A Seasonal Task
Remembering,
who you are...
This is a time of year when my thoughts always seem to shift inward, and the present turning of the cosmic wheel has not been an exception.
I find Autumn to be an extraordinary time of change. The vibrant, youthful vitality of Summer is passing, as Nature slowly backs off the throttle in favor of a quieter, more reflective pace. Colors, shifting from flowers to the first fallen leaves, mark the beginning of a winnowing process that ends in the preservation of only what is essential. As Nature bids farewell to the sumptuous summer, it must transform the energy at the heart of summer's bounty. Nature seeks to harvest that expansive summer energy, preserving only its essence. Expansive, vibrant Yang energy must be quieted and directed inward where it will provide sustenance on the passage through the cold, darkness of Winter.
One fine day, Nature will awaken from that darkness. The quiet energy of Winter will transform with the coming of the Light and the pulsing, vital energy of Spring will once again bring buds and birds to repopulate the bare, boney fingers of leafless trees.
In Autumn everything prepares for Winter, but does so with the promise Spring. As surely as the turning of the earth brings a new sunrise every day, we know the turning the cosmic wheel will bring a Spring to follow each Winter. What we, as humans, do not know, is if we will be here to greet it when it arrives.
How many more Springs lie beyond this Winter...for me?
In Nature the cycle of the year completes itself with the journey inward to the quiet of winter. Here, in hushed darkness, life it renewed, recast and made ready for the growth of another year. Winter is the Yin to Summer's Yang. So, too, in our lives, there is a need to heed the call of Nature, to journey inward, seeking the quiet and the stillness that allows us to be renewed by dwelling in our most essential, authentic, naked selves.
This same quiet, and stillness reside within the movements of the Tai Chi form. They do not lie on the surface, though. They are not easily picked up like a piece of paper in the street. To access the stillness and quiet in the Tai Chi form requires is a journey into yourself. A journey into authenticity. Just as Autumn is a time when Nature moves from the expansive, Yang of Summer toward the quiet, Yin of Winter, we, too, must find the quiet that allows the essence of who we are to re-emerge as Springtime energy blossoms one again of our lives.
Professor Cheng said that the structure and flow of the Tai Chi form combined represent only 30% of its totality, while the other 70% is you, the Tai Chi practitioner. Seventy percent is already residing in you, waiting to be released. Professor Cheng's first western student was my teacher, Robert W. Smith. Mr. Smith was a great Tai Chi teacher and a remarkable human being. I believe, he was saying the same thing as Professor Cheng when he spoke the following words:
"Relax, is who you are,,,
Tense, is who you think you are".
This Autumn, consider allowing yourself to join with Nature and shed the leaves and flowers that are no longer necessary in the movements of your Tai Chi form and in your life. Allow your Tai Chi practice to encompass only the essential, the minimum, using the the least amount of effort possible. You may find that in your Tai Chi practice, and possibly, in your life, that the least amount is still enough.
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