10. Baguazhang drinks tea

☰ Recently during a session of Tea Time equals Me Time, I was asked an interesting question: What is the business of Baguazhang 八卦掌? ☷ Now that threw me off. Baguazhang 八卦掌 is my business and so I should know the business of Baguazhang 八卦掌. And we are not talking about teaching it for money, nor being a professional fighter, nor a semi-pro prize-fighter. ☵ Jeremy Puffin (not his real name) wanted to know how it is I am able to do my martial arts all day every day and still bring in the money? ☲ Jeremy Puffin wanted to know how I can be here at home and over-there at the same time, wherever over-there is? ☳ To answer him, I asked: If he knew he was following the white rabbit down the rabbit hole? He did not. So I sat him down at my dining table. Got him to breath in and out deeply; four seconds inhaled, eight seconds holding, seven seconds exhaling, nice and slow. Then I handed him a big mug of tea made from loose leaves using a strainer and not the cheap tea bagged stuff. ☶ Tea Time equals Me Time. Tea Time is Me Time. And it is also Baguazhang time 八卦掌時. Just like a crazy dog chasing its own tail around and around and around. To do Baguazhang is like mastering the art of tea stirring. In this example, realization comes when the master has stirred enough to reach the bottom of the cup without spilling any tea over the tea cup rim, while retaining focused clarity by what they see. ☴ If Jeremy Puffin didn't understand, that's alright by me. It is not supposed to make sense. It is supposed to be understood through experience. However, in these words is the way forward (one of many) in practicing the business of Baguazhang. I told him, I could answer his question plain and simply, but then he wouldn't believe a word of it. ☱ The moment went quiet. We sat there drinking our tea and enjoyed it for its own sake. I was told once by an old master of Baguazhang that Baguazhang is the martial art of the gods. I believe it to be true. But not in the way the phrase implies... I told Jeremy Puffin, when he had finished his tea, that the physical path starts and finishes at the ends of the book followed. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/