How can you tell?
We
take refuge in pride because we are afraid to tell the truth to ourselves.
(Kakuzo Okakura)
Assessment
A new starter watches the tai chi in class and remarks upon the quality
of the material.
A reasonable reply might be: "How can you tell?"
This simple question is extremely penetrating.
On what basis is the new starter assessing the tai chi performance?
How are they measuring the skill?
What criteria are being applied?
Which qualities do they consider to be valuable?
Memory
The new starter assesses the quality of the tai chi on the basis of their
own opinions, values and judgements.
They draw the criteria from memory and experience.
The tai chi performance is measured relative to their expectations.
It is compared with what they want to see or might imagine they will see.
It may be compared with other performances they have witnessed.
In all cases, the assessment and ultimate determination is based upon the
application of memory.
Qualified
Is a new starter qualified to comment on the quality of tai chi?
It seems unlikely.
Any such commentary must surely be based upon a limited understanding of what
tai chi constitutes.
Qualification is not a matter of academic prowess, certificates and exams.
It is about perception.
Can the new starter see what is taking place?
Are they capable of discerning the subtleties?
Is the person aware of the underlying principles of tai chi?
Without an earnest grasp of self defence, the tai chi classics and the taoist
classics, what possible judgement could be made?
How you are
Often our perception of things says more about ourselves than the subject
of our assessment.
A person passes comment, and in so doing reveals the inner workings of their
mind.
How we see things and what we take the information to mean will vary from person
to person.
In truth, we do not see things as they are, but as we are.
Our perceptions are coloured by our upbringing, our education, our memories, our
bias, our opinions, our culture, our desires and expectations.
Gratification
We are also inclined toward things that please us and away from things that do
not.
This is called gratification.
Yet, there is great danger in dismissing things on the basis of gratification.
Not everything in life is there to please us.
Indeed, much of existence is not about us and has no bearing on us.
We are not the centre of the universe.
Embracing the unknown inevitably means doing things that are not necessarily
pleasurable.
This is like drinking green tea.
The taste is bitter and unpleasant, but you drink anyway, and eventually the
bitterness no longer concerns you.
Passing judgement
When a person passes judgement without criteria, they reveal a certain
ignorance and arrogance.
They assume to know.
This is like the notion of 'mastery'.
The word 'master' suggests an end, a conclusion. But is there such a condition?
Surely all students of tai chi are evolving.
If you are not growing and changing, you become stagnant and stale.
Taoism and zen recognise the significance of process. Everything is changing.
There is no still point, no end.
How we see things is changing as we change.
Are your current thoughts and beliefs the same ones you held as a toddler/a
young child?
Surely not.
Everything is provisional. Existence is protean.
Page created 5 April 1998