Wednesday, January 11, 2006
On Taoist bodies, sport, and rhyme
Was re-reading this book. I'd have to agree with the first reviewer that it is not a deep resource, but apparently we are in the minority, judging from the rest. I did appreciate reminders of the overarching themes: beginner's mind, balance, and so on, though a pamphlet would likely have covered what was here for me.
The book provides numerous affirmations intended for the practitioner to use, and many of them are in rhyme (meter all over the place): "I stay in the here and now, so I'll take a bow," "When I give up control, I get on a roll and play with some soul," "When I selflessly play, I ensure that I stay,"...you get the picture.
Stuff like this sets my cutesy-meter off, even if it is easier to remember. I've noticed other linguistic phenomena surrounding sport: the necessity of repetition, some unusually formal possessive constructions (line drive into the glove of the shortstop).
Back to the beginning: it could be quite interesting to go into Taoist literature (my favorite is the Chuang-Tzu) and make the connections: the story of the butcher as a guide to finding space in the joints, for one.
The book provides numerous affirmations intended for the practitioner to use, and many of them are in rhyme (meter all over the place): "I stay in the here and now, so I'll take a bow," "When I give up control, I get on a roll and play with some soul," "When I selflessly play, I ensure that I stay,"...you get the picture.
Stuff like this sets my cutesy-meter off, even if it is easier to remember. I've noticed other linguistic phenomena surrounding sport: the necessity of repetition, some unusually formal possessive constructions (line drive into the glove of the shortstop).
Back to the beginning: it could be quite interesting to go into Taoist literature (my favorite is the Chuang-Tzu) and make the connections: the story of the butcher as a guide to finding space in the joints, for one.
