On the Way

Pooh … Pooh … singing:

“… To know the Way,

We go the Way;

We do the Way

The way we do

The things we do.

It’s all there in front of you …”

QUOTATION FROM BENJAMIN HOFF "THE TAO OF POOH"

Tai Ji Quan and Dao De Jing

SELECTIONS TRANSLATED BY WITTER BYNNER

Existence is beyond the power of words to define:

   Terms may be used but are none of them absolute.

      In the beginning of heaven and earth were no words,

Words came out of the womb of matter.

Wu Ji

The five colours can blind,

   The five tones deafen,

     The five tastes cloy.

The race, the hunt, can drive men mad,

   And their booty leave them no peace.

There is no need to run outside for better seeing,

   Nor to peer from a window. Rather abide

     At the centre of your being.

You Ji

The breath of life moves through a deathless valley

   Of mysterious motherhood

     Which conceives and bears the universal seed,

The seeming of a world never to end,

   Breath for men to draw from as they will:

     And the more they take of it, the more remains.

Tai Ji

"Yield and you need not break":

   Bent you can straighten,

     Emptied you can hold,

       Torn you can mend.

Man, born tender and yielding,

   Stiffens and hardens in death.

All living growth is pliant,

   Until death transfixes it.

What is more fluid, more yielding than water?

   Yet back it comes again, wearing down the rigid strength,

Which cannot yield to withstand it.

   So it is that the strong are overcome by the weak,

     The haughty by the humble.

As the soft yield of water cleaves obstinate stone,

   So to yield with life solves the insoluble:

To yield, I have learned, is to come back again.

   But this unworded lesson,

This easy example, is lost upon men.

Men of stamina, knowing the way of life,

Steadily keep to it.

"White appears black", "enough is a lack", endurance is a weakness,

Simplicity a faded flower.

But eternity is his who goes straight round the circle,

Foundation is his who can feel beyond touch,

Harmony is his who can hear beyond sound,

Pattern is his who can see beyond shape:

Life is his who can tell beyond words - fulfillment of the unfulfilled.

Tai Ji Quan technique and Dao De Jing

Gravity is the root of grace,

   The mainstay of all speed.

Before it move, hold it,

   Before it go wrong, mould it.

From start to finish and finish to start

   The circle rounding perfectly.

The best captain does not plunge headlong

   Nor is the best soldier a fellow hot to fight.

     The greatest victor wins without a battle:

       He who overcomes men understands them.

There is a quality of quietness

Which quickens people by no stress.

Tai Ji Quan students

Those who know do not tell,

   Those who tell do not know.

     Not to set the tongue loose

       But to curb it.

Tai Ji Quan atmosphere

What we look for beyond seeing and call the unseen,

Listen for beyond hearing and call the unheard,

Grasp for beyond reaching and call the withheld,

   Merge beyond understanding

     In a oneness.

The Tai Ji Quan student’s face

If the sign of life is in your face

He who responds to it will feel secure and fit.

The achievement

One who would guide a leader of men in the uses of life

   Will warn him against the use of arms for conquest.

   Weapons often turn upon the wielder,

An army’s harvest is a waste of thorns …

… A good general, daring to march, dares also to halt,

Will never press his triumph beyond need.

What he must do he does but not for glory,

What he must do he does but not for show,

What he must do he does but not for self.

Knowledge studies others,

   Wisdom is self-known;

Muscle masters brothers,

   Self-mastery is bone.

To know yourself and not show yourself,

To think well of yourself and not tell of yourself.

Tai Ji Quan students and their technique

The handbook of the strategist has said:

"Do not invite the fight, accept it instead",

"Better a foot behind than an inch too far ahead", which means:

Look a man straight in the face and make no move,

Roll up your sleeve and clench no fist,

Open your hand and show no weapon,

Bear your breast and find no foe.

   But as long as there be a foe, value him,

   Respect him, measure him, be humble toward him;

   Let him not strip from you, however strong he be,

   Compassion, the one wealth which can afford him.

Tai Ji Quan students’ appearance-attitude

A man of sure fitness, without making a point of his fitness, stays fit;

A man of unsure fitness, assuming an appearance of fitness, becomes unfit.

The man of sure fitness never makes an act of it

Nor considers what it may profit him;

The man of unsure fitness makes an act of it

And considers what it may profit him.

Conclusion

Real words are not vain, vain words not real; and since those who argue prove nothing a sensible man does not argue. A sensible man is wiser than he knows, while a fool knows more than is wise. Therefore a sensible man does not devise resources: the greater his use to others the greater their use to him, the more he yields to others the more they yield to him. The way of life cleaves without cutting: which, without need to say, should be man’s way.

On mastery

Mastery of a creative art has five stages:

1.       methods and rules

2.       imitation

3.       half traditional, half original

4.       originality, personal self

5.       creativity, becoming impersonal

Lao Zi

SELECTIONS TRANSLATED BY ROSE SHAO-CHIANG LI,

2

Be natural –

practice the religion which is not lip-service.

Be creative –

yet not possessive.

Be diligent –

yet not resting on merit.

Because one does not set one’s delight on one’s own success,

therefore one’s success will remain for ever.

3

Empty self.

Fill in knowledge, inner light.

Control self-will, ambition.

Enrich in the essence of life, vitality.

Because one does not encourage being superior to others,

therefore people live in peace.

8

The superior should be like water.

Good water: all things have equal benefit, therefore there is no argument.

Not to gain whatever everybody wants: this is the Way.

Choose the proper place to live and be friends with the good,

be magnanimous, keep promises and good order, be compatible in work.

Every move must consider the "right time".

Not only peace, but a blessing to live such a life – inner life.

12

Blinded by colours,

deafened by sounds,

indulged in tastes,

and excited in hunting-games.

The rare treasure

entices robbery.

Therefore enriching one’s inner life,

and doing away with all the sensory delights –

It is the Way.

18

The sight sees the

right side of the coin.

The insight sees the

other side of the coin.

Two extremes are equally

apart from the centre.

22

Imperfect – room to perfect;

wrong – to right;

empty – to fill;

old – to renew;

not enough – to gain;

too much – to become confused.

Therefore,

simplicity is the Way.

Not being blinded by "self", one can be enlightened.

Not being self-righteous, one can be accepted by others.

Not boasting, therefore one’s merit prevails.

Not conceited, one can grow.

One who does not argue, never quarrels with anybody.

One who has no intention to gain, never experiences the sense of loss.

28

Perceptive,

            yet not be hurt or

            hurt others.

Know all evils,

            yet remain good.

Be natural.

Be the real being,

            real self.

33

Understanding others –

wisdom.

Understanding self –

enlightenment.

Defeating others –

victory.

Defeating self –

virtue.

Contentment makes one rich;

endeavour strengthens the will.

The homeless have permanent residence;

and changing yet not dying is immortality.

38

When the Way is lost,

virtues prevail.

When the virtues are disregarded,

charity is emphasised.

When charity can’t function,

justice is used to keep peace and order.

When peace and order are out of sight,

people begin to chatter about politeness and properness.

These are the pettiest things

which cause chaotic conditions –

The beginning of confusion.

Those who have sight

blossom in the Way,

but it is the beginning of simplicity.

41

The highest enlightenment is like an empty cave.

The purest, as the humblest.

The broadest generosity looks incomplete.

Real good deeds are done in secret.

Genuine matter looks like change.

The vast square doesn’t show its corners.

The great virtue takes time to mature.

45

Silence is most eloquent!

58

A tolerant government cultivates sincere citizens;

an efficient one makes people hypercritical.

Disaster usually comes from much blessing;

and blessings are hidden behind hardship and suffering.

Who claims to know what is what?

There is no absolute "Right".

The other side of right is wrong;

the other side of goodness is wickedness.

People have been in the dark too long.

How could they be enlightened overnight?

The other side of the coin should not be disregarded.

Therefore, the enlightened live a principled way of life, but don’t impose on others.

Thrifty, yet not depriving others – direct, frank, yet not rude.

Bright, yet not glamourizing – influential, yet not glowing in the spotlight.

63

Anything has to start from an insignificant beginning.

Therefore the enlightened do not expect to be "great"; that is why they are great.

One who makes numerous promises lightly, never can fulfill their promises.

One who expects things easy, usually meets much difficulty.

The enlightened don’t, therefore they can master life smoothly.

64

Prevention is better than cure.

Cells build a body every minute of the day.

Failure usually arrives in the last minute before the completion.

Starting from "easy", the ending will be difficult.

But smallness builds up bigness.

67

Three treasures.

Compassion: magnanimity, kindness.

Economy: self-discipline, simplicity.

Humility: self-knowledge, stillness.

Compassion produces courage.

Economy produces generosity.

Humility produces authority.

68

The really courageous ones never demonstrate their vigour.

The good fighters never get angry.

The victors never let their enemies know their weakness.

The good leaders always remain humble.

The virtuous do not labour for influence.

Virtue and influence arrive in due course –

                                    This is the Way.