Tai Chi Chuan in Riverside, Loma Linda, & Redlands CA

I am sorry to let everyone who worked out at UCR Student Recreation Center that Cyrin from our advanced class passed on. He was a great asset to the class and enjoyed helping other students. Before coming to our classes he studied Southern Style Kungfu and Hsing-I ch'uan for many years reaching expert level. He studied from many years with our UCR class, learning the system. Most recently he was helping other students with the Tao form and Kuang Ping form. He was a great guy and we will all miss him.

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Equanimity or Egomania?
Harvey Kurland updated from May 2016
Equanimity is something to strive for, that is what I am working on. It is difficult, especially when I am surrounded by people testing my patience. So don't tell me I don't have it, I know I don't, but I am working on it. It is hard.

Recently, for the first time, I told a belligerent student that if she didn't like the way I taught she should just leave and not take my class. And I feel icky about that. I don't want to turn into the reverend I will mention later. I keep thinking I could have had something different and diffused the situation, but I was tired and taken by surprise. Not a good look and I feel bad about it.

Spiritual Arrogance is another pet peeve I have right now as all these new age people are driving me crazy, some with long made up spiritual names from various cultures that they don't belong to. Must be nice to be enlightened at 20? Recently I saw one that combined a Hindu deity with Native American Mythology, in a yoga teacher, Really? covering two different cultures who they are not part of at all? Some call that Cultural Misappropriation. Seems pretentious. How about just calling yourself "Ascending Great Master Maha Sat Guru Johnson?"

I also remember one of my teachers telling me we don't call ourselves Sifu, though many do. It is also incorrect for T'ai chi ch'uan teachers to put Sifu or Master in front of their name, though it is commonly done and accepted. My students from Mainland China, Taiwan and Vietnam discussed that the other day, both the pronunciation (there are at least three versions), and usage. When I see someone do that in circles unrelated to the art I always wonder about them. In polite society you don't call yourself Sifu or master, others can do that. Usually those that do that don't have much else going in their lives. If your title is Sifu, Sensei or Laoshr, in correct usage it goes after your last name. But in common Western usage it is usually seen before the last name. Students call their own teachers Sifu or Sensei. But should call other teacher by their name and the title, because they are not formal students of that teacher. Though that is usually not an issue. And again, commonly done.

One woman told me she was a Yoga Master after passing a yoga certification class, Really, A Yoga Master??? After a year of training? Really? Like someone saying they are a t'ai chi ch'uan master or Aikido master after 500 hours of training. Not even close. They can be a legitimate teacher, if they learned properly, but master? We all know people who have studied t'ai chi ch'uan or aikido for 10 years and still don't have it down well enough to teach. In contrast some people after a weekend workshop or two seem to think they can call themselves teachers. What is that? Can you imagine someone who took a weekend workshop in karate calling themselves a karate Sensei?

What I see in the new age types now a days is they want the instant magical experience and not cultivating equanimity. This cultivation of equanimity is a foundation of many culture's spiritual practices including Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Shinto and Christianity. It is basic to those spiritual disciplines. The process takes time. Just like in physical exercise you can't get in shape in one week, all disciplines take study and persistence.

"Equanimity in Shinto is closely linked to the concept of musubi. This principle emphasizes harmony with nature and the kami, the spiritual beings that inhabit all things." from Ai

"Equanimity in Zen, called upekkhā or upekṣā, is a balanced, undisturbed presence cultivated through mindfulness and meditation to meet life's ups and downs without clinging or aversion. It is one of the four sublime attitudes in Buddhist practice alongside loving-kindness, compassion, and joy." From Ai
There are stories of Zen monks who failed that test.

In the past there was once a school of Jewish mystics. In order to get into the school had to pass a test of equanimity. If they did not pass they would not be let into the school. That was considered the most important thing. Real Buddhist schools emphasize this too.

Today few seem to be considering that. Instead many schools get into Spiritual Arrogance which is just the opposite of equanimity. When people jump right into trying to read minds and do magic tricks they are forcing the process and passing the basics. So they end up emotionally vulnerable and overly sensitive causing themselves problems.

"Many Jewish thinkers highlight the importance of equanimity (menuhat ha-nefesh or yishuv ha-da'at) as a necessary foundation for moral and spiritual development. The virtue of equanimity receives particular attention in the writings of rabbis such as Menachem Mendel Lefin and Simcha Zissel Ziv."

"In Hinduism, equanimity is just another term that attempts to describe the nature of Brahman (not to be confused with Brahmin). In Vedanta the term Brahman points to Absolute Reality. In a true sense, Brahman cannot be described as any description or attribute introduces the idea of boundedness, hence it must be recognized that these terms are only meant to serve as pointers to the intellectual concept of Brahman. In Vedanta the term Brahman points to the Absolute, also referred to as the only Reality."
"Vedanta states that Brahman alone is Real and the world is unreal. By the term 'real' what is being pointed to is that which is unchanging in all circumstances and independent of Spacetime or the Spacetime manifold. The physical world and mental world hence do not qualify as being "real". The idea of equanimity refers to being in pure awareness. Being in pure awareness requires dissolution of mind. The term mind is also known as Ego or Identity. When there is no distraction or attachment to thoughts, there is equanimity. As per Vedanta, 'Equanimity' is our true nature. When the sense of individual discrete identity is dissolved, one transcends the apparent duality and see themselves as one with everything."

"In lack of better terms, 'Equanimity' can be used to refer to any of the following terms such as Beingness, Undisturbed, Unattached. It should be recognized that 'Equanimity' does not refer to a state of mind, rather it describes our real nature. Sense of attachment or doership is always individual and operates at the level of Individual Identity or Ego. Gita says by renouncing our limited identity, we can reveal our true nature, which is 'Brahman'. When we are aware of our true nature, the individual ego does not operate anymore, hence the outcome is equanimity. When one is fully aware, one does not attach to the world, rather sees the world. The world is apparent and unfolds in front of our awareness, but due to lack of clarity, we identify with the body and the mind and become finite and limited. The only unchanging reality is pure awareness. It refers to being witness and not having a sense of individual doer which creates attachment and makes one behave otherwise.

According to the Bhagavad Gītā, every one can eventually achieve equanimity through spiritual practice leading to self realization." Wikipedia

I am not part of any of the above groups but as an observer I see a lot of that. For example on some groups there are all kinds of bu****it artists posing as spiritual but if you say one thing they don't like, they jump down your throat. That is the test.
That makes it clear to me that 1) they don’t have equanimity, 2) they are not enlightened and 3) they are full of it.

A tell is basic behavior. For example, The Reverend at a Church here once jumped down a student's throat once over a minor issue. Basically she questioned a decision. He spewed anger and arrogance. And later people in his church told me how wonderful he is, how spiritual, and loving. They tell me that I should attend the services because I will love it. No, sorry, I remember his behavior. That soured it for me. For me, Behavior is more important to me than what people say. It is one thing to say all those nice things in a sermon, but if they don't follow through afterwards in their life, then they are full of it. Just a scam. Maybe he was having a bad day? We will never know, but that did sour him for me.

I don't claim to be enlightened, nor do I claim to be spiritual, nor do I claim equanimity, But I try. And I feel bad when I do things that are hurtful to others. And would like to apologize to anyone I hurt and talk it out. There are those I truly have totally opposite feelings about certain issues.
A question remains, is t'ai chi ch'uan a spiritual practice or can it be? I think, T'ai chi ch'uan is not truly a spiritual practice unless that is idea emphasized. It does bring serenity and peace to many, and is considered a form of "Moving Meditation." It is a traditional art.

Most masters are not particularly spiritual. I practice a traditional version of the art. Old T'ai Chi Ch'uan Masters would kick peoples asses on a regular basis and did not claim to be spiritual, that came later with the newagers of the 60s. None of my teachers, all well known masters claimed to be saints.
For example, 😭. Tchoung never made those claims and he and L.Y. Kuo were definitely not guru types. Though today many t'ai chi ch'uan master's followers make it seem like they were saints.

I remember one of my earliest teachers cussing out his wife and yelling at students. He was a fighter, not a saint. And did not pose to be the loving spiritual leader, like the local reverend who lost it on my student because a women dared talk back to him. Recently some students complained he was abusive to them. While others put him on a pedestal and revere him. Masters are experts of their art, don't expect them to more than that. To be continued...

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