Flowing through Change (bagua, presence-awareness.. neigung, or just life) -forum participation/interest?

[Anonymous]

Hello, I was just reading back in the archived forum posts, and it seems when this program was just released there was some interchange, but then there was a suppression of discussion, and it seems most reading no longer felt like putting forth their expers (and whether there are those still reading now, or whether most readers stopped returning to this forum… and thus very limited involvement by different invids per most going else-where, not sure).. just a thought..
anyway, just wanted to put out there an idea about flow and change… (whether bagua- circling, via literal circle-walking, or a twist one-way, then the other.. or Kai-He… or via circling-hands.. or even breathing in-ex.. as well as doingX, then doing-else: as will be noted), which I wonder if any will resonate with.

Five distinctions: the first two- “one way” and “the other way” (as above referenced), then Third, the change between the first and second; then Fourth, pause, stopping the exercise (either moments of stability within this flow, or an actual ceasing of movement,,, say a stopping walking, zhangzhuan, or even sit).. but it is still within the exercise… (thus each of the former three contrast with this later, and yet there is a single-thing, the “exercise-practice session’s” quality)

[then, fifth, being compare-contrast with “the rest of life”.. which in some ways is like the fourth, and yet the flow of the first-three.. but relates the change qualities when one is not practicing xyz… this brings up the often breakage: I’m stepping out of “life” to begin a chi-gung set.. now i have begun, ok I’m ending now and ‘returning’ to “life”.. rather than just have a focus upon certain doings in life, but the same qualities can be noticed.]
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The idea being initially to note the first and second (say circle-walk, or turning-forearms & torso, or even Circling-hands “coronal” ie wiping a circle on the wall- clockwise and counter-clockwise)…. how can one turn clockwise… and not only note where one is, and how it is circular (and note the tendency of mind to make chunks as a unit, vs each moment by moment “live”.. linked whole), and get a sense of “clockwise” has a certain “tone” to it… and “counter-clockwise” has a second-different tone.. can you tune to one tone, and then flip to that other tone, and find a quality that can have either quality (so that either turning has a distinctly different quality, not blurred together, but one can recognize “the circle” etc.. what is it that goes ‘either-way’?

Then once that is clearly, and tracking that doesn’t jolt one when tuning from one-tone to the other (as one can create that quality state in a palm-even without moving it.. the “clockwise” feeling, without moving clockwise.. then switch, etc)…. then work on the first three– the third being the changing itself.. and then notice (compare/contrast) the difference between the steady flow in one “direction” (either direction), vs the alteration, that moment (and movement) of change. -Without making that change just a different sort of circle, or a gap that just jumps from one-direction to the other… Can one find a quality that is “one-way” and “the other-way” and “changing”.. that is in common between all three (and yet, again, doesn’t blur or blend, or abstract- just idea-lvl, these together, but they are like “Three clearly different roles played by a single actor”.. but an actor that you can’t recognize by any personality features or character-aspects (as those would be parts of roles.. ie the clay that is shaped into different “shapes” -Xing or Hsing…)
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the Fourth and Fifth (to repeat a bit of what was mentioned at beginning) along one to recognize: what is the same among the first three (if that can be found, and tracked-stick to-follow, stay with, as “it” alters between those three forms- but “it” stays without leaving…).. that found in the 4th and 5th, then bring forth, before you started to do, while doing, and after stop…
what is there (is there?) that links, that is there?

(don’t conflate or try and figure-out, rather sense that, and contact-it.. like in push-hands, or taichichuan: adhere-stick and follow it, where-ever it leads, go with it, but without you leaving your center.)

Of course what this seems to be, or doesn’t seem to be if it doesn’t compute (many words to write-say the above- so hopefully a few with interest will ever read this .. but whatever this might seem to be, if stay aware-focused upon it, and yet still aware-focused upon here/now-
(whatever/however that is… to really see/exper ‘what’ is going on doesn’t seem quite so straightfwd- vs the usual-convention interp)
– as well as stability-pts (and choice-pts) within-between each step (or even at points around a circle- say the circling-hands ring on the wall- clock turning.. not just a circle, smoothly turning, not straightly jolts, but add 4Es (peng-lu, ji, an quals, and the changes between)…. (and whatever one is aware of and tracking within one’s exper, one’s chi-flows, any outer-inner dissolving, the lines and threads, and clarity of awareness vs any dimming fog-gaps or space-outs (or even blindspots that may arise, if/as noticed)… sensing these and staying with, not only expands one’s ability to be aware !?! (and thus CNS-PNS devels)… and will change what one will find if then looking again for these 5 distinctions in the next-practicing sessions (as one will have new material there).
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Mostly this can bring forth the “one senses things while practicing, which may relate to other parts in one’s day, where no thought of practice is there..” and can change the put-apart separation to find what is there that has always, already been there that is both (not you make a link, nor “trying to remember to think about”.. but the you doing-A, the you doing-B, the you doing A&B flip.. and the you doing practice (that relates to A:B flow and flips, but isn’t).. as well as the you ‘not-doing’ that.. during which A and B may or may not arise.
[or more simply, take a step, L foot, R foot, shifting.. or pausing as step (or stairs, or taking a stroll, even if not “walking” bagua… or even stand-in line, or sit (and watchTV or type-out a bunch on computer… what is there that is stepping, even if one isn’t stepping (and thus what is there as you step, L or R foot, that was already-always there in the past where-you-weren’t?]

I’m curious to hear what expers or curiosities any working with this might have in their practice, if any read this that used to whatever level of experience (in case any feel they shouldn’t write if they are just learning or something, as there was a good discussion- to a degree- but that conversation was well-disrupted to end that exchange.)

[Anonymous]

Hi Taokua,
Your topic “Flowing Through Change” addresses the perennial topic of “change.”
What is “change?”
How does “change” occur?

Chinese philosophy has used the notion of Yin and Yang to deal with change: when Yang approaches its maximum extreme, it changes to Yin.
The I-Ching is the book of changes.
Bagua uses the Eight Diagrams of the I-Ching to predict change.

Many of the topics in this forum deal with “change.”
In the preceeding topic, the Zen concept of “the total exertion of a single thing” was considered as possibly being the source of “change.”

When I look at the number of “views” for each topic I see an average of 30 to 40 views.
There doesn’t seem to be a downward trend in viewership.
The number of “replies” has always been much smaller,
but here again I don’t see any diminishing trend
(maybe some accountant would want to crunch the numbers)

When I first started practicing Tai Chi I read Jou, Tsung Hwa’s book,
“The Dao of Taijiquan” He addressed how to apply silk reeling,
chansijing.
He used the hand to trace the curves of the taiji diagram—yin changing to yang and back again in a smooth and continuous path.
A classical way to practice silk reeling.

Bruce tries to cure us of inertia.
Most of my students don’t even know what inertia is.

In Cloud Hands we basically do the same thing with one hand yin, the other yang and switching around the circle.

We practice a similar pattern with our breathing around the microcosmic orbit of the torso.

And likewise in our Forum topics there should be the Four Views expressed:
Yes,
No,
Neither,
Both

But there is usually not the time nor the technology to both practice bagua/Tai Chi and write about it.

cheers

Bob

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