Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
– Source: InsideAwake - Do Not Believe in Anything
Wow.. such a great quote! One of my key take aways from the above quote is the following line: “But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
Does this not go against some of the things handed down via the taiji tradition? Are we not supposed to just practice, do what the teacher says, and have faith that what we are doing will produce the desired results? How often do we ask “WHY?” in or own training? Why do I care which way my dantien rotates during said movement? Why do I care which path my qi will follow during said movement?
How much do we observer and analyze our own training methods? Are they aligned with our goals? Hmm…
4 comments
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February 20, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Rick Matz
I’ve adopted the habit, whenever there is an (sometimes frequent) interruption in my training, to review what I’ve been doing, what I’ve been trying to accomplish, and so on. It’s a habit that’s been very helpful to me.
I don’t think doing something mindlessly (in it’s lowest meaning, rather than _mushin_) tends to be a waste of time.
February 21, 2007 at 2:45 am
zenmindsword
don’t confuse the objective!!! do we learn taiji because we want to master taiji or master what we perceive to be taiji?
how do we question something that is temporarily beyond our own reasoning? aren’t we being too smart for our own good?
is that why the taiji principles continue to mystify us? if we are right in our methods why can’t we explain what the taiji principles mean?
could it be we think we know what we are doing when in reality we don’t?
February 21, 2007 at 6:31 am
wujimon
Hey ZMS. You bring up an interesting point about being right in our methods and their ties to taiji principles. I’m still curious as to what are the taiji principles. I’ll have to ponder the following a little more: “Don’t confuse the objective!!!” thx
February 21, 2007 at 8:57 am
silkreeling
i take stories about lineages with a grain of salt as there are too many out there and can’t be verified.
as for the practicing taiji as an art, i have to agree with ZMS.
as you keep up the practice, the reasoning and principles will gradually become clearer(over the years for me!).