How to Practice

When you do this,
you align the three centers.
When you do that,
the three centers align.
Doing this or that,
the san jiao
becomes aligned.

In the beginning
do this.
To continue on the path
do that.

As breath enters the body,
expand.
As breath leaves the body,
contract.
Expanding and contracting
open the door.
Inhaling and exhaling
clear the way.

The practice is simple:
return to the source.
Inhale this.
Exhale that.
Over and over
again.

--Shih Fu Catherine

Thoughts on Beauty

Shi Fu Catherine here...

A member of our Lotus group, Bill Douglass, directed my attention to the wonderful magazine, Parabola. The print edition is published quarterly and here's how they describe their mission:

"Four times a year, we explore one of the timeless themes of human existence, drawing on wisdom from the world’s traditions, ways, and art. At Parabola, we further understanding, peace, and tolerance one reader at a time."

I signed up for the weekly email version and find enough in each issue to support my practice that I often pass along tidbits.  Here are a few from this week's email on "True Beauty":

"Our hands imbibe like roots, so I place them on what is beautiful in this world. I fold them in prayer, and they draw from the heavens light."—St. Francis of Assisi

This wonderful quote seems to confirm that chi is everywhere and, no matter what you call it, it is here for us for all time.  And this from dear old Lao Tsu:

How can the divine Oneness be seen?
In beautiful forms, breathtaking wonders,
awe-inspiring miracles?
The Tao is not obliged to present itself
in this way.

If you are willing to be lived by it, you will
see it everywhere, even in the most
ordinary things

If you are willing to be lived by it... to let it draw you into its embrace, to lead you into more perfect forms. As Bill would say, "Indeed".

2 poems by Matthias Schossig

Matthias Schossig is a Tai Chi practitioner and member of the Lotus Scholars group at Body Balance. Here are his responses to Chapters One and Two of the Tao Te Ching. (Lotus scholars study the translation by Gia Fu Feng and Jane English.)  Click the link to read the original chapters first (as we do in our meetings) and then you may more fully enjoy his writings. However, I'm sure that any Tai Chi practitioner will find meaning in these verses all by themselves. Thank you for sharing, Matthias.
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Ad 1

As soon as I enter
Shoulder width stand
I step into
A different universe.

Here, change is the only constant.
Definitions are in vain.
Knowledge elusive.
A new concept every time I check.

Breathing, I expand.
Shi Fu says: “Refine!”
What does that mean?
Something different with every breath.

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Ad 2

I like that. I don’t like that.
I get all excited.
I hate it. I love it.
Politics of discernment.
Smart choices. Ethical standards.

If I say Yes to one thing
I mean No to another,
Forgetting that without "another"
What I say yes to
Would not even exist.

No unity without separation.
No light without darkness.

I embrace both,
And let go.