Saturday, April 22, 2006

Weeds of the Mind

"What is essential to practice the Tao is to get rid of cravings and vexations. If these afflictions are not removed, it is impossible to attain stability. This is like the case of the fertile field, which cannot produce good crops as long as the weeds are not cleared away. Cravings and ruminations are the weeds of the mind; if you do not clear them away, concentration and wisdom do not develop."
- Chang San-feng, legendary founder of T'ai Chi Ch'uan, circa 1300 A.D.

The Yoga Sutra by Pantajali speaks of the purpose of yoga being the calming and settling the disturbances of the mind. The ability to concentrate is one of the Eight Limbs of Classical (Raja) Yoga.

Concentrating fully while practicing Taijiquan or Qigong leaves little room for the mind to wander.

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