Zurich 2010

Separating Deep Mind from superficial-mind

Consciousness is always (while in body) a mixture of Deep Mind and superficial-mind.
Consciousness has 3 aspects – awareness, intention, intelligence.
While watching quietly with awareness it is difficult to separate deep from superficial – they appear as one to an untrained person.

First separate deep from superficial by reducing superficial.
Quieting down random thoughts reduces activity of superficial-intelligence.
Not reacting to external stimuli reduces activity of superficial-intention.
Closing down external senses reduces the activity of superficial-awareness.

Then increase separation by strengthening Deep Mind.
Listen deeply for internal senses of the body, then the body’s energy field.
Use strong deep intention to initiate deeper processes in body.
Intelligently refine resulting interaction between deep-awareness and deep-intention.

Deep-awareness

Continuing to train – concentrating especially on the 3 deeper internal sensations of muscle changes, pressure and warmth along with awareness of the energy field (etheric) that surrounds the body – will gradually stabilise this deep-awareness to a semi-natural background state which can be fully recaptured at will in a short moment.

Deep-intention

Deliberately creating a strong intention before beginning an action, will reveal the condition of the underlying mind. Under pressure from this intention, the quietly watching superficial-mind component that has accompanied you down to the deeply aware state, will activate and reveal itself, competing with and possibly overriding the Deep Mind component, producing intention on a superficial level.

Because superficial-intention produces contraction and external movement – while a deeper intention can work directly on the stretch-unstretch phase of the muscles, the forces and the energy field – then the difference between deep-intention and superficial-intention can be clearly sensed in the quality of the resulting movement.

Also, over-control with superficial-intention when moving slowly usually results in constant speed. Instead aim to accelerate and de-accelerate the centre movement (realising that this may only be the intermediate step of constant acceleration by a constant force). Refine this further by using a strengthening intention to produce an increasing force – which will produce an increasing acceleration of the body. This resulting movement is the natural way that the body moves, whether at slow or great speed. Like a running tiger, successive waves of power appear, intensify, disappear.

Deep-intelligence

Long conscious training in this natural way of moving, will refine the interaction between deep-awareness and deep-intention causing the deep-intelligence to grow within the first level of the deep mind.

Repeated attempts to do what is just beyond our ability cause this deep-intelligence to grow, just as a baby, with a determined and concentrated will, learns first to roll-over at 3 months, crawl at 6, walk at 12 and talk by 24 months – each process taking nearly as long as the baby has been alive at that time (a lifetime).

The rate of growth of deep-intelligence is known (with small individual variations), just as a tree or baby develops at its own, known, intrinsic rate.

Taiji Form – Training Intention

On phase 4, close the eyes as approaching the centre, then extend mind lightly by visualising a line of light from the centre towards the distance while dropping centre towards ground. As the pressure increases, in and around the centre, intensify the line of light, then the centre begins to advance as the chest opens and the hands fill. Finally the hands move.

Later bring this training of increasing intention into phase 1. As body connects down to front foot, intention should rise lightly (with the pressure) from foot to the waist. As muscles turn to contraction and centre begins to move back, the intention should intensify and move through to the top of the head, while the body should be felt to accelerate back and up. Then mind should go down through the sacrum to the back foot as the body floats and falls on phase 2.

Taiji Pushing-hands – Training Intention

Find curved line of intention (different for each Fixed Pattern) on which main point of contact between self and partner moves.

To refine the timing gradually move the centre, together with the mind, progressively further ahead of that point of contact with the partner.

Then when advancing to issue some power, let the intention advance even before the centre, which itself is already ahead of the point of contact. As the intention advances listen to the pressure increasing in the centre. As the centre advances listen to the pressure increasing at the points of contact with the partner.