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Value of Nothing
by Bob Klein
This is not a put down of our school or a
form of sarcasm, but the most difficult and important accomplishment in our practice. No
doubt, it is the stumbling block for every Tai-chi-Chuan student.
“Nothing” simply means the
natural functioning of the body and mind and the natural unfolding of one’s life and
growth.
When our body is working perfectly, we
don’t usually notice it. It is usually only when something goes wrong that we pay
attention to our bodies.
When we are totally immersed in what we
are doing, time flies by and we barely notice our effort. Joy then takes the place of
struggle and our work is effortless.
“Nothing” is what makes the
feats of an accomplished athlete seem so easy. Isn’t this lack of struggle what we
strive for in our Tai-chi-Chuan?
Effortlessness is as much a result of a
“mechanically efficient attention” as it is of an efficient body. If your
attention is bound up or trapped in any way, the body cannot work well either.
Most of us have experienced that we can do
the form better when no one is watching us. When we are being watched, our attention is
caught up in the idea of looking good.
Body and Mind in Harmony
There is a natural cycle coinciding with
the breath, which allows each cell to harmonize with the whole body and yet deal with its
own local conditions.
One danger of the practice of Chi-gung is
the tendency on the part of the students to brush aside the importance of this cycle in
their rush to “progress.” The result may be permanent damage to the body.
Students may try to energize an area of
the body, adding more and more chi, without giving the cells time to integrate this
increased energy into the system.
This attitude of “more is
better” can “blow the cells away,” and tear apart the meridian system. The
entire body is in a delicate balance. Increased energy in one area must be counterbalanced
in other areas, and this takes time.
The mechanism which coordinates this
cellular cycle is what we call “attention.” (Some texts refer to this as
“mind” but in our society the word mind is specifically used for the activity of
thinking. I prefer to use the term, “attention.”
In “primitive” societies, the
patterns of attention were equally influenced by the biology of the body and by the
natural ecology of the surroundings. Since his own cells (his own biology) had arisen from
and were part of the natural environment, these two influences on the patterns of
attention meshed perfectly.
In more “civilized” cultures,
the influence of nature is replaced by the influence of our concepts and ideas - the
thinking mind.
Since ideas can be freed from any
ecological considerations, the influence of the mind and body on attention does not
necessarily mesh well. In fact, it usually causes great conflict. This conflict is the
enemy of “nothing.”
Thus “nothing” is not a state of
oblivion or a lack of action. It is a very active state. The state of conflict in which
attention is trapped by patterns of thinking and attitudes inhibits that action.
Learning Nothing
This is the dilemma the Tai-chi student is
in. He is used to conflict. The conflict of mind and body has been the basis for the
activity of his attention. Any achievement in life is felt to be a manipulation of that
conflict, or perhaps, an intensification of that conflict.
When conflict intensifies, the student
feels “something is happening” and he gets excited. He feels that his practice
has “paid off.”
This “emotional payoff” of his
own conflict can be the main reason that he is attracted to a martial art. When he is told
that he will feel nothing when he moves correctly, he feels cheated.
Sometimes, in push hands or free fighting
(sparring), something inside the students will click and they will begin moving “from
the gut.” Their usual awareness — the force that usually directs their actions
— has stepped aside.
Their actions seem to be automatic, coming
from “nowhere.” After they stop, a dumb-founded look comes upon their faces and
they ask, “How did I do that?”
Even in the form, when students’
postures are corrected and they feel an “emptiness” (lack of strain to hold
themselves up), they don’t necessarily welcome that feeling.
The lack of strain can be disturbing. Yet
it is the basis of Tai-chi-Chuan.
The Richness of Nothing
This is the power of nothing. It is what
is left after all the nonsense is gone. It is filled with wisdom, inner knowledge and
great skill. It is the intelligence of each cell of the body, with all its genetic
memories, uniting without conflict and without hesitation.
Once you tap that infinite reservoir of
knowledge, your own body becomes your teacher. You realize that your Tai-chi instructor
was not really your master, but only a guide to bring you to the real master.
“Nothing” has become the basis for your training and for your whole life.
At this point, the student must make a
vital transition. The feeling of conflict, tension, “getting the other guy,”
which was the reward for his practice must now be used as currency to pay for the next
stage of his development.
This means that the very reward, the
riches he has gathered as the payment for his practice, must now be given up for -
“nothing.” This is what he really feels. He is giving up the emotional
fulfillment that has spurred him on - for what? For the feeling of nothing!
If he goes along with this seemingly
unfair transaction, he will find that “nothing” is a treasure trove of riches.
When attention can quiet down and sink into the biological organism (your body), you can
feel the health and the intelligence of each body part and how it all works together.
The Effect of Nothing
And by doing this, you can also feel the
environmental influences that balance the activities of your individual biology.
When attention is patterned after this
balance, many changes take place in your perception of who and what you are. The result is
basic changes in your understanding of what you are doing here on this earth.
You have regained the evolutional wisdom
embedded in each cell of the body.
When the student returns to his form, push
hands, fighting, Chi-gung, or acupressure, it is this effortless balance of the natural
forces on attention that guides his actions. The thinking mind no longer controls his
movements or intentions.
The student feels uncomfortable in this
situation. He must trust that this new origin of activity knows what it is doing and is
reliable. This is, of course, a very presumptuous attitude, but it is hard not to feel
that way. It is presumptuous because
something inside you doubts that the power of nature herself, which inside you, can’t
be trusted and that your little thinking mind knows more.
When you are acting spontaneously, you
don’t know what will happen next. Or rather, the mind doesn’t know what will
happen next because it is not calling the shots.
You are Nothing
The more the student allows
“nothing” to call the shots, the more he appreciates its wisdom. He can sense
how it works and begins to understand its “reasoning.” Of course this reasoning
is not thinking, but a more basic, underlying type of intelligence.
The next transition of the student is to
accept this realm; this experience of intelligence, as his true nature and to realize that
thinking is just an activity— not one’s true identity.
The student has used the currency of
conflict to buy the treasure of his own self, hidden underneath the conflict. He is now
the wealth of nothing.
The teaching of “nothing” is a
subject of the greatest complexity and importance in Tai-chi-Chuan.
Yet when someone comes to my school and
asks what the calligraphy means, I love to just say, “It means nothing.”