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To “Let Go”
by K.C Cheah
(April 2009)
The West has profoundly understood a lot of the esoterics about Taiji, particularly, qi, “song” and “centering” of the body, sinking qi into the lower tantien, etc. (as reflected in paperbacks : Danny Dreyer's “ChiRunning”, K.G. Durckheim's “Hara”, Eugen Herrigel's “The Zen of Archery”, etc.). An amazing development indeed, reflecting how erudited the West is, in this area.
Difficult it was, not so long ago, to get proper/correct English translations of Chinese martial Arts literature but no longer true today, especially on the Internet, benefitting many non-speaking Mandarin enthusiasts seeking answers.
To new Taiji practitioners, the Chinese term “song” has always been associated with the body, and less so with the mind. Many, having heard of Taiji regarded as a meditation in motion, find the training of the body to “song” during movements, much more difficult than in, say, standing/stationary meditation or qi-gong. Seated meditation practised by the Taoists, Buddhists, Hindus, etc, has always concentrated on the training of the mind and its purification, whilst the “song”-ness of the body is an implied by-product.
Seasoned Taiji practitioners are aware of the power of qi and usually delve into sitting meditation, to further enhance their understanding and development of their body, qi and mind. It is here that they began to realize that “being song” is only just scratching the surface of things. Interestingly, the West has always emphasized on “song” while the Chinese on “fong song”. It is the “fong” (“let go”) that's more meaningful, and not “song”. “Letting go” of all the baggage (physical, mental and otherwise - daily stress, worries, distractions,hatred, anger, lust, greed, etc.) to free the mind, to forget oneself, to go into a “no-mind” (or “non-self”) stage is the path to take and seek.
Ancient qi-gong methods, such as the Buddhists' Anapanasatti, and other Chinese Martial Arts esoteric systems (wu-xin gong, yi jin jing), etc., focusing on deep breathing, using the abdominal area, training body and mind, have been proven effective in this area of “letting go”.
What is pleasantly surprising today, is that in the West, contemporary works by many (Eckhart Tolle's “Power of Now”, Osho's “Awareness”, Krishnamurti's “The First and Last Freedom”, works of Deepak Chopra, etc.) have helped elicit such concepts, in simple layman's terms.
From such writings, it can be sensed that to just “let go” or “surrender”, is definitely more effective than just being relaxed (“song”), for “song” (or exercise) is to the body, while to “let go” (meditation) is to the mind. There is great strength in “to let go” or surrendering. An interesting byproduct is that the West is now totally aware of the importance of “centering” into the lower tantien.
It became obvious eventually, that initially, to be “song”, we seek to “center” the mind inward into the body, to master its internals. All that we seek is inside us, not outside. With the mind centered, we became “aware” of or sensitive to the breathing, the consciousness, the lower tantien (centre), “ming-men”, qi and a host of esoteric. Subsequently, we realized that by “letting go”, we go beyond the body, the mind, to forget the self, and into the marvellous realm of “Being with the One”, Tao.
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