Earlier this week I contacted a friend of mine living in Shanghai. I connected with him with the intention of reconnecting and finding out if he had any marital arts articles to share. At present he’s training at 9 Clouds Taiji in Shanghai under Patrick Kelly. Immediately, he connected with Patrick Kelly who give me permission to publish the preface and first chapter of his book Infinite Dao. So here is your first instalment.
《无极·道》作者：INFINITE DAO
前言 PREFACE
虽然，人们对各种灵修的历史发掘的越远，对其发展的认知就愈发扑朔迷离，但这一研究却能让我们清楚地意识到以下两点：首先，经过德才兼备的师父对虔诚弟子的精心传授，这些灵修的思想精髓得以绵延不断地传承至今；其次， 要表述和传授这些精髓的玄妙所在，每位师父就必须创作出自身独特的教学方法。教学传授，要么向外蜕变，要么向内衰亡。The further back in time we look, the more obscure becomes the history of all spiritual traditions, yet from the study of this past, two things become clear – first, that the inner-essence of these traditions flows down through genuine teachers to sincere pupils in unbroken chains, and second, that each teacher must devise his or her own training system to express and pass on this impersonal inner-essence. The teaching is bound to evolve outwardly or die inwardly.
本书记录了1972至2006年的35年间，我与道家、苏菲派和瑜伽派等派内一系列“杰出人物”的会面与修学。写作伊始，我本想就自身所获进行细述。但随着落笔的深入，我意识到自己想要传达的信息与其所处各种诱因状况以及那些帮助过我的人们的生活之间，具备着不可分割的联系；再往下写，就需要将更多的学习经验纳入到写作中。如此，我愈发认识到，相较于通过学习获得的简单事实，现实生活中的交互影响以及自身对这些影响的感受其实更为重要。而那些影响和经历，锤炼并锻造了我的认知基础。This book records my meetings and studies with a series of “remarkable people” within the Daoist, Sufi and Yogic traditions, during the 35 years from 1972 to 2006. When beginning to write, my intention was to describe in detail just what I had learnt, but during the initial writing I realised that this information was neither independent from the situations that gave rise to it, nor from the lives of the people who had helped me. Continuing to write, while including more of those learning experiences, I gradually realised moreover that those real-life interactions and resulting experiences that formed the anvil on which was forged my understanding, were even more important than the plain facts of what had been learnt.
在学习与传授中，对己对人我都一贯力求扶持个体的心灵进步，做到日积跬步的进步，并促进内心的升华。在形式上，我倾向于道家的开明哲学和细化的培训方法；但内心里，我知道正确的道路只有一条，而那是一条超越你的思维、引导你穿越层层自我带你回到内心最深处的道路。My direction in learning and teaching has always been to support the spiritual process in myself and in others, both in the sense of gradual evolution in daily life and accelerated inner refinement. Outwardly my inclination was towards the open philosophy and refined training methods of the Daoists, but inwardly I knew there has only ever been one true Way. That is the Path that leads back through the layers of yourself to the deepest regions within – beyond the mind.
太极可以说是道教原则中最玄妙的一项。意识到这点后，我便义无反顾地投身于其中，以期发掘出太极深处的奥妙所在。命运让我与本书提及的最重要杰出人物 — 我的导师黄性贤大师相遇，也正是黄大师的太极成就了我35年来的心灵之路。而期间出现的另一位重要人物，苏菲派的谢赫·阿普杜拉·杜根大师，也同样成就了我这一心灵之路的无相精要。 除了为我构建心灵根基的这两位大师，我还遇见了其他许多拓宽并深化了我的视野的卓越人物，这其中对我影响时间最长、最终对我影响同样巨大的，就是沙漠瑜伽大师摩尼·马哈拉吉。Recognising Taiji as potentially a most subtle practice of Daoist Principles, I jumped in with the intention of diving to its depths – fate placing me for guidance in the care of Master Huang Xingxian, the principal “remarkable person” of this account. While his Taiji methods gave form to my inner journey throughout those 35 years, the formless essence of the Way was equally influenced by another remarkable person, Sufi Shaikh Abdullah Dougan. With these two as the base, further remarkable people helped my own vision to broaden and deepen, the most enduring and finally equally strong and influential, being the Desert Raja Yogi, Mouni Maharaj.
上述三位大师及诸多杰出人物的理念形成并酿就了我35年来的心灵成长体系（见《道家原则之践行》），如今我将之浓缩于本书之中。在他们的指导下，我的实践与教学随着自身内在认知的发展而不断演进。引导他人从最初对导师的依赖走向最终对内心真实自我的依靠，这一心灵的演变进程，就是我的授业目标。My system of inner-development (Daoist Principles in Practice) that has emerged and matured over that 35 year period, within the vision of these 3 remarkable people and more, is condensed and contained within this book. Under the direction of these teachers my practice and teaching has evolved with the growth of my own inner understanding. Leading others through this same gradual process of inner evolution, from external dependence on a teacher to internal dependence on their Real Self, is the aim of my teaching.
时至今日，我的太极拳教学都表现为以精神、情感和体质系统等为基础的教学，但它的精髓却是独立的，并远超太极拳道的表象之外。学习者会在适合自己所需级别的太极拳学习中获益，其学习的动机也因个体的不同而千差万别。太极拳在予人健康方面，具备很高的价值。通过不断的练习，太极拳践行者能拥有行云流水般的行动力，宁静致远的内在平和力，以及清晰镇静的思考力。太极拳对力道与能量的运用艺术不仅令人着迷，其实用性也非常之强。Externally, until now, I have based my teaching on the mental, emotional and physical system of Taijiquan – but the essence of my teaching is independent of and goes far beyond the obvious methods of Taijiquan. People benefit from it on the level that suits their needs. The motivations to practise are almost as many and as individual as there are Taiji practitioners. The health aspect of Taiji is of value. The increasing ability to move freely and naturally, feel calmly and deeply, and think clearly and quietly is appreciated by all. The art of dealing with forces and energies is profoundly interesting and practically useful.
对初学者而言，我的太极拳教学法能让他们免受各种生硬规则的束缚。其实，除了规则，世上还有各种经改良后会随着学习者的进步也不断演进的教授方法。太极典籍虽制定了各种原则， 但我们每名学习者还须亲身再次体验这些原则的真谛所在。对这些基本原则的领悟并不是一成不变的，因为随着太极的发展，那些领悟也会出现更加微妙的变化。而一旦寻得某种真谛，你就一定要将其融入到实践中。如此以往，你终将做到自我依靠下的独立学习。My presentation of Taiji has been designed to free people from the restrictions of the various rigid rules commonly taught to beginners. Rather than rules there exist various training methods that are programmed to evolve as people develop. The principles are laid out in the Taiji Classics but each person must re-experience their truth for themselves. The understanding of those principles is not static – it necessarily becomes more subtle as our Taiji progresses. However once you find something true for yourself then you must incorporate it into your practice. This way you gradually take responsibility for your own learning.
由于师从郑曼青大师，师公又是杨澄甫大师，黄师父门下弟子众多，但这并不是说，成为其弟子多年就一定能习得其太极艺术的精妙所在。“我没料到你会学到那么多”，这是师父给我的临终遗言，它一语道出了这一不确定性。As with his teacher Grandmaster Zheng Manqing (Cheng Man-ching) and his teacher’s teacher The Great Yang Chengfu, Master Huang had many pupils, but just the fact of being his student for a long time did not ensure success in learning the subtlety of his art. There were no guarantees. Even the last significant words Master Huang spoke to me before his death, “I never expected that you would learn so much”, clearly expressed this uncertainty.
无论是在实践中还是在生活中，即便是在写作本书时，我都重视、牢记并尽可能地，在以自然规律为中心下，让自己对平衡、勇气、品德，以及外柔内刚等的运用，都达到最理想的境界，虽然这一切都还有待臻善。In writing this book, as in my own practice and in my own life, I valued, remembered and made my best, though imperfect, attempt to apply, the ideals of balance, courage, integrity, external gentleness and internal strength, all within the embracing principle of naturalness.
作为指南，在阅读本书时，请谨记道家这句名谚：忘心忘境，忘我忘人，不著一物；住于虚无，方可入道。As guidance to reading this book, remember the Daoist saying, ”Behind the words is a picture and behind the picture is the intention. When you get the picture forget the words and when you get the intention forget the picture – then you will be close to the reality.”
克利 Patrick A Kelly
began Taiji with an experienced student of Master Huang Xingxian in 1973. In 1977 he moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where he studied full time in Master Huang’s school. In 1979, following tradition, Master Huang accepted Patrick as his personal disciple – the only non-Chinese to ever enter Huang’s inner-school. From that time Patrick Kelly travelled and taught beween Asia, Australasia and Europe while continuing to learn personally with Master Huang untill his death late 1992. Simultaneously Patrick worked closely both with the Naqshibandi Gnostic Sage Abdullah Dougan for 14 years until Abdullah’s death in 1987 and for 30 years with the Raja Yogi Mounimaharaj of Rajasthan who died in 2007 at more than 105 years old.
1973年，派瑞克利开始向黄性贤大师的一位资深学生学习太极。1977年，他来到马来西亚吉隆坡，在黄性贤大师的学校全日制学习太极。1979年，遵循传统惯例，黄性贤大师收派瑞克利为徒，他成为了黄性贤大师唯一的非华人入室弟子。自那时起，派瑞克利往来于亚洲、澳洲及欧洲教拳，同时继续私下向黄性贤大师学习，直至大师于1992年末去世。同一时期，派瑞克利还跟随纳什般迪派和诺斯替派哲人阿卜杜拉多安学习十四年，直到1987年阿卜杜拉去世，跟随拉贾斯坦的胜王瑜伽大师穆尼玛哈拉吉学习三十余年，直至穆尼大师在2007年以105岁高龄去世。
The reason? Psychologist’s attribute it to time. Like Pavlov’s experiments, the dog is only trained if the conditioned stimuli and response sets are timed in close proximity to one another. Smoking a cigarette and sipping a martini feels good today, but could have dire consequences down the line. So yes, doctors cannot say smoking or drinking definitely gave you your unfortunate situation, but by logical conclusions, it must have been a contributing factor.
WebMD
According to the introduction of The Book of Five Rings, Musashi states that his first successful duel was at the age of thirteen, against a samurai named Arima Kihei who fought using the Kashima Shintō-ryū style, founded by Tsukahara Bokuden (b. 1489, d. 1571). The main source of the duel is the Hyoho senshi denki (“Anecdotes about the Deceased Master”). Summarized, its account goes as follows:
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