Simplicity | ||
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Simplicity
Simplicity is one of the most fundamental qualities we cultivate in living
and in combat.
When things become ornate, over-complicated and embellished, they lose their
essence.
Taoism and Zen are about getting in touch with the real.
In modern life, simplicity is not valued.
Direct
Being direct and to the point involves simplicity.
The extraneous is removed, and the material is
pared-down to only what you need.
To what matters.
Economy
When you have the essentials, there is economy. You are not burdened by
superfluity.
It is important not to confuse simplicity with 'simplistic'.
Elegant
Removing the unnecessary creates space and freedom. You have room to move, to
breath, to be.
Sophistication can exist without clutter.
By finding the nature/character/heart/substance/essence/quality of things, you
can respond to what is real, rather than hover around the periphery.
Simplicity is to be found in the most obvious of things. In the
unadorned, the
unpretentious.
Pragmatism
There is an elegance in practical, pragmatic, functional concerns. They are
unburdened and flowing.
Our approach to tai chi strips the student of their tension and their
anxieties, leaving behind only what is necessary.
A lightness and spontaneity emerges when the hard shell of habitual tension is
broken.
Words
If you understand that words cannot extend to reality, you will value doing over
speaking, silence over talk.
The word is not the thing.
Quiet
When things are left alone, they settle of their own accord.
People become silent, calm and still.
Your body will do the same if you let it.
Complicated
If your life has become too busy, think about simplifying it.
Do less. Have fewer commitments and responsibilities. Say
"No!". Take time to
nourish yourself. Daily.
Instead of spreading yourself thinly, become whole again.
Find the simple in the complicated.
From little insights attain great wisdom.
(Lao Tzu)
Tai chi
Sifu Waller approaches tai chi in a very direct manner, considering
the Way in which the body moves.
Students learn how to move, to feel, to
integrate.
Flamboyant expression and aesthetic whimsy are replaced by clarity and
simplicity.
We train just the one style of tai chi. We learn it
in-depth. Many years of study are
required.
If you want to understand something thoroughly, you must simplify.
Self-reliance
Finding the simple is quite easy. You do not need a sage,
master or guru to help
you to see.
It is not necessary to go anywhere or to do anything.
Simplicity can be found in everyday life and from there it will spread to all
aspects of your existence.
When you can see the world in front of your very eyes, you can find accord,
balance and harmony.
Being simple is a natural offshoot of noticing things.
You come to realise that the real is so often encumbered by tradition, by rules,
by memory, by the past.
Peel away the irrelevant. Shed the unnecessary. Step clear of the past and see
the real.
Page created
18 April 1995
Last updated
16 June 2023
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