Chi = Compassion and Cooperation

Our TCC class moved through another wonderful outdoor practice this morning. At one point it was so quiet--all I heard was the sound of several dogs barking in the distance--that it seemed as if time had stopped. How special it felt to dwell in that one timeless moment....

After practice we read and discussed Verse 68 of the Tao ("Living by Cooperating" per Wayne Dyer and "Heaven's Lead" per Ursula LeGuin). This verse is the shortest or one of the shortest verses in the Tao. LeGuin sums up its message in her final line: To follow heaven's lead has always been the best way.

Dyer explained:

The Tao Te Ching teaches that all of the 10,000 things emerge from the same state of nonbeing. Here there's only oneness, which implies complete collaboration, not competition. Who can there be to defeat if you see yourself in everyone?

How is this sense of oneness, of cooperation versus competition, reflected in our practice of TCC? For me, TCC is a dance with the Universe. When we move through the form, we engage in a joint effort to collaborate and unify our minds/bodies/spirits. The power of the Chi energy increases as we move in silent unity while we focus on rooting ourselves in earth and suspending ourselves from sky. As we feel our Onessness with all of nature, our hearts and minds expand beyond our single, solitary self into a space of compassion, cooperation, and non-competition.

The essence of our T'ai Chi Chih movement form is all about cooperation, sharing, and growing as One. First, though, we must be willing to relinquish the ego for the ultimate good of All.