Zhuangzi – Daoist Internal Arts

Tailoring Change

Dr Matthew Brewer — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 20:04:33 +0000

There is an intriguing phrase in the Dazhuan, the Great Treatise, the largest of the ten ‘wings’, or primary commentaries, of the Yijing. It is about the nature of change. It reads: Hua and cai are called bian.Dazhuan 1.12 化而裁之謂之變。 Translated directly it says: Transformation and tailoring are called change. The standard words for change …

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Making Use of the Middle

Dr Matthew Brewer — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 11:51:46 +0000

or Goldilocks was a philosopher There is a short phrase in the Taiji Classics that is easily glossed over. If we take the time to look at it a little more closely, it reveals surprising richness, depth and relevance to our practice of the internal arts and, beyond that, to the art of living. …

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Why So Slow 2

Dr Matthew Brewer — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 15:56:34 +0000

There is a sentence in Wang Bi’s essay on the Laozi,1Laozi weizi lilüe The Structure of Laozi’s Pointers, translated in Wagner, A Chinese Reading of the Daodejing pp.82-106 and Lynn, The Classic of The Way and Virtue pp.30-41. which beautifully expresses the importance of not rushing. It is actually a direct reference to the Great …

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Being Way Oriented

Dr Matthew Brewer — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 15:23:53 +0000

The beauty of Tai Chi is that anyone can do it. There is an old saying: “Tai Chi can be done by anyone: male, female, young, old, strong, weak, intelligent and slow, healthy or ill.” It is one of the few forms of exercise at which you can improve continuously as you age. Tai Chi …

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Nurturing Life

Dr Matthew Brewer — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 15:18:39 +0000

or Paying Attention to Why We Act Why do we do what we do? This is rather a big question. If we get into specifics we’ll be here forever. However, one answer to the question is that generally we do what we do because it is necessary or because we think it is a good …

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Articles & Interviews in PDF

Dr Matthew Brewer — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 09:48:27 +0000

Articles For those who like properly formatted articles, here are all of the articles from the blog (and some that have not yet made it there) in PDF format. Embodied Philosophy Being Busy Being Way Oriented Discretion: not getting stuck Do Not Let the Great be the Enemy of the Good Making Use of the …

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