
{"id":2705,"date":"2026-08-09T14:52:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T21:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/?p=2705"},"modified":"2026-08-09T15:00:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T22:00:29","slug":"the-millstone-turns-but-the-axle-does-not-turn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/?p=2705","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Millstone Turns but the Axle Does Not Turn\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/260422-680x_close_Konocti-red-tip_DSC03233.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2473 alignright\" style=\"padding: 0px 0px 40px 30px;\" src=\"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/260422-180x_close_Konocti-red-tip_DSC03233.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Cheng Man-Ch\u2019ing gave his students some advice for the practice of T\u2019ai Chi:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u2026 The whole body\u2019s weight rests on only one leg. If two legs equally carry it, this is double-weightedness. When the weight is transferred, the sacrum and the upper back must be kept upright in the middle. Then you will not lose your equilibrium.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u2026 The key point of transfer of strength from the right hand to the left hand is in the upper back, and the key point in the transference of strength from the left leg to the right is in the sacrum. The sacrum and the upper back must be straight and upright. Then you will not lose equilibrium.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0When you practice, the occipital bone (at the back of the skull) should be upright. Then the <em>shen<\/em> (spirit) and the <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> (breath or breath energy) reach the top of the head.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u201cCheng Tzu\u2019s Thirteen Treatises on T\u2019ai Chi Ch\u2019uan\u201d, Cheng Man Ch\u2019ing, tr.\u00a0 Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Martin Inn, pp 89-90; parentheticals added)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Cheng\u2019s advice to keep the sacrum, the upper back, and the occipital bone \u201cupright\u201d may have to do with the stretch of fascia behind the sacrum and spine, and the engagement of ligaments.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Activity in the muscles that arch the spine rearward, the extensor muscles, can effect a stretch of the fascia behind the sacrum. As H. F. Farfan wrote:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">There is another peculiarity of the erector muscles of the spine. Below the level of the fifth lumbar vertebra, the muscle contracts in a compartment enclosed by bone anteriorly, laterally, and medially. Posteriorly, the compartment is closed by the lumbodorsal (thoracolumbar) fascia. When contracted, the diameter of the muscle mass tends to increase. This change in shape of the muscle may exert a wedging effect between the sacrum and the lumbodorsal fascia, thereby increasing the tension in the fascia. This may be one of the few instances where a muscle can exert force by pushing. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(\u201cMechanical Disorders of the Low Back\u201d, H. F. Farfan; 1973 Lea &amp; Febiger; p 183; parenthetical added)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The increased diameter of the contracted extensors and the stretch of the thoracolumbar fascia may also exert force on the bones of the sacrum, and stretch the ligaments that connect the sacrum to the pelvis. Research indicates that stretch in the sacroiliac ligaments can regulate the activity of muscles in the vicinity of the sacrum:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">This study (research by Indahl, A., et al.) established that the ligamento-muscular reflex existed between the sacroiliac joint and muscles that attach to the bones that make up the sacroiliac joint. (The study\u2019s authors) suggested that the sacroiliac joint was a regulator of pelvic and paraspinal muscles and, thereby, influences posture and lumbar segmental stability. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(Serola Biomechanics website summary of Indahl, A., et al.: Sacroiliac joint involvement in activation of the porcine spinal and gluteal musculature. Journal of Spinal Disorders, 1999. 12(4): p. 325-30; europepmc.org\/article\/med\/10451049,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">serola.net\/research-category\/the-nutation-lesion-2\/ligamento-muscular-reflex\/; parentheticals added)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The paraspinal muscles are the muscles that run vertically along the spine. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Researchers have now concluded that the transverse and oblique abdominals can engage with the muscles of the spine and with the thoracolumbar fascia behind the spine to support the joints of the spine between the sacrum and the thorax:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Stability and mobility are opposing states in joints. To stabilize the lumbar spine, especially between L1 and L4 levels without ribs, the transverse abdominus and internal oblique muscles and their fascial aponeurosis (attachments) resemble a flexible myofascial ring between the thorax and pelvis. \u2026 This axial abdominal\u2013lumbar myofascial ring, between the thorax and pelvis, generates muscles contraction to compensate for the lack of rib stability. \u2026 The present study has demonstrated that co-contraction of the paraspinal muscles and the deep abdominal muscles is capable of creating this girdling effect.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u2026 Using a biomechanical model, Hukins et al. (1990) showed that limiting radial expansion of the PMC (paraspinal muscular compartment) due to contraction of the deep abdominal muscles could increase the tension within the TLF (thoracolumbar fascia) compartment by 30%, leading to a proportional increase in the extensor moment exerted by paraspinal muscles\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(\u201cThe functional coupling of the deep abdominal and paraspinal muscles: the effects of simulated paraspinal muscle contraction on force transfer to the middle and posterior layer of the thoracolumbar fascia\u201d; A Vleeming,\u00a0M D Schuenke,\u00a0L Danneels,\u00a0F H Willard; J Anat. 2014 Aug 20;225(4):447\u2013462. doi:\u00a010.1111\/joa.12227; parentheticals added)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The authors of the study cited the \u201cmyofascial ring\u201d between L1 and L4 as the source of muscle contraction in the abdomen and lower back, though they gave no references for their assertion. There is, however, an apparent \u201cligamento-muscular reflex\u201d between the ligaments of the spine and the associated paraspinal muscles, like that reported by Indahl and associates in connection with the sacroiliac ligaments:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">In 1998, Stubbs, Harris et al. established the presence of a ligamento-muscular reflex from the mechanoreceptors in the lumbar supraspinous ligament to adjacent paraspinal muscles. Although done with electrical stimulation, they found that the contracted muscles, by creating an extension response, relieved tension on the ligament that would be strained by flexion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(Serola Biomechanics, serola.net\/research-category\/the-nutation-lesion-2\/ligamento-muscular-reflex\/; Stubbs, M., et al., Ligamento-muscular protective reflex in the lumbar spine of the feline. J Electromyogr Kinesiol, 1998. 8(4): p. 197-204)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">That suggests that the source of the muscle contraction in the \u201cmyofascial ring\u201d is a ligamento-muscular reflex generated by ligaments in the lower spine, a reflex that triggers reciprocal innervation in the ring between the paraspinal muscles and the transverse and internal oblique muscles of the abdomen.* <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The sacrotuberous, sacrospinous, and iliolumbar ligaments are also likely to generate reflex muscular activity, although that has yet to be established. Such activity might be expected to result in muscle contraction and reciprocal innervation in the pelvic basin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">In the 1950\u2019s, D. L. Bartilink\u2019s experiments established that in weight lifting, support for the integrity of the lower spine comes in part from the pressurization of \u201cthe abdominal fluid ball\u201d by the transverse, internal oblique, and external oblique muscles. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">In addition to bearing some of the load that would otherwise compress the annuluses of the spine, the \u201cfluid ball\u201d exerts a pressure to the rear that can displace the thoracolumbar fascia behind the lumbar spine, and thereby support the spine (Gracovetsky, Farfan, and Lamay, 1977). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Dr. Rene Cailliet provided a summary of the finding:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u2026 the abdominal pressure is considered to be exerted posteriorly against the lumbodorsal (thoracolumbar) fascia, causing the fascia to become taut\u2026. thus relieving the tension upon the erector spinae muscles. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(\u201cLow Back Pain Syndrome\u201d, ed. 3, F. A. Davis Co., pp 140-141; parenthetical added)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The support of the thoracolumbar fascia and ligaments is crucial in weight-lifting:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">It is essential that the supraspinous ligament and the lumbodorsal (thoracolumbar) fascia be brought into action to permit weight lifting without disk or vertebral failure\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(Gracovetsky, S., Farfan HF, Lamay C, 1977. A mathematical model of the lumbar spine using an optimal system to control muscles and ligaments. Orthopedic Clinics of North America 8: 135-153)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The ligaments have a weight-bearing capacity that far exceeds that of the muscles:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">It must be kept in mind that in some circumstances ligament tension may reach 1800 lb., whereas no muscle can pull as hard. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(ibid)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">I have illustrated the mechanisms of displacement of the thoracolumbar fascia, both behind the sacrum and behind the spine:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2484\" src=\"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/skeleton-side-red-text-innervation-arrows_thoracolumbar.jpg\" alt=\"Displacement of the thoracolumbar fascia\" width=\"485\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/skeleton-side-red-text-innervation-arrows_thoracolumbar.jpg 485w, https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/skeleton-side-red-text-innervation-arrows_thoracolumbar-243x300.jpg 243w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 485px) 100vw, 485px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Although seldom noted in the literature, alternation in the activity of the extensor muscles has been observed, particularly in the lower spine:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The alternating activation between sides of lumbar muscles was similar in patients with cLBP (constant low back pain) compared to HCs (healthy controls). \u2026 The exact mechanism for alternating activation is not clear\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(\u201cReduced muscle activity variability in <u>lumbar extensor muscles<\/u> during sustained sitting in individuals with chronic low back pain\u201d, doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0213778; emphasis in title added)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Cheng Man Ch\u2019ing asserted that straightening the occiput bone allows the <em>shen<\/em> (spirit) and the <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> (\u201cbreath energy\u201d) to reach the top of the head. He quoted an instruction from the <em>Classics<\/em>:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Raise the strength to the top of the head.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(\u201cCheng Tzu\u2019s Thirteen Treatises on T\u2019ai Chi Ch\u2019uan\u201d, Cheng Man Ch\u2019ing, tr.\u00a0 Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Martin Inn, p 89)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">If strength is raised to the top of the head, said Cheng, \u201cthe energy at the erect top of the head is light and agile.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The T\u2019ai Chi<em> Classics<\/em> describe a \u201clight and agile\u201d feeling in the body as a whole, obtained through a particular relaxation:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Relax the inner abdomen, then the whole body is light and agile.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(ibid, p 25)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The \u201clight and agile\u201d feeling may result from an interchange between pressure in the abdominal cavity and the movement of the brain in the skull, an interchange that could involve the angle of the sacrum, the angle of the upper back, and the angle of the occiput:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Specifically, brain motion was driven by abdominal muscle contractions that activate a hydraulic-like vascular connection between the nervous system and the abdominal cavity, and could similarly be induced by pressure applied to the abdomen. &#8230;\u00a0 These results suggest that the brain is linked mechanically to the abdominal compartment, and that fluid flow in the brain could be coupled to body movements.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(Gut-Brain Hydraulics: Brain motion and CSF circulation is driven by mechanical coupling with the abdomen, doi.org\/10.1101\/2025.01.30.635779)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The contribution of upright posture to the stretch of fascia and the moment of extensors, not only behind the sacrum but behind the upper back and the occiput as well, could be a factor in the ease of the vascular connection between the abdomen and the brain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Movement in T\u2019ai Chi Ch\u2019uan is said to result from the mobilization of <em>ch\u2019i<\/em>. The mobilization of <em>ch\u2019i<\/em>, meanwhile, depends on the accumulation of <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> at a location in the body called the <em>tan t\u2019ien<\/em>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Cheng described the <em>tan t\u2019ien<\/em> as \u201cthe only path for the Taoist\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u2026 the <em>tan t\u2019ien<\/em> in T\u2019ai Chi Ch\u2019uan is the only path for the Taoist; there is no other way. The <em>tan t\u2019ien <\/em>lies in the abdomen close to the navel and goes back toward the spine. It is located about 1.3 inches below the navel. In physiology it is referred to as <u>the center of gravity of the body<\/u>, and is located in the middle of the waistline. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(\u201cCheng Tzu\u2019s Thirteen Treatises on T\u2019ai Chi Ch\u2019uan\u201d, Cheng Man Ch\u2019ing, tr.\u00a0 Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Martin Inn, p 95; emphasis added)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Cheng outlined a method for the cultivation of <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> at the <em>tan-t\u2019ien<\/em>:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">To cultivate the <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> it is necessary to sink the ch\u2019i to the <em>tan t\u2019ien<\/em>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(\u201cCheng Tzu\u2019s Thirteen Treatises on T\u2019ai Chi Ch\u2019uan\u201d, Cheng Man Ch\u2019ing, tr.\u00a0 Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Martin Inn, p 61)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">To sink the <em>ch\u2019i <\/em>is to will the <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> to accumulate in the <em>tan t\u2019ien<\/em>, but not to stuff the abdomen. Be careful!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(ibid, p 106)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">If those who learn T\u2019ai Chi Ch\u2019uan do not know what Mencius meant by \u201cSeek the released mind,\u201d they will find that their cultivation of <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> is meaningless and simply tiresome. <u>The <em>Classics<\/em> say that the mind and <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> stay together in the <em>tan t\u2019ien<\/em>.<\/u> This is the \u201cseeking of the released mind\u201d to arrive at the perfect place of cultivation without harm.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(ibid, p 59; emphasis added)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">With regard to the mobilization of <em>ch\u2019i<\/em>, Cheng again quoted the <em>Classics<\/em>:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The <em>Classics<\/em> say, \u201cThe mind mobilizes the <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> and the <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> mobilizes the body. <u>The <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> spreads throughout the whole body.<\/u>\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(\u201cCheng Tzu\u2019s Thirteen Treatises on T\u2019ai Chi Ch\u2019uan\u201d, Cheng Man Ch\u2019ing, tr.\u00a0 Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Martin Inn, p 32; emphasis added)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">In Cheng\u2019s teaching, the <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> is cultivated at the <em>tan t\u2019ien<\/em> together with the \u201creleased mind\u201d, yet at the same time the mobilized <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> spreads throughout the body. In Gautama the Buddha\u2019s teaching, a person \u201clays hold of one-pointedness\u201d of mind and gathers zest and ease together in \u201cone-pointedness\u201d, yet at the same time zest and ease are extended throughout the body.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Gautama provided a metaphor:\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u2026 just as a handy bathman or attendant might strew bath-powder in some copper basin and, gradually sprinkling water, knead it together so that the bath-ball gathered up the moisture, became enveloped in moisture and saturated both in and out, but did not ooze moisture; even so, (a person) steeps, drenches, fills, and suffuses this body with zest and ease, born of solitude, so that there is not one particle of the body that is not pervaded by this lone-born zest and ease.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(AN 5.28, tr. Pali Text Society vol. III pp 18-19)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Feeling that is extended throughout the body yet gathered into \u201cone-pointedness\u201d can cause the successive occurrences of \u201cone-pointedness\u201d to become contiguous, and can cause reflex activity of the consciousness-informed body to become continuous (see <a href=\"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/just-to-sit-anm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Just to Sit<\/a>). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">In T\u2019ai Chi, the mobilization of <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> throughout the body and the simultaneous accumulation of <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> in the <em>tan t\u2019ien<\/em> serves to make the instances of \u201cthe released mind\u201d contiguous, and the movements of the body continuous:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">T\u2019ai Chi Ch\u2019uan\u2019s other name is Ch\u2019ang Ch\u2019uan (Long Boxing) because it is like a long river or ocean rolling on unceasingly. This describes the inherent continuity which is the concentration of <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> and the embodiment of suppleness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(\u201cCheng Tzu\u2019s Thirteen Treatises on T\u2019ai Chi Ch\u2019uan\u201d, Cheng Man Ch\u2019ing, tr.\u00a0 Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Martin Inn, p 37)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Cheng also wrote:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> can mobilize the body, but you need not will the <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> in order to move it. The spirit can carry the <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> with it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(ibid, p 80)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">To excite the <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> means not only to stimulate one\u2019s own <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> but to join one\u2019s <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> to the <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> of Nature so as to reinforce each other. Then it is excellent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(\u201cCheng Tzu\u2019s Thirteen Treatises on T\u2019ai Chi Ch\u2019uan\u201d, Cheng Man Ch\u2019ing, tr.\u00a0 Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Martin Inn, p 209)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">In a similar vein, Gautama spoke of feelings of benevolence extended through \u201cthe whole world everywhere, in every way\u201d, and of concentrations that occur based on \u201cthe heart\u2019s release\u201d through the extension of such feelings. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Cheng described the final stage of attainment of T\u2019ai Chi Ch\u2019uan as <em>sh\u00e9n m\u00edng<\/em>, or \u201cspiritual brightness\u201d, arrived at through \u201c<em>t\u2019ing chin<\/em>\u201d, listening to or feeling (ligamentous) strength, and \u201c<em>tung chin<\/em>\u201d, the comprehension of (ligamentous) strength.**<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Cheng stated, however, that the only skill in T\u2019ai Chi Ch\u2019uan that was difficult for him to learn was <em>chieh chin<\/em>, or \u201creceiving <em>chin<\/em>\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">From familiarity with the correct touch you will learn to <em>t\u2019ing chin<\/em> [listen to strength] . After learning to <em>t\u2019ing chin<\/em>, you will gradually comprehend <em>tung chin<\/em> [understanding strength]\u2026. I followed Professor Yang for seven years and only one <em>chin<\/em> was difficult to learn. It was <em>chieh chin<\/em> [receiving <em>chin<\/em>]\u2026. Besides <em>chieh chin<\/em> there is nothing else.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(ibid, pp 204-205)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The ability to absorb an opponent\u2019s blows, to <em>chieh chin<\/em> or \u201creceive <em>chin<\/em>\u201d, depends on the abdomen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">This is the primary reason to use the term \u201cT\u2019ai Ch\u2019i\u201d to name this martial art, for it means to cause the attacking force to dissolve in emptiness. When the opponent realizes that he has failed, his only option is to withdraw and try to escape. During the opponent\u2019s withdrawal of his attacking force, my abdomen, which has absorbed and stored the force of his attack, uses this power to attack his retreat. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(\u201cCheng Tzu\u2019s Thirteen Treatises on T\u2019ai Chi Ch\u2019uan\u201d, Cheng Man Ch\u2019ing, tr.\u00a0 Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Martin Inn, p 49)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Ch\u2019eng explained <em>fa chin<\/em>, or the discharge of the force of an opponent\u2019s attack:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><em>Chin<\/em> (strength) comes from the ligaments\u2026 What is <em>fa chin<\/em> (discharging <em>chin<\/em>)? It is like shooting an arrow. Shooting an arrow depends on the spring force of the bow and string. The force of the bow and string is soft, lively, and flexible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(\u201cCheng Tzu\u2019s Thirteen Treatises on T\u2019ai Chi Ch\u2019uan\u201d, Cheng Man Ch\u2019ing, tr.\u00a0 Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Martin Inn, pp 91-92)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Like the stretch of a bow string, even the resting alternation of the extensors may be felt in the stretch of the thoracolumbar fascia from the tailbone through the occipital bone, at the soles of the feet and in the movement of air through the sinuses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The absorption of an opponent\u2019s ligamentous strength apparently depends on the passage of the force through the \u201cfluid ball\u201d of the abdomen to the fascia and ligaments of the lower spine and sacrum. The opponent is then \u201cdischarged\u201d through a ligamento-muscular reflex generated from where the strength was absorbed. Cheng wrote:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">When you discharge others, it is like cleanly releasing an arrow from a bowstring.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(ibid, p 213)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Cheng offered one last tip for the practice of Tai Ch\u2019i:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The turning of the millstone represents the turning of the waist. \u201cThe axle not turning\u201d is equivalent to the equilibrium that comes from the sinking of the <em>ch\u2019i<\/em> to the <em>tan t\u2019ien<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u201cThe millstone turns but the axle does not turn\u201d is really the transmission of the family secret. \u2026 Since I learned this I find improvement every day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(ibid, p 90)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">*Here\u2019s Dr. John Upledger\u2019s description of an experience of reciprocal innervation he had while lying on salt water in an isolation tank:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">At some point my body began to make fish-like movements, as though my pelvis and legs were the lower part of a fish moving its tail from side to side. This movement was nice and easy. The neurophysiologist in me related these movements to an expression of what we call \u2018reciprocal innervation\u2019. The principle here is that, when your trunk is bent to the side in one direction past a certain threshold, the muscles on the other side of the trunk contract. In doing so, the nerve impulses are diverted from the side to which you are bent, and those muscles relax. Your trunk now bends in the opposite direction until that side-bending threshold is passed. The nerve impulses are then diverted again to the opposite side, causing muscle contraction and side bending in that direction. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">(\u201cYour Inner Physician and You: Craniosacral Therapy and Somatoemotional Release\u201d, John E. Upledger, p165)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">**Anthropic\u2019s \u201cClaude\u201d assisted me with finding the Chinese words translated as \u201comnipotence\u201d by Lo and Inn, and as \u201cperfect clarity\u201d by Doug Wile. \u201cClaude\u201d determined that the Chinese words were <em>sh\u00e9n m\u00edng<\/em>, and \u201cClaude\u201d translated the words as \u201cspiritual brightness\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cheng Man-Ch\u2019ing gave his students some advice for the practice of T\u2019ai Chi: \u2026 The whole body\u2019s weight rests on only one leg. If two legs equally carry it, this is double-weightedness. When the weight is transferred, the sacrum and the upper back must be kept upright in the middle. Then you will not lose &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/?p=2705\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;\u201cThe Millstone Turns but the Axle Does Not Turn\u201d&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2705"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2726,"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2705\/revisions\/2726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}