Ray Hampton
I
am a Sahaja Yogi who took up Yuan-Chi Tai Chi Chuan 3.1/2 years ago.
To me it made sense to do exercise that would complement what I have
been doing in Meditation for some years now. Prior I was doing a lot
of running and Judo and many other martial arts. These clearly were
not the way and I experienced great frustration having done Judo
since I was six and knowing that what we have inherited is not the
gentle soft way that Judo was originally supposed to be.
There
are two levels at my stage of progress that I wish to comment on:
1
The physical/Gross aspect: Core
strength and flexibility have greatly improved and injuries for which
I took treatment often no longer require that treatment.
The
biggest blockage physically that I have always experienced is
tension. This is now peeling away layer by layer. As part of the
process I am becoming more aware of that tension and therefore more
needful to be rid of it. However the step by step approach is the
essential one as trying to achieve the goals prior to readiness will
only create more tension. Physically I have noted other subtle
changes such as once upon a time always feeling hot. This heat has
now gone to the point where I now overcompensate to dress warmly. I
have also become aware of the extensor muscles at the back of the
neck continuously in a state of overwork and the head being at a
point of unbalance thereby irritating this situation. Awareness is
the biggest step to fixing the problem.
Whilst
I do not go out of my way to stretch there is more flexibility. With
each new step physically I discover more movement internally and
externally. Weight
wise I have become more aware of what I am ingesting and aware that
the losing of weight is about sensitivity/awareness of what we
consume, not the unsustainable damaging exercise that we must keep up
in order to keep poor health and weight at bay. Each
time we go through “the Dance” new aspects reveal themselves and
each time is different both on the subtle and gross physical levels. I
have become aware of the “Flow”, and that this “flow” has
its own time and speed that is like a groove that you fall into and
the movement moves by itself.
2
The Subtle/internal aspects: As
a Sahaja Yogi I am already aware of the connections that we have to
the Param.Chaitanya. What I have experienced internally is the
benefits of the physical moving in conjunction with this internal
knowledge thereby helping me from inside and out. “Meditation as
movement in stillness and stillness within movement” the two are
one and the same: being meditative in stillness as well as in moving
.
Throughout
these past few years of practising Yuan-Chi Tai-Chi the subtleties of the
internal and external have been revealing themselves in each new
step. One particular experience is that of the power of Mother Earth
actually coming up through the entire being and actually making a
real connection with the Earth as opposed to an unrealised
superficial connection of standing on the earth.
Another
one was the experience of the Adi Guru area of the void actually
physically rippling as the Kundalini came rushing up. This had me
ruminating that the actual origins (like many things) of the belly
dance may have actually been auspicious as opposed to its common
modern portrayal.
One
thing is certain. Everything is in constant change of improvement. I
am not sure where this will go but I am enjoying the journey of
discovery that I suspect does not end but results in a better version
of me than the one the moment before. Lets
see…. Ray Mon, 5 Dec 2011 04:42:19 -0800 (PST)
Updates:
Subject: Dragon Dance?! Date:
Tue, 20 Mar 2012 03:07:32 -0700 (PDT)
At
the beginning of Saturday's form I had the thought flow through me that
following Sifu is like following a conductor in an orchestra. Then
the thought came “Guys! Stay together”when it was clear that some
were rushing way ahead. Eyes open or eyes closed? That is the
question. If having difficulty following the flow should you shut
your eyes? I don’t think so, if your internal concept is missing
the point best open them and try to absorb.
Later,
¾ of the way through the form when the Chi was really flowing; I
surrendered, closed my eyes and rechecked that all was ok, still at
the right point. So then I completely surrendered and closed my
eyes; I saw within and before my eyes and also felt the swirling,
oscillating movements of what was either a very thick coiled
snake-like body moving in thick circles, or was it the dragon!?
This
movement was so ‘helter skelter’and seemed so internally fast but
outer expression was still at same speed as the rest of the class. It was a completely
startling experience, a bit akin to an internal roller coaster ride.
Recently
saw a photo of two elephants playing/wrestling with their trunks
entwined, The top of their trunks was the similar texture and
thickness of that internal vision. Go Figure!!? Subject: Push Hands Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2011 03:37:34 -0800 (PST)
This Wednesday morning class was huge for me personally and I was wanting to discuss these things: It was ALL internal!! I
cannot put the correct words together yet and it may come later
suffice to say it was all very "Star Wars" so before I sound any more
nuts I will go away and sleep on it.
Date:
Sun, 25 Sep 2011 20:53:46 -0700 (PDT) Last Saturday's class: We
were standing in formation with eyes closed. The previous week we
tried this I found that whilst neither assisting nor resisting I
completed two complete turns physically which was also combined with
a sensation of spinning to the right in the attention in the form of
bright yellow light. This Saturday I found no such urge to be
moved in the same manner. What did occur was: Shoulders went to
sleep and head went down (very relaxed- unusual for
me) Churning/rippling occurring in the solar plexus area. Head
and body came upright very relaxed of its own accord. And the most
profound for me: A very bright very white light, not only seen,
but also felt, accompanied with absolute joy and the wafting of cool
vibrations across the hands (very strong sensation). Smile appeared
and peaceful state remained. Nice….
Sent:
Saturday, June 13, 2009 11:42 PM
Subject:
Tai-Chi Experiences...
I started
Tai-Chi with Ric Lum one year ago. After doing Judo for 33
years and a variety of other sports including long distance
running I found that physically nothing was improving with
regards to flexibility and old injuries. I started looking
for something that would complement Sahaja Yoga, the
vibrations and spiritual growth but from the physical side.
I knew nothing like this existed but did try to find it in
the gentle way of Judo. The club I was at had practitioners
regularly suffering from injuries that seemed second only to
that sustained in car crashes.
A Sahaja Yogi suggested I try this form of Tai-Chi he was
studying with Ric Lum. I went along to a session with all
the reservations that a yogi would have with regards
something which may not be categorized as pure knowledge.
Ric asked us to only judge on our vibrations what he said
and taught. As we started to move I felt the vibrations
flow.
My personal feeling is that Ric has found a way of plugging
this form of Tai-Chi back into the main frame - The
Paramachaitanya-.
One of the most
profound experiences was that of experiencing becoming aware
of moving the feet very lightly and gently on the living,
loving, supporting Mother earth.
I am enjoying this form of exercise not only because it is
much more than that but also found meditations more
surrendered as some of the physical blockages are opening.
Our youngest
daughter at ISPS had suffered from debilitating knee pains
since the age of two and were not abating at 10 years of age
(to the point of not sleeping due to the agony) No doctors
could fix it and one podiatrist/orthotics specialist wanted
$500 for an insert which she would need for the rest of her
life without any cure possible for what she perceived the
problem to be.
Last ISPS holidays we took her to Tai Chi classes with Ric
and the problem was fixed within 2 months.
Sent:
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 9:36 PM
Subject:
Last
Saturday
hmmm...out of
context it seems to lose its essence. trying to recall..
At the
beginning of the whole form heard Ric say "don't lead the
leader" to someone. The internal response was to completely
surrender to following the person in the vision at any given
moment basically giving up any self responsibility for the
part in the flow.
During the
'grasp birds tail' there was a 'burble' in the flow of the
group and found myself experiencing the internal equivalent
of a collision in a bumper car- bouncing between the balance
point of complete surrender to the external and following
internal knowledge. The result was like an internal wake up
shake to keep attention internally as well as externally. To
take some responsibility as well as to surrender. A balance
point.
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