I continue to think about the question of why many Taiji masters can’t fight. If I had to pinpoint one issue, it would be the sheer weight and demand of Chinese culture. Traditionally, it was never enough to just do one thing at a time. It had to be elevated, artistic, and completely tied to …
I’ve first moved to my present house thirty-five years ago. The first person I met was named Angel, a man from Mexico and the patriarch of four generations who lived with him. He died less than a month ago at the age of 103. Angel’s grandson, M devoted years to giving care. He cooked for …
Look back on evolutionary history, we see that no being evolved once and took lasting form. Each one developed from something else. All species continue to change. Evolution tests many options. The unsuccessful ones die out, the successful ones continue. We can’t say “succeed,” because even those strategies that are replicated will be subject to …
Why can’t Taiji masters fight? Why? Because they don’t train to fight, because many techniques have been lost (in my own lifetime, I’ve seen parts of Taijiquan stop being taught), and because the weight of Chinese culture and its demands for multi-faceted excellence is crushing. I don’t claim to be a fighter. But I got …
The Daodejing speaks of the gate to many mysteries (衆妙之門, chapter 1). The title of the Zen text, the Wumenguan, can be translated as the gate to nothingness. Mystery is clearly what we don’t know by rational means. It cannot be known by the “Dao that can be told.” (Daodejing, chapter 1) We cannot ever know it by …
If you visit a city and fall in love with it, you may well marvel at how lovely the buildings are, how clean it is, how all the people are bustling around with their personal lives and yet they all fit together as the residents of a well-run city. You might inquire about the government, …
What does it mean to embrace the ideas of compassion and gratitude? The two are part of one circle. They are not separate. If you are fortunate and don’t have to struggle with a particular aspect of life, then you should be grateful. If you are well-off, you should be grateful. If you’re healthy, comfortable, …
