The Importance of Chi

Because I am anxious for T’ai Chi Chih teachers and students to understand the importance of Chi and of the TCC practice that enables us to know the Chi and use it to our advantage – nothing is more important – I am going to devote most of this article to quoting Swami Rama of India, who once held the prestigious position of Shankaracharya of Southern India. Swami says:

Prana (Chi) means ‘first unit of energy in man.’ Prana (Chi), which sustains life in the human body, is the cause of the expansion of the universe. Anything you find in the phenomenal world is the manifestation of Chi. Breath is the vehicle for Chi. The breath of the individual is a practical manifestation of Chi, the Cosmic Breath. The body and the functioning of its organs are dependent on Chi. It is Chi that maintains the life-link between the physical and the mental.

Chi is not only the life principal in the individual but it is also the cosmic principle. Chi is the vital force in a living being which is incessantly active, whether one is awake or asleep.

When the Chi departs the body, all other organs follow. The breathing system is the vehicle of Chi.

All animate and inanimate objects of this universe are results of the vibration of Chi. This vibration of Chi is the prime cause of all events happening in the universe. Chi is the Cosmic life principle. It is that which makes us living beings and produces vibrations. Without vibrations and movements this would not exist. We are able to live because every part of the immeasurable realm of Chi is constantly vibrating. We are, in fact, nothing but a mass of vibrations – a unit of the energy of the infinite Cosmic Chi. This Cosmic Chi, the Cosmic energy that is sometimes called ‘Intrinsic Energy’ in the [East], exists from eternity to eternity. Everything is caused by the Chi, which has its own laws. Chi is the Universal Life. All of us have come into existence by the power of Chi. Every object in this universe obeys the order of the same Mother Energy, the Chi.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

This is pretty powerful stuff, I admit. I will soon be 86 years of age* and have not noticed much deterioration mentally or physically, although I cannot speak for the future. Undoubtedly this is due to TCC practice, and I am certainly grateful for the TCC discipline making it possible to somewhat merge with this all-powerful force. If the TCC movements are practiced consistently and correctly, one can get the eternal benefits. Is superficial activity a better way to expend your efforts? Think about it.

*Editor’s Note: At present, Justin is 92 ½ years old and doesn’t look a day over 86.

God

in me

salutes you

our spirits wink

namaste

back at

me

– Jan Maples

the

morning

came slowly

like the gentle

Chi came in

to my

life

– Mary White

choose

new ways

of being

open pathways

flow softly

into

change

– Sheryl Adair

seek

silence

from stillness

as quiet as

the freshly

fallen snow

– Peter Gregory