The Old Sage said, "Remember, we do not practice Chi Gung to become good at doing Chi Gung, but to excavate our true selves and become more fully who we are!"

"HHHMMMMMM..." I thought, and said to myself, "SELF, (because we really are rather close...) Do I practice to become good at practicing?  Do I practice to become a MASTER, or what?"

What happens to you deep within when things don't play out as you envisioned?  How do you feel when life isn't working out as planned, or when it rains on your parade...or when sickness or trauma or calamity invades your life?  HHHHMMMM....

May I ask, "For what are you practicing?  Why?"  How do you engage when life comes at you straight on and full bore?

Do you honestly look at yourself, get in touch with yourself and ascertain how you feel?  Do you ask the questions that need asking...NOW!

Sometimes we use our so-called Practice to actually shield us from the realities of life.  Perhaps some of us do not realize that what is uncovered or loosened in Chi Gung is perhaps dealt with in Meditation!

Shielding oneself is not good Chi Gung, any more than holding a grudge is good Chi Gung!  I remember Chogyam Trungpa's words: "How many times have you tried to shield yourself by reading the newspaper, watching television or just spacing out?  That is the question.  How much have you connected with yourself at all in your whole life?"

I have found that the saddest words in the English language are "If only..." !

Do you look at your life, your actions, your life goals to this point, and at what you have been doing/ practicing and honestly ask:

            "WHAT NEEDS TO BE IN ORDER TO BECOME ...ME?"

What needs to be adjusted, changed, engaged in when life fails you ?

Do you say, in light of your reactions, fostered by your mindset, consequent results and whatever, that in all honestly I must needs change this and this, cut back on that and re-engage in such-and-such?  ...

Or do you simply continue to Practice?

I wonder why we practice!

Do you ever wonder why you practice?

Like everything else in creation, Practice is nothing more than a means to an end. But if we do not understand the end, the goal, we will make wrong use of the means!

So - why do you practice?

This question was asked of me a few weeks ago, by a nurse, who happens to be a long-time student of mine.  "I felt like quitting", he said. "My teacher had a heart attack, and two heart surgeries.  Then," he said, "it hit me.  Shit happens, and three days after heart surgery, you were flying off to Israel to teach for three weeks.  That's why!"

"Well," I responded, "I engage in my practice of Chi Gung and meditation because I am clearing all the ‘conditioned thinking' from my life; I am forgiving myself and clearing out stuff."

And then there are the words of the Greek Guy...no, not Bruce Frantzis...or Alan Peatfield...that other Greek Guy , EPICTETUS, who wrote (and possibly even said!): 

            "WHAT OUGHT ONE SAY THEN, AS EACH HARDSHIP COMES?

            I WAS PRACTICING FOR THIS, I WAS TRAINING FOR THIS!"

                                                                                EPICTETUS

PRACTICE INDEED, but by all means, "practice on purpose"!

Fred

P.S. Do you know the reason the Ostrich buries its head in the sand?.... 

It's looking for water !