Tabula Rasa

Cyber laughing yoga... LOL LMAO ROFLMFAO HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA hee hee hee hee hee hee hee heh

"Of all the elements, the Sage should take water as his preceptor. Water is yielding but all-conquering. Water extinguishes Fire, or finding itself likely to be defeated, escapes as steam and re-forms. Water washes away Soft Earth, or, when confronted by rocks, seeks a way round. Water corrodes Iron till it crumbles to dust; it saturates the atmosphere so that Wind dies. Water gives way to obstacles with deceptive humility, for no power can prevent it following its destined course to the sea. Water conquers by yielding; it never attacks but always wins the last battle. The Sage who makes himself as Water is distinguished for his humility. He embraces passivity, acts from non-action and conquers the world." Tao Cheng, 11th century Taoist poet

Now there's a great idea for a Tao Bum member feature....an option in "my controls" to choose whether one becomes a Tao Bum by increasing post count, or by time passed in membership without posting anything! *** Thanks for bringing my typo to my attention, evZENy! I edited to fix "with" to "without".

Kung Fu, Season Two, Episode Seven, "The Tong", Airdate 11/15/73 "I wish only to be a cup, empty of myself, filled with oneness". -- Kwai Chang Caine Rest in peace David Carradine. Thank you for Caine. I was watching in '73, and I am still watching in '09.

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I enjoyed this, felt good this morning, thanks for posting the link.

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In still presence the activation and following are one. Do you practice push hands (Twei Shou)? An excellent practice for honing skill at being one-mind in the leading and following movements with another person. Also, the nature of push hands is freeform as players "choose" (let arise and flow naturally if possible) the number of steps forward or back, the direction of the turns, which hand is being used, etc. Wha Na Da.....Yield, Neutralize,Strike....Receive, Accept, Return....Separation flows into Oneness in the Now Your awareness of the still space between the activating and following is deep in presence. Thank you for sharing.

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I clicked "other" also. A circle has no end.

From the Center for Attitudinal Healing...... Some signs and Symptoms of Inner Peace Warning: If you have all, or even most, of these symptoms, please be advised that your condition of PEACE may be so far advanced as not to be curable. If you are exposed to anyone exhibiting several of these symptoms, remain exposed only at your own risk as this condition of PEACE is probably in its' infectious stage. * A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences. * An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment. * A loss of interest in judging other people. * A loss of interest in judging self. * A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others. * A loss of interest in conflict. * A loss of the ability to worry. (This is a very serious symptom.) * Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation. * Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature. * Frequent attacks of smiling. * An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen. * An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.

Hi Jen Nice to see a woman post, happy to cyber meet you. That thinking function of the brain is so darn tricky! The program tells us that we need to get to the future in order to be here now, lol, good one! Warm hugs, Carol

I compiled and condensed this list of qualities that underlie the eight Taiji moves about 10 years ago from the teachings I had read in a number of classic T'ai Chi books, in addition to information that was provided by my teacher many years ago. I also created a symbolic chart of each of the gates with these qualities in a right brain visual presentation. I was unable to figure the way to put the charts into this forum, and I'm not sure I want to share them at this time, so I chose to share them in a basic word list. I find that contemplation of these descriptive words adds depth and quality to my practice of these forms, whether I do them in my formal Yang Style Long Form practice, or flowing them in with my Freeform Taiji practice. Thanks for asking. I hope this will be helpful. You can find out more about the Chinese Taiji Classics by googling.

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With experiencing each moment as new, as in "being here now", "meditating", there is no boredom. Consider two opposite functions to be possible in your brain; "thinking" and "no-thinking". 99.9% of thinking happens automatically and repetitively whenever a stimulus triggers it. All triggers are created from past conditioning. The moment that a human being becomes aware of that thinking happening in their brain, the possibility is immediately available for choosing to "use" the other function of the brain, "no thinking", which I like to call being "mind-space". Here we are at "The Tao that can be told is not the Eternal Tao"... "No words describe it". Meditation can been said to simply be increasing awareness of the activity in the brain. When we humans are unaware of the conditioned thinking happening in the brain, we are living in the dream, the delusion, lost in thought, unconscious robots with our bodies controlled by a bio-computer that is running on old programs that are full of bugs. As soon as we see the thinking happening, and exercise our natural ability to shift to mind-space (non-thinking function), we are simply "being now". Humans have already figured out many types of practices to help us see and expand uses of the possibilities inherent in our brain functioning. All roads lead to the same center. The source of all form is the formless. Therein lies freedom. All else is bondage. (Wei Wu Wei's word choice). Listen to the Silence. It's really fun!

Rodgerj, thanks for the video! As to whether or not it is (Freeform) Taiji/T'ai Chi, or whether or not Freeform T'ai Chi should even be labeled a style of T'ai Chi, that is for each to decide. From Wiki: Taiji (太極) is a state of being from Tao and Wuji. It is a state of absolute, and of infinite potentiality..... As with formal T'ai Chi practice, with Freeform there is the simple doing/being of it whenever it is done at all, which is always beautiful and fine just the way it is, IMO......and there is also great depth of study, observation and honing of skill possible. As for comments on movements, style, energy....there are no requirements or restrictions from outside, so the answer is whatever discovery there was in it for you in that moment of doing/being it. The root is always presence, awareness of chi flow, and our ability to choose mind-space rather than thought-space while allowing natural spontaneous movement through the body. So, if we come from some T'ai Chi training, then it often happens that our free movements resemble moves that we have learned. And that is fine if that is what is happening naturally in the body at that moment and chi is flowing freely. With practice, more openness to allowing other movements to arise and fulfill themselves happens. It can look very odd and even ugly from an outside perspective at times, certainly not always what we would call graceful. No matter. So much can be said. I am a hermit and don't communicate with people very much so I am doing my best here, lol. I breathed with the space in your moving. Thank you.

Wow, Ramon, what amazing flow you allowed by choosing to take an immediate leap, and practice shifting your Chen form T'ai Chi into some freeform moves. Thank you for sharing your experience! My Freeform often resembles Yang Long Form, as that was my foundation of practice, so I hear what you are saying. Regarding your questions.... We humans tend to create what we fear. If we fear problems arising that we won't be aware of.....watch that. As with learning anything new, practice is a process. We learn as we go. In my experience, I have only had positive effects from my practice, by approaching it with gentleness, and paying attention to sensations along the way. Since you are familiar with the chi channels, you may choose to incorporate slow movements of your hand, with no-thought awareness, along the meridians, especially in any areas that feel uncomfortable or out of balance. Ultimately, it's your body and your freedom of expression and movement. You say it felt good. There you go. Practicing Freeform when it feels right for us, in no way dictates a need for giving up our formal Taiji practice. I still practice my forms when that arises also. Thanks so much for participating. Carol

Wei Wu Wei has written down some excellent "pointers". Simply the title of one of his books, "All Else is Bondage, Non-Volitional Living" woke me up a notch. I don't own any of his books. I read lots of excerpts here: http://www.weiwuwei.8k.com/ "What do you have to do? Pack your bags, Go to the station without them, Catch the train, And leave your self behind."

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Thanks for your question, Ramon. While it is beneficial to have at least some formal T'ai Chi practice along with a Freeform T'ai Chi practice, it is not absolutely necessary. I have had students from both sides of the equation who enjoyed the practice. In the Ultimate Art of Freeform Taiji, which is called by other names these days, such as "Presence through Movement", or "Moving Meditation", there is no need for the physical movements to actually look anything like Taiji forms. I noticed with interest that Eckhart Tolle's partner, Kim Eng, practices Freeform Taiji and that is how she and Eckhart connected with each other. She began sharing it at his retreats and is now teaching her own classes and retreats with great success. Each movement, in each moment, by each practitioner, is a unique expression of that Now, of Life expressing Life, of Tao. Allowing movement to arise naturally shifts the mind into the state of no-thought, while moving energy, chi, through the system of pathways, meridians, unblocking tensions and promoting health. It is helpful to have an understanding of the energy meridians while practicing Freeform T'ai Chi. It is helpful to know the basics of T'ai Chi movement. Out of this awareness it is easier to let go and allow the body to move freely. I hope this introduction is a useful primer for anyone who is interested in this topic. I am watching to see if there are any Freeform practitioners at Tao Bums, beginner or advanced, to get more in depth into a discussion. There aren't going to be any videos any time soon, so no reason to belabor that point. Thanks all, Carol

I agree with you, xuesheng, that learning the form first is the best way to move beyond form into the formless/freeform movements. Obviously I found it extremely valuable that I had 20 years of grounding in formal practice before shifting to freeform. Also, two person San Shou practice was amazing, and the people that I have found that are able to flow with Taiji movements while interacting with another person have been few. While Taiji forms are martial in nature and form, I never practiced or sparred with a martial perspective myself, even with Twei Shou (push hands) and San Shou (two person form). Sorry but I never made any videos of my freeform or the classes in it, great idea. I am reflecting on how to respond to your general question, Ramon. What is your current level of familiarity with Taiji? Thanks guys, for your thoughtful responses. Carol

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Hi there Ape What do you yourself call it when you notice the space between breaths? .........I'm breathing in with you right now......... I'm breathing out with you right now......... Thank you, Carol

I haven't seen the movie, but I like some of the music. From the day we arrive on the planet And blinking, step into the sun There's more to see than can ever be seen More to do than can ever be done There's far too much to take in here More to find than can ever be found But the sun rolling high Through the sapphire sky Keeps great and small on the endless round It's the Circle of Life And it moves us all Through despair and hope Through faith and love Till we find our place On the path unwinding In the Circle The Circle of Life