Philosophy

Understanding the long tradition of meditation and spiritual development that underlies the Tao is challenging. It is easy to be on the outside with no real understanding of the practice, even if you have read all about it. It is much more challenging to penetrate the outside and gain understanding through your own experience because this requires that you do a great deal of practice and self examination.

The basic problem is perspective. It is so much easier in today's world to be programmed and be told what to do and think. Join a group and follow them and don't think for yourself. It is safe in the group; there is hierarchy, camaraderie, tightening bonds and no freedom. Bruce Lee called this "organized despair."

It is more difficult to be free. People fear really being free. It is not easy to go against consensus reality and really do it so that you gain your own perspective through experience. This requires listening, receiving information in your interactions with the world, not shouting and telling the world that you are the best, your way is the best, you know what is best. This is the illusion of self and it likes to hide in groups and tie itself up in knots with language. The "I" has to survive, but this so called imperative is an illusion, so the ego makes up stuff to make the illusion real and this warps your perspective and so the learning stops.

The self tries to control circumstances beyond its control and this causes stress and blocks growth. This slave mentality has been foisted on us for generations upon generations by programming. The illusion of the self is fostered by language, specifically internal dialogue. The programmed have to name everything and talk endlessly, even to themselves, about it to keep the illusion alive. Trying to make meaning for the self is a useless consumption of your vital essence. Forget yourself and enter the larger flow and then your use of what you gain through experience will determine the meaning effortlessly. This is what moving meditation means and it is the essence of this partner practice.

Self-Fear-Anger this is the normal way the programmed individual operates day to day. Fear makes you stiff, as soon as you try to control the outcome of events you have lost. You can only push or be pushed in the present moment so quiet yourself and be present so that you can play the edge. There can be no listening if you are trying instead of letting. There is no love, no real humanity where a bunch of egos are competing.

The process in any true personal growth will involve kicking out the self so that you can gain a clear perspective from your own experience and defeat the programming. Individual growth is a process and you can't name what is happening. This causes a lot of problems for people who are stuck because they really need to label everything so that they can work themselves into mental cramps talking about it. Lao Tze said if you name it; it is not that.

Many people need to break patterns and get rid of the programming . Because of the ego they can't just say, "this isn't it; it's just an example, it could look like this." Instead they "bowed before Buddha" and repeated the game that had them trapped in the first place. It is like a con game that got played on them and so then they are compelled to play it on others. They go through the motions because they are programmed, tied by the language, to the illusion of self. Taoist practices of meditation and chi kung are non-verbal methods specifically developed to undo this programming and allow you to smoothly adapt to changes as they occur.
Much of the Taoist philosophy of yielding, of "going along with," of power-with instead of power-over is expressed through the Tai-Chi applications and push hands practice. This practice requires that you cooperate with your partners but it also requires you to investigate and think for yourself. The process builds character. This, in a nut shell, is why we place so much emphasis on martial arts [specifically , Tai-Chi, Pa Kua, and Hsing-i] practice.

Send mail to Admin@SacredPeaks.net with questions or comments about this web site.