Deeper than a Well

The great Indian sage Ramanamaharshi asked a simple but profound question: “Who are you?” Volumes have been written on what it means to know the answer to this question. (Sometimes those who don’t know write these volumes!) However, it is a worthwhile question, the answer to which resides in the deepest part of our being. It brings to light that which has the most meaning to us. It could be said that it solves the riddle of the universe. One sage, Justin Stone, put it this way “Climbing, Climbing, Climbing — finally we hit …. bottom!”

So many speak of it, but very few help us find out who we are. Why would we even want to know? As Justin says, “It doesn’t pay the rent.” Yet the question burns inside us.

We often come to T’ai Chi Chih not conscious about why we come. Something prompts us to come. It could be a backache, or stress, or any number of things that speak of being out of balance, but they are not the real reason. If we stay with the practice and go on to more advanced studies, we finally realize we must go through Teachers Training. One teacher put it very well, “Most students don’t have any idea what T’ai Chi Chih is about until they get to Teachers Training.” Luckily for us there is a T’ai Chi Chih and there is a Teachers Training. As Justin says, “It isn’t by accident that you are here.”

This casts a very different light on being a T’ai Chi Chih Teacher and on teaching. No longer is it a hobby or something that we do when we don’t have anything else to do. But rather, it is a sacred trust, one not to be taken lightly. To know with each class we teach, and with each time we do our practice, that we are sharing pure gold is cause to drop to our knees with gratitude for the gift of T’ai Chi Chih.

Today is the day to begin. We first begin with ourselves, by not only simply doing our practice, but by being mindful of the nuances of each movement. Secondly it begins by going even deeper and offering a class, not just to make a dollar or two, but to “share our bread,” and to offer to those that want to know, a way to know “Who are you?”