Videotaped message from TCC Originator is played for attendees

Transcribed by Dan Pienciak

Transcriber’s Note: The following is the transcription from Justin Stone’s video greeting to those present at the conference, for publication in the Vital Force. Note that this text is taken directly off the video as spoken. Where needed, the written text of Justin’s read message was consulted for spelling or punctuation.

Hello, everybody.

I’m very happy to greet the teachers of [the] T’ai Chi Chih [Community] at this summer’s conference.

It isn’t by accident that you are here. You’re pioneers in a movement that I think will have a very big influence over the next 50 years. I believe it will change the way that medicine looks at life. So your being here means that you are the pioneers in something which is very young. T’ai Chi Chih [Joy Thru Movement] is destined to bring a good deal of health and joy to the world, and you will be the ones to do it.

I’m going to read a little piece that I’ve written:

In the middle east, the word “rain” is the synonym for “grace”. When I think of grace, I can’t help but follow it with gratitude. In my life experience, I’ve come to the conclusion that the recipe for happiness and joy is being grateful — for this day, for this life, and for nothing in particular. Paul Reps said, “How grateful I am with no thing to be grateful for”. He didn’t say “nothing to be grateful for”; he said “no thing to be grateful for”. If you do not express gratitude each day, you are missing the boat. The cynic, the skeptic, is not a happy person. You cannot be grateful and unhappy at the same time.

Simple, isn’t it?

Wisdom is not made up of theory or of symbols. It comes from the inside. When I think of “doctrine” and “dogma”, I remember the saying, “my karma just ran over your dogma”. True dogma cannot be formularized. True wisdom is inherent in each one of us. When we live too much from habit energies, the wisdom is covered up, and tendencies develop which we may carry through many lifetimes.

T’ai Chi Chih [practice] and meditation both help to rid ourselves of these habits and tendencies. T’ai Chi Chih [practice], for instance, enables us to circulate and balance the chi, and this has great effect on the mind. Similarly, the condition of the mind affects the chi. Sometimes, when we first meet someone, we feel bad vibes, which come from unpleasant chi. However, we talk ourselves out of the impression, though first impressions are usually right. The kind of person we are is easily sensed by contact with the chi. The power of this life force is all pervading. Not only is our physical self affected by it, but our temperament and personality are the results of the influence of the chi, as well as our future.

It would seem that teaming deep meditation with T’ai Chi Chih [practice] can help remake us. I am always surprised by the reluctance of people to change no matter how unhappy their lives might be. Just as death may be a change for the better, circulating and balancing the life force is the single greatest practice we can adopt. In real meditation, we attain the “turiya” state, the so-called fourth state of consciousness, which is really beyond consciousness, and the effect this has on the mind is to do away with the slavery of unpleasant habits and stain the mind with the joy of blissful reality. This bliss is our real heritage, ours for the taking.

These are a few of my thoughts on how we can live if we want to taste the real joy. It does not come from outside objects or entertainment, nor from rich food and constant recreation. Someone gives us a new car and we are happy for three or four days because a desire has been gratified, but that fake gratification soon fades.

Gratitude and ensuing compassion go hand in hand. The self-centered person isolates him or her self and does not taste the beauty of life. When the English poet, John Donne, said: “Do not ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee”, he expressed the state of mind of one who has attained the higher state of life, the sage who eventually becomes one with all things.

I hope this doesn’t sound like preaching. Religion, as we know it, has not brought us to the stage of fulfillment. Religion is identification with all beings. The sufis say we are creatures of light. This means compassion. The future of T’ai Chi Chih [Joy Thru Movement] is to bring joy, lasting joy, to many people.

These are only my reactions and my opinions. Perhaps you can profit from them.

I wish for joy to be made available to all. That is the heavenly stage. We can all become caring sages.

Well, now you’ve heard this little lesson, it is your job to carry this great movement into the future, and make it successful as I know it is going to be.

I congratulate you all for being T’ai Chi Chih teachers, and I think it will bring great joy and health to you. And have a good time at the conference. Thank you.