The
道 Tao; Way that can be walked is not the eternal Way.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of Heaven and Earth.
The named is the mother of all things.
– Tao Te Ching Chapter 1
Lao Tzu’s classic, “The Way and its 德
Power” (Te – Virtue) is a Qigong manual. Several teachers have written in
depth books explaining this connection.
The first two lines point out that as humans we identify, name and label
everything we encounter. Although if we study the Dao, which is as vast as the
universe, it is like picking up a single grain of sand off all the beaches of
the Earth. The more we learn, the more we realize there is so much more
undiscovered we still do not know.
We begin and end the Tai Chi Chuan Hand Form in 無極 Wuji (no
extreme – limitless). We are simply aware. We are open to every possibility. We
do this by not thinking, using non-thinking. Just stand. Prepare.
A single discriminating thought (distinguish substantial from insubstantial)
followed by volition, and then action, begins our 太極 Taiji
(grand extremes – polarities) practice. Opening is the energy of Ward-off.
Before the hands go up (Yang) they first go down (yin).
The last two lines. Humans dwell between the interplay of Heaven and Earth.
Creation emerged from a great void (Wuji). We name everything (the 10,000
things) that exists as Tai Chi; this (yin), that (Yang), and the other thing
(Yinyang).
The Sacred Tai Chi Text
