Conditioning and learning to 'let go.'

When I studied with Dr. Chi at one time he advised that I think of myself as a master. When we think of ourselves as a student we have the idea that what we want to achieve is beyond where we are. When we think of ourselves as a master we relax into the attitude of valuing the experience as it is and we can let go of negative feelings about our experience of practice. We can recognise the value of our practice in the moment and this attitude increases the power of our effort.

Generally we don't need to distance ourselves from that which we want to cultivate. If you want to develop your relaxed state it is better to imagine you are already relaxed and allow the feeling to take you over. If you think to 'try to' relax you already separate yourself from the experience as if it is a quality that you need to aquire. The reality is that you are relaxed to a degree and that if you embrace that fact it is easier to allow it to increase.

We condition ourselves with our own ideas, we unconsciously accept the cultural ways and habits. We have been conditioned by our responses to past actions, by parents, friends and the environment. When we practise t'ai chi it is an encounter with 'natural.' It is unconditioned in its purity and yet we bring our own conditioning to the experience. When we think to 'let go' we are encouraging ourselves to see afresh and allow the experience of the encounter to present itself without too much pre-conditioning.

When we think of 'basic practice' we can think of it as being fundamental. All so-called advanced practises are based upon the 'basics' which we encounter even in the first lesson. Really the very basic practices are the most profound because ever experience of practice is dependent upon them. Understanding this interdependence of all the principles of t'ai chi can inspire us to be happy to always practise 'the basics.'