For those practitioners who wish to know about the background of the essential teachings of Master Moy’s Taoist lineage, this is a simplified discussion of the key issue of “dual cultivation”.
Depending on your experiences in the organization founded by Master Moy, you may or may not have been exposed to the teachings of the cultivation of the mind that were available but not universally promoted.
Many practitioners emphasize the more physical aspects of Tai Chi, satisfied with the cultivation of the body’s health through the many forms …Tai Chi, sabre, Lok Hup, and so forth. This is already a marvellous path to follow in that it contributes in so many ways to the well-being of the practitioner.
This blog is not an attempt to sway anyone to any direction but I hope that a large part of Master Moy’s teachings is not lost. Master Moy did not proselytize to me and I am not aware of any effort on his part to convert his students to his beliefs.
I was, however, exposed to Master Moy’s internal arts, healing energies, and meditation directly in personal interactions with him. In having these profound experiences, I found that my personal understanding of what I thought was possible was greatly expanded. I had been led into the vastly greater realm of Taoist mind cultivation. Before meeting Master Moy, I had practised Transcendental meditation for 10 years and had left it dissatisfied.
Personal health problems in 1993 led me to practice Tai Chi. I was having gall bladder attacks and diagnosed with Glaucoma. I read in an article that the Chinese felt that ‘anger resided in the liver and in the eyes’. This wholistic understanding of health fascinated me and looking for a solution, I followed a lead to a newly started local class of Tai Chi.
Historically, Master Moy’s teachings are in the lineage of the northern branch of the School of Complete Reality. Founded 1000 or so years ago, the aim of this school was to restore and clarify the classical teachings of Taoism. The northern branch was a monastic sect and, as we all know, Master Moy was a Taoist monk. He came to Canada and set up his own school and temple based on the Three Traditions….
Writing about the Complete Reality school of Taoism, a former student of Master Moy and translator, professor Wong states: “Advocating the dual cultivation of body and mind, it synthesized the internal alchemical arts of longevity, the meditation techniques of Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism, and the ethics of Confucianism.” Quote from p.7, Cultivating the Energy of Life, Eva Wong.
Current practitioners of Master Moy’s health promoting arts may or may not wish to know more about the cultivation of the mind but I do hope that others who have experienced aspects of this, will contribute to these blogs.