Remembering Justin and the Impact of T’ai Chi Chih
Celebrating & Remembering Justin
Justin packed a picnic basket for every serious student he encountered. It was stuffed with all the essential teachings and, more importantly, pathways to access Knowing.
I began hearing about Justin and T’ai Chi Chih in the late 1980s while living in Boston with Lisa Otero, Carmen Brocklehurst’s niece. You cannot know that family and not know Justin or TCC. I began flying to Albuquerque shortly thereafter. At first, it was once a year, then twice, and then it increased as the years passed. I moved to Albuquerque in September 2005 to spend more time with him, often seeing him five days a week, until he moved on, on March 28, 2012.
Justin would patiently teach the movements and other Zen lessons in his living room, at dinners, while doing errands in his Infinity, at meditation retreats, while watching Sunday Night Football with the volume turned way up, while talking about the stock market and about Good Karma Publishing (the precursor to justinstonetcc.com). Over time, I understood more and more. Sometimes the lessons and koans would burst forth on the return flight to Boston. Sometimes a little smile would develop when Justin said something seemingly innocuous.
About mid-way through my years with him, he asked why I was in New Mexico, and I said, “For your help.” “What makes you think you are going to get any help?” Bingo: We must do the work ourselves. Through TCC, the work is easy. We just practice. The Knowing and healing come of their own accord.
I was a reticent TCC student until Carmen said, “Practice daily for 30 days and if you don’t like it, I won’t mention it again.” The benefits began pouring in and piling up. My awareness of Justin’s teachings grew; dim light bulbs brightened. When I spent a month in Albuquerque preparing for teacher training, Justin let me come to his house daily to meditate. Deep in the Turiya state, he said, “Let’s go…!!” (Jump. Fly.) After that meditation, and from then on, I chanted the Heart Sutra without reading it.
Justin was born on November 20, 1916, and I am immensely grateful that our paths crossed in this lifetime. But I still miss him.
