Caminho
O n t h e T r a i l o f
t h e T a o
[Bill Porter]
When the Chinese began to put their understanding of the universe into words, the one word they all used was Tao, a word that meant a road, a way, and, by extension, a way of life.
But in the beginning, the Tao wasn't the province of travelers or philosophers but of tribal shamans concerned with the relationship between the living and the dead, a relationship that they more clearly reflected in the waning and waxing-the yin and yang-of the moon than anywhere else.
According to the linguistic and textual analyses of Tu Er-wei, the word Tao originally referred to the phases of the moon.
China's earliest Taoists were moon-faced shamans, men and women who used their power of soul flight to search for the secret of the moon's perpetual renewal, its immortality.
As far as China's early shamans and their Taoist successors were concerned, the sun was a constant.
In the world of change, the moon held all the secrets.
To search for the secrets of the Tao was to search for the secrets of the moon.
And to search for the secrets of the moon was to live where the moon's powers held sway, beyond the walls built to keep out change.
(...)
In ancient times, rulers considered a knowledge of the Way of Heaven crucial to the conduct of state affairs.
Battles were often decided by the weather; dynasties rose and fell on the tails of comets.
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Y o u N e e d t o T r a i n
Y o u r S p i r i t
[Master Lam Kam Chuen]When I was very young, my father allowed me to begin training with a master in our city, Hong Kong.
This was my first experience of the wisdom and power that was later to become the subject of my life’s work and study.
I learned many important lessons about anxiety, tension, and relaxation.
My training was based on the principle that physical and mental health was part of the same discipline of working with energy.
The fundamental rhythm of all energy fields is the interplay of yin and yang—the two interrelated energies in the famous Taoist symbol that weaves together light and dark.
We need both energies to be whole, balanced, and healthy human beings, living a good life in the midst of the constantly shifting energies of human society and nature.
Anxiety can be both yin and yang. Anxiety is yin when it undermines our ability to act.
It is yang when it makes us frantic and tense. Like all energies, it can shift according to conditions.
Qigong training cultivates the ability to work with yin and yang in all their forms.
The training I received from my master involved both yang and yin energies. First he taught me the martial arts.
I learned some of the toughest forms, like those practiced by the famous Shaolin monks.
One day I injured myself in a strenuous session.
When I recovered, my master told me, “Now you must learn tai chi.” This is the graceful system of slow, gentle movements, known worldwide.
What he said upset me. I loved the speed and force of what he had trained me in already.
My master could sense my resistance. “You need to train your spirit,” he said.
My hard training had been developing my yang energy. Now I needed to cultivate my yin energy.
During my years of teaching in the West, I have found that many people think that the gentleness of yin energy makes it weak.
It is not. Indeed, in the Tao Te Ching, Laozi points out that water is more powerful than rock.
My master knew that I was becoming too tense. My spirit was hardening.
He knew that I needed to cultivate another aspect of my being.
Later, during my philosophical studies, I thought back to how he trained me and realized that he was instructing me in how to understand and work with yin and yang.
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T A O T E C H I N G
Huang Yuan-Chi diz: "A essência do Tao consiste em nada mais do que em cuidar.
Se as pessoas tivessem o cuidado de deixar que cada pensamento fosse desprendido e cada acção bem pensada, onde mais poderiam encontrar o Tao?
Assim, os que tinham a maestria do Tao no passado eram tão cuidadosos que esperavam até que um rio congelasse antes de o atravessar.
Eram tão cautelosos, que esperavam até que o vento se dissipasse antes de se aventurarem na noite.
Eram disciplinados e respeitosos, como se fossem convidados a chegar de uma terra distante.
Eram descontraídos e desprendidos, como se as formas materiais não importassem.
Eram tão descomplicados como a madeira não cortada e tão difíceis de entender como a água turva.
Permaneciam imóveis para concentrar o seu espírito e moviam-se para fortalecer a sua respiração.
Em poucas palavras, guardavam o centro".
in Lao-Tzu's TaoTeChing
translated by Red Pine
with selected commentaries of the past 2000 years