Stagnation

A student came to Master Weizhen and said: “Master Weizhen, I often feel frozen inside. My thoughts keep circling around,and I don’t know how to break free from this stillness.”

Weizhen looked toward the forest and replied: “Look at nature. Nothing there is truly still –everything is in motion:the wind that moves through the trees,the water that flows. When you bring yourself into motion,you simply follow this natural flow.”

The student asked, “So I should just move?”

Weizhen nodded gently and continued: “Everything is stored somewhere —within the physical and energetic body,in every cell, in the brain,within us and around us.When something stagnates,we bring movement into it, and the dust fades away.

Just as we clean the temple,we must also cleanse our own body,which itself is a temple. You can go for a walk,practice Qi Gong or Taijiquan,or simply bring order here in the temple —that too will purify you within.

As within, so without —and the other way around.”

The student began to understand.