Harmony is only in following the Way.
The Way is without form or quality,
But expresses all forms and qualities;
The Way is hidden and implicate,
But expresses all of nature;
The Way is unchanging,
But expresses all motion.
Beneath sensation and memory
The Way is the source of all the world.
How can I understand the source of the world?
By accepting.
I figured out a long time ago that it was impossible to change something unless you first accepted the way it already was. More briefly: "You must accept reality if you want to change it." Perhaps in accepting it, you will be changed. Perhaps not. But you may then have the chance to make a change; more properly, to allow a change. Nothing can be forced. Force begets force and nothing is done. You cannot force an image onto the world and expect it to be accepted. Until you observe how the world actually is, you are at its mercy.
As an example, Mark Otis came down to help out with my taiji class today (thank you, Mark; I hope your gas bills aren't too astronomical :-), and we did a bit of push-hands. We started with circling, then after I'd already reacted, I noticed Mark had switched to the four-form. Without any need to consciously categorize it (to think), I responded appropriately. I accepted the change and responded appropriately. A few years back there would have been a stutter, a pause, as I struggled to process what had happened.
2 comments:
This sounds more like "if you want to change yourself you have to understand reality." But what's this mean anyway, what is this desire to change reality? If you're hungry and eat, there was desire, but is the change is that changing reality? If you are ignorant, and learn, what canges? Not reality. It almost seems like if in coming to understand reality the desire to change it would be muted, so that if you really want to change reality, don't learn anything about it at all! ack, such slipppery terms, reality, desire, change. We are the goulash of the gods.
It's less about learning and more about accepting. For instance, I acquired a cold from my students this week. During the week, I fought and fought and fought. Finally the weekend came, and I accepted that I was sick and allowed myself to be sick, to the point of sleeping most of yesterday. By yesterday evening, I felt a million times better, and could tell that the cold was starting to recede. Not because I tried to change it, but because I accepted that it was there rather than struggling against it. :-)
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