A Remembrance

I became a T’ai Chi Chih teacher in 2005 after starting a practice in 1992. Sometime before my accreditation, I had a dream that Justin visited me, acknowledging my practice and training as a TCC teacher. After my accreditation, I wanted to travel to Albuquerque to meet him and the local teacher group and see the New Mexico center. In November 2010, I got my wish. During the intensive, we all waited to meet Justin, who stopped by on the last day to check us out. I think he felt satisfied with the group; some brief words about TCC were shared.

Another highlight included going to Justin’s home for two meditation evenings. Although I was excited but nervous doing this, everyone quietly arrived and settled into Justin’s home and then into his meditation space. It felt so right to be there. I felt honoured to see this still-strong man, his beautiful paintings and his lovely home. His home was so calm, full of good, strong, quiet energy. Seeing his musical instruments and where he worked was something I will always cherish. This is where it all happened – the movements that are an integral part of so many people’s daily lives.

And to top it off, there was a celebration of Justin’s birthday at the TCC Center. This was a time and place to honour his work and the continued sharing of the movements and community. What an honor. I felt grateful to share my meal with him and have a conversation with him. At the end of the meal, he stood up and found his strong teacher voice, shared some personal thoughts and talked about teachers moving TCC into the future. He emphasized the importance of our own daily personal practice. Then he demonstrated a seated movement he had been doing to increase the flow of Chi.

I will always remember his words “to practice when you want to and to practice when you don’t” and to “practice, practice, practice” and “If you don’t think you have enough time to do TCC in the morning, just get up a little bit earlier.” I always mention this to my students. Justin was a great teacher, with words spoken from wisdom and experience and with wit and humour. 

Pyramid Poems (about Justin Stone)

a

true sage

passing thru

left our hearts with

gratitude

our true

joy

– Rose J. Alvarez-Diosdado

stone

solid

gives way to

water softness

yin and yang

balance

all

– Joyce Veerkamp

temple

gone now

Justin free

transformed always

with us now

flowing

Chi

– Mary Ruiz

he

taught us

go within

know the silence

find out who

you are

now

– Judy Hendricks

this

season

he leaves us

next spring will come

blooming the

tears of

life

– Sheryl Adair

feel

movement

flowing to

all of us now

thankfully

Justin

knew

– Stacey Moore

if

we would

only move

as he has shown

we would be

grounded

now

– Jerry Granok

Stone

Justin

one with Chi

encompassing

all that is

with love

be

– Robert Montes de Oca

the

house is

empty now

our teacher friend

left us all

or did

he?

– Brock Brocklehurst

eyes

twinkle

full of joy

ancient wisdom

shows us how

to be

true

– Caroline Guilott