The Vital Force Archive

Five short passages from Justin Stone's writing between 1985 and 1993, on enlightenment as manifestation rather than intellect, the tongue outlasting the teeth, and why he left some questions unanswered.

Five short passages from Justin Stone's Vital Force writings of 1986 and 1988, on accepting impermanence, love as self-realization, flowing slow motion in a dream, energy as wisdom, and his objection to teachers inventing new movements.

Seven short pieces from Justin Stone's journal writings between 1985 and 1992, including Paul Reps' ten minutes of just sitting, watching wrists and waist for tension, his three steps on the Way, and his answer to a question about reincarnation.

Justin Stone lays out the musts of moving correctly, from the effort of no effort and tailbone posture to bringing the Heart Fire down, plus three confirming signs of progress.

Justin Stone lays out the four observations of the Satipatthana or Way of Mindfulness practice - breath, state of mind, feeling-sensation and objects of mind - and recommends a half hour daily.

Justin Stone gives two healing visualizations, the Duck's Egg and the Waterfall, that precede Chih-kuan and Great Circle meditation, recounting the Russian woman whose hospital practice restored her strength.

Justin Stone asks readers to notice posture and passing states of mind without correcting them, reading tension in the wrists and waist, and to feel the exact instant weight shifts between feet.

Aphorisms from Justin Stone on the needs we manufacture, the unreality of memory, the ice cream cone as America's tea ceremony, Dogen on spring, and Joshu Sasaki's five fingers.

Justin Stone writes that the outer world mirrors our inner state, that habit energies are well-worn grooves requiring effort to leave, and closes with his poem "Saints and Poetry."

Justin Stone takes up the question "Who am I?" through Tagore's unanswered poem and the 12th century Japanese saint Shinran, who abandoned self-power on Mount Hiei for Amida's saving vow.

Justin Stone's writings paired here: verses from Spiritual Odyssey on impermanence and non-attachment, and a taped lecture comparing T'ai Chi Ch'uan's 108 movements with the quick results of T'ai Chi Chih, including the priest who regained his sense of smell in the 1974 first class.

Justin Stone explains the one-two-three-four-three-two-one syllable Pyramid Poem form he invented as an English alternative to haiku, argues joy is our natural state clouded by words, and gathers retreat poems on silence.

Justin Stone recounts the unexplained urge that sent him from Taos to Albuquerque, where a bookstore remark led to six weekly classes, and adds his Buddhist prayer before meals.

Justin Stone instructs students to sit quietly and note tactile sensations, sights and sounds, classifying each reaction as pleasing, displeasing or neutral, with the Zen master Tokusan telling two disputing monks both are right.

Continuing from the May issue, Justin Stone draws on Da Hui, the Lotus Sutra and Zen Master Danxia to argue for trusting Prajna, or present awareness, over accumulated knowledge.

Justin Stone lays out a breath exercise of counting fifty out-breaths, clicking the teeth and holding the breath at top and bottom, and recounts meeting a pet puma that sprang at the fence without stirring his breath or fear.

Justin Stone describes Prajna, the innate wisdom buried under habit energies, quoting a Sufi master, Krishnamurti and Paul Reps, and argues that TCC practice balances those energy patterns so letting go happens effortlessly.

Excerpted from his book Heightened Awareness, Justin Stone links spiritual evolution to Gopi Krishna's Kundalini, habit energies, mindfulness at meals, and the Satori that came to Hakuin after a woman broke a broom over his head.

Justin Stone recalls Himalayan Yogis who bathed in the icy Ganges without drying off, his own two years developing inner heat without a teacher, and why circulating chi, not technique, is the goal of TCC.

Justin Stone traces chi and prana through Hwa Yen Buddhism, Indra's net, the Japanese tea ceremony and Kundalini, and recounts two students who lost 75 and 100 pounds through practice.

Justin Stone equates chi with the Indian prana, citing Hwa Yen's Indra's net, the T'ien T'ai master's mirrors and candle, the violet light of meditation, and students who lost 75 and 100 pounds.

In a transcribed lecture, Justin Stone explains that muscular tension contracts the meridian channels and blocks chi, citing the soft tongue, water wearing rock and bending bamboo.

Justin Stone traces the step from bare attention to heightened awareness, describing habit energies and tendencies as self-imposed slavery, the Turiya state, and the need to empty the cup.

In a transcribed lecture, Justin Stone contrasts changing the Chi directly through T'ai Chi Chih with the harder path of mind control, and explains how free-flowing Chi erases habit energies and the seeds of Karma.

Justin Stone gives three reasons for keeping the concentration in the soles of the feet, citing the Buddha and Hakuin Zenji on bringing heart fire down to the t'an t'ien, then defines karma.

Justin Stone recounts a Zen priest's charge to "be the Big hermit," the Himalayan morning he decided he should be able to meditate at 42nd and Broadway, and how impermanence brings profound gratitude.

Justin Stone answers audience questions in a taped lecture, recounting travels in India, Kyoto and Taipei while distinguishing good from positive, chi mastery from martial art, and intellect from emotion.

Justin Stone defines karma as action and its motivation rather than blind destiny, and argues that circulating and balancing the Chi fades habit energies, burning the karmic seeds.

Justin Stone, in a taped lecture, defines Chi through Lao-Tzu and Sri Aurobindo, describes the reciprocal character of mind and Chi, outlines a maximum Chi program for athletes, and names the seven emotions.

Transcribed from the CD Justin Stone Speaks, Justin Stone names the signs of progress: tingling fingers, the sense that the Chi moves by itself, and practice done entirely in the mind.