Justin Stone Speaks on T’ai Chi Chih (November 2025)

https://justinstonetcc.com.

Editor’s Note: This is a transcription of the recorded lecture.

TRACK 3

Many of you listening have seen Karate experts break through thick boards with one slash of the hands, uttering a shout, “Ahh!,” to bring the Chi from where it is stored below the navel. No ordinary strength could perform this feat. And the hands would crack up if it was possible. Rather it is the power of accumulated Chi that enables adepts to perform such feats. Though great strength is involved it is paradoxical that T’ai Chi Chih must be done softly and without effort. Teachers continually harp on softness and continuity. If there’s tension the Chi will not flow freely through the meridian channels, which will contract. So, there must be an effortless effort. If one imagines he is swimming through very heavy air, or that he is moving in slow motion in a dream, he or she will get the idea. It is actually more important to know how to move than to know what moves to make.

In the 13th Century, the great T’ai Chi Ch’uan Master Chang San-Feng described the way to move by saying, “In any action, the body should be light and alert. Coordinated like strung pearls. The Chi, vital energy, should be actively excited but the Shen spirit must remain calm internally.” From this, we learn that all T’ai Chi is essentially spiritual in nature. Meaning it is in accord with reality. This should give you something challenging to think about.

If it seems to you that I am enthusiastic about this subject, you are right. I know that this practice has done much for me. And I have heard countless times what it has done for others. I am grateful to have been the channel through which it came into the world. If you can understand that everything physical is the crystallization of the spiritual state, then it will be easy to comprehend the beautiful passage from the Lotus Sutra that says:

From the state of emptiness,

each man’s body is a body pervading the universe.

His voice is a voice filling the universe.

His life is a life without limit.

TRACK 4

Usually, I like to devote half of any lecture to a question-and-answer period so that I can know what the audience is thinking and what it is interested in knowing. I’m going to follow that custom now and ask for questions.

That lady over there has a question. She wants to know why it’s necessary to keep the concentration in the soles of the feet while doing T’ai Chi Chih?

Actually, there are three reasons. First, having a point of concentration keeps the mind from wandering and from having extraneous thoughts.

Second, the tan t’ien, the spot two inches below the navel, is the all-important place Chi is stored. It is the seed of intuition and the most important spot from the Chinese standpoint. In T’ai Chi Ch’uan the student is asked to keep his concentration in the tan t’ien, but this is very difficult and often interferes with breathing. The Tu Mu meridian channel that comes down the front, goes through the tan t’ien and reaches the soles of the feet, called the Chu or bubbling spring. Therefore, by concentrating in the soles of the feet, we serve the same purpose. Bringing the Chi down to the tan t’ien by bringing it down to the soles of the feet. The Buddha once said, “He who keeps his concentration in the soles of his feet while walking, while sitting, and while lying down can heal a thousand illnesses.”

Third and most important from a health standpoint we want to bring the heart fire, that is the Yang of the heart down, instead of letting the Yin of the kidneys rise. The great Japanese Zen Master Hakuin Zenji commented on this when he said, “The essential of the molding of the outer form consists in allowing the inward spirit and vital force, that is the Chi, to penetrate into the space below the navel. Where the inward spirit is concentrated, that is when the elixir of life is made. When this elixir is thus made the outer form becomes firm, and when the outer form becomes firm, the inner spirit becomes perfected. When the inward spirit is perfected, long life ensues. This is the secret. It is entirely a matter of the heart fire descending into the space below the navel.”

This gives us a pretty good idea of the importance of health in this practice. And it also graphically demonstrates that T’ai Chi Chih goes much deeper than merely helping us to be healthy.

Incidentally Hakuin made his own breakthrough to enlightenment and totally cured his ailing health by following these principles. After his enlightenment he said, “After this, seeing the things of the world was like observing the back of my own hand.”

That gentleman over there wants me to explain the importance of softness in T’ai Chi Chih practice.

I’m glad to answer that question because of an important point. First of all, any muscular tension causes the meridian channels to contract, and the Chi can then not flow freely through them. From the Chinese standpoint these channels not only have exterior points, but they directly lead to the inner organs. So, a free flow of Chi, the vital force, is an obvious necessity.

Now, let us consider softness from a different standpoint. We know that the soft tongue outlasts the solid teeth. And the soft water wears away the firm rocks, not the other way around. [People in Southeast Asia] point to the pliable bamboo which bends with the wind and then snaps back when the storm has passed. The sturdy oak on the other hand resists the storm and after standing firm for a while, snaps and falls to the ground.

All these are secrets of living of course. And after practicing T’ai Chi Chih for a while you will find that the principles spill over into your everyday life.

Now, in actual practice we want the body to flow smoothly, not have a series of disconnected movements. Only when T’ai Chi Chih is done effortlessly with softness can the body, the arms, and the legs flow smoothly so as to get maximum results.

That older person over there has a question that may seem slightly apart from T’ai Chi Chih, but one that is important. He wants to know what the Karma is I hear so much about.

The Sanskrit word Karma means action, but we generally use it in the sense of the fruits of Karma, the results of action. When we say, “As you make your bed, so shall you lie in it.” We are giving an accurate description of Karma.

From the Indian standpoint, your deeds will bring about a like reaction. Though it may be over the course of many lives, you will be paid back every farthing for what you have done. And this is in accord with science, which says, “That every action must have an equal reaction.” You cannot fire a gun without having a recoil. So, we are governed by the fruits of our actions, and that is Karma.

The gentleman follows with another question asking; what is the relationship between Karma and the Chi we have been talking about?

That is about the deepest question he could ask. And to answer it properly I’m going to have to go into some weighty matters, including the part habit and habit energy plays in our lives.

When the brain orders a particular action, a groove is made called Vritti in the Indian language. Faint at first this groove becomes deeper as we repeat and repeat the same action. Let’s say I have a disappointment and take a few drinks afterward. It seems to make me feel better, so the next time I am depressed I drink again. Soon drinking becomes a habitual action in response to disappointment. Now, the Vritti, the habit groove, has been made so deep that it becomes what the Indians call Vasana, literally habit energy.

We are molded by habit energies, perhaps through many lives.

TRACK 6

T’ai Chi Chih is inner-oriented. It is not a performance or a dance. Indeed, the beauty of T’ai Chi Chih is far different from the graceful actions of the dance or the threatening movements of such disciplines as Karate, Judo, and Aikido.

One of my first T’ai Chi Chih students was a medical orderly. He had studied T’ai Chi Ch’uan with me at the University of New Mexico and made rapid progress in T’ai Chi Chih. At the end of the beginners’ course, he simply said, “Well, I don’t need you any longer.”

The other students were shocked, thinking he had been very disrespectful to the Master. However, I pointed out to them that ‘his’ was the right attitude. He meant that I had given him the tools, and it was now up to him to use them. Nobody can do it for you. You must travel the path yourself.

I remember a skeptical psychiatrist who took the very first course given. After the second class, he told me, “Well, sure I feel something. How do I know I’m not imagining it?” “How do you know you’re here, Doctor,” I answered. Each will have his own experience. The depths will never be entirely plumbed.

Now, I have time for just one more question.

This man points out that I have spoken of the emotions but not mentioned intellect. Why?

He is quite observant to notice that. First of all, as Zen points out the emotions and the intellect must be in balance. When one or the other is too strong there will be suffering. The one who responds to everything emotionally is easily swayed and frequently has his feelings hurt. Conversely, the overly intellectual person, and I have known many among the faculty of universities, finds it hard to love and to be loved. Everything must be analyzed. These two, the intellect and emotions must be brought into balance.

One helpful suggestion: occasionally during the day stop to notice your state of mind, then look at your posture. Don’t correct it, just look at it. You will find that your state of mind has a good deal to do with your posture, and you will also find that your posture influences your state of mind. Once again, we have the mind-body continuum. Actually, the intellect plays little part in T’ai Chi practice.

The brilliant head of the Philosophy department at a major university tried to learn T’ai Chi Ch’uan in one of my classes and was unable to do so. I’m sure she had the highest I.Q. in the class, and yet practically all the others were learning rapidly. There is the time for the intellect, but T’ai Chi practice time is not it. Just do the movements and concentrate in the soles of the feet.

One thought: don’t forget that T’ai Chi Chih is not a religion, having nothing to do with dogma and doctrine, but it very definitely is spiritual in nature. And it is joyous, not work but effortless play, that play of the Sage.

Remember what Zen writer Paul Reps says, “If it isn’t fun, it’s better left undone.” Just do what you can comfortably, and you’ll get the benefits. And now I would like to quote a brief passage from Ch’an Buddhist literature as a concluding note.

Who is capable of embracing this? The four seasons follow each other in succession. The Sun and the Moon shine constantly. Truth suffers no fundamental alteration, and the great T’ai Chi is not confined to a single place. Therefore, free yourself to yield to whatever happens to you, rise and fall with it. And you may be simultaneously a common man and a sage.