18
WHEN the Great Tao was abandoned,
There appeared humanity and justice.
When intelligence and wit arose,
There appeared great hypocrites.
When the six relations lost their harmony,
There appeared filial piety and paternal kindness.
When darkness and disorder began to reign in a
kingdom,
There appeared the loyal ministers.
There appeared humanity and justice.
When intelligence and wit arose,
There appeared great hypocrites.
When the six relations lost their harmony,
There appeared filial piety and paternal kindness.
When darkness and disorder began to reign in a
kingdom,
There appeared the loyal ministers.
Translated by John C. H. Wu
Interpretation by Bill Bernsen
MEDIOCRITY
MEDIOCRITY
Knowing
Tai Chi Chuan
Is truly knowing self
Not trying to get others
To conform
Let them find themselves
Like I did
Any time I try
To speed up
The process
I am using force
Force is expressed
In humanity, justice, wit, hypocrisy, etc.
If they do not understand
It is not my fault
The Tao
Is a fulcrum
Lose it
Results in
No longer
Balanced thinking
Must keep mind
On the fulcrum
This is the central equilibrium
The origin of all
Without
A fulcrum
There is no
Full/hollow
No move
Is ever fixed
To a point of contact
But must be fixed
To the fulcrum
Double weighing is caused
By not having
A fulcrum
Bicycle
Petals
One foot full
Other foot empty
Feel the fulcrum
Stop trying
To learn new things
Try undoing
Old habits
Habits that have
Caused me
To be pulled away
From the Tao
I must become
A child again
When a person
Goes thru changes
It is like withdrawals
From a drug or booze
Many things
Will try to
Enter the void
Be on guard
If connected
To the Masters
Thru Tai Chi Chuan
They will give "ward off"
Must practice form
To replenish
Going
To other’s Ideas/knowledge
Abandoning self
Hence abandoning
The Tao
Calmness
Comes from
Natural harmony
If an opponent
Cannot touch me
I remain calm
Look for the harmony
In all relationships
Friends/family/foes
Do not lose sight
Of the wonderful
Calmness
Tai Chi Chuan
Slow Set brings
When the Master
Disappears
It is not the Master
Leaving
It is me not paying
Attention
Once I realize
He is gone
Comes kindness and justice
To get him back
Don’t awaken the tiger
Tiger will attack
If hungry
Sees weakness
Be a tiger
Groom
Rest
Practice
Be second
Physically
First mentally
This is the secret
To following
In push hands
Do not use
The 5 senses
To be first
Instead us
The 6th sense
To be ahead of first
Stillness
Is like ice
Solid/strong
A state of focused
Stillness
I become
Like ice
Under opponent’s
Attacks
They lose
Their balance
Like slipping
On ice
To be like ice
Merge
With the ice
Stillness
Is apprehension
Merging
With spirit/gravity
If I stop
Following the Master
I stop practicing
The art
Then everything
And anything
Effects (infects) me
Best
Being aware
Of all lineage
2nd best
Being aware
Of the Master
3rd practicing
Tai Chi Chuan
4th being aware
Of Tai Chi Chuan
5th is being
Slow set
Interest stops
Everything
Is second best
When respect
For the Master
Is abandoned
The degradation causes
Hypocrisy
When evil
Is present
And I abandon
The Tao
I lose my ability
To use
My Sixth sense
Regarding school
Tao rules
No rules
Free to teach
But will fail
If not meant
To teach
Conflict occurs
When listening stops
Chinese avoid conflict
At all costs
Always listen
Ensure apprehension
Looking for
The state
Of Tao
Inside my body
Using my spirit
Tao =love
No love
No Tao
If rules
Are needed
To love
It is not love
When Masters
Call
Practice
Should come
From the heart
If Masters
Do not call
Then do not practice
Just listen
Stop practicing
Following takes place
Humanity and justice
Intelligence and wit
With lack
Of honor/respect
For the Master
There appears
Other schools
Abandon
Neglect practice
Shrewdness/cleverness
Arise
Man is natures
Fulcrum
Spontaneity change
Effortless adjustment
Balancing
Heaven/earth
The fulcrum
Function
Is change with change
Be plumb
With the earth
To Change with Change
All action can be
A creative moment
Tao is made up
Of all the laws
Of nature
A blind man
Does not fear snakes
Rules
Force me
Away from Tao
Being free
To live
In the Tao
Means avoiding
Others intentions
Books, TV, philosophy
Ideas etc
Solo practice
Is group practice
With the lineage
Don’t say it
Just think it!
Other will not act
Unless
They are listening
To call
The Tao
Just put
Taoist Monk
Jacket on!
Diminish
Relationships
When the great elasticity
Was abandoned
There appeared
Poor health
Uncover
The Tao inside
Return to the Tai Chi
Saver the Tao
Entertainment
Interfering
With the Tai Chi
When Masters
Are Ignored
Tai Chi Chuan
Is no more
Masters = Tao
Body must be
In harmony
To find
Tai Chi Chuan
When the avenue
To practice
Is blocked
Then comes
Cleverness/hypocrisy
Useless formality
Empty promises
The form should
Never be charged
Because of my body
The form
Always adjust
To environment
Master
Uses the Tao
Instead of rules
In class
Don’t lose contact
With the Masters
This is doing
Push hands
With the Masters
The Tao
Is within
So stay within
Don’t interfere
With the Masters plan
Don’t help
Unless asked
Might be
Interfering
With the Masters’ plans
Avoid evil
Lost
Find the way
By not using
My senses
Be guided
By the Masters
And the 6th sense
In an argument
Be like water
Flow away
Around
All else fails
Drown opponent using
His own worries/weight
When disconnected
From the Masters
Ego reigns
Tao is always there
I get in the way of it
If I stray
If I stay
In the Tao
And confront others
I can tell if they are
In the Tao
Because I am passive
Worthy/strong/intelligent/creative
Connected to lineage
Guide back to youth
Few are called
Less understand
None have lived it…
Seems like only
The Tao is dear
To the dead
Death of self-ego
Decline
Demeanor
At what age?
2 or 3
Tao is covered up
Tao tells me
To leave them alone
Don’t solve
Their problems
They are not
Feeling the Tao
It is their pathway
Don’t divert them
Or help them
Unless asked
Students fall
Into chaos
When they leave class
Seeking
Other forms
Don’t disfigure self
To become
Like the others
Where animal instincts
Are lost
Man becomes human
Unaware of nature
The more
The joints hurt
The wiser one gets
To stop the pain
Instead
Of seeking the true
Reason
When I stop
Listening
To the Masters
How can I tell
If it is coming
From the Masters
Or elsewhere
By just listening
With apprehension
All the other ways
Of handling things
Kindness
Morality
Intelligence
Come from people
Who think
They are the source
It is thru Slow Set
And connection
To the Masters
The source
We are the conduit
Truly understand
Slow set
Then need not
Do push hands
With others
They do push hands
With me
Trying
To outsmart
The other guy
Is wrong
Let him try
To outmaneuver me
Means
I am listening
Circular
Go to official loyalty
In order to realize
The loss of loyalty
Slow set
Is natural
Unaware
Students
Add cleverness
Tai Chi Kung
Is cleverness
Because it allows
Those who are lazy
To practice
Just do slow set
Slow Set
Is the method
Tao
It seems to me
I am regulating
What I say
Or someone
Is censoring me
To organize is
To destroy
And create
Spontaneously
How to avoid politics
Just stay
With open heart
Masters
Will take care
Of everything
Just like class
I was not teaching
The Masters
Are teaching
Thru me
Any variation of above
Is just cleverness
Will only cause
Hypocrites
Thru Tai Chi Chuan
One can find
Their natural instincts
That is animal essence
When I go
To camp
Take the Tao
With me
When the avenue
To Master
To practice
To Tao
Is blocked
Then comes kindness
Justice
Cleverness
Hypocrisy
Useless formality
Empty promises
I have the avenue
Still open
But they just
Don’t understand
I refuse
To make empty promises
They must follow me
For I follow
The Masters
If students
Don’t show up
They are not supposed to
The form
Should never
Be altered
Because of
Inflexible spot
Work thru it
The form
Must adjust
To the environment
Unbendable spot
Work around it
The above applies
To students too
As I approach
The Masters (The Tao)
In my studies
Certain things begin
To evaporate
Kindness
Morality
Justice
Cleverness
Strategies
Hypocrites
Empty promises
Shrewdness
Gone
Find Tai Chi Chuan
In self
First via slow set
Then find it
In others (students)
And finally opponents
If a student or opponent
Finds Tai Chi Chuan
They will say they
Found it themselves
Because it was in them
All along
During
The process
Of getting
To know self
The following things
Appear
Codes of morality/justice
Cleverness/strategies
Hypocrites abound
Advisers abound too
Tai Chi Chuan
Is passive
If I don’t teach
That the art is passive
Students turn
To Push Hands
Including
Ward-off, Rollback, Press and Push
The art
Don’t understand
Passivity
Masters put me into
A Push Hands state
Only if worthy
Ward-off
Family
Friends
Foes
Next comes
Rollback
If the they are
Overwhelming
My ward-off
Next comes
Press first listening
For their center of gravity
During rollback
And press them away
If the press
Is not enough
Then comes
Push (Fa Jing)
Discharge
Interesting thing
About Push
Is that I can
Push myself
None of the above
Is needed
If I am passive
Let the Tao
Lead me
Let the Masters
Direct me
Not others
Disconnect
From Masters/Tao
Leads to confusion
Intent to change others
Stay alert/apprehension
Like an animal
Tao is abandoned
Then
Appears entertainment
Leads to no creativity
How to tell
The unworthy
They are liberals
Ego blocks
Tai Chi Chuan
No ego
Great demo
Stay connected
Do try to connect
To the unconnected
A worthy endeavor
If they are worthy
When not at one
With the lineage
Mediocrity sets in
Oh the scolding
In body/mind
When practice
Is abandoned
Repairs/corrections
Slower/longer
While advancing back
To the future fundamentals
Entertainment/news
Breeds confusion
Loss in the way
To Tai Chi Chuan
Tao = Masters
State of the school
With the unworthy
Ego negates
The Tao
Disconnect from
Lineage
Teaching fails
Straying
From Slow Set
Causes
Temptations
About to stray
Nemeses appear
Ward-off
Family/friends/foes
To find the fulcrum
Of the future
Yu Pei Shih/alert
To Wu Wei
Hence Tai Chi
Disconnect
From lineage
Results in
External influence
Rather than internal
Insight
Practicing push hands
Ward off
Rollback
Press
Push away
Push away
Politics
Negate Tao
Results in
Entertainment/news
Books and family affairs
Not me myself
When animals
Become
Self-conscience
Humans
Masters
In charge
Ego escapes
Be awake
Be aware
Be wary
Of the reprobate
Disengaging
From the lineage
Malpractice
Arrives
The Tai Chi
Fulcrum
Balances
Life
Master’s
Seven deadly Tests;
Egotism
Jealousy
Ire
Apathy
Greed
Excess
Longing
Seclusion
Tai Chi
solution
Keep
Lineage
Light on
See spirit
Of all
Tai Chi fulcrum
Lacking foundation
Failure follows
Problematic
When disconnected
From Masters
When practice
Is abandoned
Despair
Sets in
If the mind’s
Fulcrum
Is without
Foundation
Chaos erupts
When connection
To the lineage
Is severed
Shortcoming
Arrive
Diversion
Leads to
Delusion
Diverting
Destiny
Negate
Daily practice
Rationalization
Rains in
Conflict
Conveys
Wisdom
In passive
Tai Chi
Warriors
Stop
Internal
Dialogue
Silence
Is the secret
To success
In Slow Set
Tai Chi
Camaraderie
With
Lineage
Cessation
From lineage
Results in
Frustration
Eventually
Leading to
Failure
Slow Set
Without
Master’s Spirit
Turns to
Creeping chaos
Slow Set
Heartfelt
Percussion
To have
Harmonious
gestures
When
Slow Set
Practice is
Abandoned
Tai Chi
Lineage
Vanishes