There are many faces of spirit. This face is Shen, the Yang aspect—the spirit that gets things done. This is the “fighting spirit,” the intangible determination of a champion. Taiji invites us to “raise, abide, firm, and condense” the spirit. When we “turn the light around,” we identify more with this insubstantial aspect of our being than with our bodies or our intellect.

Except for the point, the still point, There would be no dance, and there is only the dance. I can only say, there we have been: but I cannot say where. And I cannot say, how long, for that is to place it in time. T. H. Eliot, Burnt Norton     The ultimate of movement is stillness, the ultimate of stillness is movement. To move is to generate stillness, and to be still is to generate movement. Therefore, (if you) use stillness as movement, (your) movement will be stronger every day....

Check out “A Wee Bit of Alchemy with Rick Barrett” on my YouTube channel, or better yet, attend the live Zoom session Tuesdays at 8pm EST. It’s an interactive call, so you get to engage in the discussion and clarify things as we go along. I appreciate the feedback and different perspectives. It keeps the conversation real. We explore the energies and principles with exercises and meditations to bring a felt-sense to the things being discussed. Contact me for the link. It also appears in our...