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April, 2010 Archives Equanimity, Straight Up, PleasePost Date:April 27, 2010 | PermaLink | Comments Lately, the quest for unconditional happiness keeps popping up as an appropriate and necessary goal for our attention and energy. Various workshops, seminars, classes, discussion groups, and other types of events promise to divulge the techniques for discovering the source of happiness. From the overabundance of these workshops and the like, I can only surmise that people desperately want nothing more than to be happy.
There certainly isn’t anything wrong with being happy, and everyone deserves not to be inundated by the suffering that permeates this world. But I feel compelled to offer a caveat about this wide-ranging market for happiness and the diverse workshops, seminars, and classes that this need has spawned: the techniques that dominate these workshops and the supposed results may only propose a quick-fix kind of approach that may do more harm than good. For example, one workshop that purports to teach a secret Taoist methodology describes the resulting experience as a “mild orgasm” (Thank goodness, it isn’t a “big orgasm” or nothing else would get done!); another claims that one hour of this technique is more valuable than one-hundred years of meditation. Many of these techniques claim to be from authentic spiritual lineages—taught in secret, until now but with an (understandably) hefty price tag! These are “secret” techniques, after all, and the market demands no less of a price.
“Bliss” should not be confused with the real core of Taoism—the cultivation of the calm stability of body and mind, which stands in opposition to a bliss buzz. The Book of Balance and Harmony, an anthology of writings compiled by a 13th century Taoist Mater of the School of Complete Reality, warns against mistaking such activities for real essence:
Toiling frantically at religious exercises,
They struggle madly to circulate vitality and energy;
Counting their breaths and massaging themselves,
They vainly aim for pleasant sensations.
One might ask, What is wrong with “pleasant sensations”? Nothing at all, but only if we recognize them as temporary things within the continuum of our experience. If the sensation becomes the goal, though, then all that is being cultivated is an addiction to the “pleasant.” In other words, we become bliss junkies always looking for our next happy fix. The underlying and irrefutable fact is that nothing is permanent—pleasant experiences included—and to be preoccupied with bliss means that you are fixating upon stringing one sensation after another in a never ending stream of narcissistically driven superficial happiness.
More problematic, though, is that such attempts to generate happiness over and over mask the very real suffering of this world—both for others and for oneself. The experienced “bliss” does not provide the tools to address the root of suffering but rather covers the symptom (unhappiness) with an analgesic (Bliss) without treating the underlying disease (or dis-ease). To focus upon having “happy” experiences (i.e., “mild orgasms”) over and over diverts energy from interrogating the root cause of ones unhappiness—generating a thin layer of “I-feel-good-right-now” so why bother with “why-I-am-not-happy-in-the-first-place.”
Instead of such temporary fixes, we would be better off returning to the crux of Taoist practice. Instead of patchwork remedies that are watered-down and packaged for immediate relief, we would benefit by following the sage advice to “Turn the attention inward to illumine within.” If we can look at our own “inner design,” then we will
Dissolve accumulated borders
Clarifying the mind,
Be free of addictive habituation.
The goal is to not be the caught up in the inevitable cycles of happiness and suffering, thereby moving beyond the need for fixes. As the Dhammapada, a collection of sayings attributed to the historical Buddha, reads:
The wise walk on cling to nothing.
They are neither elated by happiness
Nor cast down by sorrow.
While some read such advice to “cling to nothing” as apathy, in reality, it is to let go of all illusory attachments in order to be in this moment without any obstructions. To reside in equanimity and arrive at the experience as described in a carving over the lintel of a Taoist hermitage,
The recluse’s heart is a placid lake unruffled by the winds of circumstance.
To be “unruffled” in all circumstances—to be free from the roller-coaster of happiness and sorrow and drink deeply from the wells of equanimity—surely trumps a temporary shot of “Bliss.”
Healing Cancer with T'ai Chi and Chi KungPost Date:April 02, 2010 | PermaLink | Comments Tree branches clog the paths at Boyce Park—wreckage from the blast of February snow—slowing hikers to a crawl. The same problem plagues the creek that runs through the park. Fallen branches had severely slowed the flow of the current, and all of the detritus—trash, scum, and branches of all sizes—continues to accumulate creating even more blockage. Such scenes are extremely insightful illustrations of the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective of cancer. The circulation of the body resembles a series of connecting paths (called meridians and channels), and under normal, healthy conditions, the entire system is clear and movement is easy to sustain. But if there is a blockage, it is like the tree across a path or stream: circulation is either impeded or stopped entirely, which distresses the balance of the body and can manifest as a tumor or a cyst. This theory parallels Western science’s understanding of the circulatory system, which delivers the necessary oxygen and nutrients to the body’s cells while simultaneously removing toxins and waste products. Any blockage increases the potential for damage to the organs and cells of the body. For example, a blocked artery increases the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke. Qigong and T’ai Chi are designed to correct and maintain the circulation of the body through a series of movements that use the muscles and deep diaphragmatic breathing as pumps. The movement coupled with breath stimulates the channels and organs through a series of bending, stretching, and internal massage. This principle is the gist of all medical Qigong as well as the core of such famous cancer sets as Soaring Crane Qigong (developed by Master Zhao Jin-Xiang) and the Anti-Cancer Qigong Walk (developed by Master Guo-Lin)—both of which have been used alongside traditional chemo and radiation therapy in Chinese hospitals for many years. “Bending the Bow,” a move commonly used in Breast and Lung Cancer treatment, may help to illustrate these principles. To do the exercise, begin with the feet shoulder width apart in either a sitting or standing position, and reach the hands palms out and extended away from the body at shoulder height. Inhale as the hands are drawn back toward the shoulders to form loose fists; then exhale as the hands return to the starting position. The movement of the arms forward and backwards expands and contracts the chest and lungs (bending and stretching). The breath in conjunction with the arms creates an internal pressure—a “massage”—that increases the circulation to the lungs and breasts. To target a specific spot, the angle of the arms and hands are altered in order to focus the move. “Bending the Bow” also massages a key lymph node located approximately one inch above the nipple—a common site for cysts. By increasing the circulation of the lymph, the potential for the formation of a cyst is minimized, or in terms of treatment, these exercises spark the healing process. Nevertheless, people should not forgo Western medical treatment for cancer, but as numerous medical studies document, Qigong and T’ai Chi are powerful adjuncts that facilitate the effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiation and minimize the side-effects of the treatments. Many hospitals in the Western Pennsylvania region recognize Qigong and T’ai Chi as valuable preventatives against disease and as catalysts for the healing process. T’ai Chi and Qigong are the foundations of complete physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being. The balance and harmony of mind, body, and spirit that these exercises provide helps to stave off disease while providing the individual the means to continue to heal him or her self. Dr. David Clippinger, Director of Still Mountain T’ai Chi and Chi Kung, LLC, frequently teaches Cancer and other medical Qigong forms through workshops and private consultations and has presented at the National Ovarian Cancer Symposium, UPMC Cancer Caring Center, Gilda’s Club, MaGee Hospital and other facilities. The next Cancer workshop is June 12th, and more information is available at www.stillmountaintaichi.com or directly at dwc8@comcast.net or 412-480-9177.
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As the T'ai Chi Classics state, ones T'ai Chi should "Flow like a river and be still as a mountain."
