The Flying Butterfly appears in Insight Meditation, following the meeting of the Dragon and Tiger, the meeting of the spirit and soul.
Prior to this movement we had connected our soul with the universe and absorbed energy from the Sun and Moon. Now the Flying Butterfly represents using that energy to nourish both your soul and spirit. Insight meditation is about strengthening the internal organs and harmonising the body and mind, transforming the energy (qi) and the spirit (shen). The butterfly is recognised also as a symbol of transformation.
The Flying Butterfly, the prelude to the interplay of the spirit and soul. It is with such intention, consciousness and dedication that one can attain a happy and healthy,long life.
And so it was said in Chuang Tzu’s butterfly dream;
once upon a time I dreamed I was a butterfly flying happily here and there, enjoying life without knowing who I was … Did I dream I was a butterfly or did the butterfly dream he was me?
Chuang Tzu’s butterfly dream
Persistently practising Insight Meditation over a 9 month period will cultivate your mind and body. You will learn to let go and lose focus of the concepts of “I” and “me” … so it doesn’t matter if you are the butterfly or it you!
Be a flying butterfly, be happy and enjoy life.
Happy practising. Cultivation is the mission.
JUL
2014
About the Author:
Tina Barry started learning tai chi in 1994. She became very interested and fascinated with tai chi having found a great and wonderful teacher, Grandmaster Ho Lo at the Tai Chi College of Australia. Tina has continued to study tai chi intensively under the guidance of Grandmaster Ho Lo since that time. Grandmaster Ho Lo’s understanding and teaching of the art of tai chi is deeply profound and Tina has grown, developed and nurtured her own immense appreciation for it with the aid of his incredible teaching. Tina’s understanding of the subtlties of tai chi continue to develop under Grandmaster Ho Lo's patient guidance. It seems the more she learns, the more there is to appreciate and understand and Grandmaster Ho Lo’s intensive teaching has remained inexhaustible after all these years. On occassion Grandmaster Ho Lo allows Tina to lead the students at the Tai Chi College of Australia through the tai chi form, appreciating her expression of tai chi. Sometimes Tina thinks perhaps she is getting it right!