Flowing with Change

“The seasons go on–trees shed their leaves in Autumn and there are new leaves in Springtime.” Justin wrote these words to me in response to my telling him of my father’s recent death. The words put me in mind of the underpinnings of T’ai Chi Chih and one of the reasons I find the practice and teaching of it so profound: my growing ability to adapt to change.

Death is probably the most dramatic change we need to deal with, and it is sometimes difficult to see it as a part of life, another aspect of being born into this universe. Yet, it is all around us all the time: in all of nature, the turning of the seasons, the passage of time, though we may not be made to face it until a person close to us leaves this physical plane. At such a time, one has no choice but to realize one’s own impermanence, to become more acutely aware of the continuous change and flow that perpetually takes place.

For me, T’ai Chi Chih practice and the background on which it is based has become even more meaningful when I can know that my present sorrow is natural and that the other side of that sadness is joy, that I am blessed in knowing a discipline that can help me harmonize the two sides. My life, even during any kind of trying times, can be balanced more fully because T’ai Chi Chih came into it. Once again, I am grateful to Justin for creating T’ai Chi Chih and to T’ai Chi Chih itself for allowing me a clearer picture of the patterns of the universe than I previously saw.

– Jean Katus
Fort Yates, ND