Scattered Sakura Petals

[Pierre]

散れ千本桜。

朽木　白哉

There are few sights in this world that compare to that of Japanese sakura (cherry blossoms) in full bloom. In Japan, the flowers blossom before the leaves appear, so that all one sees is thousands of different shades of pink. There is no ordinary expression in English to describe this sight, and the Japanese expression for it is used only during this season. This seasonal term, hanagumori, literally “flowers clouding the sky,” captures it most accurately – in certain places where sakura have grown or been cultivated on hillsides, one will see nothing but the pink blossom contrasting with the blue of the sky. Sakura blooms are short, lasting no more than two weeks, and are considered by educated Japanese to be the epitome of the transient nature of all phenomena. The poignancy of this is underscored whenever one is lucky enough to catch the sight of dozens of individual sakura petals whirling and dancing in a breeze before falling to the ground to slowly dissolve and return to their origin.

In the beautiful south that is my home, the Sakura began blooming more than three weeks ago, and had nearly withered completely by the time I left for Kawasaki to take Sifu’s courses. This was unusually early; most of the time the blooms begin at the beginning of April. The early bloom left many Wahnam Japan members concerned that Sifu might miss the opportunity to see the splendour of sakura at their peak. True to form, Sifu’s timing was perfect. The week before Sifu came, Japan was hit by an unseasonal cold snap, which managed to delay the sakura blooms for a week in most of eastern Japan. Consequently, Sifu, Taisiheng Chun Nga, and Alice arrived just in time to drink deeply of the sight of hanagumori.

Just as the sakura explode into beauty only to quietly dissolve away in a short span, so, too, have Sifu’s courses come and gone. It is now the ninth and final day of Sifu’s teaching tour de force here in Kawasaki, and “tour de force” as an expression does little justice to the depth and wonder of the work that Sifu (assisted by Taisiheng Chun Nga, Emiko Sije, and Yumi Sije) has been doing here. There has been so much to take in – six courses in all – and what memories I have are vivid and beautiful, but scattered: like sakura petals on the wind. Since some of them may be of interest to some of you, and since I have been asked to do so by both Sifu and Emiko Sije, I will post some of those recollections here. I ask you all to trust the story rather than the storyteller, and to take comfort in the fact that, like the sakura (and quite unlike the majority of my posts), the ones that will follow here will be brief.

[Pierre]

Scattered Sakura Petals I – The Miraculous Made Manifest in Minutes

It is the morning of the first course, Generating Energy Flow, and I have arrived after a sleepless night of watching live hip-hop in Roppongi. As I banter with auld acquaintance and new, the building energy is more than palpable. I recognize a co-worker of Yumi’s, Akiko-san, whom I’d met only once before. Akiko introduces me to her father who, she tells me, doesn’t have the best hearing or the clearest mind given his age. I look up into his gray, ashen face, and we exchange pleasantries and warm smiles. He comes across as much more open-minded than the average geriatric Japanese gentleman. He tells me that he knows nothing about chi kung or what to expect. I tell him that such conditions are ideal and that he should, above all, enjoy himself.

Sifu enters the hall with his ever-expansive smile and warmth.

The course begins. Early on, Sifu talks about the miraculous qualities of chi kung practice, and makes reference to the miracle that occurred in Kawasaki when he came in 2007. (It concerned Taisije Jean Lie’s broken leg and has been discussed on the forum before.) The course continues. Needless to say, it goes fantastically well.

Sifu opens the floor to comments and questions for the final time. A few questions and comments later, Akiko’s father raises his hand. At Sifu’s acknowledgement, he stands up, and begins speaking at great length in a very polite Japanese that is heard less and less these days. What follows is a highly condensed and literal translation of his words:

“This person is called Majima Kosaburo,” he begins, introducing himself by family name first. “I am two weeks away from my eighty-ninth birthday,” a statement that prompts no small amount of surprised gasps. “I have had lung cancer, for which I had surgery last year. While this seems to have dealt with the problem, I live with the reality that it may again return. What I wish to ask the most respected teacher before whom I’m privileged to stand is: can chi kung help me to overcome it completely?”

Emiko Sije begins to translate this with her seamless ability, but Majima-san, oblivious to this, continues forward with steamroller politeness, “If it is not an affront to ask, there is a second question that this person would like to put forth. I have also struggled with stomach pain and constipation. If the honoured master is not discomfited by this, might it please him to tell me how I can practice chi kung to solve this problem?”

Sifu answers the first question. Emiko Sije relays the second question. Sifu explains that chi kung can certainly help him with his stomach pain and constipation, and tells him that Merry-Go-Round would be an excellent pattern to practice. He then teaches Mr. Majima how to perform Merry-Go-Round, which Mr. Majima begins to do. After three repetitions in one direction, Sifu instructs him to turn the other way. He does. Sifu guides him through a brief chi flow, then instructs him to go to his dantian and to return to the reality of the room.

Sifu tells him that this is a wonderful exercise for him and that he has already received benefits from the few repetitions that he has performed. “Look at your face! It has changed! Please turn around and show everyone!”

Majima-san turns around and his face is lit with healthy colour and a vibrancy that certainly was not there in the morning or during the course of the day. Everyone is stunned – those with some years of practice behind them being more stunned by the short time in which the change manifested, rather than by the change itself. True to form, Sifu opens a course telling us of the miraculous qualities of Shaolin Cosmos Chi Kung, and later, over the course of five brief minutes, he shows us concretely that anyone can make these qualities manifest – even an almost-eighty-nine-year-old gentleman recovering from cancer.

A postscript:
A few days later, Yumi Sije tells me that she has heard from Akiko that her father constipation was resolved not long after the course, and that he’s tremendously happy.

[Chiahua]

Thank you for you excellent descriptions – I hope enjoy hana-mi in the company of good friends over there some day... The cherry blossoms are blooming here in Portland, though the constant overcast dulls the colors a bit.

[Jeffrey Segal]

Thank you, Pierre. I'm looking forward to reading more

Greetings from Melbourne!

[AColarusso]

Thank you for sharing with wonderful story!!!

[Andrea]

Thank you Pierre Sipak for sharing this beautiful "sakura petal". May Majima-san and we all see many more happy cherry blossoms.

Warm regards
Andrea

[parrapiti]

Dear Brother! Thank you for sharing your inspiration!

Piti

[Pierre]

A Brief Word before the Next Petal Falls...

To all of you who have posted on this thread, I would just like to say "Thank you for your gracious comments. They are much appreciated."

I hope that my subsequent posts here will live up to your expectations.

Bowing with gratitude,

-P.

[Pierre]

Scattered Sakura Petals II – Satori and Solitude in Silent Standing

As a wind-borne petal twists in flight,
The angle it takes hides the whole from our sight.
While the fraction we see enchants the eyes,
It’s in the part we don’t that deep truth lies.
鳥栖石

It is the second of Sifu’s courses in Kawasaki: Massaging Internal Organs. The first chi kung session of this course has been very powerful, the chi flow launching me into movements that I haven’t experienced hitherto. As Sifu speaks, most of the participants are rapt in their attention. Some, having taken in what their bodies need, are forgivably dozing. Sifu addresses us with his usual élan. Though it is my first time taking this specific course with Sifu, I have heard him elucidate the same principles before. This matters little, however, as the words echo in my body with levels of meaning I have not seen until now.

We move forward to the final session, in which Sifu tells us to choose any exercise we like, which we will perform entirely on our own, with no guidance, in order to ensure that we have developed the skill that he has been trying to transmit. Once we have finished practising, we are to take a seat. I choose Separating Water once more, since it was the pattern we performed in the fist session, and the one to which my body has most responded. I enjoy every breath, both during the pattern and during the relatively still chi flow that I experience afterward.

The time comes; I go to my dantian and stand and enjoy the silence. It seems lighter than the heavy, upward-directed silence I usually experience. Despite the lightness, however, it is also quieter than usual.

An impulse from my dantian says, “Time to complete your practice.”

My self reacts, “Complete it? It’s been so short…”

“It’s time.”

I complete the practice. As I open my eyes during point massage, I notice to my great surprise (and to some small mortification), that I am the only one standing in the room. As I start the heavenly drum Sifu begins speaking – I remind myself to smile and relax in the face of these awkward circumstances. I run my 30 steps in one place before returning to my seat, slightly embarrassed, but above and beyond that, awed. Sifu explains during the final question and answer session that this experience was cultivation at the spiritual level -- merging with the cosmos -- which we will focus on in the later courses.

That evening, over dinner, the explanation I receive from Sifu as to what occurred...

(At this point, I must refer you all to the couplets prefacing this instalment, and ask your forgiveness.)

[Andrew]

Enchanting, Pierre.

[Michael Agar]

Can we have more please...

Dear Pierre
You have us all hooked on your enchanting posts. Loving it all and most especially your elegant turns of phrase.
my love to all of the fabulous Japanese deshi
Michael

[Pierre]

Hiatus

As is my wont, I've had another hiatus.

Thank you Andrew and Michael for your kind words and encouragement.

Late, but here is another petal for everyone.

[Pierre]

Scattered Sakura Petals III – Discovery During Dinnertime Dialogue

In one instant, the sakura flowers,
Its birth the fruit of countless hours.
Then so swiftly away its beauty’s swept,
Yet in the heart’s depths its image stays kept.
鳥栖石

It is the evening after Sifu’s Massaging Internal Organs course, and I have been given the rare privilege of being invited to join Sifu and the Wahnam Japan Instructors at dinner. In the course of dinner, Sifu asks us about the extent to which we can see the application of a pattern, irrespective of whether it’s one we have learned directly from him. This question is then brought to bear at me, resulting in a minor moment of panic. Settling at my dantian, I find the genuine answer.

“Yes, Sifu, much more than ever before, I am able to have some idea of the application of patterns that I haven't learned from you previously.”

“Very good!” Sifu replies with his generous smile and sparkling eyes.

“But Sifu, I must admit that this has only been the case since I learned Wahnam Taijiquan. Before the Intensive Taijiquan course you gave in September, I wouldn't have been able to answer your question.”

“Yes,” Sifu says, kindly inviting me to elaborate.

“I think this is because it was my first time to have learned Wahnam Taijiquan directly from you. That put me deeply into a paradigm that was unfamiliar to me; to move within that paradigm, I had to let go of the way that I saw things at that time. As a result, the kungfu I had learned from you opened up even further. As I told you at the time, my understanding of the special set you gave me in 2004 deepened almost magically, to my complete surprise. Since then, in that same way, I can have a better understanding of a pattern’s application than I previously have. That course changed many things for me, Sifu; thank you so much for having given it.”

“Yes… that would make an interesting point on the forum…” Sifu says as the conversation moves on further in its flow.

(Sorry, Sifu, for having been so late in putting it up here.)

[Andrew]

..... nods knowingly

Thanks again, Pierre. I really enjoy the style of this thread and each of your posts.

[ChrisCook]

Simply Beautiful

Pierre,
I've just finished reading your posts that were uploaded to the shoalin.org and must commend you on the eloquence of your writing. I know that being concise and eloquent are not easily attainable skills, they must surely be manifestations of mental clarity from your training?? I look forward to future posts.

Chris Cook