We’ve gone through fifteen topics:
1. Attraction
2. Health
3. Acuity
4. Learning
5. Defense
6. Recovery
7. Discipline
8. Honor
9. Culture
10. Loyalty
11. Nature
12. Aging
13. Philosophy
14. Meditation
15. Spirituality
Daoism I learned is based on a step-by-step path. One begins from wherever one happens to be and proceeds to scale manageable levels from there. No one is denied. No one is “unqualified.” What does it take to succeed? Just one requirement: continuous daily practice. That means you never give up. If you persist, progress is inevitable. What better way to use this lifetime except to try for your best?
My listed reasons combine with one another. Just as a Luo Shu Magic Square* has nine numbers where every row totals fifteen in any direction, our reasons for practice are sometimes singly important, sometimes combine, and sometimes are all active. But they always balance out in every direction and they are a vital whole when considered together.
If we practice Taijiquan for performance then we practice just enough for the show. After that, we prepare for the next one. If there are techniques that we must master, we concentrate on what will win points or dazzle our audience. There’s a place for that, but it’s not the ultimate aim of a Taijiquan practice.
Historically, demonstrations were to inspire people, to instill community pride, to perpetuate the culture, and to let people know that its techniques were available. In some cases, there were also wandering martial arts troupes, and they did demonstrations in the streets to make money. Even in those traditional settings, though, performance was a side-endeavor of a lifetime of practice.
In contrast, spirituality is a practice done for its own sake. It shouldn’t be done for the sake of anything else. This is a difficult point in a world where our involvements are only validated if they are done in exchange for some additional benefit. We are told to go to school so that we can get a good job. We are told to get a good job so we can make money and therefore have the means to pursue our own happiness. We are told to get married so that we can have children and a secure future. We are told to be religious so that we can be unafraid and blessed. Even Taijiquan is promoted in this way. We learn so that we can be healthier and learn how to defend ourselves. So much of what we are taught is that nothing is worthwhile unless it is the means to profit. But this attitude should not be applied to spirituality.
The majority of spiritual traditions are being promoted with a profiteering mindset. People say that spirituality will help with doubt, with existential anxiety, depression, emotional balance, and so on. It’s common for someone to state problems and then offer their spiritual system as a solution. At the most vulgar levels, spirituality is said to bring money, attract a love partner, grant all wishes, lose weight, live forever, and give one an advantage over others.
That last assertion is the most dangerous. People think that if they read the Yijing or Art of War, or search the scriptures, or learn martial arts, or meditate that they’ll have one up on the next person. This is a ridiculous perversion that flies in the face of what spirituality really teaches—compassion and love. Spirituality should help us realize the truth of this existence: we are not alone, we need other and this earth, and we can help others instead of trying to dominate or even consume them.
There’s another side to the fallacy that everything we do must be for the sake of something else. We also think that all frustration and misery warrants compensation. Tough day? I need a drink. Upset by being poor? It’s okay to steal from my employer and stick it to the man. Difficult marriage? I deserve an affair. No. Better to grapple with problems directly.
In fact, these observations parallel the standard for meditation: if you practice with thought of gain, it will elude you. If you practice with no thought of gain, you will progress rapidly. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true and I’ve found myself teaching that exact idea. Why? Because spirituality cannot be gained by being selfish.
Practice is done for its own sake.
Even to say we’re practicing Taijiquan to fight or live long cannot be our main concerns. We practice and that is all. Everything else will come by itself. That flies in the face of this world that emphasizes “practicality.” The attitude that everything must be a means to an end rather than an end in itself cannot be spiritual.
Practice. Practice every day for its own sake.
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* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luoshu_Square
(end of series)
It is quite amusing to see you use the word, “Profit”. I always thought that the underlying intentions are about “Negotiating with one’s fate or the Divine”. And it is rather laughable this way because it assumes that the Divine is “rather human”. Alas.
In the popular TV series, “Shogun”, Mariko tells John that he is trapped by his own ambitions and goals (while asking the Divine to show him mercy and grace). His pursuit of happiness is an imprisonment (that is self-imposed from the very start). At the end of Season1, she sacrificed herself in order to serve her own ideals and be set free; he let go of the shackles to prepare for a new life. How poignant…
What does it take to truly wake up? Your 15-point-list above does not include freedom. What are your thoughts on freedom (From ZhangZi’s stories and the YiJing)?
Can we make sure we mean the same thing when we say, “freedom”?
Based on the word’s definitions:
1. The absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action.
This is key. If you have acuity, discipline, honor, and the ability to protect and shape yourself, then you are free.
There is a tremendous power to this simple point: you can do whatever you say you’re going to do. That’s freedom.
2. Independence: liberation from restraint or the power of another. We might think of slavery or being imprisoned. I don’t think that’s an issue for most of us. So what about freedom from our faults, from unhelpful socialization, or even the unreliable criticisms from other people? If you practice, you will be independent.
3. Being exempt or released from something onerous. If you’re independent, you walk away from onerous demands. The more likely scenarios are unfair demands from relatives or friends, managers are work, or other obligations that are not permanent.
4. Unrestricted use (i.e., free access). To me, free access to spiritual knowledge and understanding of oneself is freedom.
gave him the freedom of their home
5. Ease and facility. Admittedly, this one takes work. That’s what practice is all about. We train for years so that we have ease and facility in movement and thought. In this regard, our “foe” is not another, but aging. You’ll see. As the years go by, you’ll see peer imprisoned in a helplessness of their own making, simply because they let their lives drift by without attending to health, mental ease, or personal meaning.
6. Being frank, open, or outspoken: if you’re independent and unafraid because you know how to handle yourself in every situation, from personal to professional to martial, then that’s freedom.
7. Boldness. The practice of martial arts, spirituality, and creativity instill confidence and a sense of proportion. You know what you can do. That gives you the freedom to be bold.
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I guess I’ve acquired that strange habit of older writers of Dao: I’ve left things implied. But it’s there.
I certainly hope you’re free!
Freedom is about 心 (heart and mind). The “rest” is a manifestation of freedom.
Yes. If you aren’t free in your heart, you aren’t free anywhere.