Justin Stone Speaks on T’ai Chi Chih (May 2023, Part 2)

Editor’s Note: This spoken word CD is available on https://justinstonetcc.com.

Track 2

On the contrary T’ai Chi Chih or Joy Thru Movement seems to bring results almost instantly. The very first time it was taught in New Mexico in 1947 [1974] a Catholic priest regained his sense of smell in the first session. I admit I was surprised as I have been so many times since then, because I first originated T’ai Chi Chih in the early 1970s and did not teach it until that first class in 1974. And I had no way of knowing what to expect from this discipline whose name literally means ‘knowledge of the supreme ultimate’.

Over the years I have conducted many teachers’ training classes. And T’ai Chi Chih has spread throughout the world. Three of my accredited teachers were cancer patients. One of my first students, a man whom I had taught at the University of New Mexico, went from 255 lbs to 180 lbs in four-and-a-half months of faithful practice. While continuing to be the biggest eater I have ever known. One day his wife looked up and found she had a handsome husband much to her surprise.

Other students who have studied with my teachers have written me of wonderful results too numerous to mention. And T’ai Chi Chih is not medicine, though it seems to bring weight, blood pressure, lack of energy, et cetera, et cetera under control. And according to Chinese teaching has a great effect on longevity.

It is not meditation, though it seems to bring the serenity of the most successful meditation. A serenity that teachers often notice in the faces of their students near the end of classes. Indeed, some students who come to class under a lot of tension are then embarrassed to begin yawning, obviously a release of tension. One who is tied in knots does not yawn.

And T’ai Chi Chih is not exercise, though it seems to be the easiest and most effective form of exercise. It is one of the few practices that exercise the internal organs, particularly important for women. And those who practice regularly seem to never have problems of constipation.

When I first used to go to Japan, I had to take some bulk or roughage with my meals as the soft food tied my stomach in knots. However, from the day I started to do T’ai Chi Chih I could forget about taking the Metamucil or bran, the problem disappeared. On long train trips or driving from state to state a little T’ai Chi Chih before leaving and perhaps during a pause on route, seems to take care of regularity. To one sitting behind a desk or wheel all day this can be heaven sent.

One is naturally gratified to receive these benefits from regular practice of T’ai Chi Chih, but there are deeper effects that must be experienced personally. The practicing student will first notice a tingling in the fingers, and soon a slight shaking of the fingers as the Chi spreads. Heat may appear at points where there is blockage or has been an injury. And often this heat, which is very healing will appear sometime after practice. While walking down the street or engaging in some other activity. A surge of energy is common, and students are advised not to practice T’ai Chi Chih after the evening meal, as the heightened energy may interfere with sleep. The tingling in the fingers may appear in the very first practice session of T’ai Chi Chih. And the inadvertent trembling only confirms the flow of the energy, which the student feels quickly. This is the first manifestation of the circulation of the Yin and Yang Chi, which separate when we begin to do the movements, and then come together when we rest.

If we practice regularly and get the habit of doing the movements when we arise in the morning, we will probably continue faithfully because we will notice the affect in our lives and experience the joy thru movement. As we continue, we should one day have the ecstatic feeling that nobody is doing anything, that the Chi is flowing by itself, and T’ai Chi Chih is doing T’ai Chi Chih. I first had this experience at dawn in a Japanese garden. And it was almost like a Satori or enlightenment experience. It will take some time before this occurs.

The third confirmatory sign of our success in T’ai Chi practice will come only after we have been doing T’ai Chi Chih for a long time, to the point where the balance Chi begins to flow the movement, we lift our hands. And probably flows through us most of the day while we are carrying out other activities. Then we will be surprised to learn that we can do T’ai Chi Chih mentally. We can be sitting at a boring lecture or on a plane and closing our eyes begin to do the movements in our minds. The Chi then begins to flow just as if we were standing and moving. No one around us will even know we are doing it, but we are getting the benefits of T’ai Chi Chih practice while sitting quietly.

Starting at the point of the circulation of the Vital Force we have now arrived at the point where it is completely influenced mind. I leave you to imagine how wonderful such a realization will be, but it will only come after considerable time. One of the first effects we will notice is the absence of fatigue in activities that usually tire us. I remember hearing from a former student, a nurse, who said, “I don’t seem to yell at the kids anymore or kick the cat. And when I come home from work fixing the evening meal doesn’t seem to be a chore. This doesn’t have anything to do with Tai Chi, does it?” “What’s the difference?” I replied, “As long as it’s happening.” I’m not going to burden her with the information that I’ve heard scores of such comments. If lives are enhanced that is enough and no more has to be said.

What is this Chi that seems to be the most important and best kept secret of life? Nobody has described it better than the Chinese sage Lao-Tzu, who 2500 years ago said, “There is a thing confusedly formed, worn before heaven and earth. Silent and void it stands alone and does not change. Goes round and round and does not weary. It is capable of being the mother of the world. I know not its name, so I call it ‘the way’.” Could there be a better description of this cosmic force? This however is not a definition. Those who are theologically inclined might equate Chi with divinity. And scientists will see it in electricity and other forces. When this Chi circulates in us, we live. And when through imbalance it totally ceases to circulate, we are dead. So, isn’t it wonderful to know we can accumulate, circulate, and balance this great force, that literally makes us what we are.

My great friend Professor Wen-shan Huang used to refer to Chi a Priori and Chi a Posteriori. That is the Vital Force with which we are born and the Chi that we accumulate and develop as we live. Your face before you were born in Zen terms.