The Secret Of Immortality -Putting Knowledge Into Practice

This article is a loose retelling of a story from one of my favourite Taoist texts, AC Graham's translation of "The Book of Lieh-tzu" published in London by John Murray, 1960. I'm no Sinologist (although my wife is), so forgive my version for straying from the excellent translation of the late AC Graham. Hang in with this one as there is a punch-line.

The Lord of Yen heard of a man who new the secret of immortality. He sent a messenger to fetch the secret but the messenger dawdled on the way and the man died before he arrived. The Lord of Yen was furious and was about to execute the messenger. One of his ministers protested "That man died, so how could he possibly have passed on the secret of immortality to you?"

Philosopher Fu-Tzu was amused: "To be angry when a man with the secret of immortality dies without passing it on, this is confusion".

Philosopher Hu-tzu disagreed, observing that "there are always men who possess a theory they cannot act upon".

Over the years of my tai chi (taiji) and chi kung (qigong) practice, I have 'seen the feet of clay' of many teachers, especially 'Masters' and 'direct lineage holders' in the world of Chinese martial arts and qigong. Many times I've been disheartened, even felt like giving up the whole pursuit, only to be drawn back to my practice simply because it feels so good, it does me so much good and I feel so much the worse if I don't do it.

The moral of the story in a nutshell? The fact that the teachers and practitioners can be daft and worse than daft at times, doesn't invalidate the art itself.

As I get older, the importance of a regular body/mind practice routine becomes ever greater. Pension funds are in crisis the world over, and the standards of conventional health care are suffering from problems of funding and mismanagement. I for one fully intend to retain my faculties for as long as possible, and to live a happy, prosperous and useful life well into my old age.

I especially want to delay for as long as I can the prospect of being a burden to my family. I feel strongly that preventative health-care has to play an essential part in the life of any sensible, forward-thinking person, and an exercise system which cares for both mind and body during the same session represents efficient use of my time.

Each to his/her own, but for a non-athletic person like myself, the soft exercise systems of Asia such as tai chi (taiji) and chi kung (qigong) are an obvious choice - time-tested, efficient and highly enjoyable. They also bring with them the development and maintenance of a surprising variety of practical skills which can be of use in every aspect of life.