Mindfulness and Traditional Chinese Zen Arts: The Way of Calligraphy, Painting, Kung Fu, and Tea by Petts Tristan

Author:Petts, Tristan [Petts, Tristan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-03-25T00:00:00+00:00

4 Yiquan Kung fu: Listening

LaoTzu states, in his book DàoDéJīng , that it is the empty space within a window, a wheel, or a cup that makes it useful, and therefore all utility depends upon emptiness.

This idea has great value for a mindfulness meditation practitioner, because it reminds them that it is not a busy mind full of this or that which creates true productivity in their lives. Rather, it is a clear, uncluttered ongoing view of what is most important that benefits them the most – a space for new, strong, stable organic growth to happen in its own time.

For true insight and fresh solutions do not tend to arrive from the domain of conscious emulation and tailoring, because those activities involve the manipulation of already created objects. Instead, profound ‘aha moments’ – spontaneous, fresh realisations, and thus fresher approaches to a problem, most often occur when we are not busying ourselves with the details of finding such solutions – when we are taking a bath, for example, or out walking in the park.

And so, this creative process, fed by our inherent ‘always on’ reflexive intelligence, can be trusted to provide us with useful solutions as and when possible – only, that is, if we can successfully maintain the necessary amount of mental space and therefore a suitable level of emptiness within our being .

Sometimes, even just meeting a situation with emptiness itself is the best solution – just letting something go. But how can the beauty of that response ever be discovered if we are always so ‘high on’ (and therefore often addicted – attached to, and full of) the mental objects swashing around in our heads?

For example, a famous Zen story tells of a proud university professor who visited a Zen master in order to obtain a clear verbal description of Zen practice. The master invited the professor in for a cup of a tea, and as he prepared the beverage for his guest, he continued pouring until the liquid flowed up and over the sides of the cup.

The professor, feeling shocked and a little upset, asked what the purpose of such an act was. The Zen master replied that the professor’s mind, being so full of descriptions and theories about the world, was just like the cup – it was overflowing uselessly.

In this way, the master helped the professor to realise that in order to get a grip on the true practical quality of Zen, his mind firstly needed to become somewhat empty. For after that, his mind would have more utility – it would have more clarity to perceive the true nature of his present conditions directly.

And exactly this idea is applied during yiquan push-hands practice – or indeed within any Zen arts context. Because once we can more competently comprehend our situation – once we know where we truly are, then we can make the most practical, stable, productive progress towards where we would like to be or go.

This was stated more succinctly by the ancient Chinese military strategist SunTzu, in his book The Art of War , as ‘know your enemy.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.