A Deeper Look at T’ai Chi Chih

The truth is we are swirl of shifting moving energies and nothing more. The Chinese have shown that, in this dualistic universe, these energies are polarized as yin and yang. The latter is heat and expansion, while yin is cold and contraction. We are actually a product of these energies. We are acted upon by them and we, in turn, influence them. We are product of the Chi — the Vital Force — and we affect the Chi by what we think and feel. I have often spoken and written of the reciprocal nature of mind, mutually conditioning and makers of the fruits of our Karma (meaning action).

Just as Einstein has shown that what appears to be matter is actually energy, so one day it will be shown that what appears to be energy is actually thought. Some physicists are already hinting at this, and the great mathematician/philosopher, Alfred North Whitehead, seems right at home with this concept. T’ai Chi Chih teachers know that the blood follows Chi, and that the Chi follows thought. Semi-ultimately, what you are and will be is the result of what you have thought (ultimately there is no “you”). What you think is conditioned by the state of Chi.

Knowing we are a mass of shifting energies, doesn’t it seem wise to culture and affect these energies, to bring them into balance? Yet very few do this, preferring to look at “another power” to do all the work, though, in truth, you must do it for yourself. Over vast periods of time, the Chi creates “you,” but you can create and balance the Chi. This puts another point of view on T’ai Chi Chih practice, doesn’t it?

Ancient Chinese medicine, which evolved into acupuncture, is geared towards stimulating and balancing these energies. Here it is used for treating “illness” (or “purification” to use the more accurate word). In T’ai Chi Chih we act before the illness. This is from the physical standpoint. From the philosophical, we come to realize that what the Chinese call Tao is constantly moving — this is the great T’ai Chi. We can get in step with it in accord with the Tao. From the spiritual standpoint —that is, identification with Reality — we stop living in the stagnant, harmful, illusory ways and, effortlessly, convert to accord with Reality. All this does not take place in five minutes, but sincere practitioners of Chi Kung disciplines — T’ai Chi Chih being the easiest and most effective, I believe — find their physical, philosophical, and spiritual needs being taken care of. This is real fulfillment, not the attainment of temporary desires. T’ai Chi Chih students should give careful thought to these matters and then give proper weight to their practice. Nothing is more important.