The Zen Diarist

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Trees and the sinfulness of tai chi

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There is a wonderful magic about trees. But maybe today we are too concerned with world affairs. Trees have become an ecological issue rather than a beauty to behold. And they can teach us so much. Stand and admire a tree, any tree, and listen. Whether a magnificent horse-chestnut or a scrawny alder sapling, focusing on a tree can help us reconnect with Earth.

Those with some sensitivity may notice that different species impart varying qualities. A stroll through a deciduous wood feels so different from a walk in a coniferous forest, for instance. If we stand by an apple tree, the energy is very much in contrast to that of a mighty oak.

Some meditation traditions employ these differences, knowing that sitting under one type will produce different effects in the meditator than another. It is said that the Buddha attained enlightenment under the bodhi tree. Not just any old tree.

Jesus doesn’t do tai chi, I’m told

Ignorance is part of all of us but it can be staggering at times. Seeing a shard of light through a window doesn’t make us enlightened.

For nearly fifteen years we have run a not-for-profit tai chi group. Tai chi is wonderful for people of all ages, providing exercise for body and mind. It is recommended by the NHS, Versus Arthritis,  and the Alzheimers Society amongst many others.

This week I made enquiries about the possible use of a sports hall for tai chi. The hall is part of a community centre, which used to be in public ownership and is now owned by a church. They know us well on the community side of things and the wonderfully spacious hall was available. It would have been ideal.

However, the manager informed me that they would not allow tai chi there. It was completely at odds with their beliefs. They can’t allow that sort of thing. Tai chi is “Chinese and it has mystical roots which don’t fit with Jesus and his teachings”. Oh. Nor does yoga or meditation, in case you were wondering. I don’t know what they would think of trees.

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Looking for light is vital for our future

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looking for lightIs there light in a cup of tea, a blade of grass or a butterfly? There is, of course, and it is in everything if we choose to look, even in what we regard as unpleasant. Looking for light, particularly when it seems to be absent, can be very therapeutic. Nature tends to draw us out of darkness. Evolution is concerned with just that – the process of enlightenment.

Everything vibrates, and what we describe as light simply has a faster rate of vibration than darkness. Someone once said that all on our planet, and indeed the planet itself, is solidified sunlight. Between light and dark is where we may think we find ourselves now, in innumerable shades of grey – but, if we look, there is also an incredible spectrum of colour.

Recognising light

Looking for light has to do with recognition. In the human being, light is akin to our higher nature – our better, finer qualities. How we perceive the world around us, from our immediate environment to all that we see or hear, depends on our inner state. If our heart is heavy, everything we see or hear seems miserable, but if we see the good in the world and in other people, a magical change occurs.

Our world may seem to have been turned upside down but there appears to be a shift in the way many people are starting to think. Instead of a desire simply to return to life as it was, there is evidence of a growing desire for change, for goodness to emerge.

Increasing our inner light

Our own inner light, which has its source in our spirit or soul, is always ready to grow. We just need to give it some encouragement. When the world seems a little dark, which it can at times, recognising the inherent goodness in people and in things is vital for our emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing. As we all contribute to the collective consciousness of humanity, that’s good not just for us but for the whole planet.

Awakening Heart – The Blissful Path to Self Realisation

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Taking refuge can give us what we really want

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When there’s a storm blowing, people and animals take refuge from it and, in a sense, that’s what many of us are doing now. There are plenty who are still working, of course, and others very busy looking after young children or with other responsibilities. But for the majority, it is a form of retreat, or can be. Time to reflect, perhaps, and time to enjoy being oneself. It has certainly caused me to reflect on many things, including a couplet from one of Thich Nhat Hanh’s breathing meditations: “Breathing in, I go back to myself. Breathing out, I take refuge in my own island”.

Taking refuge is finding safety inside as well as out

For many years, I felt slightly uncomfortable with that. It seemed quite at odds with John Donne’s famous phrase, “no man is an island”, with which I was sternly admonished as a teenager, and which thereafter always echoed in my brain. Suddenly, though, in this enforced retreat it makes sense. Staying at home takes care of the physical refuge. It also provides the opportunity to go further than that and bring the mind home, too, closer to its natural state.

Bringing the mind home

A good start is to resist the urge to check news and social media many times a day. We just don’t need so much information. It simply irritates the mind, uses up enormous amounts of energy, and drains our qi. Why shorten life unnecessarily? Taking refuge reverses that process of looking outwards all the time. It allows the mind to come to a more peaceful place, where true creativity lies. Surprisingly quickly, we can be satisfied with less and soon find fullness, here and now. Isn’t that, deep down, what we want? What we really, really want?

Drawn from The Art of Not Doing: How to Achieve Inner Peace and a Clear Mind

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Why? A child’s laser-like question that hones in on everything

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child question why“Why?” is a question invented by very small children to wear down adults into submission. Everyone who has had, or has looked after, young children knows this to be the case. Any and every explanation is followed by another why? It’s a brilliant question and one that as adults we don’t use enough. Or answer truthfully enough.

Why truth matters so much

Politicians lie. We know that. But they are not the only ones. Lying is rife throughout all human affairs. It always has been and, until there is such a thing as an enlightened society, always will. Even with climate change threatening the world’s ecosystem as never before, the lies continue. We have to keep challenging and we have to keep asking why?

Why - Greta Thunberg
Greta Thunberg

And don’t forget to ask yourself

Like the child querying everything, we need to ask it of ourselves, not just others. We can only have an enlightened society if everyone lives truthfully. As individuals, some self-examination can be very revealing. Why am I doing this? Why do I keep doing it? What makes me resist change? What is my real motive in everything? It sounds quite painful but actually, like learning to say no sometimes, it can be a huge relief. And we can stop wasting huge amounts of energy on things we don’t need to acquire or don’t need to do. That’s better for the world, too.

Learning how to do less to accomplish more is an essential key to life. The Art of Not Doing is a book about just that.

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Stop the world? You can’t, but you can stop yourself

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Stop thinking “Stop the world, I want to get off!” Most of us probably feel like that from time to time. The world does indeed seem mad, so it’s perfectly understandable to want to escape. But what we see isn’t so much “out there”. It’s what the mind makes of all the information we take in. The pictures we have are inside, the result of a meandering mind that conjures up all sorts of images and conclusions. In the process, it takes our vitality with it. So perhaps it’s not the world that needs to stop – we do.

Stop thinking – or stop over-thinking?

Stop thinking? It’s not a bad idea but the mind is in an almost perpetual state of motion. It is not used to being in a state of “not doing”. It will engage itself in almost anything, so long as it doesn’t have to stop and become aware of itself. Perhaps we are afraid of stopping because if there is nothing to think about and nothing to focus on, what is left? Most of us have a fear of the unknown and of having nothing to cling onto, so we busy ourselves in the practice of chronic avoidance. That needs to change.

Don’t keep spinning the wheel because it’s not going anywhere

The mind is like a wheel that is always spinning. If we want the mind to slow down, we have to stop feeding it rubbish. When the mind is whirling from one thing to another, it seems impossible to do anything about it. But we can learn to pause – and we must if we want to reconnect with our true state of being. Stopping is more than a matter of preserving health. A pause gives us time to breathe and to appreciate everything we have. When we appreciate and feel grateful for life, we value and respect ourselves and others. The world then seems a better place, and maybe we don’t need to jump off after all.

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