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Observe
Why are there so many nature pictures on this website?
Close-ups?
We are encouraging you to
notice things. To see what is right there in front of you... This simple lesson
lies at the heart of Zen and is the essence of the Buddha's Flower Sermon.
Buddha's flower sermon
Zen began with a simple lesson from Buddha. He held a
flower before his students and spoke no words of explanation. This profound and
infinitely subtle lesson said far more than words ever could.
Not everything can be articulated verbally. Words have severe limitations. The
inexpressible must be felt rather than thought.
The awakening of consciousness is
the next evolutionary step for mankind.
(Eckhart Tolle)
Words cage the mind
The danger with
words is that they do not represent reality. Consider: a verbal description
of an event...
You walked into the room and you took the coffee cup off the table, drank
some and then noticed that Mike, Anthony and James were also in the room
watching television.
The verbal description gives the illusion that these events occurred
sequentially.
Linear perception
Consider: what happens in the very instant you enter a room...
As you enter the room you simultaneously see the coffee cup/the
television/the images on the television/Mike/Anthony/James/what they are all
doing/ how and where they are seated/what they are wearing/the layout and
configuration of the room/the distance of things relative to another and to
you/the weather outside/the bird on the branch eating red nuts from the
green plastic feeder/the decor of the room/the quality of light, smell the
coffee/other aromas, hear the ambient noises inside and outside the
room/television/Mike/Anthony/James/your own
thoughts/interpretations/suggestions/impressions/memories, feel the texture
of the floor covering/your clothing/the air circulation/temperature of the
room.
Words cannot render the complexity of that first instant but you probably
get the idea.
Zen koan
Koan serve to demonstrate the folly of words. You cannot box reality into
words and hope to have a healthy, functional relationship with it.
Words can shape and twist and warp your perceptions of things, but reality
itself is unchanged. The problem lies with the fact that we experience
reality in our minds.
If we interpret sensory data in a distorted way, then our relationship with
reality and the choices we make will be questionable.
I awoke, only to see that the rest
of the world is still asleep.
(Leonardo da Vinci)
Intuition
Learning tai chi is not simply a matter of copying somebody else. Logic
and reasoning may help a beginner understand the basics of body movement,
but little more.
Intuition and direct physical sensation are the ways in which we gain a
feeling for tai chi. Nobody can tell you what tai chi really is - you must
feel it for yourself.
Beyond words
Consider: you cannot eat the word 'bread'. Students of tai chi gain a
growing sense of what it is about - like a
thought at the back of the mind. Yet, it cannot be thought or said.
Monkey mind
The human mind is not to be trusted. Few people are logical, clear and
internally balanced. Decisions are often reached and actions taken without
any rational thought taking place.
It like rummaging through an old box of junk and pulling something out at
random.
Self
Choices are justified by the ego, but seldom considered at length.
Contemplation is not popular these days. It takes too long and people fail
to understand the benefits.
Rather than examine the consequences, the relationships involved or the
variables present - people simply blunder forward and then express surprise
when things fail.
Meditate
Our minds are a rampaging mess of thoughts, feelings, emotions, opinions,
memories, received knowledge, rules, codes, symbols and influences.
Meditation is the beginning of sorting out the mess. The aim is to empty the
box completely.
There are three classes of people:
those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.
(Leonardo da Vinci)
Silence
If the mind is empty of extraneous thoughts, we can
pay attention to what our senses tell us.
The information is there and we notice it.
This is the outcome of a calm and
quiet mind.
Seeing only what you want to see?
We cannot walk around looking for things that interest us, otherwise we will
only see what pleases us and disregard what does not.
Being in the moment requires receptivity and openness: let it all in, see it
all, notice the details. Avoid linearity of perception.
Emotional content
Your thoughts interpret reality and then your emotions are added to ideas
you consider to be valuable. This is when matters become complicated.
In tai chi practice a novice tenses-up when they are attacked playfully.
The physical process of tensing is caused by the contraction of the psoas
muscle attempting to curl the body into a protective foetal position.
Your body is responding to what the mind decides is happening.
Context
Do you tense-up when your loved ones touch you? No. Your mind
interprets and then the body responds accordingly.
Tai chi students should not tense-up at all, so this habit must be worked
through until you no longer tense-up your muscles when somebody touches or
attacks you.
Learn to flow
How can we make the change? We simply choose to regard all physical
contact as acceptable. We do not fight with the attacker. We do not add
emotions to the event. We do not prepare.
Adding emotions is the outcome of fear. The mind is desperate to control the
outcome of a situation and speculates on the variables involved.
This process of anticipation is energetically-costly; you worry and you
plan. Your very fear and tension may actually cause a neutral situation to
move towards an adverse outcome.
It is said that soon after his
enlightenment the Buddha passed a man on the road who was struck by the
Buddha's extraordinary radiance and presence.
The man stopped and asked, "My friend, what are you? Are you a celestial
being or a god?"
"No," said the Buddha.
"Well, then, are you some kind of magician or wizard?"
Again the Buddha answered, "No."
"Are you a man?"
"No."
"Well, my friend, then what are you?"
The Buddha replied, "I am awake."
(Buddha)
Page created
9 March 1997
Last updated
16 June 2023