One evening, while visiting Mr. Moy at the D’Arcy St. temple, there was a knock at the door. A long-time student was in great distress and pain. He had come for assistance from his teacher. A serious fall had caused him injury.
Mr. Moy proceeded to help the man do a bit of Tai Chi with specific timing changes and he then did some manipulations on the student’s injury and finally a poultice was made. Mr. Moy’s great understanding of Chi Kung and Chinese healing arts delivered the much-needed relief and improvement.
When we few witnesses were gathered to listen to commentary from Mr. Moy, he explained to us that he was the last in the specific lineage of his own teacher’s healing arts. He hoped that one of us would continue on the journey of study to learn these practices. He told us then, “to be a healer you only need two things—virtue and perseverance.” As the dictionary might say, ‘perseverance is the persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.’
Dedication and sacrifice, two of the eight virtues taught in this Taoist path of personal cultivation, come to mind as necessary to nurture a growing understanding of perseverance. Kindness, a virtue Mr. Moy also promoted, includes the idea of alleviating the suffering of others through caring and compassionate action.
As well, persistence and patience are highly prized in Chinese culture and are necessary attributes of a good Tai Chi student. The following Chinese proverbs will illustrate how we can think more deeply on these aspects:
“One must cut before filing, carve before polishing.”
“Constancy of purpose achieves the impossible.”
“Defeat is never a bitter brew until one agrees to swallow it.”
“Dripping water can penetrate the stone.”
Source: Best-Loved Chinese Proverbs by Theodora Lau
Translation by Jordi Awarita , Réjeanne Gagnon, Cathy Filion
Cette histoire sur maître Moy est une perle. Merci de nous la raconter!
Thank you for your kind comment.
Thank you for sharing this. I love these stories and the wisdom that they bring.