Adrenaline assistance to people in danger

In primitive times of the development of mankind, human beings struggled to survive. Everyday just to eat and live, men defied death. The confrontation with the possibility of extinction was also present as well as life itself. We have not changed and our immune system is still running as at the time of survival. The response to stress triggers a release of adrenaline to cope with two options the most important: to flee or fight ( "fight or flight syndrome"). This discharge leads to a greater neuromuscular function and to better withstand pain.

In our disempowered and sanitised society, we are not faced with these extremes of the body, so, they end up surprising us. We take this feeling normally to assist a person in danger as a pathological manifestation of our weakness faced with a situation that overwhelms us or paralyses us instead of us carry forward in our choice of action or escape.

When driving a car, you are asked to put the car into gear and then accelerate. If you do, you'll have a movement which will depend on the force with which you push your machine. If you accelerate without engaging the gears, you have a terrible noise, a trembling of the structure and a surprised driver that did not see the expected motion. Adrenaline causes the same phenomenon in humans: if we learn to use it is an invaluable, otherwise it will only disturb us.

We now recognise the different manifestations of these discharges in our body. There are five major manifestations of our fears and our anxieties that will correspond to the problematic release of adrenaline:

* The anguish of anticipation,

* The fear before confrontation,

* The fear in the confrontation,

* The second dose in the confrontation,

* The anguish from the confrontation.

Through our daily pathological anxieties, we release over long periods small doses of adrenaline without specific purpose or cause. A possible confrontation with the spouse, the department head, the "colleagues" at work, this causes unnecessary anxiety. The body gets used to the constant release of adrenaline, the subject will be more tense, agitated and unable to respond to a real emergency situation. The constant stimulation of the system, without reason and without action, is like a car that accelerates continuously without being in gear, and burns the engine. The theory of compulsive possible conflict is destroying us and makes our lives difficult. Especially the fight against situations instead of fighting windmills. Moreover, after some time, this unused energy, stagnant and "hot", will be turned against someone weaker than us in our daily lives: a spouse, child or small pet (if you are really low and pathetic). This fresh release of "poison" must be identified and sublimated to not destroy us. That anxiety, in the area of the world of thoughts. It is a work of internal alchemy begins with chi kung.

In the planning of an actual confrontation, it is normal to be scared. This stimulation prepares us for the reality. Whether the request for a raise, the prospect of a break with someone close, a combat sport or for his life, the feeling will grow until the manifestation of the event. This fear may be the one of defeat or one of success. If this discharge of adrenaline lasts long enough it becomes useless. It is very difficult not to be the victim of this waiting period, its often much worse than what we really expect. This is the realm of "calming mind", but this represents an advanced level of practice.

In a conflict situation, and depending on our level of knowledge of these phenomena, we have a violent discharge which is coated with adrenaline. In our reality, we will be overtaken by the flight of a sparrow or to fight with a bayonet in the dark. The more intimate we are with these discharges and these situations, the more we live it fully, in its abandonment. The response will be more true if our intellect is not participating, we are in the instinctive response which is directly dependent on adaptation of perceptions; mental compulsive mind is not the place. We can gently familiarise ourselves with our reactions with a progressive exposure to our fears. Thus we will be able to respond normally to life, not in a typical resistance of Tao.

In a conflict situation with life, we can misjudge a situation. This misjudgement can appear suddenly in the realisation of the confrontation: again we pass by a fear to fail or succeed that will give us a "second round" of sudden release of natural stimulant. Too often ignored by scholars too unadventurous in their studies on fear, the second wave can break our action in its implementation. Confident of our ability, but surprised by the turn of reality, we can be knocked by this phenomenon. An imaginative fantasy, nourished by hopes and dreams can be the difference between our projections and reality. I love the image of the fighter that really hits for the first time an opponent. The of course immensely destructive power of his fists of steel , but he was surprised by the absolute lack of results on the other side of him. The imagination and cheap books ensure him victory still, but the reality is not as attractive. The illusions can be gone in combat and receive a "second wave" of fear that at worse paralyse, better to flee. A husband who wants to break with his wife can be sure of himself and his power until the final confrontation where his partner leaves. The universe of human decision-making may be the source of a memorable discharge of adrenaline. Exposure to fears will help set the level of fear response to a pleasant level for everyday life: This level differs depending on whether it is sewing or a special forces officer.

After the conflict a "dragging" release and discharge of the remaining residual tension. If the confrontation is a success or not, there is at that moment often a violent feeling concluding that this experience is complete. The emotions will be linked to the happy or not resolution of the confrontation which will make this time readily perceptible or not. When we are very pleased with the success of a confrontation, the corresponding end discharge may be confused with the signs expressed emotionally, but it is there any way. The more the phase of confrontation is not resolved, the more the phase will be violent. If all the stages do not end in a frank resolution, residues will be very present and very bulky.

How to recognise the manifestation of the release of adrenaline?

The results of a slow discharge, type 1 of anguish and type 2, are much more dangerous and can become chronic. The same symptoms can exist for a bad psychological reaction to type 5, the discharge after the fact, this is a state of shock.

We have four major symptoms:

* The loss of sleep or disturbed sleep,

* Loss of appetite or weight loss,

* Depressive syndromes,

* High blood pressure and palpitations.

Regarding the release of the violent moment of confrontation, conflict, we find five events general:

* To obstruct part of the heart beat and to shake the entire body (including voice),

* A lack of saliva and a spontaneous sweat (hands included)

* A "tunnel" vision to that reduces peripheral vision (useful but dangerous)

* Nausea or possible to go to the toilet,

* A distortion of time that can seem longer or shorter.

These are the events listed as the most common in studies on the biochemistry and fear thereof.

To find some relaxation in these situations, a normal operation, we have three essential concepts:

* Accept an intellectual comprehension and experiment of the mechanisms of the body,

* Feel the adrenaline discharge without confusion and weakness,

* Utilise, the more natural "fight or flight" situation.

We will detail these later stages.

How will you respond?

You are in a small street at night, alone, and three men walking toward you. You have cash in your pockets and they obviously did not intention of letting you keep it. You should feel safe because it has been more than fifteen years that you have trained in karate. Yet you are afraid.

What will you do?

These thugs will not warn you traditionally and wait until the referee starts the game. They will not attack you one by one. They will jump on you and will do anything to hurt you and you fly.

Which guard will you adopt?

In normal times, during your bi-weekly workout, You do a little light combat with your partner. It is the same when you arrive at a small regional competition. But you're not prepared for that. Never in your training you have received blows without control, with all the speed and strength possible. This is normal you say, otherwise you could get hurt. Well, not necessarily because today, the protection that exists uses a particular technology that permits combat as fast and strong as you want without representing too much risk for the other. Of course, if one is protected in this way, one may exercise the maximum of possibilities, without co-operation from one's partner, which finally brings us closer to reality. We can no longer say "yes but if you do that I do that! "Because in this type of training we have to respect the reality. It is certainly less fun and less magical than the usual training, but at least what we do at that time, we know that we can reproduce whatever the situation.

Let us return to our impasse, with our three bad guys. If all three are trying to attack you at full speed, their strength and their capabilities, what are your chances to of leaving?

Apart from the special commandos of the army or police, no one is ready for this kind of situation. The idea is not to prepare for a battle, which after all is unlikely to happen in his life. But if you train to be close to reality, if one knows what a full power, full speed attack is and is no longer afraid of that, then with our intent and our confidence we can overcome anything. I'm not saying that if you have confidence you can beat, arms tied behind the back, against five or six armed men. But whatever the situation, we can at least adapt . To train in a reality, we recognise that we have confidence in what we do, we can not be scared once in the heart of the action. If we train in unrealistic techniques, with a too co-operative partner, somewhere at the bottom of class we know very well that it would not work if we were in the midst of a real street fight. And even if our study is good on a technical level, the fact of never having experienced it in reality (to accustom the mind and body) we are handicapped. We can not confirm the value of a technique directly in the chaos of combat, because it is usually too late.

The confidence one has in oneself has nothing to do with the stories you or others can tell. The only true time is when it comes to a confrontation, it is often too late unfortunately. If one trains his abilities and skills in a realistic manner, one would have more confidence and trust in oneself.

How then do we train for performance?

First, if you train with the idea of being the most effective, you must train at maximum speed. It is clear that early in learning the techniques and the details of assimilation, you will begin gradually, very slow to very fast. Unfortunately, It is very often exercises where the opponent is co-operative and attacks quickly but always in control, so that some areas are too often forgotten when they are needed to be made effective. It is the attack at full speed of an opponent who doesn't co-operate that is important. Therefore, if you do not want to be injured in each training, we need appropriate protections in the workplace.

Secondly, when organising free combat training, remove the concept of rules. It is better to start with slower training and progress slowly in the speed but without rules, rather than take quickly away with restrictions. The idea of combining the concepts of combat and rules is an aberration. If you train to fight with restrictions, you develop bad habits by not being ready to suffer any attack. It is also obvious that protective equipment plays a very important role in the failure to get injured.

Thirdly, it is necessary that your partner becomes at one time or another an opponent who does not cooperate. In many styles of traditional martial arts, the partner tends to go with the defence, because he knows the attack, and tries to make the movement more smooth. If we want to give harmony this is fine, but if we are in a combat, we will have to do otherwise. Although we learn a variety of techniques during life, we will realise that none of them will apply to the letter during real combat. Therefore, the sooner we learn to recognise all forms of combat can have a partner, we can better respond to these techniques. It is in knowing how switch from one technique to another that we will succeed, without any co-operation, apply the technique you want on a partner. It is clear that without co-operation training can cause injuries if we did not use protection provided.

We have three important points that must be used for practicing training in the arts of combat somewhat realistically:

* Maximum speed,

* Maximum force,

* Uncooperative partner.

Now we have seen how to train, what are the results.

If you train in a traditional old system, you should have: exercises for physical strength, for flexibility, for the root, to breathe, to balance emotions, for the intent and for the displacement of energy. With all this, one can imagine that we get a total of movements of over 350 gestures, not at all! In the old styles, the same physical movements were used for both the chi kung and for fighting.

For example, the posture of the tree (you can find under chi kung). And the position with the arm at the shoulder may be used for each part of the training. Looking at the posture itself the practice of rooting seems obvious. To develop the strength of arm and back, a few simple isometric exercises are easily adaptable. To work the legs, just do the exercise down lower. In the same position we can cause a swing of the pendulum on the feet, heel to toe, with beats that allow arms to work relaxation and flexibility of movement. With these gestures, it is sufficient to add breathing techniques and meditation to balance the emotional work and enhance the intent, without affecting the basic structure which is the position of the tree. For the combat arts, a slight shift forward / backward and right / left, work on the hook, the slap and push action.

It is a simple example, but you can quickly see that it is not necessary to store more gestures to develop more capabilities and skills, just repeat the same movements with a different intention. It also includes with this example that if you repeat the same gestures with a fixed intention these movements can never be alive and usable. This may place or call into question the training of choreographed forms

The forms are useless

The forms are useless, but ...

I am talking of choreographed forms which are composed of several techniques simulated in emptiness.

I was fortunate to meet many talented practitioners and masters of martial arts, they shared with me the forms and exercises that I practice today.

After all this time, I want to say whether for combat for energy development or the spiritual aspect, forms are useless.

In terms of combat, exercises that change the qualities of the practitioner (ie, its strength and "heart"), are sufficient to prepare the basis for addressing the physical confrontation.

The forms provide only an illusion of technical feasibility and fantasy. They take valuable time to practice for which we would be better to work seriously ... but I never met a fighter who did not have a good technical training, based on the work forms, or at least forms of the body. There are a few forces of nature, rather rough and nasty ... but outside the scope of the practicioners.

For the use of "vectors of force”, respect for the structure in action and the transfer of force, repetition of forms may be a good idea. In addition, the fluidity of the gesture, not parasitised by the thoughts because the mind has had time to integrate the learning of the form, allow the training of strikes ... keep the balance ... hummmm.

I do not speak of the "unique" moves , those that are the latest "exit the jing" but the forms "dancing".

For the work of blood circulation, therefore energy, just relax, and “it will come"... The idea is to make movements that are supposed to" circulate energy "or" open the meridians "! Yet it is evident that certain gestures develop and strengthen certain parts of the body. This development leads to better circulation, and therefore a greater flow of energy. Could it be that these movements have been craftily combined to extract some "forms"? If it was not done, it seems a good idea.

The forms that I could find in the internal arts of Taoist influence, those who are not from yesterday, have this feature to promote an equitable circulation throughout the physical structure, to "pull" on routes of the meridians of Chinese medicine and all that expense in a minimum of gestures. We can do without it, but as it is already there ....

For spiritual practice, we will see it another time ..

The forms are not used for combat, but the practice will "relax" and strengthen the qualities of the fighter. They occupy a strange place, but not essential ...

The forms are useless, but without the practice of these, the road seems longer.

A paradox!

I practice the "routine" has always been, I believe useful.

But it seems to me that there is a paradox regarding their role: they are not for the reasons they are used.

Athletes or practitioners of the sports of combat do not know this. They focus on "unique movements, techniques and applications.

In the internal arts, training forms is often followed by the training of unique movements. The gestures are often extracted from forms, which one is working alone, to enter the "no thought" and to learn to exit the force.

Each gesture is then worked to become more powerful and relaxed, then integrated to link it to the form.

The exercises and training methods may be sufficient, as in yi chuan for example, but yet the taste is not the same.

There is something "magical" in the forms, a spark of the past, contact with something else.

I am a lover of rare or old, for the pleasure of the mind or to learn how to "exit" the jing in a defined system. At the same time, they seem of little use, but still essential.

Among the professors I met, one does not even practice the forms, or just to teach them. On the other hand, they often practice free, nourished by the shapes they had used before. At a certain level of freedom of body and mind, the form can not contain himself within the pre-established structure, but formless freedom is hard to find.

The role of "routines" is much finer than it seems.

There are basic moves, which are worked at first.

The exercises and training methods of internal arts, the 'nei gong and wai gong ", will make these movements of gestures that will be able to gain strength and relaxation.

Then you learn the forms, structured dances that incorporate the basic moves.

In these routines, the basic movements are often used differently than in the basic exercises, it gives them a freedom and an additional movement. The link between the actions, the combination of movement and continuity of force over the form must do a specific job.

The management of distance and concepts of combat will emerge from the implementation of "form" of basic gestures.

In the internal arts, basic techniques are often more focused on the development of body and its movement as the base for "strikes". The strikes are often used later in the exercises of exit of force of the "unique movements”.

Why should we practice forms today?

I think there are still three good reasons to do so:

* - Preparing the body for the movements of the style,

* - Combining all the techniques that make the style,

* - Focusing the "utilisation" of the style in a form.

In the form it will be possible to combine the way to move, the mechanical movement, the concepts of combat and management of the distance. None of these principles will be really visible, they can be transparent in our practice if training methods are not known.

The problem is that, over the centuries, the movements have evolved as a movement and not as principles. Why was a gesture created to carry out a specific action, often ignored the practitioner, may be subsequently be modified without the practitioner would understand the reason. This will result in a "pretty" form, more adapted to the young master, but more distant from the original creation. Gradually, the style loses its "heart" and nourishes his "coating".

In addition, techniques that were used long ago, in a specific situation, are now obsolete. I think particularly to techniques of combat in armour, or combat for cavalry, which seems unnecessary for the street today. Even if you are unfortunate enough to be attacked by a knight in armour!

Every movement of the forms should be trained to express the power, and speed while staying relaxed. Without this training, the forms are "empty", even if the actions are there, they lack the strength and precision, they are useless, but pretty.

For art is alive, it must evolve. A master proud to have a form that has not changed since the creation of style underlies two things: the first is that if his style is "usable", he decreed that the ways of fighting have not advanced. The second is that people have become idiots in recent decades and therefore unable to move or think.

Having mastered his art, I repeat it: having mastered the art, it is desirable to change if necessary, or leave it as such.

New knowledge of people in anatomy, cardio-vascular techniques to increase proprioception, understanding of the increase in strength and training exercises in speed ... all this can lead to change how we practice. If you prefer to ignore all that knowledge and practice as 300 years ago, it is a choice ... which is often a waste of time, precious time in practice.

"You have to find everything in the middle, I think that is the solution. Traditional forms must be nourished by the knowledge of today, but we must not give up profound knowledge of the ancients, to the magic of transmission of knowledge.

The specificity of a good number of internal arts lies in the apparent innocence of the practice.

To develop deep changes in the body and the spirit of the follower, it is important not to give him exercises too "clear", otherwise he will try to put strength and speed.

If you can train without "intent" for a transformation, everything is easier. To reproduce gestures that express the force through a unprepared body, or to develop power in a fragile wrapping is to put a heavy cannon in a boat: the first shot, the boat sinks.

In the internal arts, focus is on the preparation of the structure for its use. The form will allow us to test the structure, through an elegant dance, which summarises the theories of style. After many years of understanding through practice, exercises and training methods will feed the form that will "teach" the practitioner.

For all these reasons, the forms "are" for ancient arts, "the soul" of styles and therefore they do not "serve" anything.

Why train the combat arts?

Today wherever you are on the planet, we can easily avoid violent situations all of our life. Obviously we can also be confronted if its our business or if you train in the evening in shady places (in which case we know that we are not in the right place at the right time). We are no longer in a society where the exit is even a risk. Most of the traditional arts were created still remain at home could be risky if we lived in a review. Today, in 90% of cases, the assault began but was quickly interrupted by the arrival of the police or security service of some kind. Even in cases of serious physical confrontations, it is ultimately at most a bleeding nose and a swollen lip. Small urban disputes frequently lead to nervous breakdowns, insults and perhaps one or two pushes on the chest to prove that you are a man, but rarely more. Even if you cannot count on the neighbours or friends to help us in the street, we are pretty sure that if you start shouting strongly police eventually arrived. Finally, normally!

So really, why the art of combat?

I do not mean the martial disciplines as can be seen, determining if the aggressor is "the hidden heron", I do it "the thing that kills." I speak of the arts of combat, where in each practice we will research what it is to research the technique learned with partners. An art of combat, that without co-operation, we can apply what we learn to use this technique in the worst conditions. Training that can also be violent, free and anachronistic at first glance.

Why these arts when we go to every practice to put ourselves in a situation, as real as possible, where we will be risking injury? Considering the difficulty and time invested I would say that it is not only to learn to hit stronger and more specifically hit people.

What is needed to properly train these martial practices?

You must be focused 100% of the time, otherwise the punishment is immediate: it only takes one! It's like meditation, right? Except that when meditating, we tend to get lost in thoughts and there was not the "chance" take a shot to get back in the moment. In the art of combat it is impossible not to be there every second.

And if after years of combat training, as realistic as possible, we just happened to better focus on the present?

This is already a reasonable practice. Because if the training is developing the presence deeply, the conditions must apply across the life not only to the practice whatever its form. That is to say that we will acquire a presence in daily life and in dreams too. Many different practices to the same end: to give us a taste of this. Unfortunately many practices only delude us on our progress. Meditating for example, one quickly imagines the Buddha and chi kung one thinks to the complex movement of energy, but what about reality? That may be true but it may be pure illusion, who knows?

The work is the same in the arts of combat, but the illusion is only possible if trained poorly. If you train with always a co-operative partner, never having to fight, or if one trains slowly without stopping, never accelerating the movement, then we are too far from reality. The combat arts preparing for combat, it seems simple but I have the impression that few people understand this. We forget that the idea of martial arts was the idea of combat. How can we develop qualities and skills through the art of combat, if ever, with his partner and safely, is not through a confrontation as quickly and strongly as we can. If you have a correct practice, it is impossible to delude. Each error of concentration and presence will be irreparably sanctioned by a little violent shock. A little harsh perhaps? Yes but at least it is a rapid progression that allows us to always know where you are. To summarise, the first interest in working the arts of combat is to be in the present without delusion, or at least have a taste of what it means to live in the moment.

Now a second interest that is directly related to combat training. If the practice is serious, each confrontation, there will be a direct result of the violence and the fear of pain. Even between friends (in fact especially between friends) training may be the source of many bruises or worse. This fear of pain, suffering, the fear of dying. The fear of extinction, to be destroyed, no longer exist is a universal human fear. Indeed, after some time in the practice of meditation one is often confronted with this fear of the dissolution or disappearance. This is also the fear of death that is found. Addressing this fear through meditation is a solution but this is not the easiest. Any problem that directly causes reactions and brings us more quickly (if one survives the reactions) to solving the problem. If the fear of death is most often through the suffering, pain and everything that makes us think that our bodies are not immortal, we attack the problem head on by confronting our bodies and our minds with physical violence . In this practice each gesture of the enemy, our partner is a direct attack on our integrity. Each practice with weapons, even plastic, brings us back to the fragility of body and mind. Over the whole sphere we have a problem where we are disturbed, the more it will be necessary to look seriously.

In the Taoist arts that we teach you cannot push the students to fight if this is a real problem for them. Otherwise they are free to fight or not. If this poses a problem to fight, but only after a session or two you can see they are more relaxed, then it will no longer be required to continue. It is important to confront the problem only if it is a problem. It sounds simplistic but that is the program.

In sum, the practice of the combat art would place the practitioner to face his fear of death and suffering. Thus, the student himself will report his progress and will eventually accept violence as something to know to master, instead of being afraid. If you're completely involved in training and it becomes what is most important in life, we will eventually not only no longer be afraid of a possible physical confrontation, but also not to be afraid of death, the process will go even faster if we practice meditation in parallel. One can accept that the body lives and dies without appreciating the good and death in life as bad, this is one of the goals for most spiritual practices. It will still be relatively easy to believe that, through meditation, we acquired the level of understanding when this is not the case. However in martial practice, we can not delude ourselves. When the time comes for training, we arrive and you know right away if you're scared or not, and is a loophole. This may seem a little hard, but it is a means to achieve a significant result without losing too much time.

It reminds me of a phrase I love hearing before one of the first training sessions with a new student "... I do not know if I can, I'm afraid of getting hurt ...."

The fear of hurting doesn't really exist, but rather fear that person that was injured wants revenge that bothers us: is the fear of pain finally. Someone who knows how to train properly in the arts of combat can never be afraid to pain, because he knows what he does and he is not afraid of it. In real practice (not the one where you dress up in Asia, where we are on a tatami mat and where we are take on the heroes of legend), one is dressed normally and trains seriously in a good spirit. In this practice we will develop serious knowledge of the various pains and fears that can bring training without seriously injuring themselves. If you want to train very hard to get quickly to reality in the arts of combat, it is sufficient to properly protect yourself through the technology developed in contact sports. Further need to be injured. I am not saying that training really focused on the combat will not result in bruises, pain and many other problems ... But this is nothing against the interest of this practice: to be no longer afraid of death and understand violence.

How many times in your life watching a movie, or worse a scene in the street, you were frightened to the point of having the heart beating fast, a slight sweat and you find it impossible to move? Violence paralyses you?

If so, it is better to deepen your relationship to this thing that you fear rather than turn away. Otherwise sooner or later, and this you have not decided, you will need it anyway to cope. As far as choosing when it should happen, prepare in the best way within your safety and that of others. Often in contact sports we see terrible ko's from nothing. Most of the time the strikes were not seen by the enemy and were a surprise. All those who engage in combat without restraint know how a strike even if weak, but surprise you, and perhaps devastating. One of the first things we learn is to always look at what is happening, it is better to see a punch rather than be surprised. It's more fear but it is less bad!

We summarise: the practice of the art of combat not only has a taste of this but is also to better understand his fears over the ultimate ...

Well it's not so bad, eh?

One of my students, ill some time ago, wanted to stop the practice because he was apprehensive of training. Having a fear of violent confrontations, because he himself was the victim of aggression, he saw all this as too stressful. He had managed to convince himself he was doing this for entertainment and for sports. I strongly advised him to do something else because it is not good to force it, there is a time for everything. But in my heart I felt that he would return to this practice because it was a problem he had to face. After watching other classes where they were coaching sports more than practice, he came back after ten days. This is not because I am better than other teachers, or that my style is superior, although I like the concept, but because the way we try to confront our fears to make us sweat is essential. We have no warm ups, no stretching, no ceremony, no salute to old masters, only training in a friendly but serious ambiance. Quickly we realise through this practice that it is not by chance, in life there is a moment to be confronted with this.

Turn your back and death does not disappear, have a good look the fact is we know better. We are always afraid of what is not known, cannot liking what we know and that looks bad but it's different.

It is interesting to see how the fact of living in the moment and having fear are related: if one is present in the moment one cannot be afraid of death and no longer afraid of death we can more easily live in the present. Interesting!

We will develop it at another time in the meantime, good practice.

And remember: Go towards what makes you scared, the rest is boring!

Body, Energy and emotion

All the concepts developed here come from Taoism. To facilitate the understanding of this text, these concepts are embodied in modern terms without Chinese, or a few ...

In our vision, the universe operates in three spheres: earth, man, heaven. This perception of the world poses the trilogy for a coherent cosmology. These three elements are, in Taoism, in man, the three treasures: Jing (essence), chi (energy) and shen (spirit).

We, as human beings, are between heaven and earth. The earth represents nature but also the Yin, the manifest.

To address this question on the manifest and non manifest, let us take an example: imagine that you hit a table with your hand. Given this possibility, several situations may arise, you fear the pain it could bring (without being certain that it actually produces pain). Either you think about anything but the pain, you can just ask what I say, for example. The gesture, possible pain, the whole feeling of this action falls within the realm of "potential," everything is possible but it is unclear what will be the reality of the action. We are here in the non-manifested, in the idea.

Now hit your hand on the table. Either it hurts you or it does you no harm, but in either case something happens in physical reality. Some of the potential of the imagined action takes place, is felt. In feelings, or feeling, is grafted a myriad of thoughts that have nothing to do with the planning of the action, the action itself and its results. We demonstrated that in its "birth" it can be perceived. This perception is hardly recognizable as the original because it is automatically coloured by thoughts that are only there to provide vital limits to our ego, we reassure them.

The non-manifest does not exist in the domain of the five senses, in contrast, the manifest is perceived by the five senses and is constantly commented by the mind.

Now we settle the history of the ego. When we are very young, we do not dissociate the things around us (for two / three years), we are not separated from the world. Very quickly, our close friends will tell us that there is a difference between others and us, between us and the rest. As a result, our perceptions are slowly being invaded with thoughts, any action or perception will be "translated" by our thoughts to our mind. The reality is no longer seeing it as what it is, but as that which is in our minds makes an increase in our individuality, the difference between us and the world, this unique image to which we attach so much, the ego. This the death of spontaneity. The fact of being right, make discriminating choices, to impose his thoughts are mechanisms to strengthen the coherence that limits our ego. The ego loves boundaries, and rules what is understood by the intellect. It does not like no limits, which can be seen by the five senses and what is not intellectual. The ego loves religion and does not like the spirituality of non duality.

Now back to the three elements. On the one hand we have the earth (yin manifest). On the yin we are born human beings who will live in the world. On the other hand we have the sky which represents what is not of this earth (yang non manifest).

In humans, we find the same three levels of understanding of phenomena: body, energy and intellect. The body is our mechanical structure which operates on a whole homeostasis of physiological balance. If all goes well, everything is fine, but if a part does not go well, a whole series of compensations will unbalance the body to deal with what does not work perfectly. Simply put, nothing is really in the body, but is made so that the equilibrium is kept in a globality ... it is therefore a delicate balance.

Energy is what allows us to enter the world of perceptions of the body while being already in the subtle. We can "feel" energy, but most of the time it is actually felt as "manifestations" of energy: heat, tingling, numbness ...

We can feel the energy when we opened the door to subtle senses, those who leave the comments of the mind and circulate through the relaxation of the body.

Then there is the mind, the world of thoughts, which are seen and have no direct action on the physical body.

It is the interplay between these three areas that we're interested. The body, its tension, will cause mental commentaries that will judge his own state. The thoughts will create an internal tension that results from the inability to move in the direction of all the comments that we have, all the things we imagine. These judgments and the rejection of what is, these internal and external tensions, will cause the mind to come and nourish the energy: the emotions.

Emotions are thoughts that will pass from non manifest to manifest, using energy, the mind to the body. Emotions are mental, created by our mind, and the source of new comments themselves. But they are also physical, as related directly to the body with energy and organs. Emotions are the bridge between the head and body. Emotions are the primary cause of internal diseases in Chinese medicine. Mental tension generated by repressing and dwelling upon the thoughts, will create a physical tension that will be fundamental to an emotion. This physical stress is commented on by the mind intellectually and becomes a source of mulling over which leads to emotional tension. This vicious circle is the source of emotions that will last for months instead of a few seconds, of physical tensions that have no medical solution, losing sleep may not improve with chemical products ...

It is important to understand that emotions are natural and unavoidable, are the result of internal tension in / or outside of the human being, as fatigue is the result of the function of being. Emotions are signs of the disturbance of peace in the functioning of the body / mind.

The etymology of the word "emotion" comes from the Latin "emovere" which means "move, shake." From the ancient french, the word emotion is used in the sense of "what is disturbing quiet" rather than in a direction of movement which became the word "move".

Far be it from me to say that to control, reduce or eliminate emotions, would be idiotic! But in the understanding of their function, it is possible to "surf" on them or with them, rather than being drowned in the roll of a wave that carries everything and makes us a victim. It is the difference between the one who witnesses an accident and one who is a victim of this accident.

In the understanding of what we have to say, and from the Taoist school which is ours, how can we go into this fusion with the emotions, so we can live without being a victim? We have three possible approaches: one by the body, the other by the mind and the last one by energy.

We understand now why the mental approach, which is the source of emotion, seems difficult and complicated to use. Emotion is a feeling of the ego, good or bad, but that makes it alive and strong. Every strong emotion that we will give overturns limits and reasons to return in a little compulsion liberating thoughts that make the happiness of the ego. Any attempt to release the mind forgets that 50% of emotion is physical. For all that is physical, you have to find the premises.

The physical approach seems interesting, we are often simply wrong, in our perceptions, our internal reviews that develops interpretations of what we discern. This solution seems less dangerous than the mental approach.

In fact, emotions are primarily a manifestation of the mind and body, we can use the term "energy". They are correspondence with the human sphere. The approach requires a certain energy education, sensitization, real training.

In our school, we will work with emotions in three stages:

•  Sense
•  Dissolve
• Wait.

With physical work and relaxation, we can feel the onset of the emotion at its inception, even before its manifestation in the body.

We will test the areas of the body most affected by emotions and let them learn to relax and accept the emotional relaxation. In a conscious awareness of all the mechanisms of our system of body / mind, we will enter a phase of silence in which any mental or emotional event will be obvious.

To not be "disturbed", but live with ourselves, is our idea.

Back to the conscience

In the Taoist system that I practice, the ultimate goal is the return to the Union with the Universe, all things and phenomena that are not themselves.

The steps I describe are not to be taken literally, but as possible evidence on the stages of evolution of being.

Before our birth, but after our conception, we are in a total non-duality and in what the Taoists call "the pre heaven”. This union with the world in total fusion with the mother bathes us in Taiji, dynamic union of yin and yang.

After birth until weaning, we are still in a fusion but not dual with a manifestation in the world of “ post heaven. " Although not independent, we have an independent existence which we have not yet revealed, we are not really aware of ourselves as a separate entity.

In childhood, we reach what is called in internal alchemy "the culmination of the great". It is an absolute yang yet where where touch on non duality of the world, we take discriminatory decisions and we are 100% present to our emotions and our actions. We touch both ends of the world without being parasitised by the world of thoughts.

Then, after this culmination, we tip over from the yang towards the yin.

Adolescence is a period where we have nostalgic memories of the lost union, the whole world and without choice, and at the same time we seek to affirm in the "banal" world .

We will increase the part of conditioning, adapting to the "real" world, and we forget the reality of the natural spontaneity that is the source of our Being.

Soon, the common and mundane "banal" world has fully covered the world of which we are united from.

The work of Taoist internal alchemy is the reversing process.

The first stage demands "waking up", remember, what we really are. This can be done through meetings, readings, "signs" ...

By work what we describe, it will be possible to gently "return" to the spontaneous and natural at the expense of the mundane and banal.

Without going into terribly conceptual details, there are just 2 principles to achieve:

• The conscious awareness,
• Relaxation.

Relaxation is a quality which calls for 5 different but closely related domains:

• Relaxation of the body,
• Relaxation of the breath
• Relaxed in the emotional activity
• Relaxation of the energetic phenomena
• Relaxation of the mind in healing the activity of thinking.

That is the whole program of our "transformation" in a few short lines.

Before you can understand and experience these states of relaxation that will lead us to a return to simplicity and unity, we must be present in the work every second, we must acquire the ability to focus our attention.

To do this we work conscious attention, and daily in all areas of our lives.

The work of the body

We will seek 3 quality in working the body:

• Force
• Flexibility
• Rooting

The strength allows us to simply practice. Indeed, if we are too weak, without energy or ill, the practice is not possible. For the body to be relaxed, it should be flexible and co-ordinated in its actions. What is seen and understood in the spirit must be physically in space. Rooting enables us to find our balance, our center and a particular rapport between man and Heaven and Earth.

The work of breathing

In the respiratory work, one is given 3 different ways to tame his breath:

• Rhythm
• Sensation,
• The focus.

Understanding the experience of the rhythm of breathing will give us a first approach which is simple and fun. This phenomenon in which we cannot spend more than a minute, is our first exchange with the world and the most frequent. The sensation of the air is paradoxical. We perceive the passage of air without really "feeling" it. This "monitoring" of air inhalation and exhalation is energizing. When the first two stages are sufficiently experienced, they should be combined in a practice that requires total focus, more precisely: it is the third practice.

The work of the emotional

Once the body is relaxed, grounded and strong, fluid and conscious breathing, we can finally have a different relationship with our emotional activity. Its far from us to remove or suppress emotions, we want to live fully without being victims. This process takes 3 steps:

• Identification of the change in the body,
• Awareness of emotional development,
• Identification of the energy process.

When an emotion is "constructed" before it is what it is, it manifests itself as a change of energy in the body. If we are aware of our breathing, our body and our energy, we are able to feel it and move on to the next step.

Be aware of what is going on inside our bodies, we can access the application of non-action, the principle of non-resistance. We can live our emotions without being attached to our mental activities. By a natural and regular practice of these principles, we will see that it provides a special vitality, links the organs, and as always with these exercises, we will learn to develop our attentive intention.

The energy work

Only if we are familiar with the practices described above, we can move towards a vision of our energy path. Speaking of energy before his body relaxed, relaxed his breath and regulated emotional activity remains within the realm of fantasy. For this step, we will once again have 3 sections:

• The circulation in the protector and nourishing vessels,
• The expansion of our energy towards the limits of our body,
• The natural exchange of energy between yourself and the outside.

In all energy practices, it is advisable to increase the amount of energy we have. The most "natural" circulation in the conception and governor vessels as we can. This excess energy will feed our lifeblood and will give the possibility to extend our sphere of our energy centre out of our body. The connection between the center and the ends of the limbs allows us a privileged relationship with Heaven and Earth. This is the subject of the second practice, often called "breathing of five gates”. Through experimentation in daily exchanges, we develop a facility to move between our inside and outside. Little by little, everything is done alone: it is the return to nature.

Work of the spirit

The "shen", spirit in Chinese, includes all parts of the psychological and cognitive world of thoughts. We will find thinking, memory, imagination ... all i say ...

It is illusory to believe that it is possible to "control" the mind without going seriously against the natural. However, as we tame a wild animal, it is possible to tame our own mind. This requires knowing and understanding without ever rushing but without stopping to get acquainted with him.

It is important to use the first part of training the mind, it is the basis of the combat arts, meditation and chi kung. This part of the training is called the "white screen" is one of the names of what is also called "pacifying the mind."

The second phase is the work on dreams. If we seek to remain conscious all the time, it is a pity to fall into the black hole of sleep every day. With this in mind, the dream work takes place, to touch the consciousness in sleep and in sleep have a conscious.

The last phase can not be discussed without having experienced much of the training.

This is so simple and crude, a global view in a easy language of our practice. We must understand that everything is simple but requires to be done, not to be discussed. While these are only concepts they are without value if they are not directly related to practical experimentation.

Work the De to understand the TAO

In Taoism it is necessary to work on his practice to become "pure and true" rather than in a fantasy.

To become manifestation of Tao, which cannot be explained or clearly expressed.

Since it can not be understood intellectually, the Tao can be "felt" or "perceived" by practice, its the taoist "virtue" (I hate that word) found in the "De" of Tao De Jing (the book of Lao Zi, for those who do not know ...).

Chapter 54
"When cultivated and exercised in itself
The Tao manifest (De) becomes pure (without parasites) and natural (true to oneself) "

So it is necessary to test every day aspects of the Tao which are perceptible to understand the world energy and absolute. Without this work, the repetition of experiments, feel, we can not speak of the mental and mental vision of a hypothetical Tao, without experiences, its based on ignorance.

Chapter 54
"How can I check the situation of all things under heaven?
Precisely by the method described here (work and experience without mental images) "

In the non difference in the components of the Tao, the unity of all things, the combat arts permit the sense of that. The serious, violent combat arts, are not there to prepare for fighting but to learn to feel, for the body, is the unity of De, the manifestation of the Tao. If the violence used in the arts of combat is "pure and natural",

it is really worth fighting for:

Chapter 55
"He who posses the natural of De is like a newborn
(or "born again"!)
The insects do not bite,
The big cats do not injure,
Birds of prey do not attack,
His bones are soft and tendons (muscles) relaxed,
But his grip is firm. "

Ling Tai, the "Spiritual" newborn, is the name of an advanced stage of the alchemical realisation. It is a passage of the Three Treasures (San Bao), Jing (essence), Chi (energy) and Shen (spirit) are "worked" and melted together. The experience of the Tao was created by alchemical work, and daily by the body, the unity with the world is close.

In this state, the unity with the world, the Tao, permits you not worry about violence and daily life, everything is done, happens, without action. Failure to act, to go with and not against, is the result of a long alchemical and energy work, it has nothing to do with the ability to sit on your ass all day. The emotional disengagement with respect to violence and combat comes from the work and the fusion with the violence and the combat, not watching Van Damme films.

The search for “more power” to fight against the power, the external vision of the combat arts, does not support the passage of time ...

End of chapter 55
"The power makes old,
This is contrary to the Tao,
That which is contrary to the Tao has to perish,
This is not the Tao "it is the strength of the world",

But anything that goes against the laws of nature is impermanent. Cultivating external force cannot lead to be the strongest ... the day we are the strongest, is the eve of the decline of our strength.

If there's internal harmony, of our energy and our organs, its in agreement with the Tao, the laws of external energy of our body, are in unity with the world. This state of harmony allows a permeable energy between us and the outside, an infinite limit.

Still Chapter 55
The "newborn" can express the power all day (shout) without getting tired,
His internal harmony is simple and perfect (in agreement with the Whole)
The essence and harmony in this state are natural and constant
(not declining)
You know by the practice of this (no discussion!), Its wisdom
( "sensing" the Tao),

Above all, this final quote:

Chapter 57
"The more men have sharp weapons,
The more the world will be in violence. "

Work on ways to correct the impolite, teaching hitting methods and the penetrating force of impact is the goal ... its good ... but do not forget not to corrupt the intentions, to actually be more miserable than before ...

The changes of Tao

Taoism is the ability to grasp the changes of the world and blend in with "non action", which is essential for some quality of relaxation.

Growth, change and decline of phenomena and things, the natural cycles and the principles of creation / destruction, are a reflection of the movement of Tao.

This movement Fan, is a "reversion", a "return".

All that is necessary to know about the movements of the Tao is in Chapter 40.

All Taoist internal alchemy speaks of return, Fu by the movement of return on oneself, Fan.

This return to spontaneous and natural, which existed prior to the commitment to self-image, is the practice.

Chapter 40:

Reversion is the movement of the Tao
Weakness is the expression of the Tao
All things under heaven come from the manifest,
The manifest comes from the non manifested.

"Fan", reversion, movement of return, regression, is similar in this context that we see in chapter 25:

Grand in the movement (da yue shi)
Thus moving to the origin (yue shi yuan)
Ancient therefore at the origin(yuan yue fan)

We must see here a circular motion without end, whose origin and end are the same.

It is the absence of progression, addition. This is a search for simplicity, a willingness to do more than just learning. This return to the natural: which is already present, but which seeks to resurface.

The movement is a movement returning, not evolution, in fact of evolution in return. The addition, to accumulate, cannot move towards simplification. The more we are seeking and more we find to seek. It is a never-ending action that projects into the future, a linear representation. The return is a circular motion.

The weakness is that of bamboo in relation to the oak, the water in relation to fire, a relative weakness that is a source of sustainability.

In chapter 43, it says "What is soft overcomes that which is hard."

Under the heaven, that which is soft
Dominates and that which is hard (under heaven)

This idea of "soft" is close to "soft". This softness and weakness are apparent in the arts of combat, unarmed or armed, in human conflict, in life in general.

Here we find the two terms of "Wu" and "Yu" that we have in chapter 1.

Wu is what is not shown, the origin of that is.
Yu is what is shown, which is the domain of the perceptible.

The event takes its source in the absolute non-manifested. The world has its source in the manifestation of the Tao. Yin has its source in the Yang, the action in the mental.

The Taiji symbol, this black and white circle with two points, is the representation of the movement of Tao. Around 500 years before J.C, Zou Yan forms the figure that we know well ... 1500 years after the debut of the Yi Jing.

This representation is only of interest if there is movement, this "return" of one of the absolute to the other, this dynamic interaction that defines the concepts of yin and yang.

This endless spiral itself contains the idea of return. It evolves and changes, but remains identical to itself is a representation of the cycles and changes in the world.

This brief chapter gives us much information on the practice:

• The study is necessary, but not practice
• The basics are the most advanced practices
• Return to what is "known" is a new perpetual
• Attentive to life, everything changes constantly in an identical nature

The movements and functions of the Tao is the source of change and transformation of phenomena in the world. Understanding this, is an awakening observation, permits the changing of the world in a non-active action. This understanding refers to the Yi Jing (Book of Changes), a source of feng shui (geomancy).

This return to the root is a human attempt to get as close as possible to the Tao, without reaching it. It is not possible to achieve since it is in the non manifest and humans are a manifestation of that. As the eye can not see itself, which is created can not understand what has created.

After conception, humans can only taste the De (?), the manifestation of the Tao and its expression in the world. We can see the profound nature of what is not accessible to our understanding, we can see the return and catch glimpse of the manifestations.

This chapter is a sublimation of the details of chapter 25, more concise and precise while becoming more obscure to the non-practicing. A wise man laughed and said: "A non practitioner has no more to be got in the Dao De Jing as a Japanese in a courses of Taijiquan.

In human history, many events have gone to their destruction after their peak. The same natural movement of reversion, creation / destruction dear to Lao Zi. This is the principle of natural cycles of our system.

It is interesting to note that in the Taoist idea of changing phenomena, anyway, all goes back to the source. This return is why we are not looking for a connection with time (past and future), but a union in the present. This is the idea of the journey is the goal not the arrival, but the unwinding of it. The vision of Taoism is circular compared with the linear Western view.

The stillness, calmness, relaxation and the non resistance will lead to live in harmony with changes in the world, to enjoy from everything in the present in his life, to return to the source without conflict. This non-active effort allows us to live in harmony with the Dao, unlike the mind which feeds on time and expectations, projections and questions of doubt and hope.

The weakness of the Tao is an apparent weakness: its the hidden force of water. Nothing is more fluid and in appearance weaker than water. In the techniques of the arts of combat, if the impact is needed, the fluidity of movement is the source of the destruction of the enemy. This "natural" fluidity that works is the power of water.

In addition, water has no form, it adapts to its container, as the air. If water is in a cup, it takes the form of it, if the water is in the ocean, it takes the shape of the Earth. The air is the same. Water and air are the yin and yang of feng shui (Chinese geomancy which means "wind and water"). The Tao that combines the yin and yang.

We see this in the study of the beginning of chapter 78:

Under heaven nothing is more adaptable and flexible than the water
However, it erodes the strongest and most rigid
Nothing surpasses why
The flexible surpasses the tough
The adaptable surpasses the rigid

The image of water is ideal to express this aspect of the Dao. While flexibility is important, the concept of adaptability is really the quality that leads to return, to the simple. In the capacity of relaxation that is necessary to adapt, this is already the beginning of return.

This is the "De" (manifestation of Dao), which is practiced and that points to the Dao, which we cannot understand.

All this is interesting and asks something difficult, but essential: the practice.

Everyone believes it is better to be relaxed, flexible and adaptable, but it is rare to see people who practice in this direction, who adjust their lives in this direction.

Lao Zi already demonstrated in his time ... and it remains valid.

In the remainder of chapter 78:

Under the sky, everyone can understand this
Yet no-one practices

Chapter 78 ends with a phrase that incorporates a theme of Lao Zi:

Expressed the truth may appear paradoxical

We should not always believe what is expressed and not necessarily doubt it. We should not talk too much and not studying too much, but we must acquire knowledge. What is seen may be wrong, knowing that we must be attentive to its meaning ... this is not paradoxical.

All that is said is consistent if it does not refer to an intellectual, but an understanding through direct experience, by the practice

This Taoist capacity, which aims to merge with changes in the world to bring the natural qualities, is dormant in each human being. It is not the question of winning anything!

The Tao of Heaven and the Tao of Man

In Lao Zi (Dao De Jing), these two ways are in opposition and in relation.

The distinction between the two is very important: the Tao of Heaven is an example of natural, non-discrimination and spontaneity ... a model for humans.

The nature, the universe and all changes under the sky that make up "the Way of Heaven."

This way is perceptible with a focus on something other than itself, in the simplicity of the observation (Yi Jing).

The Tao of man is an assortment of mechanisms of bad functioning of our mental ego, compulsive thoughts and the defense of our illusory importance.

In chapters 77 and 79, we see the differences and commonalities of these two sides of the Way. This comparison will help us look for the Way of Heaven an inspiration to live in harmony with the changing world.

Chapter 77

The Tao of Heaven resembles archery?
The upper part goes down and the bottom up,
The excess is reduced and the insufficient increased.

The Tao of Heaven reduces the excess,
And increases insufficient.
The Tao of man is the opposite:
It reduces what is insufficient,
And adds to what is excessive.

Which is capable of giving unnecessary?
Only those who follow the Tao!
The Sage does not accumulate for himself,
Also he shares with others, the more he has,
The more he gives to others, the more he is rich.

The Tao of Heaven is good for all, it does not cause suffering,
The Sage acts without being in competition with others.

The allegory explains how the Tao of heaven is that of archery.

More specifically, the moment of aiming with the bow taut. In the dynamic tension of life, in connection with the tension of the taut bow, it is simple adjustments to maintain the right direction to go toward the target.

The bottom rises to aim, and the top is adjusted downward to balance yin and yang.

Lao Zi here will give his interpretation of what should be done in everyday life, with the perceived changes, if if there is not enough, we must add, if there is too much, then spend.

But man often goes the other way, without respect for this innate sense of what is the Way.

The cycles of nature, life and death, happiness and unhappiness following the Way of Heaven, not the way of men, there is no logic to human life cycles.

The way welcomes humans, must go in the direction of the world, not the reverse.

Lao Zi was against the idea of accumulating wealth for the satisfaction of having done the most, and to invade his neighbors to show strength: it's a mistake to show his strength to remain in a competitive tension.

Search for power and the lack of power of the internal union with the world is going nowhere, it is a pathological relationship with the world.

The malaise of the human who feels this internal emptiness and that pushes us shopping, today pushed the generals of the age of Lao Zi to struggle constantly to establish their sickly power.

In several other versions of Dao De Jing, the end of this chapter is added to the next chapter, but in the logic that we follow, it makes sense to put these lines here.

Through observation of natural phenomena such as transitions and changes, movement and stillness, growth and decline, the rise and descent and the life and death of everything that makes the world, concluded Lao Zi that there is a Tao of Heaven.

The Natural Way, which governs the world of nature leaves things to become what it should become, without order or without domination or intentional action and it is possible to understand the changes in the world, to go in their direction.

The Tao of Heaven is the heart of the balance of the universe all of manifestation. This unhealthy competitiveness based on the malaise of humanity separated from union of the universal balance the desire to impose and dominate, control and decide what will be called the Tao of man.

The Tao of the human is a compensation of the ego to try to dominate the cycles of the universe, it is pointless and a source of dissatisfaction.

The insatiable excitement of desires and corruption of the way of man, the diseased need for possessions will lead to domination or conflict with our neighbour, discrimination in social classes and ethnic groups, all this leads to conflicts and disorder, suffering and destruction.

It is necessary that man follow the Way of Heaven for its durability. For relaxation and thus listening, people can better understand the changes of nature and the world around him. In practice, it educates his attention, and his observation, to blend in with the changes of Heaven.

By rolling gently in the current, as the swimmer of Tchouan Zi, humans will be able to follow without any destructive order of things, the non action par excellence, the practical understanding of the Book of Changes, the Yi Jing.

Today's world is turned outwards and glitters, which impresses and making noise, which distracts and is what prevents simple reflection, this is a world where silence is too absent to hear.

In this noise, we can not achieve the peace that is what we really are, we must work to return to our nature buried under layers of learning and society, shaped by the world of thoughts and futility.

This personal nature will awaken the dormant in us and allow us to rejoin ourselves, in accordance with the Way of Heaven.

Chapter 79

Reconciling both sides who hate,
We will surely have a little hate.
If we replace evil with good,
How can I find a good solution?
For that the Sage keeps the recognition of debt,
And requires no repayment.
The man of the Way is generous and doesn't reclaim,
While the man outside the way is hard and calculating.
The Tao of Heaven does not have preferences,
It is always with those who follow the Way.

In mundane matters, logical solutions can not treat mental or emotional injury. Mental discrimination still leave a problem unsolved, justice can not transform the unease of man.

Only spirituality, awareness, can help man deeply, without leaving a bitter taste.

In ancient China, in a contract, each participant kept a part of the contract.

The left side was the one who would earn money or was selling, the right for the other the one that was purchasing.

If asked what we owed by contract, it was necessary to "give the left side."

In the text it is recommended that you "do not call the left" or translated here by:

For that the Sage keeps the recognition of debt,
And requires no repayment.

This contract was at the time of Lao Zi, a piece of wood with the terms of the contract which was cut into two pieces.

"The Tao of Heaven does not have a preference" is similar to: "Heaven and Earth are not humans, everything has the same treatment, preferably not in nature unlike the Tao of the man.

For a path that goes in the direction of movement towards a world that follows the Tao of Heaven, the man does not always follow logic, he must let go in the silence and relaxation of the Way. In listening, he can have access to what is already in him, what he knows without being told.

In the way, justice will be served, but because there will be more conflict, not because of just struggles. We can not heal the wounds that have roots with emotional and mental with gifts or punishments.

To alleviate the pain of the people it is necessary to know the Way. By doing it in an intimate relationship with the world of natural changes and oneself, problems will dissolve without being understood.

"How can I find a good solution?"

By practice and observation of the world of changes and the fusion of our character with the Tao of Heaven.

Relaxation leads to the possibility of perceiving simply.

This perception gives us a way to travel in the respect of the reality of the world.

This is the Way.