TCC Improves Our Inner State Of Being
A T’ai Chi Chih student explains how TCC practice brings a sense of inner peace.
By TI, Illinois
(All quotations are from the book Spiritual Odyssey by TCC originator Justin F. Stone)
The Buddha said, All that you are, all that you ever have been, and all that you ever will be is the result of what you have thought. To which Justin adds, If we are not content with our lives, we might take a look in the direction of these habit patterns.
Practicing T’ai Chi Chih affects our thoughts, which affects our emotions, which affects our perceptions of our world, which affects our reality. Justin writes, Our attitudes change and we become more like the bamboo, rather than the oak. Then the outer world reflects this inner serenity….
For each frame of mind there is a corresponding Chi. Our thinking cultures our Vital Force. Thus we can influence what we are and what we become by what we think. The most common response I hear about how TCC has benefited people is a feeling of inner peace. The mindfulness we employ while practicing TCC, and the circulating and balancing of the Chi, help lead people to a more peaceful state of being and helps them be less reactive to the world around them.
Along these lines Justin also states, [TCC]…permeates the lifestyle of the practitioner. We do not all see the same world, which is a reflection of ourselves. With the accumulation of the Chi (Vital Force) through [TCC] practice, permanent changes in metabolism and the thinking process take place and renewed energy conditions the whole way of life.
I want to be in this peaceful, joyful state more often than not, and TCC helps me accomplish this. The more often I practice, the easier it is for me to maintain a sense of calm and to respond to situations rather than react.
As Justin says, When this Chi is circulated and the positive and negative aspects (the Yin and the Yang) are brought into balance, not only does health improve, but an inner serenity seems to follow naturally. The increased energy (because Chi is energy) brings vast changes in the practitioner’s life, both inner and outer.
Reprinted with permission from the February 2016 issue of the TCC journal, The Vital Force.
