Mike Thomas
Nottingham, England
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi Peter,
Firstly, thanks for the fantastic week-long camp in Wales. As a result of the Cheng Hsin Body-Being work I've realized that the t'ai chi I've been practicing has been far from functional, although I deluded myself for long enough that it was. Now I'm at the difficult cross-roads of starting again from scratch. Any pointers on incorporating the Body-Being into the practice of the 24 step form? Also, realizing that the t'ai chi I'm being taught is not the functional art you've exposed me to, where does that place my instructor who I value as a person?
The overwhelming thing I brought back with me from Wales is a new commitment to the truth of the matter and a willingness to stop lying to myself, but I know that this can lead to conflict with those whoare used to seeing me as the old 'untruthful' self. So, a hard call but I thank you for helping me make it.
Something else I'd welcome your insight on: in my meditation practice for the last few months I've felt fear rising again and again, or rather already being present then me noticing it. I felt it too during the week in Wales, fear of not getting things 'right', of getting hurt or hurting others and anything else really. I simply try to bring mindfulness to this without getting caught up in it, but I'd like to know what your approach is to fear. When fighting, did or do you ever feel it?
A final word: it's a real testament that everyone I've met so far that's been committed to the Cheng Hsin work has been both open to learn and to helping others like myself who were exposed to the work for the first time.
Cheers,
Mike Thomas
Mike,
This is how growth goes. Learning, and letting go of what was learned before, moving in the direction of the truth. The Cheng Hsin t'ai chi set is designed with the principles in mind and is meant to be done as a means of incorporating the body-being material. In other words, the set is a training for the body-being work, without which it's pretty useless.
If your teacher is a person worth knowing, then respect him. But this doesn't mean he knows what he's doing or he may just be doing something else that in itself is useful to people but isn't this art, nor functional. Maybe he would be open to learning more. That would make him an even better instructor.
I don't feel fear fighting, by then it's too late. I sometimes felt it before, but not during. Fear is worth studying, but it takes some work. In simple, don't resist it. Allow it to be without letting it take over. We have techniques that help minimize our reactions, as well as work that assists in understanding what fear actually is, but that is stuff best done in person. You could make real progress with it in the ECW this fall, and make huge progress with more than fear in the ENB (ontology workshop at the beginning of the month-long). Come and study.
Good luck,
Peter
More Info
No comments:
Post a Comment