Game Changer

Change is only thing going on all around and through us. It’s probably the most important point Justin made at each conference, workshop, retreat, class, and teacher training. Some interpret this to mean that T’ai Chi Chih (TCC) movements change. But that is a misconception. What changes is our perception of the movements. And at that point we embody softness, our wrists and waists loosen, and we move with continuity.

Justin was very patient. He watched us misunderstand TCC movements, and he patiently waited for us to become aware of what was true about them. The more we accorded with Reality and Oneness, the more our lives became inclusive, soft, inviting, meaningful, and round.

The great Zen teacher Hakuin reminded us that if we believed we had a problem, it meant that our practice was not good enough. When it was, though, whatever we saw or did was the direct experience of Reality. That is not a mental concept but experiential.

One TCC teacher shared with me that she listens carefully to instructions given but doesn’t accept them as real until her whole body connects with the guidance and she feels peace. That connection, as she puts it, is a game changer.

The question is, are we willing to change? For most of us, the answer is no. Change would mean thinking and doing things differently. Perhaps it is embarrassing to tell our students that we didn’t understand something quite right. I’ve faced many students with that dilemma. Some may think that admitting mistaken understanding makes us inadequate teachers, but sincerity and willingness to change is the best leader — not being loved, feared, or appearing to know something that we don’t. Having a teaching certificate means nothing unless our inner being has a full and real connection to everything we see and do.

Something inside called us to take our first class and then become teachers. Some of the best teachers with whom I have had the honor of doing TCC, Seijaku, and Fast Track, confide that they still have much to learn. I sometimes suggest they revisit Justin’s book, Abandon Hope, and the chapter on “The Growth of Certainty.” Some claim certainty without experiencing it, or because they experienced it yesterday that it is enough for today. It isn’t. Hakuin showed us the way. Hakiun studied with a teacher who didn’t let him rest in what was, but to live in what is today.

TCC, Seijaku, and Fast Track ask for our full honesty and sincerity — with ourselves and what we share. Our lives track differently when that happens; it is a game changer. One of Justin’s favorite questions was a simple, “Did you feel that?” As teachers it’s important to answer that throughout our practice. When we do, it is how we learn to love and share the Chi.