The Forest Way School

Head and Head and Shoulders.
Normal kitchen scene.

A fundamental idea of Taoism is that what is outside our self finds a strong resonance with what is inside ourselves. There is an echo between the world and our body. What is without is also within. The macrocosm and our own microcosm are essentially the same. So, just as we are alive in all our parts, so the world is also alive in all its parts.

This contrasts with contemporary western ideas of the body in which separation and mechanical or electrical ideas of how we work and of nature dominate.

In contrast, the Neijing Tua is a famous illustration of this old idea. There are detailed and esoteric readings of this beautiful painting (for another time). But the fundamental and powerful idea is the idea above. That inside us is a world that has the same qualities, same dynamics and same energies that exist outside us. And that the inside and the outside resonate with each other. Are, in fact, not separate, but the same. On this idea, much of the workings of Neigung, qigung and martial arts are built. This rewards study.

Grandmaster Chee learned meditation alongside Wuji on the mountain. The two were taught together. This is a big clue that is probably worth pursuing.

The integrating and ‘highest’ ancestor of Five Ancestors is Damo, who symbolizes the return to direct experience through meditation. Again, a big clue, and probably worth pursuing.

When asked what was the most important thing in martial arts, Grandmaster Chee usually answered, “The mind!”.

Again, a big clue, and probably worth pursuing.

If your practice of Wuji or Five Ancestors doesn’t include developing a meditation practice as an important element, perhaps that’s worth changing.

RECOGNITION

When we meet movie stars, we are in awe, because we’ve spent so much time involved with their beauty, their stories, their poises interviews, and their awards. We’ve forgotten that the words they perform, the production, the filming, the sound recording, the editing, and the publicity are all created by many other people. Look at the credits for any movie and count the number of people behind a celebrity.

If we meet a true practitioner on the road, we often fail to recognize that person. We’ve been so blinded by the footlights and so tangled in fantasy that we see the true practitioner as plain. We are so used to promotion that we don’t recognize humility. We are so used to images of fantasy luxury that we don’t value someone who has lived decades of loneliness, poverty, hard work, and self-challenge for the sake of knowledge and truth.

One term for a Daoist is zhenren, 真人. It’s usually translated as “a Daoist master,” but the component words read: true person. Nowadays, we probably won’t recognize a True Person even if we encounter one. Due to that blindness, we might not even recognize the True Person in ourselves.

Should we continue to stare through gold-framed palace windows at glamorous aristocrats? Or should we walk into the dusk, where the distant mountains offer the quiet to feel Dao ourselves? If we do that, we just might find our inner True Person.

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Landscape with a poem by Wang Wei
Li Kui (1789–1876)
19th century
Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
57 × 15 5/16 in. (144.8 × 38.9 cm)
TheMet, New York

A portrait of my great friend and accomplice, James Knight.