3 gifts ~ tai chi

Tina Barry has studied Chinese Yoga and Meditation under Grandmaster Ho Lo at the Tai Chi College of Australia since 1995. Since July 2000 Tina has taught numerous techniques which fall under the umbrella of Chinese Yoga and Meditation. Grandmaster Ho Lo has demonstrated his support for Tina’s ability to pass on this knowledge by referring many clients directly to her over the past 13 years to learn specific yoga and meditation techniques.

Legend has it that some of these yoga and meditation techniques were kept secret for hundreds of years inside the temples of China and were only known to the abbots and most senior monks. Some methods date their origin back to the Bodhidharma, Da Mo and the techniques he had taught to the Shaolin Monks.

These ancient healing techniques as taught by my wonderful teacher are based on five major schools:

• Buddhist
• Taoist
• Peoples’
• Medical
• Martial

The tree of Chinese Yoga and Meditation spreads its roots and branches far and wide. The ancient techniques aim to cultivate the body, the, essence (jing), the energy (qi), the mind and spirit (shen). Cultivation implies practise, patience and persistence. There are numerous techniques, some going by different names for the same method and movement. These include, the art of the enlightened one, the way of the immortals, chinese buddhist yoga, buddha fa, hsin tao, zen buddhist yoga, teachings of the great masters, the art of longevity . Within these names are the names of individual techniques on how to transform the essence, and the qi and how to train the body, mind and the spirit. These include lo han yoga, qi healing and loving, tranquillity meditation, insight meditation, regenerating the spine, saint making the elixir, dragon pearl meditation, microcosmic and macrocosmic orbit. However what remains essential and true to me about all I have been taught is that they were taught to me by a great master a humble human being with an inexhaustible knowledge of the ancient way and techniques of the so called “enlightened ones”or “little gods”. The greatest gift one can return to the person who teaches you these healing gifts is to practise them regularly. More importantly Grandmaster Ho Lo always expresses his hope that in turn we teach these secrets of a healthy long life to our family, friends, neighbours…… anyone. There is a wisdom in these so called meditation and yoga secrets being released from their temples of secrecy because in this day and age humanity needs their benefits perhaps more than ever before. The world of the 21st century is much dustier than that of 1300 years ago!

I am blessed to have received direct teaching of these techniques from Grandmaster Ho Lo for almost two decades now. Many techniques I have studied with him three or four times. Each time my understanding, awareness and appreciation deepens, but the valley is deep and the mountains are high and I can never learn and capture enough and always look forward to the next time around. Grandmaster Ho Lo has great understanding of both the subtlties and technical aspects of the techniques Perhaps one day I too could truly understand the great emptiness.