Heart - 3rd Essential Principle of RDTC

by Richard Farmer

This is the A Review - For those of you who are new to the School, this is the third in a series of articles on the four fundamental principles upon which the Rising Dragon Tai Chi School is built. (The two past articles can be view at the School’s webpage under the “Articles” tab.)

Briefly, the First Principle is to be present. As the body is always in the present, the First Principle is to be conscious of your body at all times. The spine is a good anchor for this.

The Second Principle is to relax. Tension is a sign of resistance and as such it is a barrier and so an obstruction to real understanding. So to see the tension wherever it arises and relax it, is the path of the Second Principle.

When these two principles are present, the body is unified with a fluid mind. It is an incredibly efficient space in which almost any action is possible, because nothing is in the way.

What is the Third Principle? - When I tried to take a stick from the mouth of my dog Digger, no matter how close I was, when I made my move, he moved and the stick was gone. He read my action because there was nothing in the way. This space is the zone where martial artists want to be. It is what warriors use to fight with, with deadly efficiency. It's what the great wheelers and dealers use at the negotiating table - it is not a human place, a personal place. Somehow, in this unified place, we become detached and in the pursuit of a goal or a truth we hold dear, we can do all manner of terrible things. It is what has enabled some people throughout history to say “In God's name I will kill you”. The question is, could they do that if they were personally present? Becoming personal, putting the heart in , engaging the heart, is the Third Principle. It puts boundaries of compassion and empathy on this unified, fluid and free space so that it is in service to humanity not fear.

So it is easy. The Third Principle is to engage heart. There, see how easy that is to understand? But is it? In some ways I need say no more, but I would like to try and answer the questions “What is heart? What does it look like in Life? How can I practise this?”

Action with Heart - At the height of the push to rebel against the Colonial rule of the British, Ghandi was asked to come up with an idea that would break the British. The rest of the Congress party were gung-ho for some kind of riot, an act of defiance, and they wanted Ghandi to give them permission. He asked them to wait and went inside his house. One hour passed, two hours passed and they began to get impatient. When he came out later that afternoon for a walk he said "Come back tomorrow". The next day when they came and waited for the command that would spur them into action, the call to arms, he asked them to come back tomorrow. It went on like this for three months.

One day he came out and said "I am walking to the sea. Who will come with me?" and began to walk. No one knew where he was going but at last something was happening and word spread that Ghandi-ji was walking to the ocean. Newspapers commented on it, radios reported it and as he passed villages, they joined until it was not just a few followers but hoards of people.

When finally after a long march of many days he got to the ocean he stopped and conducted a service asking for a blessing from the powers above. The next morning he got up and walked to the edge of the ocean where some salt had been left after the water had evaporated. He bent down and picked it up holding it aloft. When he was asked what he was doing he replied, "I am breaking the law by picking up this salt. The British have imposed a law saying we are forbidden from touching this salt made by the earth unless we pay tax on it." This act that showed in a graphic way the iniquities of colonial rule and encouraged millions to come out on the streets to engage in non-violent protest. Within a short time 100,000 were imprisoned and the system overburdened, and this forced the British to negotiate.

The people wanted action but Ghandi knew that an action without heart cannot work. They had a just cause and it needed to be seen and so he waited to feel it. He waited and waited until his anger and frustration had subsided, he waited some more until the British were not the enemy. He waited till he, Ghandi, the man, the politician, the political activist, the seeker was personally present. Not just absent of worldly human feelings and in some spiritually true place but really feeling the dilemma, what should he personally do about it that honoured all of this? People were waiting. He waited some more until in that space the solution presented itself. Even the British could see by that act they were in trouble - they could see the folly of the tax, that embargo. As a result of the subsequent negotiations India was reborn.

Enough Heart to Embrace - The Third Principle is what allows us to embrace something. In Tai Chi we call it Embrace Tiger Return to Mountain. It means to actively want to engage with it. Not just to stand before it, which would be the First Principle, not just to release our own defensiveness and reactivity, that is the Second Principle but to actively embrace the problem, to take it in and make it a personal issue. I don't mean take it personally, as in an affront to our dignity, I mean to treat the problem like a dear friend. If a frail old lady mistakes your outstretched arm of help as a hand that is going to take her bag and lays about you with an umbrella, you don't just deck her! You defend yourself with a sense of care for her and you.

Boundaries with Heart - This is even more true when we think of difficult or painful decisions that we have to take in life. Do we just cut off and do the efficient thing, or are we so empathised that we cannot do anything? When the body-mind is engaged by heart we have a compassionate and hearted action. I have seen the effect of this kind of engagement with good parents who out of concern for their child have to do difficult things - not because it is an issue of authority but out of love and care that certain limits are necessary. You love your children and don't want to harm them or cause them pain and yet there are times when you have to make a limit which is painful for them and for you. The limit is important enough so you must do it and out of your love for them, you do it with heart. Most people can feel when an action is done with heart and respect it, however much they kick against it . As parents there are times when strong compassionate action is appropriate.

Ruthless Heart - This is true too in a healthy relationship between student and teacher. When Dr Chi challenged me by knocking me down again and again, he knew how much difficulty I was having - it was plain to see - but he knew there was something more. If he had not practised what I might call ruthless compassion, I would not have been left with the paradox. Geshe Damcho knew when he said, "Go make a cup of tea", that he was insulting the very thing I held most sacred, but to bust my reactive mind he had to do that.

The period when he would refuse to eat the food I cooked was the same. I would make the tray look beautiful with flowers and bow before him, offering what I had made, only to come back later and find it untouched. He ate everything the others cooked and each time it would be the same. I asked the other centre residents Why? No answer. They would just shrug.

Slowly I realised that actually I found cooking for him a drag because he ate different food from the rest of us - Tibetan dumplings and soup - and to cook for him and the others in the Centre meant cooking two meals, which I resented. I began to cook with heart, and sure enough when I went up 40 minutes later it was all gone.

He knew what he was doing. He knew he did not want to eat resentful energy and he knew how much I tried, but he also knew he had to leave me with it so that I got it below the neck. Cooking with heart. The Third Principle.

For me what is interesting as a teacher and as a student who has been on the end of this kind of hearted compassionate action, is that from the teacher’s side there is no guarantee. They just face me with it. If I, as the student am big enough, if I am really looking, I will see it. If they explained it, I would get it with my head but I would not get it in my body, in my being. I would nod that I understood but actually there would be no ground of understanding to root it. As a teacher myself I want the student to understand so that they can transform, and I am remembering more and more these immense acts of heart from my teachers to me. That kind of teaching comes from a place that understands the true value of the responsibility of the relationship, so an act of heart from a teacher to a student is an offering. It can be tough love, ruthless compassion, it can be also true and gentle understanding. I feel when teachers offer students this kind of teaching it is a sign of respect because they wouldn't do it if they didn't feel the students could meet it. Of course the ego is outraged and there are degrees of reactivity but underneath, the seeds that have been sown are ready to germinate and sprout.

So in relationships, where heart through time or bond allows me to become personally available, actions naturally arise out of this place and can include quite difficult actions. It goes without saying that it also includes the embrace, the touch of an arm or the reassuring gaze which are also important, but these are the examples that most people think of when they think of heart. The stronger, tougher actions are often forgotten in this. The true heart of kindness allows an act that is truly helpful and appropriate.

However, what about when I am not in a naturally hearted relationship or when my reactions of anger or fear overwhelm me? What do I do then?

Where is the Third Principle in the body? - Where is compassion in the body? Yes, it is in the heart. Where is the heart? Do I mean the organ that we call the heart or do I mean something else? In Nigeria when the Hausas greet you or shake your hand they touch the centre of their chest in greeting. if you asked them what they are touching they would say their heart. Not everyone, but a lot of people, will point to the centre of their chest and describe it as heart. So in this context, when we talk about heart, we are talking about an energy not an organ. We are talking about a quality and this place is in the centre of the chest.

Heart says YES - As you sit now just allow yourself to feel the breath. When you notice the in-breath feel how the chest rises and feel the atmosphere of that place without naming it. What quality comes with this? The heart says many things but for me the essence of it is “Yes”. It has always said “Yes” right from the beginning. Something said “Yes” to life otherwise we would not be here. That something continues to say “Yes” to life even when we say “No”. The energy of the heart is “Yes”, it is a big space that allows, that is unconditional. The earth says “Yes” too. It allows everyone to walk on it. The heart never forgot this. If you fall over in front of me I will reach out to you instinctively and so will you to me. This sense of natural compassion is already there if we are personally alive to it. It is a built-in quality. The Third Principle is allowing ourselves to be touched by this and to act from this. This action is not 'kind' it is natural. This action is not compassionate although one could call it that. This action is not learnt, it is allowed. The difference between someone who is kind because they want to go to heaven and someone who is being kindness is very different.

I feel we had to learn to say “No” because the heart says “Yes”. How long can you keep your heart open in front of rejection? Eventually we protect ourselves, with reasoned argument, remembering past hurts, keeping the fires of history going. But as we grow in our awareness, as we deepen in our understanding of what is truly helpful, as we gradually come to see our true nature, we see that this “Yes”, this heart, is part of our being. As such, for us to be whole, we need to let it be part of us once more. This is the practice of the Third Principle..

I was having quite a reactive time with my brother. Close blood relationships can be very difficult. He phones me up, says something that I don't like, I say something back and we begin to insult one another. I phone him up with a memory of this, perhaps out of a 'have to' and I give him a little dig, he responds and away we go. The other day we were in one of these and he said something that I was really hurt by. I felt the knife go into my side, but as it slid in I felt how cut off one would have to be to make an uncalled for thrust like that. I practised the First Principle and stayed there, I practised the Second Principle and relaxed my anger. I allowed myself to become present in the centre of my chest and felt again the energy of the Third Principle and said “Yes” to the knife, and out of that came a feeling of empathy with him and out of that I heard myself say "Are you all right?". "Actually no" he said "I have had a terrible week" and with that we were back in relationship, the knife forgotten, he was my brother and I was his.

Out of this space of the Third Principle comes gratitude, appreciation, forgiveness and understanding, as a natural process.

Enough Heart for yourself - Before I give to another I must first make sure that there is a good supply for me. How can I give to another if I am empty? Love thy neighbour as thyself, love thyself as thy neighbour. So an important aspect of the Third Principle is to build a healthy relationship of self love. I don't mean a One Person Appreciation Society. What I do mean is that we become personal to ourselves, to our own humanity - to become aware from time to time of the centre of the chest, to learn to rest there naturally. In the same way as I allow myself to rest in the other principles by resting in my spine or continually releasing tension, I learn to do the same here. By embodying this principle, this energy is alive in me. When I do this, this principle comes to the surface and in me there is a natural forgiveness for past wrongs. If I bring this into my life as I wash up, as I walk around the supermarket, that energy allows a quiet joy and life responds. When I am this, the world is a beautiful place. Out of this place, as I give appreciation something is mirrored back. When I see a beautiful tree it is not necessarily because the tree is particularly beautiful that day. The tree is always beautiful but I rarely see it. I walk past this tree every day and do not see it, but when I am the Third Principle I see it. It might be because of an accident like I had a good dream that night and found myself in this hearted space, or because I am particularly relaxed for some reason. Something makes me not just look at the tree but see the tree, I mean really see the tree. This is the Third Principle, that personal spark of life that engages. If it is just thought walking down the street I see nothing. If it is just sadness walking down the street, I see nothing. But if I am open to sadness and feel empathy for the one who is sad, I am personally present with it and so I notice the tree.

Heart of Practice - Where is the Third Principle in our Form, in our practice? The Third Principle manifests when we give ourselves the gift of practice. I don’t mean that we are disciplined enough to do it, I mean when we give ourselves the gift of practice from that place which says “Yes, I really want to do this”. We begin to feel in a different way, we approach the exercises differently and we experience a move as nourishment, sometimes even as prayer. We are personally engaged. There is a kindness in the way we step or move an arm. There is pleasure in it, we are embracing it, feeling it, experiencing it. There is a generosity in the shape we make with this quality of heart.

Circle of Heart - In the Form the heart is in the circle. Through the circle in the yang cycle of the legs, there is a generosity in the belly and cauldron of the hip girdle. Through the arms being shaped in a circle, there is an opening in the chest, and expansiveness that extends into the energy field around the body. In this generous space, everything expands free from the constriction of fear of getting it wrong. In this space everything can take its rightful place. This in turn allows the limbs to fill and float. Because the arms and legs are not held, their relationship to the rest of the body is quite different, especially at the joints of hips and shoulders. It is as though the limbs are threaded into the spine by a golden silken thread of liquid energy.

Heart of Soft Limit - Heart manifests in the principle of soft limit. Competition comes from the mind of “I am not enough”. The Third Principle in practice is not concerned with the “how much” or “not enough”. It is not concerned with counting, because it is the energy of “Yes”. It is enough to stand before the invitation of practice and engage. We really listen when we are pushing our boundaries, and because we are in a compassionate relationship, we listen to this. Because of this we do not over-reach and thus our body remains as one unit. The circle is unbroken, so the energy, the chi and the kinetic energy of movement, is circulated, thus helping us to swim in air as it were.

Yielding Heart - Through this Third Principle we can open to ourselves, open to our practice and open to others. One fear we have about opening ourselves particularly to others is that we will lose ourselves. The Third Principle also has within it the quality of what we in Tai Chi call Yielding. The application of this quality allows us to open to something without giving ourselves away. For those of you working with Duo Tai Chi, this quality of yielding is of prime importance. Trees yield to the wind, water yields to the rock. Often in the West we think of yielding as giving in, but a door does not fall over when we push it open. It swings open and remains upright. This combination of root in the hinges, release, in the lack of preference of the door, allows it to yield to the push, and open. There is a danger of being lost if we are empty, or of being rudderless if we have no preference. However because of the First Principle, that spine of self worth, we are rooted. Because of the Second Principle we are fluid and released of that fear, and because of the openness of the Third Principle we are available. We are already full, there is no “need” and so we are free. Yielding, heart allows us to let go and remain personally present.

A Samurai comes to the Sage and demands to know the meaning of heaven and hell. After a few moments the Sage looks disdainfully up at the Samurai and says "Teach you about heaven and hell? You’re a disgrace to the Samurai, your sword is rusty and you look like shit!" The Samurai's mouth drops open first in shock and then twists into rage. "No one talks to a Samurai like that" he screams in fury and with that, he whips out his sword and is just about to cut off the Sage’s head when the Sage says "That's hell". The Samurai feels the grip of his anger, the strangulation of his rage, nods and lowers his sword. His face softens as he realises that the Sage has put his life on the line to show him so eloquently the hell of reactivity. A look of awe and gratitude caresses him, "And that" says the Sage, "is heaven".

In this story we can see and feel all of these principles. True heart.

True Heart - Your practice of Tai Chi is the opportunity to practise compassion. Practice is not meant to be a burden, nor is it meant to be a penance. True flow, the kind of flow that continues after you step away from your practice place comes from being joined once more with this original place at the centre of the chest. The Third Principle - Heart.

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newsletters index page: Winter 2007