As a teacher of Taoism and Tai Chi, Bob Klein* explains that in the Taoist perspective there are multiple ways of thinking about consciousness. In last week’s post he began educating us on one of the ways: the external sense of sight.
This week we move inward with Bob continuing as our guide.
“The sense of chi (chee) gives us information about the inside of things. Chi gives us information about how everything is connected. It is the sense through which the cells and organs of the body fine-tune their interactions with each other. It is a finer mechanism of interaction than the nervous and endocrine systems.
The sense of sight and the sense of chi are considered to be “paired senses.” They give a full understanding of the world around us.
In our culture, we have cut the pair in half and only have the sense of sight. We feel isolated and disconnected.
To practice a Tai-chi form is to re-connect your consciousness to the rest of the world of life. Attention is no longer located just inside your head. Your attention doesn’t just start from the head and go to the subject of your interest.
Attention is the living field of life.
Out of the dynamics of attention grows our way of perceiving the world around us. We are in a relationship with that world, just as each cell and organ within our bodies is in a relationship with us as a whole.”
Chi is often described as energy. Bob leaves us with a provocative statement:
“Attention is an energy that is a part of all things, just as is gravity, electromagnetism and nuclear forces.”
Note to readers: Please join me in confusion and wonder. Give yourself a big pat on the back if you felt a tingle of excitement in addition to a stab of bewilderment while reading this post. Please let me know if you have questions. I probably won’t be able to answer them but it would help me to know I’m not the only dizzy one. This is amazingly complex information from a different paradigm and a very wise man. We are indeed exploring the mystery!
*You can learn more about Bob by visiting his website: www.movementsofmagic.com.
If you would like to read earlier posts in this series or subscribe so you will receive an email when there is a new post, visit www.NickyMendenhall.blogspot.com