The Vital Force Archive

Gail Terriff recounts her November 2010 trip to Albuquerque, meeting Justin Stone at an intensive, sitting in his home meditation space, and hearing him urge teachers to practice daily; followed by Pyramid Poems honoring him.

Jami Morgan recalls finding TCC through Carmen Brocklehurst's PBS broadcasts and writing "Embracing the Moon" for Justin's 85th birthday, including the Zen master's line that the moon gives light too.

Esther Matassarin-Jacobs recounts starting seated T'ai Chi Chih at a Cancer Wellness Center after chemotherapy left her feet numb and falling weekly, and standing to class applause after knee replacements.

On Justin Stone's 95th birthday, the writer and a friend improvised a ceremony at the Bosque by the Rio Grande, launching a bark boat that snagged on a tree until stone and petal fell away.

April Leffler recounts a dream in which a frail, legless Justin Stone stood in a rehab room, clasped her hands, spoke in a foreign language with glowing eyes, and said he could not find his way home.

A rundown of the new taichichih.org features: a chronological, hyperlinked "In The News" archive of TCC press and research, a blog of Justin's writings, comment threads, and integrated Facebook and Flickr feeds.

Carmen Brocklehurst answers the question of purpose through the words T'ai Chi Chih themselves, knowledge of the Supreme Ultimate, and describes the state of emptiness the movements and Justin Stone's example open up.

Sue Bitney describes the Minnesota TCC community's November gathering near Justin's birthday: a circle practice, a teacher-provided potluck, 18 people saying what TCC has meant, then cake and ice cream.

Carmen Brocklehurst describes Justin Stone's 94th birthday gathering in New Mexico, with a noon practice at the country's first TCC center, jazz musicians, visiting teenagers, and three-year-old Leila Berg.

Judy Chancey's birthday greeting for Justin Stone's 93rd, praising his humility and crediting T'ai Chi Chih with leading her back to a genuine connection with the God-energy.

Guy Kent recounts International T'ai Chi Chih Day in Albuquerque, where 15 new teachers were accredited, practice filled the New Mexico TCC Center, and a potluck honored Justin Stone's 93rd birthday.

Judy Hendricks recounts visiting Justin Stone in the hospital and rehab center, where he told staff about T'ai Chi Chih, joked with the ambulance driver and thanked visitors instead of complaining.

Dora Derzon credits Justin Stone's egoless preparation, from meditating with monks at 3 a.m. to refusing royalties from new teachers, and urges teachers to honor his wish that T'ai Chi Chih remain unorganized.

Quotations drawn from Justin Stone's CD on balancing yin and yang, the reciprocal character of habit and Chi, Chang San Feng's instruction on moving lightly, and Seijaku as serenity amid activity.

Carmen Brocklehurst recounts Justin Stone's sudden move from Taos to Albuquerque, where two students found him in a bookstore, and Catherine Fedewa describes teaching a few classes yearly as ministry.

Good Karma Publishing announces the second edition of Justin Stone's Climb the Joyous Mountain, with excerpts from his introduction on lessons from Ramamurti Mishra, Priest Ogata and the Himalayas, plus Carmen Brocklehurst's foreword.

Justin Stone, in a piece reprinted from September 1999, quotes Sri Nisargadatta on the Life Force and argues that T'ai Chi Chih exists to circulate and balance Chi, not to entertain or defend.

Judy Hendricks recommends Justin Stone's two-disk CD Spiritual Stories of the East as commute listening, from Hakuin's enlightenment to tea with a Zen Master, and retells the tale of the monk and the biting scorpion.

At Justin's Life Celebration, Sr. Antonia interviewed Justin Stone, who recalled Professor Wang's three warm-ups, the week the TCC movements came to him named and complete, and refusing teachers' tithing checks.

Ginny Morgan describes Justin Stone's November 17th Celebration of Life for his 91st birthday, with two group practices, a piano concert of his original songs, his paintings, a potluck dinner, and the new narrated DVD/CD of his life.

Excerpts from the foreword and introduction of Justin Stone's 1988 book Heightened Awareness, where he distinguishes bare attention from deeper awareness, cites Krishnamurti's choiceless awareness, and notes concentration must be constantly renewed.

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.

A case for teachers staying connected to Justin Stone through his books and instructional DVD, a tour of the new Good Karma Publishing web site, and Sue Bitney's interview with student Kathy Sullivan about Sr. Antonia Cooper's July workshop.

Carmen Brocklehurst restates Justin Stone's guidelines for keeping the movements pure and TCC distinct from martial arts, and recounts how his question "Do you think this is just for you?" led to the booklet Evolution Through Chi.

Direct quotations compiled by Pauline Quimson-Tong from Justin Stone's 2006 CD, in which he defines chi through Lao Tzu and the Lotus Sutra and insists that words and passive listening cannot substitute for practice.

Ginny Morgan announces registration details for the November 17, 2007 Celebration of Life marking Justin Stone's 91st birthday, with a full practice, a talk by Justin, movement refinement, and an evening potluck.

Ann Rutherford retells Justin Stone's story from Gateway to Eastern Philosophy and Religion about a roadside ascetic doing visible penance, and argues real service is done in a business suit, unseen.

Justin Stone recalls Himalayan Yogis who left the icy Ganges undried, his own two years developing inner heat and its bleeding side effects, and names TEH as the teacher's essential.

Justin Stone, in an excerpt from Gateway to Eastern Philosophy & Religion, contrasts devotional India with Buddhism and ties karma to the chi that builds habit energies.

Doug Harned explains that donations supply 30 to 35 percent of the Albuquerque T'ai Chi Chih Association's income, and recalls Justin Stone tearing up checks the first teachers offered him from their class profits.