From the Guide

By Marie Dotts, Loveland, Colorado

Justin Stone shares in his essay, “Rest in the Essence” from Spiritual Odyssey, “Right in the midst of the turmoil one must rest in the Essence, making the effortless effort while shouting, crying, and feeling bitter and joyous in alternate periods.” 

In January, I went to Minnesota to lead a retreat with the theme “Resting in the Essence” which was inspired by his essay. In preparation I immersed myself in Justin’s writings to understand more of what he meant by Essence. In his lecture made into a booklet titled Sense and Essence he explains more of what he means by Essence. He uses the analogy of a light bulb. He says the light bulb is the essence, the still unchanging — and the light that comes on and off is the active, that moves, that does something and is the function or sense. 

The movie screen is another analogy he uses. “When we stop the movie, the screen is still there but the movie, the action, is gone.” He goes on to share that the important thing is while seeing the light to be aware of the light bulb, while seeing the movie to realize that the unchanging part of the movie is the screen behind the movie. In his Prajna booklet Justin writes, “The wise man, the sage, feels the essence in everything he does, in all function. This is merging sense with essence.” 

I had fun listing all the ways Justin described essence in his writings. Here are some:

Beginningless Present Awareness
Uncarved Block/Original Face
Unborn and Undying
Unmoving and Unchanging
Completeness/Wholeness/Oneness
Cosmic Consciousness
Emptiness/Formless/Void
Stillness/Silence/Serenity
Infinite/Eternal Now
Inherent Nature/Buddha Nature

Justin called this unchanging state the fourth state of consciousness or “Turiya” level and that his teaching of meditation is primarily aimed at realizing, and resting in, this underlying state. He writes, “To be able to enter this fourth state at will brings the greatest Bliss, and probably satisfaction, that can be known in this world.”

In the past, waking up to this ground seemed unattainable to me in this lifetime and meant only for a few. I truly feel this has changed. We are living in evolutionary times where more people are being called to wake up to essence and to live from the loving eternal silent core of their Being in joy. I see this reflected in my classes. I also truly feel T’ai Chi Chih (TCC) is one of the best practices I know to help us in this journey. Just this week a student of only two weeks shared that during the practice he had a feeling of warmth and oneness come over him; he shared how grateful he was to have found this practice.

The body is the portal to this ground of Stillness. The more one contacts the deepest ground of their body the more they contact the deepest ground of Who and What they are. They are one and the same. The deepest ground is the tan t’ien and the vertical channel of the body known as the central channel. 

Reginald Ray, a Buddhist scholar, author and meditation teacher shares in his book, The Awakening Body, “When we are abiding within the immaculate space of either the dan t’ien or the central channel, we are resting within what is called the unborn nature, the unconditioned awareness that is the ground of our being. In Buddhism, this is known as the buddha nature. Once we are familiar with this practice, whenever we get lost, in whatever circumstances or situation, no matter how disconcerting, confusing, or chaotic, we can reenter the central channel and reconnect with our primordial being. Trungpa Rinpoche called this move ‘back to square one.’ Then, with nobody in our immediate environment having any idea of what we are doing, we can turn our attention back toward whatever is going on, but from a very different place. Rooted in the unborn, all kinds of previously unseen possibilities will be there for us.”

This reminds me of the Buddhist Lotus Sutra that Justin shared often in his writings.

From the State of Emptiness,
Your body is a body pervading the Universe,
Your voice is a voice filling the Universe,
Your life is a life without limit.

My TCC practice has become simpler over the years. My only job is to rest in the Stillness, the Emptiness which for me is the feet, the tan t’ien and the vertical channel, moment by moment. The Chi arises out of that Stillness. I hold fast to the vertical and just let go.

In Sense and Essence, Justin also writes, “Sister Carita did a wonderful poster. It said: “Don’t just do something, stand there.” Of course, what we have always heard is: “Don’t just stand there, do something.” Anybody can do something. Stand there. Feel the essence and then be aware of it while you go through your daily activities.

By Marie Dotts, Loveland, Colorado 

When I started to contemplate this article, the phrase “The Journey is the Gift” kept coming up. As I let myself sit with that what arose was a beautiful image of a pearl. In Nature, the pearl is formed from an irritant within the oyster. Nature is an amazing teacher. Through the journey of the pearl, we are reminded how our inner beauty is cultivated through adversity and challenge. 

We all come into this world with certain strengths. They are expressed in the areas we naturally gravitate towards. These areas come easily to us, and we feel joy in sharing them. We also come into this world with certain weaknesses. They are our challenges and point to the areas in our life we most need to grow and heal. Our T’ai Chi Chih (TCC) practice is like the oyster in that it will transform us if we are open to it. Through this transformation our weaknesses actually become what makes us most beautiful and precious. 

One of my greatest challenges in my TCC practice has been my weight shifts, especially the forward and back. I always felt shaky and unstable which made me grip, creating a lot of tension in my lower body. I remember the first teacher conference I attended, which was a few months after my accreditation. I could barely walk up and down stairs because my legs were so sore from holding all that tension. I also remember being so relieved in my early years of teaching when I finally got to the side-to-side movements. My body would let out a sigh because it could finally let go of some of the tension and relax a little. 

Our practice is really a mirror for our inner experience. Most of us, through our developmental years, get disconnected from our true center. It will manifest in people in different ways but in me it manifested as a deep lack of inner strength, confidence, and love. Without this inner support I was at the mercy of external support. This creates a very shaky and unstable relationship to life. There was always a lot of inner gripping and tension.

Through my practice I was guided to bring more and more awareness and understanding to my weight shifts. It led me to a deeper felt connection to my feet, legs, center, and alignment. In my weight shifts now and in my life, I feel a sense of deep core stability and strength along with a sense of joy and ease and a much greater flow of energy. This took years to unfold, and I know the journey is not over. Justin has shared that the depths of the practice may never be fully plumbed. I know I have not plumbed the full depths of the gifts of the weight shifts. I look forward to my continued journey with great joy.

Sharing what we have learned through working through challenges can be an even greater source of joy and fulfillment in our lives. There is nothing that gives me greater joy than helping students find their grounding and ease in their weight shifts, for I know firsthand how powerful and transformative they can be. 

Each of our journeys is a gift. Through that journey we are cultivating our pearl, and it is truly precious. Each journey is unique and sharing the gifts of that journey is what we are here to do. By sharing the gifts of our journey, we touch others and help them grow and transform. 

A string of pearls is often used as a metaphor in TCC to describe how all the joints of our body move in a coordinated, interconnected, and smooth manner allowing for a harmonious flow of Chi. This happens because our joints relax, let go, and surrender to the Chi flowing from the center of our body. 

I feel this could also be a wonderful metaphor to describe the potential for our TCC community. Just as each unique pearl is precious, each one of us is precious. Communities can thrive when each person is appreciated and honored for who they are. They provide something to the community that no one else can because of who they are and because of their unique journey. 

As we relax and just be the beauty that we are, the wisdom of the Chi will move and inspire each of us in ways that will bring the most benefit and joy to ourselves, our community, and ultimately to the world. As we come together as a community and move in a more inter-connected and harmonious way, there really is no limit to the potential of TCC in this world. 

Thank you for your journey and being the pearl that you are. It is a gift.