Press pause

It's been a while since I recorded my thoughts as Jane and I have been traveling—camping, hiking, biking in several  Delaware state parks. A change of pace. Get in touch with nature. Beach time. Retreat to renew. Press the pause button. 

In my meditation and taiji (taiji is said to be moving meditation) I have been focusing on the pause in breathing between each inhale and exhale. Breathe in, pause, breathe out, pause. Each pause is a little rest. In taiji form, each rest is a further settling, a deep rooting before the next movement. The inexperienced eye will miss it. The form appears seamless, soft snd flowing. Internally, the rhythm is light movement (yang) and heavy settling (yin). But there is a deeper rest between each movement and each settle down. Move, rest, settle, rest. The pause readies the body to move and to settle. The movement is light and easy because the body has paused to recharge. Settling is deep because the body is at rest. As in meditation so in life. The intentionality of meditation reconnects us to nature's rhythms, and the connection makes for good health and well-being. To pause is the yin to the yang of movement. Meditation, taijiquan, qigong, is the yin to the yang of life's other activities.

I have been exploring "secular monasticism" for more than thirty years; that is, to take the insights of monasticism to the everyday world. Traditional monastics (Christian, Buddhist, Daoist) have shared in common a withdrawal from everyday life to retreat to the monastery, the island, the mountain, or the forest to focus on spiritual disciplines—meditation, prayer, study. While some orders are closed—with no contact whatsoever with the outside world, most have interacted with society through works of charity, education or social justice. The monastic life was the yin to the yang of activity in society. In other words, the life of prayer and meditation was the foundation for the works of charity, education or social justice. Rest and movement complement each other. Neither is complete without the other. Rest and movement perform a delicate balancing act.

In the Lindisfarne Community our Rule is to live a balanced life of prayer (meditation, contemplation), study, work and rest. To play creatively, for me, prayer (meditation, contemplation) is lesser yin; study is lesser yang; work is greater yang; and rest is greater yin. The reader can play creatively too. As yin and yang are always relative, it may be that for some work is yin rather than yang. For me "working" with wood is very much yin, as too, on occasion, is study. Some people find prayer burdensome and it becomes a great expenditure of energy, hence yang.

Even so, it's easy to get out of balance. For many of us, I suspect if we have an imbalance it is likely to be too much movement and not enough rest; too much yang and not enough yin; all work and no play; burning the candle at both ends. Life goes more smoothly when we intentionally press the pause button. Traditional Yang taiji has 108 movements. My current practice is two "pauses" for each posture; 216 pauses 108 movements. Each pause is intentional; each pause is preparatory. The form goes much better for the pauses. Life goes much better for the pauses.

+Ab. Andy