Dr. Gregory T. Lawton

“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.”

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

In Part One, Walking the Mystic Path with Practical Feet, Bagua Zhang and the Lessons of Nature, we investigated the role and lessons that can be learned from the internal arts and martial art training in nature. More specifically, we covered the seven levels of training including the brutal and violent nature of martial arts effectively demonstrated through chin na and dim mak applications and we briefly investigated contemporary martial sports, cultural expressions of traditional martial arts, and esoteric metaphysical practices within the marital arts.

In Part One, I used Bagua Zhang as my main example and primary focus for the concepts that I presented. In Part Two, Walking the Mystic Path, Mastery of Self I use concepts, theories, and practices of Tai Chi Chuan. Erle Montaigue in his book on the Yang Cheng Fu Tai Chi Chuan long form stated, “In China, most internal martial artists practice Taijiquan as their main system plus one other internal system such as Baguazhang. Very rarely will you find someone trying to practice all three! There is an old saying in China which translates as, “It would take three lifetimes to learn all three”. However, in the West, many people practice all three, and never really master any of them because of it.”1 I am in complete agreement with Erle Montaigue and as such my training concentrates on Tai Chi Chuan and Bagua Zhang. I do include a small amount of Hsing Yi Chuan in my training and teaching, but I make no claim to mastery of Hsing Yi Chuan, or any art for that matter.

Hopefully, in my previous articles written on The Medical Implications of Combat Tai Chi Chuan Techniques, Investigating Blunt Force Trauma, and published in previous issues of Lift Hands, I have to a small degree established my credentials as a martial artist who understands the destructive combat applications of Tai Chi Chuan and Bagua Zhang as applied through chin na and dim mak applications. As Erle Montague wrote, “… Not many teachers know how to use Taijiquan for self defence. Self defence seems to have been lost in a quagmire of mystical mumbo-jumbo somewhere around the late 1960s to the mid-1970s when the ‘new age’ movement adopted Taijiquan as its mascot, turning it into a woozy little dance that was supposed to somehow lead to ‘enlightenment’”.2

In this article I write about the “mystical path” but embarking along the mystical path without a solid foundation in Tai Chi Chuan, Bagua Zhang, Hsing Yi Chuan, or another equally valid martial art as a combat fighting system and having cultivated the mind of a warrior does not lead to mastery, it leads instead to selfdelusion.

How long you have trained in Tai Chi Chuan is not important, and for many does not equate to mastery of the art. Some Tai Chi Chuan practitioners who have trained for decades cannot effectively use Tai Chi for its central purpose as a martial art. What is important is what kind of training have you done. I have organized my personal Tai Chi Chuan training plan into nine separate categories to include:

Erle Montaigue. Image copyright © Nasser Butt

It is not within the scope of this article for me to specifically define and explain each of these categories, perhaps that will occur in a future article. Regarding this training pyramid, the categories are not intended to be “levels” of training and they do not necessarily lead from the bottom to the top. There are many instances in my training where I moved back and forth from one category to another. For a beginner in Tai Chi it is beneficial to start at the bottom and work towards the top, but for the more experienced Tai Chi student or teacher, they can move from one category to another as they feel motivated to do so.

Please consider, as you review the training pyramid, that at the very pinnacle of the pyramid is the simple word Art. I do believe that the highest expression of obtainment in Tai Chi Chuan or Bagua Zhang is the ability to perform these arts with spontaneous creative movement. This is movement without thought and in response to whatever stimuli or events are presented to the martial artist. These movements are blindingly fast, powerful, and a spontaneous representation of the basic principles of Tai Chi Chuan. This creative ability emulates the requirements of all high art whether painting, literature, poetry, calligraphy, music, or dance.

I view martial arts training as a metaphor, and by this comment I am not referring to the many metaphors, similes, and proverbs used by martial art teachers such as, “four ounces deflects one thousand pounds’, “stand like a mountain”, or “flow like a river’, instead by this comment I mean that I view the entire macrocosm of martial arts as a metaphor for life.

Consider that the martial arts are a diamond, cut into many facets, polished, and perfectly reflecting light. Each student of the martial arts sees this reflected light emanating from a different facet, and further each student, each soul, is a mirror that reflects that light as well, but the way they reflect the light depends upon how clean and clear the mirror of their soul is. This is a concept that we will revisit later in this article.

The metaphors that we use as part of the language of a martial art are always lacking and imperfect because our physical experiences, which are multi-sensory and kinesthetic, are far more complex than language. Language is a poor tool for the communication of many high-level theories, concepts, and practices in the martial arts.

That which is essential cannot be spoken of with words; this is the dilemma of teaching.

The teacher cannot directly show students the complex realities that are spiritual truths. The only aspect that can be seen is the outer material form or a physical action, which in the mind of the student often becomes confused for essential truth. Sometimes as we seek to investigate concepts, ideas, and martial philosophy we may find ourselves buried in words. In writing this article and sharing certain concepts with you I do not want to bury you in esoteric or unfamiliar terminology. This happens all too often in the martial arts, and I know that I cannot talk you towards ability and mastery.

Listen! There is nothing to hear, and there are no secrets. It is all there for you. Sand on the beach, light in the sky, rain in the night, it is there abundantly. Why wear a blindfold to the sunrise!3

The essential truth can be somewhat described, but the words are hollow like a dried gourd, empty but for the seeds which, if planted in the soil of a fertile heart, will grow over time into a strong fruit-bearing plant. The strength of the tree is not perceived through its bark.

Hua Ching Ni, a contemporary teacher of human spiritual nature in the Taoist tradition taught, “According to spiritual nature, we are the products of our environment and we are here to fulfil one great purpose; to use the body as a laboratory to do the work of self-refinement which is also referred to as internal alchemy.”4 Aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba explained, “Everyone has a spirit that can be strengthened, a body that can be conditioned, and a journey to begin. You are here to actualize the power within yourself, and to remove the barriers blocking your natural state of peace.”5

In Part One of this article, I compared the body to a horse that we ride through life, we need the horse so that we can travel this long journey through life, but we are not the horse, we are rather the being of light that rides upon the horse. The horse is our helper but someday we will dismount the horse and travel on our own way.

In beginning this article, I would ask you to consider four questions:

1. Are you traveling along the path that you want to travel or just wandering aimlessly? 2. Are you living the life that you want to live? 3. Are you happy with yourself? 4. Are you grateful for the life and experiences that you have been given?

If the answers to any of these four questions are no, then you need to thoughtfully reassess the path you are on. Do it while you still have time to effect positive changes in your life.

Walking the Path to Mastery, In the Beginning

“…and foolishly I asked, “How will I know when I am a master?”, and the answer came, “When you have mastered all aspects of your life as a man, a husband, and a father, as a citizen, and in all things as a true servant of humanity. Then will you be a master.””6

The term mastery or the title “Master” are words that I am uncomfortable with and that I reject for myself. I recognize the unending and eternal path towards mastery, but I do not envision a final destination. Instead, I view mastery as continual process through which the body, mind, and spirit are refined and improved. However, just as for every step that we take along a path there is always one foot in front of us and one foot following behind us, the same is true with mastery. As we walk along the path one foot is leading and the other is following, there is always a part of us that is trailing behind. Another reason that I personally reject the title master is that I am painfully aware of how difficult the journey towards mastery is, how many times I have stumbled along the path, how many times I have gotten lost, and how many times I have had to start over again. It is common in the martial arts community for men and women to call themselves masters. Perhaps, there are masters and Masters.

Throughout human history we have identified masters in all fields of human endeavor and especially in the arts and sciences where there have been masters of music, painting, literature, poetry, philosophy, invention, mathematics, and of course the martial arts. In the martial arts there are many notable examples of mastery including Yang Lu Chan, Dong Haichuan, and General Yeuh Fei, among many others. The path towards mastery in any field of endeavor is difficult and presents tests, difficulties, and challenges at every step. Many students fail and most who start out on the path leave it. In the early stages of martial arts training, it has been my observation that more students will quit the path than will stay on it and among those who follow the path most will never remain throughout the course of their life, and for those who remain on the path through most of their life, many of those will succumb to their negative behaviors, habits, and traits, and their abilities and consciousness will regress and atrophy with time.

“The common craftsman measures his work and is sure of his trade. The artist labors within the unknown and is measured by the worthiness of his creation.”7

In the information to follow I take a systematic approach to explaining the steps or stages of entering what is referred to as the “Mystery Gate” or Xiu Dao, but in reality, there is no exact method or series of steps or stages. One student may start at the “beginning” and another student at the “end”, it is even possible to be “in” two or more stages at the same time. In explaining certain Sufi traditions, and in a work written in response to questions posed by Shaykh Muhyi’d-Din, a judge, who was a follower of the Qádiríyyih Order of Sufism, Bahá’u’lláh stated:

“The stages that mark the wayfarer’s journey from the abode of dust to the heavenly homeland are said to be seven. Some have called these Seven Valleys, and others, Seven Cities. And they say that until the wayfarer taketh leave of self, and traverseth these stages, he shall never reach to the ocean of nearness and union, nor drink of the peerless wine.”8

Before we begin this journey together, lets take an inventory of the tools that we will need to take with us:

1. Our body, our mind, and our spirit. 2. Our belief, our creativity, and our imagination. 3. Our desire, our effort, and our sacrifice. 4. Our meditation, our forms, our practice. 5. Our knowledge, our understanding, and our perception.

Our training in the martial arts is a tool that we may use to shape our lives and our Self. Whether you practice Tai Chi Chuan, Bagua Zhang, or Hsing Yi Chuan, or any other martial art, your art is a metaphor and a catalyst for transformation. The postures in your form, Wave Hands Like Clouds, White Crane Spreads Wings, Partition of the Wild Horses Mane, are all symbolic of your souls’ journey through life. Wave Hands Like Clouds may represent your moving away the cloud like veils that obscure your spiritual perception and who or what is the “White Crane” that spreads its wings but the human soul opening its wings to the heavens.

Each posture or movement in your form is a gate that you enter to acquire ability and knowledge, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Each gate that you enter leads to another gate and that gate to another, and so on, and so on. The natural elements wind, water, wood, light, and earth are your senses teachers and heighten your innate perception. Your mind is not located in your brain. The mind is an emanation or light shining from the human spirit. The physical brain is the “radio” that receives the transmissions from your soul or perhaps a better analogy is that of a light reflecting from a mirror. Your intellect and its abilities are brighter and more penetrating when the mirror of your soul is free of dust.

Stumbling Along the Path

There are certain essential characteristics and virtues that a student must adopt in order to be successful along the path towards mastery in the martial arts. The idea of building character and virtue through martial art training is both an age old and a modern concept. The philosophers of traditional cultures, the scriptures of all world religions, the Yogis, the Stoics, the Confucians, the Samurai, are but a few examples. Likewise, in more recent times we have self-actualization, modern martial arts such as Aikido, transcendental meditation, and more recent religious movements such as the Baha’i Faith.

Many students struggle with the differences in language, culture, beliefs, and attempting to understand century’s old historical periods and their context. Some Asian teachers of the marital arts have suggested that contemporary westerners cannot understand or fully comprehend ancient writings and beliefs. I both agree and disagree, and I include modern Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and other easterners in the group that cannot fully comprehend the lives, work, and beliefs of ancient peoples and ancestors.

Many contemporary martial art teachers are too backward looking, and they are dwelling on the understandings and beliefs of people from the distant past. They need to get out of their schools and set their intellectual discussions that begin and end in word, aside, and go out into the world that inspired Daoism and Confucianism, and the martial arts. If I want to study the nature of changes that occur during spring, my best chance of understanding these changes is to observe the changes in weather, vegetation, and animal behavior that are occurring now, this spring, rather than by attempting to understand a season that occurred hundreds or thousands of years ago. Therefore, I study in nature, and I seek new experiences and knowledge through training. Why attempt to question a corpse? Instead seek your answers from the living. 17

There are hundreds of positive attributes that a student may develop through martial arts training and an argument can be presented that the development of virtues is more important than the ability to fight, but the two aspects, virtue and martial ability are intimately intermeshed with each other. As martial artists our physical and technical abilities play a vital part in the growth of our Self, our body, our mind, and our spirit. This growth of mind, body, and spirit is the most important gift that our martial arts training can provide to us. But the path is not easy.

There are two primary impediments to our holistic transformation. One of these impediments is personal ego. Ego is a poison to the soul, and it is one of the two most significant of the forces that retards our progress in the marital arts and in life. The second impediment is addiction. Addiction represents our material attachment to things and behaviors that veil us from perceptions of the truth, a discovery of reality, and our true or authentic self. Addiction is a prison made by self and desire that retards our physical, mental, and spiritual development.

In writing this article, and particularly this section, I decided not to use or cite examples within the martial arts family of teachers and leaders who have destroyed their physical, mental, and spiritual abilities because of addiction. The teachers and leaders who have succumbed to the disease of addiction are many and their names would be shocking for some. I have chosen not to use names because of my respect for well-known martial arts teachers and leaders and due to my respect for my elders and adherence to Confucian ancestral tradition and the Japanese concept of giri, or reverence to teachers. Giri has been defined as “dedicated service to one’s teacher with a self-sacrificing devotion”.

I am, however, aware through firsthand experience of the challenges that many of my elder teachers struggled with. Foremost among the destructive addictions has been alcoholism. Alcoholism within the martial arts community has been and remains ubiquitous and one of the primary destroyers of personal health and physical and mental ability. Most addictions, especially alcoholism are stressors to the human body, its cells and body systems. The natural process of aging is accelerated by alcohols effect on the human cell.

Even more destructive than alcohol addiction to a martial artist seeking to walk the path to mastery are various recreational drugs, especially those that fall within the narcotic and opioid classifications including heroin and opium. Heroin and opium not only destroy the body and the mind, but they damage the human soul. Modern examples of these drugs readily found on the street include codeine, hydrocodone, oxycodone, methadone, morphine, and fentanyl. I have been practicing and teaching the martial arts since the early 1970s and I have seen many talented students and teachers succumb to drug addiction even when the drugs of choice were alcohol or marijuana.

There are other addictions worth citing here and one is as destructive as any drug or alcoholic beverage and that is sexual addiction. Within the martial arts community and media there are many well publicized stories of mixed martial artists and their social and public exploits.

Alcohol, drug, and sexual addiction represent self-destructive behaviors that are the opposite of the characteristics, behaviors, and attributes that a martial artist on the path to mastery of their art needs to personify. The addictions that a person does not overcome by their fourth decade of life will destroy them and will probably become the cause of their death. The sad truth is that most who start along the journey towards mastery will fail as a result of their own actions and behaviors.

“I cry out, why is this path so difficult? Why is this world so ugly and why does hatred prevail? Why do so few tread the straight path and why do so many fail? The answer resounds, “The dawn is coming, its spreading light is reaching out to end this darkness and to illumine every corner of the world.” The divine Sun must rise again and fill the earth with love. As the first glimmers of this light appear we must mirror this radiance into the hearts of others so that they will awaken from their death-like sleep.”9

Walking the Path of Mastery, Stepping Through the Mystery Gate

There are those within the martial arts community, what I would characterize as those traveling along the lower path, who view the martial arts as simply a set of physical skills and techniques combined with physical conditioning exercises and these individuals may choose to compete in martial sports competition. While this is a valid form of physical prowess and athleticism, especially for children and youth, the history of martial arts in most traditional cultures has aspired to a higher level of expression and refinement of the human spirit.

My teacher, Professor Huo Chi-Kwang was an example of someone who followed a higher path. In his school, the Chinese Cultural Academy, he taught the path to self-improvement through the arts of literature, calligraphy, painting, sword, chi kung and martial arts. Most people who study the martial arts for purposes of self-defense, fortunately will never use their training, and for those who do need to use their martial arts training that need will probably be limited, so why not train for a higher purpose — the purpose of cultivating the mind, body, and

spirit?

This brings our discussion back to the concept of the Mystery Gate or Xiu Dao which is the process of cultivating the spirit (shen) to refine and purify it. Because the concept or conceptualization of the Mystery Gate is esoteric and a metaphysical understanding, interpretation, teaching, and practices related to the Mystery Gate abound. My personal understanding of Xiu Dao is that it is a metaphor that seeks to describe the indescribable. Although some teachers of the martial arts, chi kung, and acupuncture ascribe a specific physical location to the Mystery Gate, I do not agree with this point of view. Instead, I perceive the Mystery Gate as formless and as a state of being that you enter as you slip between intention and non-intention. It is not a place, it is placeless, it is not bound by time, it is timeless. The Mystery Gate is a “state of being” where transformation of human consciousness occurs in conformity to the capacity of a soul. This capacity is determined by the souls acquired divine like attributes or virtues.

“How then can I sing and tell of Thine Essence, which the wisdom of the wise and the learning of the learned have failed to comprehend, inasmuch as no man can sing that which he understandeth not, nor recount that unto which he cannot attain, whilst Thou hast been from everlasting the Inaccessible, the Unsearchable. Powerless though I be to rise to the heavens of Thy glory and soar in the realms of Thy knowledge, I can but recount Thy tokens that tell of Thy glorious handiwork.”10

We have reached a point in this discussion where words fail to convey meaning. There simply are no words adequate to explain this state of being and transformation to a student. The only way in which this knowledge can be gained is through practice and experience. In Part One of “Walking the Mystic Path with Practical Feet, Bagua Zhang and the Lessons of Nature”, I wrote about the role of nature and experiences in nature and explained that training in nature and the experiences derived from nature were essential to the growth and maturation of a true internal martial artist.

Professor Huo Chi-Kwang with his calligraphy in the background (Source of photograph unknown.)

What I can impart to you are stories from my experience in training in nature, I shared several such stories in Part One, “Walking the Mystic Path with Practical Feet, Bagua Zhang and the Lessons of Nature”. Some teachers teach that only static practice, such as seated dao yin or standing chi kung, will help you to go through the Mystery Gate. From my experience that perceptive is wrong. Every time that I have “slipped” through the Mystery Gate I have been practicing my Tai Chi Chuan or Bagua Zhang forms. In other words, I have been deeply engaged in dynamic practice in nature. For the reader of this article, this would be a good time to go back to Part One of this series and re-read my stories about training in nature. However, here are three more short stories.

As I mentioned above, the Mystery Gate is entered without intention or forethought at the still point between intention and non-intention. You cannot “think” your way through the Mystery Gate. At a certain point in your training, you may slide through the gate without realizing that you have done so. This certainly has been my experience. I will begin by sharing a story about practicing Tai Chi Chuan in the north woods of Michigan on a beautiful autumn day.

There are certain days in early autumn that are referred to as “Indian Summer”. Indian Summer is best described as a perfect day in terms of temperature, light, sun, and sky and of course the autumn leaves are in full riotous color. It was on an Indian Summer Day that I was practicing Tai Chi by a stream and beginning to freestyle some of the postures and movements.

As I slipped into creative spontaneous movements, I noticed that the leaves on the forest floor were rising from the ground and were beginning to swirl around me, much like a whirling dust devil, but with multi-colored leaves. As I watched the leaves spinning dance, I realized that even though I was amid hundreds of leaves not a single leaf had touched me. It was as if I was standing in the center of a hurricane with the wind and leaves following my stepping and turning postures and Tai Chi form. What I learned that day about Tai Chi Chuan, I cannot adequately put into words but what I can describe is that I felt that energy was rolling off my body and mingling with the wind and leaves.

Tai Chi Chuan and The Spinning Leaves

I headed to the shore of Pentwater Lake before dawn on a late spring day to practice Tai Chi Chuan. I had begun my Tai Chi practice in the semi dark before the sun came up but as the sky lightened, I noticed that standing only two feet from me was a Great Blue Heron. I was at the point in my Tai Chi practice where I had entered the

posture “White Crane Spreads Wings” and I was standing on my right leg in a crane stance. As I looked at the Great Blue Heron I realized that he (or she) was also standing on his right leg. I paused, and immediately felt a connection to this majestic bird. At that moment, the Heron put down his leg, spread his wings, floated away, and lifted towards the now rising sun. At the moment that I felt a connection to the Heron and observed the Heron flow into the sky and sun I had the most important realization regarding the practice of Tai Chi Chuan that I have ever had, Tai Chi is not 24 postures, 60 postures, or 108 postures. Tai Chi Chuan is one single movement in the Now.

We learn Tai Chi Chuan a few postures at a time and like a medical doctor studying medicine and learning a medical specialty our minds break Tai Chi down part by part and posture by posture, but since Tai Chi Chuan is meditation in motion, it is in reality but a single movement not bound by time or space. That Heron has become the greatest Tai Chi Chuan teacher I have ever had. That was not the only lesson that I gained from this experience, there were several lessons including Tai Chi Chuan is a gate, leading to a gate, leading to an endless series of gates and experiences.

As it is my practice to get up before dawn every day and to begin my training I had risen early and followed a sandy path to the ocean shore and to a reef. As part of my training, I have always sought to train in various kinds of weather and on different ground surfaces. That morning I chose to practice on a rough and uneven ocean reef.

As I practiced my internal forms, Tai Chi Chuan and Bagua Zhang, I slipped into a comfortable state where I became acutely aware of the beauty of my surroundings. The sound of the waves, the salty ocean spray wafting over me, the soft warmth of the morning air, and in the distance a rain squall moving over the water. As I watched the squall flow over the ocean in front of it one rainbow and then a second rainbow formed over the water.

As I witnessed the double rainbow, I began to hear the sound of musical notes and realized that every time I flowed into a Tai Chi Chuan posture a perfect musical note was sounded. It was like my Tai Chi form had taken life and was signing in perfect harmony to the morning, the waves, the rain, the sun, and the rainbows.

The Great Blue Heron

The Ocean, the Rainbow, and the Reef

While practicing Tai Chi Chuan or Bagua Zhang in nature I have on many occasions been amazed by the light and the beauty of a perfect morning sunrise and heard the chorus of the birds and the Song of the Morning. I have also perceived an “other worldly” light that shines brighter and clearer than the sun emanating through the flowers, leaves, and trees around me.

Once again, we have reached the placeless and slipped through the Mystery Gate where words fail to convey meaning. As a teacher all that I can hope to do is to point the way, you will have to travel the rest of the way on your own.

“I have danced my Tai Chi by the ocean and heard the songs of angels. My faltering voice joined in the melody of sacred sounds, singing forth and echoing the song of creation. The sweet vibrations of life.”11

The Keys to Opening the Mystery Gate

There are many that believe that the Mystery Gate can be opened through meditation and breathing exercises. Viewing Xui Dao or cultivation of the spirit through the Dao solely as the result of meditation and breathing practice is an oversimplification of the lifelong process of cultivating and purifying the human soul. The growth of the human soul may be compared to the development of an embryo in the womb. In this analogy the world and our earthly life is the womb and the soul while it is associated with the body acquires virtues and divine like attributes through daily life and action not through words, thoughts, meditation, or breathing exercises. The attributes that we acquire in this life are the “senses”, “limbs”, and powers that we need to be whole and healthy in our second life, the life to come. If we do not develop these senses, limbs, and powers in this life, we are born handicapped into the next life.

The path towards self-mastery requires the adoption of numerous virtues and while the list is extensive and varies according to the interests, experiences, personality, and characteristics of the student there are some attributes that are essential and are often seen among those listed by various teachers and schools. I refer to these attributes as the “paving stones” on the path to mastery. These virtues are also the keys that open the Mystery Gate. Here is my partial list of virtues:

1. Discipline 2. Steadfastness 3. Fearlessness 4. Intellect 5. Ability 6. Humility 7. Generosity 8. Kindness 9. Truthfulness 10. Persistence 11. Loyalty 12. Self-control 13. Respect 14. Honesty 15. Sincerity

While meditation can be an important component of this process, it is not the only component. Within Daoism, which some view as a philosophy and others identify as a religion, the practice of prayer has largely been omitted. The same statement may be made for Buddhism, and yet for most followers of the worlds major and minor religions, prayer is an essential component of spiritual growth and is viewed as inseparable from meditation. The common adage is, “Prayer is speaking to the Source of Creation and meditation is listening for the answer”.

Many believe that meditation, usually static or seated meditation, is sufficient for spiritual cultivation and most teachers teach static meditation as opposed to dynamic meditation and downplay the role of moving meditation through Tai Chi Chuan or Bagua Zhang practice. This is a serious error and omission, and such teaching may limit or retard the advancement of a student.

Often static meditation for the purpose of cultivation of the Dao is combined with metaphysical energy practices including the micro and macro cosmic orbit and moving chi to the Mystery Gate which they view as located at or in the lower Dan Tien. I have already discussed that I do not view the Mystery Gate as a physical location in or on the human body, but as an intangible concept that defies human comprehension, and that exists beyond space and time. I have also explained that you cannot control or force entry into or through the Mystery Gate with thought.

Introducing, Piercing Eagle Feather (John Aldred) B.S., C.M.T., CHHP, Blue Heron Academy Head Martial Arts Instructor

Piercing Eagle Feather (John Aldred) has been researching and practicing the healing and fitness arts for nearly 35 years and has been studying martial arts over 25 years. He began studying the fundamentals of Judo and Hapkido while attending college. After graduating with his Bachelor of Science degree in Health and Fitness: Prevention and Rehabilitation, he found his passion practicing and studying the internal styles of Taijiquan, Baguazhang, Xing-I-quan and Liuhebafa.

John Aldred is an Anishnabe, which means Original Person (people). He is a proud member of The Lake Superior Band of Ojibway Indians. He is a certified enrolled member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community L’Anse Reservation. Many Native Americans adhere to a clan system for developing a sense of personal responsibility and cooperation within the tribe itself.

John’s father belongs to the Bear (Makwa) clan, which are known for their long, thick black hair that does not show an ounce of gray well into old age. Members of the Bear clan were known to be war chiefs and warriors in general, protectors of their family and their land. Most Anishnabeg (Ojibway) believe Bear clan members to be medicine people, and medicine expresses itself in many forms, from mere laughter as medicine, to herbal, diet, fasting and even manual therapies.

John’s mother belonged to the Loon clan, which is known as a leadership clan, more involved with the tendency of the Loon to dive deep underwater, thus the Loon clan are considered to be the inner chiefs, they are known to settle disputes within their community, within their tribe, and within their family. Loon clan members are eloquent leaders, speakers, and negotiators.

He expanded and advanced his repertoire in the healing arts by obtaining certifications in holistic health, herbal medicine, acupuncture/ acupressure, medical massage and advanced manual therapies through the Blue Heron Academy of Healing Arts and Sciences. He received his black belt in Kosho-Ryu-Kenpo-Jujitsu under 9th Dan, Yudansha Taigu, Dr. Gregory T. Lawton, Certified Rank Examiner of the USMAA. Under the same tutelage, he has earned his 6th degree black sash in Old Style Yang Tai-Chi-Chuan and has been promoted to the rank of Red Sash Rank Examiner. John is the chief instructor in Old Style Yang Tai Chi Chuan in the tradition and method of Yang Shao Hou and is an Ambassador of the Blue Heron Academy of Healing Arts and Sciences.

One of the objectives, explained in classical texts and by contemporary teachers of static meditation and energy cultivation is the achievement of “immortality”. Asian literature is replete with stories of Daoist immortals. Immortality is explained by various teachers as either living forever, living an exceptionally long life, or disappearing and merging into the Dao.

Certain teachers have adopted a literal interpretation of classical teachings and are attempting the make the intangible tangible, to move the Mystery Gate or the placeless to a place in the body and are misunderstanding the spirits journey to its eternal home in the “Dao” as an immortal life on earth. Just as a raindrop makes its way among streams and rivers, and into the ocean, our spirit returns to the Source, energy merges into the universe like a drop into the sea.

“You are a vibration, a word, a sound. You are an image, a mirror, a light. You are water, fire, heaven and earth, spirit, and flesh. You are a drop, a river, an ocean. You are oneness. Then how different are you from heaven and earth?”12

If a person has lived a good life and has through acts of human service acquired virtues, the soul, once it “dismounts its human horse”, will pass into the next life, the second life, and once there that soul will need to be “quickened” and to be enlivened with the spirit of faith. A simple way of viewing this transformation is by stating that a soul that has not developed the needed attributes for its spiritual or second life is, comparably speaking, dead, and a soul that has gained the spirit of life begins its new existence with great power and beauty and the ability to comprehend its new existence, to travel through the worlds of reality, and to evolve throughout eternity.

“Heaven is my father and Earth is my mother…all people are my brothers and sisters, and all things are my companions. In life I follow and serve Heaven and Earth, and in death I will be at peace.”13

Walking the Path of Mastery, Embracing Peace

During the first few decades of my marital arts training, I did not read or study books on the martial arts. At first this was simply because there weren’t many books available on martial arts and there were few if any movies or television shows on the topic. In the 1950s and 1960s my sole source of knowledge and training in the martial arts were soldiers who had fought in the Korean war and had returned home after training for one or two years overseas in Korea, Japan, or Okinawa… As I studied with various military veteran’s and my knowledge and

skills grew, I made a wilful decision not to read some of the first books that became available. During the 1970s and later, books about the martial arts became ubiquitous, but I still refused to read or study them. I cannot explain exactly why I decided not to read or study the thoughts, ideas, and practices of other teachers, but I consider my decision fortuitous and central to my development as a martial artist because it led to my forming my own thoughts, philosophy, and path through the martial arts. It wasn’t until the 1990s, thirty-five years into my martial arts training that I began to read martial arts training and theoretical literature and to acquire video media on the martial arts. I attribute my insistence on training with a few good martial art instructors, and finding my own way, with my discovery of the value of training in nature.

There is a story told about a young monk who asked his abbot why they spent their days copying ancient scrolls and he noted specifically that they were copying copies. He observed that if they were copying copies, as monks had done for centuries, might they not be copying errors repeatedly? This story explains why I decided to go to the source and origin of the martial arts, and to not copy copies or those who were blindly emulating the teachers before them. I wanted, as much as it was in my ability, to avoid errors in my training methods and practices and to not adopt erroneous concepts or theories.

It is commonly taught that there are three levels or stages of meditation: physical, psychological, and spiritual. In the physical form of meditation scientific studies have demonstrated the benefits of meditation on the physiology, neurology, and chemistry of the human body. The psychological level is intimately connected to the physical effects and produces beneficial mental and emotional states such as calmness, love, compassion, or peacefulness. The spiritual dimension leads to diverse and exceptional spiritual states and unique visionary experiences.

It has been my experience that many forms of meditation, and meditators, are too cerebral or mental. True meditation is from the heart, as is the path to mastery. Adventurousness, curiosity, sincerity, and love are essential ingredients that lead to transcendental experiences in nature. You may have noticed that the stories that I have shared in both Part One and Part Two of this series are transcendental and are not “visions”. A vision may be a unique mental or spiritual experience whereas a transcendental experience in nature is “real” in the sense that it can be recorded or photographed. A transcendental experience is both tangible in that it occurs in the natural world and intangible because the connection with nature and animals is extraordinary and often transcends our normal experience.

I know many regular and long-term meditators who follow different systems of meditation from transcendental, to various yogic systems, Zen, Theosophy, and the list goes on and on. Many spend years meditating but may stay on the physical and psychological level, which is fine and beneficial to the body and the mind. Others seek an expansion in consciousness on the spiritual level, but they often get lost in illusionary occult and psychic practices.

I have never attempted to create a transcendental experience in nature. I have abandoned all artificial processes and I have no method other than training in nature. Perhaps this is why I have had these profound experiences. They occur because I do not try to force them. Instead, I go out into nature to train and while training I concentrate and become aware of the world around me. In the same manner you cannot “force” mastery. When I am training, and I train outdoors in all kinds of weather and terrain, I become aware of what is around me, the rain, snow, cold, heat, trees, flowers, the sky, the sun, the moon, the shadows, every nuance of the natural world I am “playing” in. I have learned meaningful life altering lessons in nature organically and naturally.

In this article I used the example of a mirror in comparison to the human soul. A mirror faithfully reflects whatever you place in front of it. If you put a material object in front of the mirror it will reflect the light of that object, in like manner if you put spiritual “objects”, concepts, or questions in front of the mirror of your soul, your soul will reflect that light and truth will be revealed. That truth may be in the form of words, it may become an experience, or it may be an image or vision.

Your meditation, in whatever form it may take, must harmonize with your daily life, values, and behavior. “Many are called, but few are chosen”. One of the most daunting tasks on the path towards mastery is overcoming self and desire and many fail to succeed. Among my circle of friends and acquaintances within the martial arts community that have remained true to their training, have preserved their physical health and abilities, and have not succumb to their addictions whether food, alcohol, drugs, sex, greed, or power – I can count on the fingers of one hand.

When I am training in nature, and I have a transcendental experience within the environment or with animals such an experience produces a state of elation, joy, and amazement. In these moments I feel truly alive and as if I am more soul than human and have become a living soul. As the poet William Wordsworth wrote, “While with an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and with the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things.”

In these moments I have become my authentic self and I carry way from these moments the greatest lessons of my life. I explained this early in this article when I referred to the Great Blue Heron as my greatest teacher of Tai Chi Chuan. As a martial artist who began as a strict pragmatist whose only focus was on combat martial art and fighting, I feel that the Creator has played a joke on me by making of me a mystic and teaching me that mystical experiences lead to oneness and oneness to your authentic self. It is only when we recognize the oneness of all things and our relationship to the natural world that we become our authentic self.

There is a Zen koan attributed to Ch’an Master Lin-chi I-hsuan Hui-chao that says, “If you see Buddha on the road, kill him.” I am familiar with several interpretations of this koan but I have my own. In this new age of spiritual revelation one of the primary principles is the principle that every human being is responsible for the independent investigation of truth to discover reality. If you meet another “Buddha” on the path do not accept that “Buddha’s” truth, find your own. I will take this koan a step further, “If you meet your teacher on the road, kill him or her.”

Learn from good teachers but do not idolize them. The path to mastery is different for every person and you must find your own way. So, kill your teachers, or the parts of them that you are copying, and burn your books. Once you have read this article put it aside and commit yourself to finding your own way. Perhaps, you might want to revisit this article in a year or two and compare your experiences from training in nature to the ideas, concepts, and stories that I have shared. You may find a different way, or you may find that our path and stories are similar. There are so many possibilities and no one person can experience them all.

“My teacher touched me and now I touch you. The cellist’s bow draws across the cello and sounds move the heart. These vibrations pass between us.”14

When I was a child, I loved to end the sweetness of a warm summer day by swinging on my swing-set as the shadows lengthened and the evening darkened. I was fascinated by stars. As I swung to and fro I would patiently await the appearance of the stars. As the stars came out, I would quietly sing my songs and say my child’s prayers. I would do this until my mother’s call would draw me home.

I have never lost my child’s awe and love for the mystery of creation, or my awareness of the many evidences of Divine power and order in the world around me. Simply put, this is why I love to dedicate myself to the study and teaching of internal martial arts such as Tai Chi Chuan and Bagua Zhang. The beauty and peace of these arts is my prayer and meditation, a way I have found to express my gratitude for my life, and to celebrate my existence through the dance of Tai Chi Chuan and Bagua Zhang. The path towards mastery is the path to peace. When we join and unite with the natural world and experience oneness through transcendence, peace fills our heart and we become beings of compassion to the world. Rumi in the Mathnawi speaks:

“For the sake of God, the Real, whose slave I am, I yield this sword.”

And again, he speaks:

“And so, I must put down my sword; that my name might be he loves for God’s sake, that my desire may be he hates for God’s sake, that my generosity may be he gives for God’s sake.”15

Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī

I am now at a loss to know what else to write to you, or how better to say these things so that you will understand that through these internal arts we dedicate ourselves to peace. That through our art and practice we strive to embody the spirit of peace. That through our art we seek to offer to humanity the gift of peace. To take these steps is to walk the path to mastery.

Conclusion

I have perhaps taken upon myself an impossible task and my words in this article, and others I have written and spoken, are poor tools to express the secrets of the internal martial arts. We have all experienced profound Godgiven moments of beauty, of insight, the answering of prayers, the gift of grace from God, and divine confirmation. You may know what I refer to when I talk about these joyful, magical moments when creation becomes our best friend, deepest lover, and playmate in the unfolding mystery of life.

In this article I have invited you to follow along the path to mastery and to discover your authentic self through training in nature and I have warned you about the pitfalls of self, desire, and addiction. Hopefully, I have enticed you to leave the comfort of your home, leave the familiarity and security of your schools, and train in nature, the of source and origin of all knowledge and ability in the internal martial arts.

Notes

1. Montaigue, Erle. Tai Chi, the Chinese art of healing and self defense. Carleton Books Limited, Spain, 1999, p. 6. 2. Ibid, p. 6. 3. Lawton, Gregory. Scent of a Forgotten Flower. Muyblue Productions, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, Second

Edition 2017, p. 10. 4. “Consciously Embodying the Tai Chi Principles”, GPYTCA Workshop Title: “Tai Chi Principles as

Metaphors for Right Living.”, Presented by Jarl Forsman and Steve Sekhon at the 2011 Guang Ping Yang Tai

Chi Annual Convention. 5. Morihei Ueshiba Quotes. BrainyQuote.com, BrainyMedia Inc, 2021. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/ morihei_ueshiba_183596, accessed May 25, 2021. 6. Lawton, Scent, p. 23. 7. Lawton, Scent, p. 9. 8. Bahá’u’lláh, (The Call of the Divine Beloved), www.bahai.org/r/490110962. 9. Lawton, Scent, p. 23. 10. Bahá’u’lláh, Bahá’í Prayers: A Selection of Prayers Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,

Author: Various Source: US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1991 edition, pages 121-122. 11. Lawton, Scent, p. 22. 12. Lawton, Scent, p. 12. 13. Huang, Siu-chi. "The Moral Point of View of Chang Tsai." Philosophy East and West 21, no. 2 (1971): 141-56. Accessed May 25, 2021. doi:10.2307/1397782.

14. Lawton, Scent, p. 9. 15. Jalâl ud Dîn Rûmî (Author), Mathnawi of Jalalu'ddin Rumi (3 Volume Set), Kindle Edition, Reynold A.

Nicholson (Translator) Format: Kindle Edition, Location 3800.

References

1. Montaigue, Erle. Advanced Dim-Mak: The Finer Points of Death-Point Striking. Paladin Press, Colorado,

USA, 1994. 2. Montaigue, Erle. Tai Chi, the Chinese art of healing and self defense. Carleton Books Limited, Spain, 1999. 3. Lawton, Gregory. Scent of a Forgotten Flower. Muyblue Productions, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, Second

Edition 2017. 4. Jalâl ud Dîn Rûmî (Author), Mathnawi of Jalalu'ddin Rumi (3 Volume Set), Kindle Edition, Reynold A.

Nicholson (Translator) Format: Kindle Edition. 5. Bahá’u’lláh, Call of the Divine Beloved, Selected Mystical Works of Baha'u'llah, ISBN: 978-0-87743-390-

Publisher: Baha'i World Centre.

Art and Photography Attribution:

All images, art, and photography by the author and Abass Ali, unless indicated otherwise.

About the author

Dr. Gregory T. Lawton is a licensed physician and acupuncturist. He is the founder of the Blue Heron Academy of Healing Arts and Sciences where he teaches biomedicine, medical manual therapy, Asian medicine, and martial arts. Dr. Lawton is nationally board certified in radiology, physiotherapy, manual medicine, and acupuncture. He is the author of over 200 books and educational materials, some in the area of mystic poetry and prose. Since the early 1960s Dr. Gregory T. Lawton has studied and trained in Asian religion, philosophy and several martial arts including Kenpo/Kempo, Bagua Zhang, Hsing Yi, and Tai Chi Chuan. Dr. Lawton’s most noted Asian martial art instructor was Professor Huo Chi-Kwang who was a student of Yang Shao Hou.

Art and Photograph Credit

Photographs by Abass Ali and the author. A special thanks to Abass Ali for his assistance with the demonstration photographs and for his expert photography skills. The artistic images are the work of the author.