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Tai Chi and the Disaster in Japan
As tai chi and nei jia practitioners, we are aware of the
effects of yin and yang in our practice and our lives. We can see those effects at work in nature:
day dissolving into night, the changing of the seasons, the ebbing of
tides. Just like in our lives, we wake,
we go to sleep; we work then we play or relax; we eat and drink then we
eliminate.
But these are normal changes, expected and gradual. The sun doesn’t drop from the sky and the
moon pop up in its place all at once. We
don’t go from a five-degree wind-chill and four-foot snow drifts to a sunny 87
degrees and a mild breeze.
So, what happens when yin changing to yang is not normal,
not gradual but unexpected and absolutely devastating?
The other day I was hiking around a hillside pond far above
the city. There was a slight peaceful
breeze. Drooping pine branches hung
motionless. Clumps of red berries
nestled securely among the vines. Two
ducks sat quietly in the pond, their bodies perfectly still, intent on just
being.
What a contrast when I returned home in the evening. I watched with a heavy heart the utter
devastation from the 9.0 earthquake and the subsequent tsunami that struck
Japan and took thousands of lives. No
doubt the people of Japan woke up that fateful morning from a peaceful night’s
sleep expecting to go about their day as usual, unaware that nature had other
ideas.
Suddenly, these same people were catapulted into a situation
where every single decision they made from moment to moment would mean the
difference between life and death.
To stay where you are or run? Which way? How far? Keep running or seek
shelter? To climb up or to crawl
under? What to grab and hold onto? How long?
Thousands in Japan either panicked and made the wrong
decision or, paralyzed by fear, made no decision at all, and lost their
lives. For many, it made no difference
whatever they did - nature’s raw power was just too overwhelming.
But what about us? How would we react in such a startling and deadly situation? Would we panic or would our internal martial
arts training enable us to remain calm and decisive?
I would respectfully like to suggest that, if we cannot
depend on our training in times of crisis, then we have seriously missed
something.
The point of evolving stillness in motion and motion in
stillness is precisely to develop and maintain a calm awareness in those
moments when yin suddenly and forcefully changes into yang without the
slightest notice.
Yes, we must do all we can to help the people of Japan. But at the same time we need to realize that
what the internal martial arts teach us is not solely for use in the dojo or
park where we practice. Developing awareness and aligning with our inner nature
and allowing that nature to guide us throughout life is the main purpose of tai
chi and the nei jia. It’s not about
winning trophies or showing off lineage charts.
The Universe is not at all concerned with those trophies and
lineage charts or the human condition for that matter. Why should it be? It is only a matter of time before each of us
returns back into the very stuff that makes up the Universe.
But while we are here in this human form, we must take
advantage of the special gifts nature has bestowed upon us and use them for our
own betterment and the betterment of those around us and our world in general.
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