| PREAMBLE. Ray would Say:
"Shallow people will only find shallow water" and
"Always be prepared to put more into your practice than
you will ever take out". The Ray that I refer to is Raymond
Wood, my former Tai Chi teacher.
When we set up the taichido web-site we drew considerably
upon text provided by Ray. He had written a 200+ A4 page book
called simply "Tai Chi Chuan". This document had
hitherto been published only as home DTP and mainly given
away to friends. The majority of the first pieces published
at taichido.com were taken from that DTP book.
Most of Ray's articles @taichido.com have been superseded
with re-writes on the same or similar themes - by Mark or
me - and now there are only faint traces of Ray @taichido.com.
In most instances all that remains of the originals is the
title or theme.
So we stand now alone, independent and self-sufficient; yet
we are still inspired by Ray to develop taichido.com as a
free online resource and we try to be - a virtual teacher
- or a teacher between teachers.
Ray would also say that every subject under the sun has the
potential to be a possible start point in a new journey of
personal discovery. Unfortunately, one never knows what is
worthy of further study until one has studied it! It would
be nice to know where to start, wouldn't it? A Great Teacher;
that's what we all need isn't it? One each, that would be
nice! But then, even better one each … forever. Taichido.com
tries to fill that gap between our everyday reality (the do-able)
and our outrageous expectations.
The pieces I present here as "Meandering" are re-writes
(in the same comprehensive manner as pieces from Ray's DTP
book) of very short pieces written by Ray; roughly typed and
photocopied 2 per A4 page on recycled scrap. They were then
left (way back in the early 90's) stacked near the door of
the training room in a take it or leave it fashion. It is
only now, more than a decade later that I begin to appreciate
the depth and helpfulness of Rays unspoken and 'not worth
publishing' words. And so now, just as I did in the new articles
on the web-site, I simply say it all again in my own way and
leave them here in our virtual dojo those in the same boat
as me. For anyone who, like me, is currently unable to benefit
from the personal instruction and guidance of a great teacher
and for those who, just like me, need to rely upon self-discipline
to be the great teacher for longer than we might otherwise
prefer.
In Buddhism, "emptiness" is called sunyata. click here
for  "Shunyata" link
Sunyata, (Sanskrit, Pali: suññata), or "Emptiness," is
a term for an aspect of the Buddhist metaphysical critique
as well as Buddhist epistemology and phenomenology. Shunyata
signifies that everything one encounters in life is empty
of soul, permanence, and self-nature. Everything is inter-related,
never self-sufficient or independent; nothing has independent
reality. Yet shunyata never connotes nihilism, which Buddhist
doctrine considers to be a delusion, just as it considers
materialism to be a delusion. |
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