We act from ideas and impulses tumbling out hap hazardously from within us, yet our education and upbringing rarely help us understand these inner forces or even encourage exploration. We’re focused on mastering the “external” world and getting ahead of the next person, without really understanding the source or suitability of our non-stop impulses and actions.

As our technology and weapons grow ever more powerful, our inner neglect keeps us at a level wherein we continue to make short-sighted, emotional, contradictory and sometimes, outright destructive choices. The growing gap between the power of our technology and our ability to use it wisely is volatile and dangerous (at both the individual and collective levels), because it is akin to a child wielding a powerful, automatic weapon… which is actually now happening with increasing frequency around the world. Over 2000 years ago, Socrates observed, “The unexamined life is not worth living”.

In considering our vast, inner potential, I like to distinguish between two types of potential: 1) Skills, tools and power. 2) Wisdom concerning who or what is using the tools etc. and why. 2500 years ago, the Buddha made a similar distinction between the two main streams of meditation: Samatha (focus, one-pointedness, concentration) and Vipassana (direct-seeing wisdom), which is a pre-requisite to enlightenment. The former practice can lead to trance states and extraordinary abilities, but by itself, not to enlightenment.

It seems that the overwhelming majority of human beings is seeking greater power in order to fulfill their desires. In the “external” world, this may mean greater wealth, beauty, fame etc. at whatever cost and via whatever means. In the “internal” world, it may mean extraordinary powers, which may of course also lead to fame and wealth. Thinner, more muscular bodies and good-looking “charisma” do not necessarily lead to enlightenment, even if touting yoga, meditation etc.. Indeed, they may be just a subtler form of conventional, egotistic marketing.

The Buddha’s Four Noble Truths point out that we suffer because we are attached - we tend to hold on to what we like and run away from what we dislike. Buddha explains that since all things are impermanent and insubstantial, there is nothing that we can really grasp and hold on to. I quote the Buddha here not because I believe the Buddha and am a formal “Buddhist”, but because I have, over decades of meditative inquiry, personally explored these dynamics and found them to be true. Power, tools or abilities in themselves do not guarantee happiness or even appropriate action, since they have no innate direction. Thus, there may be the benevolent or malevolent dictator; the black or white magician or sorcerer, the integrated or disintegrated martial arts master etc.

Deep Wisdom is the ability to act with a more evolved consciousness of who you really are and the many ways you are interconnected with the planet and the cosmos – it usually expands the sense of “I” and “We”. The conventional “reality” that “I am an island, enclosed within my skin”, bumping up against other islands is substantially inaccurate. The great wisdom teachers long ago told us that we are all interconnected and interdependent, and modern science and technology is verifying that fact more and more.

So in caring for your “internal environment” or practicing “internal or integral ecology”, remember to distinguish between new, exciting Tools and the User of those tools. Inquiry into the User is less “sexy” and market-friendly, but far deeper and in the end, more rewarding. This usually takes guidance from an experienced teacher.

Any ideas or questions on this subject?

In early 1990, I first took up the practice of Tai Chi. After many years pursuing a career as a musician and music teacher, I felt the need to complement that sedentary occupation with a more physical component. Additionally, I had a feeling of being “stuck” and some part of me was prompting me to learn, grow, and explore. From my first class, I realized Tai Chi embodied great skill and acute intelligence. I had no idea how profoundly its practice would affect my life.

Tai Chi is based on the ancient Chinese model of Yin and Yang. Most are familiar with the symbol of the “two fishes” each containing the germ of its opposite. In practice, the Tai Chi adept learns to incorporate the seeming opposites of hard and soft, fast and slow, high and low, and so transcends their seeming duality. To me this was a revelation- my university philosophy classes led me to duality’s door, but could not imagine passing beyond its portals. In Tai Chi, I encountered Oriental wisdom for the first time, and grew to respect its profundity. Tai Chi prizes balance; developing flexibility in body and mind in order to respond adequately and efficiently to challenges. Fluid, continuous movement mimics the very current of life itself. Tai Chi’s injunction is to be Yin/Yang and release energetic and physical blockages. The results are profoundly transformative.

Independently of my Tai Chi practice, I had begun reading a little Zen literature. Like many people, I found it more engaging to read about than to actually practice. But our organization also held regular classes in meditation, so I began to attend. It wasn’t long before I realized that the practice of Vipassana or Insight mediation was the correlative of Tai Chi-that is, what Tai Chi promoted for the body, Vipassana did for the mind and subjective elements. Sitting quietly and observing the interior flow of thoughts and emotions revealed many of my habitual personality patterns, thought processes, and compulsions. Seeing those clearly without condoning or condemning led to a letting go, with a corresponding feeling of openness and expansiveness. My “stuck” feeling began to dissipate and changes in my life began. I saw that “letting go” or non-attachment was of the same order as Tai Chi's“balance” or removal of obstacles and restrictions. My conception of practice now recognized a two-fold nature: Tai Chi represented the Yang or active element of practice, while meditation was the Yin, or passive.

One of my favourite quotations is “The journey begins with the first step, and the first step is the last step.” To me it speaks of a never-ending process of learning and a recognition of the ceaseless dynamic of the transformative practices of Tai Chi and meditation.

Jeff Willis