannot die.'

          From: Everyday Tao, p. 129, "Compassion"

This morning's final T'ai Chi Chih class practice was ideal: perfect weather, perfect silence, and, afterward, a feeling of lingering peace. One added bonus: a class member brought blueberry cobbler to share with the group. Perfection plus!

I look forward to a teaching break of several months in order to focus my attention on other people and projects. Nevertheless, I'll miss the wonderful energy, unity, peacefulness, and discussions that this special group of people share when we come together.

After TCC practice today we continued our discussion of Buddha's Brain, Chapter 9, "Compassion and Assertion." One student commented that through the softness in our TCC practice comes the ability to be assertive. I think that's true. As we become better acquainted with our true selves through regular practice of T'ai Chi Chih we become more easily able to speak from our stable, secure, and virtuous core of being. We can speak our truth and pursue our aims because no matter what other people do, their behavior is not controlling us (p. 145-6).

I read this quote by the Dalai Lama on the internet recently: Compassion is the radicalism of our time.

And here's how highly acclaimed meditation teacher Jon Kabat-Zinn writes about loving kindness (compassion):

We resonate with one another's sorrows because we are interconnected. Being whole and simultaneously part of a larger whole, we can change the world simply by changing ourselves. If I become a center of love and kindness in this moment, then in a perhaps small but hardly insignificant way, the world now has a nucleus of love and kindness it lacked the moment before. This benefits me and it benefits others.

          From: Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life, Jon Kabat-Zinn, p. 162

Just like T'ai Chi Chih and seated meditation, compassion takes practice. See "A Guide to Cultivating Compassion in Your Life, with 7 Practices" by Leo Babauta (http://www.dailygood.org/). Daily T'ai Chi Chih practice is an effective way to begin the development of self-compassion as well as compassion for others. Still, it's merely the first step down a long, winding path of self-development. Each step, each technique, each tool, and each conscious moment of being help us to re-member the person we're meant to be....

Body Wisdom

During my early morning T'ai Chi Chih practice I stared out the window into thick darkness. Gradually white patches of snow appeared, the bird feeder, and then the dark, seemingly empty woods revealed itself. As I write, a gentle, light snow falls out of grey skies and covers the earth.

Although it was dark, quiet, and peaceful this morning I was caught up in the crush and rush of my thoughts. Monkey Mind is working at optimum performance this week as Frances and I prepare to depart for a five-day visit with my sister (and one of my brothers) on the East Coast. I'm throughly enveloped in the To Do mode.

As the minutes and hours click by I realize that the list of projects I've conjured in my mind is entirely too long to complete before Frances and I climb into our car in the middle of the night on Tuesday, drive to the Twin Cities, and catch our flight for DC. Several days ago Frances told me that I needed to cut my list of projects in half. Today I realize that if my bag gets packed, my flight caught, and my destination reached, that is what's important.

Tell my mind that. It's busily scheming, plotting, prioritizing, and strategizing. That was certainly evident during my TCC practice today. Even though I was surrounded by all of the necessary ingredients for a calm, peaceful practice, my mind had other plans. I realized part-way through that I was going through the motions. My heart wasn't in my practice and I couldn't feel much energy. Obviously my TCC practice was just one more item on my To Do list.

I toyed with the idea of cutting my practice short. But my body didn't want to stop. By two-thirds of the way through I felt better and my body wasn't about to short-circuit the form just so that I could proceed to the next item on my agenda. Yes! The body does have a powerful intuitive wisdom now, doesn't it?

When I picked up Everyday Tao this morning, I opened the book to page 198: "Verify." Somehow these words seem to exemplify my experience with T'ai Chi Chih practice this morning.

     Life is very short. We all want to live it well. We study spiritual systems in search of techniques and traditions to help us live our lives better.
     While there is no shortage of people purporting to be sages, there is certainly ongoing confusion about which system to follow..... After you subtract all the false masters ... after you subtract all the religions ... after you subtract the traditions ruined by supposed reform ... after you subtract the teachings ... after you subtract all these things, there is very little left. To find the kernels of truth is hard indeed....
     Do the teachings work or not? ... the teachings must work for you in your life and your time. It is absolutely worthless to accept a teaching on mere faith, or because a book says to, or because everyone is doing it. None of that matters. All that matters is that the teachings work for you. And if they do, then faith is never a difficult matter.