Causation Chains of Practice

If you’re meditating with the objective to calm down the thoughts, to have more joy in your life, to find peace then STOP, you will never find what you’re looking for & before you even get started you will be onto the very next thing.

It’s like Taiji, many people come to Taiji thinking/hoping it will help with some sort of health or medical condition & like the above, the outcome will be the same. Taiji is crossed off the list & a vegan diet is the next thing to try.

It is a great shame because if you came just for the love of the art itself all of the above is possible, but not through a direct attainment but more as a side effect from the practice itself, a causation chain.

In Taiji, what do we do? We follow the causation chain. We stretch & open the body in a specific way, absorb our awareness into the depths of our bodies creating deep release & fill the channels with Qi ready to mobilise, which pretty much covers it for the usual practitioner. As a result, your body is now functioning way more efficiently than it was previously giving you a level of good health you might not have experienced before.

Now, let’s take a quick look at meditation, if your focus is to stop your thoughts as its creating anxiety in your life, then it is more than likely to be a guarantee fail. When has any ‘normal’ functioning human being been able to stop their thoughts at will, give it a go, I know I can’t. But what you can do is to be aware of those thoughts coming & going like waves in the ocean or clouds in the sky which are the usual metaphors, for me, stomach cramps after a vindaloo is more of an appropriate metaphor, they keep coming but eventually it passes (literally).

Joking aside, being aware of all the 10 thousand things is the gateway to a higher state of awareness/being, but don’t make the mistake of looking for that higher state as in my experience it will not show itself.

Just stay in the awareness until the awareness recognises itself & merges as one. While this awareness process is taking place you will notice through a knowing awareness, not through thought, that you can see spaces starting to form in-between the thoughts & it is this which starts to create more peace, tranquillity & joy in your life as the clouds start to lift revealing the light of your original mind………… then afterwards just get off your arse & get on with your day.