Bathing in the Essence

Reprinted from February 2007

On a spring-like day in mid-February, I was attending a 4-day contemplative retreat at beautiful Santa Sabina Center in Northern California. Taking a walk in the gardens, I strolled through a tall, wooded archway of tangerine flowering quince in quiet contemplation. I paused to reflect on nature’s exquisite beauty. There was a timeless quality to the quiet sunny afternoon, in which all things seemed lit from within.

As I continued my solitary walk and private musings, I became aware of a young Chinese woman on the sidewalk nearby who was trying to get my attention. She ventured nearer and said, “Please excuse. I was just noticing the quiet way you are walking. Are you attending a retreat?” I nodded yes, not wanting to break the silence of my quiet hours.

She quietly persisted, whispering that she wanted to know more about the retreat. I smiled and mentioned that we do a variety of spiritual practices, including 45 minutes of T’ai Chi Chih (TCC) in the morning. I had just finished a private practice of my own.

She had never heard of TCC, but said she did the T’ai Chi Ch’uan form. She was curious about this “new” form. I decided to invite her to come into the center, to the room where we practice, so I could give her a TCC brochure.

When we got into this spacious room with forest green carpeting and floor-to-ceiling arched windows looking out into a grassy courtyard, she was even more intrigued. I offered to show her a few TCC movements; she offered to show me part of the Ch’uan form. I put on some soft music and began with a still pose before moving. Using no words, I simply opened my heart to invite her to enter the flow.

She watched, openmouthed, then soundlessly she sat down, never taking her eyes off of me. I did several movements forward and back, flowing into rest after each movement pattern, then some side-to-side movements, finally ending with Passing Clouds, and resting. After bowing, I stepped softly toward her and smiled. She rose with immense gratitude in her eyes. Her only words were this: “Ah, light as a feather, so soft, so beautiful.”

It felt as if the Chi essence created a harmonic resonance between us, joining her spirit of joy and curiosity with my energy, and the Chi moved me to perform as I did. There was no self-consciousness between us, two strangers just minutes ago, now sharing this overwhelming feeling of suspended animation and flow. In that moment, we too were lit from within.