Moving meditation

Meditation appears in all cultures in all centuries. The early Christian practice of Lectio Divina, the Yogic dharana, and, perhaps the most famous, seated Zen meditation.  All share common goals, to bring an inner peace, to connect the man to his spirit or his creator, however that creator is perceived.

The methods of meditation are many, some try sitting quietly, others by chanting and using a mantra.  Others by finding a rhythm, a repetition of movement that focuses the conscious mind leaving the subconscious free to find its peace.

Tai Chi falls into the latter; the slow deliberate movements practiced until the body can perform as if by itself.  But that isn’t the case, the complexity of the Yang long form requires the player to be paying attention, to count the repetitive movements, to be aware of the position of the body weight, and the smoothness of the transitions.  That absorption with the task gives rise to the moving meditation.

I’ve tried Zen meditation, Zazen, when I was a young man.  A kind Buddhist chap called Pete, had weekly sessions in his home in Southsea.  We would walk laps around his front room, chanting, and then sit on our zafu facing the wall and try to quieten our mind.  I found it very difficult. My monkey mind was running wild, from thinking about work, to what I was going to have for my dinner, to how I could kill for a beer. And lots of thinking about how much my knees hurt.  With that wonderful gift of hindsight, I can see my problem was trying to get to an end goal, as though the sitting was just a step on a process, like a thing to be endured.

My next experience was with the Theravada Buddhists in Chithurst.  I went expecting much the same but no, completely the opposite.  We walked to the woods, where I was given a shovel, a small sapling and told to plant it. And then do it again and again for the rest of the day.  The guy next to me was a fully fledged monk from the monastery. I tried to chat but he said just pay attention to what you're doing. Don’t try to do one thing while doing another. So I thought OK, I'll chat during the tea break.  But then he said don’t talk, just drink your tea!  And then the penny dropped.

For me Tai Chi Chuan is a perfect vehicle for mindfulness. The physical movement engages the monkey brain, until it slowly becomes quiet and peaceful.  And then the goal can be realized, a connected body, mind and spirit.