The Spirit of Cheng Hsin What is the spirit of the Cheng Hsin pursuit? Honesty, questioning, and getting to the truth of the matter of one's own event by pursuing transformation, effectiveness, and the direct experience of the nature of Being. This work is not about proselytizing a belief system, adhering to dogma, or following a set of rituals. It is not about defending itself against differing ideas, or engaging in idle speculations. It has been created to support and encourage the work of getting to the truth of the matter - any matter. It is not intended to be an exclusive club. This endeavor is open to everyone no matter what their pursuits, as long as their commitment is to directly experience for themselves what is actually so in what they are doing. The words Cheng Hsin refer to the real and absolute nature of BEING. To "take on" Cheng Hsin is to move in the direction of experiencing the truth of what is occurring - in this moment or in any matter. The veils that shroud a direct experience of the truth can be stripped away by committed questioning. Cheng Hsin people are those who choose to benefit from associating with others committed to questioning and understanding the very nature of our own being and reality. The essence of Cheng Hsin is found in questioning our own event. We're striving to honestly investigate our actions, emotions, beliefs, relationships, and experience. It seems that in grasping the truth of any matter, the possibility arises of becoming more powerful, effective, and balanced in relation to that matter. Cheng Hsin is non-moral, non-political, and non-religious. The intent is not to embrace a new belief system, but rather to question and challenge openly and honestly the nature of our event - which is any aspect of being alive. This often means challenging our existing beliefs. I don't want to present Cheng Hsin as a "right" way of being, but simply as a commitment to uncovering the truth of being. Cheng Hsin supports direct and honest investigation, experimentation, communication, clarity of purpose, empowerment, and a commitment to authenticity and integrity in all endeavors and interactions. The Cheng Hsin work is to continually move toward a more "real," direct and present experience of self, life, or anything else. An experience of Cheng Hsin could be spoken of as experiencing something as it is, simply and directly - getting what is so. It could be said that the purpose of Cheng Hsin is to provide or create for people a doorway into the nature of Being. However, discovering the principles that govern or design any event, as well as making the distinctions that enable us to relate more effectively to that event, are also fundamental to the Cheng Hsin work. The objective is not to believe or disbelieve something, not even our own beliefs; rather it is to directly and authentically experience for ourselves the truth of the matter. The Cornerstones of the Cheng Hsin Endeavor In this work there are at least four basic distinctions on which we stand. These are neither moral nor arbitrary. They seem to reflect what is simply so and embody the heart of what we are up to in the pursuit of Cheng Hsin. These four fundamental distinctions set the stage for true inquiry. They are all actually distinctions in the very same movement or pursuit, acting as cornerstones for this endeavor. They are: Honesty Not-Knowing and Questioning Direct and Authentic Experience Grounded Openness Honesty Honesty is telling the truth, not only to others but to ourselves. This distinction goes beyond the conventional use of the word to a profound and real experience of a function that is as "rock bottom" honest as we can manage. In this distinction we find that our normal tendency is not one of such powerful honesty - we manipulate our own thinking and feeling, and our experience is so influenced by our beliefs, fears and ambitions that we cannot trust it to be what is "so" without challenge. We must maintain a diligent probing into the truth of anything that arises - from our ideas on how something works to the nature of relationship and communication. It appears that direct and honest communication leads to powerful interactions and relationships. What is actually occurring is already so. We begin to participate in this when we are honest with ourselves and others. Not-Knowing and Questioning Paradox and Confusion are the guardians of the truth. The truth is often found in unexpected places. How can we experience the truth if we are not open to every possibility? How can we question or wonder without first having an experience of not-knowing? Without the power of questioning, there is only knowing. With only knowing, there is no question and so no movement, no mystery, no learning, no discovery, no insight, and no experience of the authenticity of simply "being." Direct and Authentic Experience We stand open to the possibility that we can directly experience something. This is the possibility that we can - without belief, knowledge, conjecture, interpretation, or hearsay - experience the truth of something, beyond subjectivity. Prior to this we make a distinction of an authentic or genuine experience that we have for ourselves, as opposed to merely believing something or having an idea that it "may" or even "must" be some way. Since openness and questioning are always at hand in any Cheng Hsin pursuit, this distinction represents a "direction" in which to go rather than a "place" at which to stop. However, it also suggests that we are standing at the furthest point possible in our experience at this time - in other words, the most honest and authentic experience we can have in this moment. Grounded Openness These are two fundamental principles that we must keep in balance. To be grounded is to be real, to be committed to something, to be clear and standing on solid and authentic insights and effective distinctions. To be open is to be free, fresh, unstuck, creative, to make breakthroughs, to entertain radical possibilities, to embrace paradox. The dangers of groundedness without openness tend to be: an inability to learn becoming dogmatic or closed-minded becoming or remaining stuck in a belief system never challenging one's own opinions not being able to detect one's own lies having no breakthroughs no transformation The dangers of openness without groundedness tend to be: becoming superficial being abstract over-intellectualizing adopting fantasies or good ideas as if they are true or as if you have experienced them as real not being able to demonstrate or manifest what you are talking about not being able to "live" your philosophy merely believing in things rather than proving them for yourself getting confused or flighty, having nowhere to stand not being committed to anything. The issue of balancing groundedness with openness comes up in every form and dimension of our living and our pursuits. The purpose for maintaining such a vigil in these distinctions is to empower our investigations in being as real and as far-reaching as possible. It's important to remember that none of this is meant to be presented as factual to be believed or not. The purpose here is to offer directions and possibilities for your own exploration and investigation. Remember, the pursuit is to question and discover for yourself what is actually so in the matter. Current Forms in which Cheng Hsin is Pursued Through a study of the body: Its design, function, movement, awareness; and the pursuit of an effortlessly effective, fully functional and integrated body-being. Through a study of interaction: What is interaction, relationship, ability? How is interaction constructed? What determines effective interaction? How is ability or skill created? Through ontology, or the study of Being: What am I? What is Mind? What is the nature of "being"? Beyond morality, cultural conventions, limitations in our own thinking and perception, what are the dynamics and principles in which we exist, and what is the truth of our own nature and event? Through the pursuit of demonstrative transformation: Creating a powerful and "free" human being. Addressing obstacles and ineffective patterns of thinking and emotion, and embracing a shift in the mind and body toward what is effective, free, and whole. The following is excerpted from an Interview with Peter Ralston in 1978: "At the Cheng Hsin School we use the internal martial arts as a practice and ground for study. This affords us a great forum in which to observe, test, and train whatever we need to work on. However, translation from one domain to the next is not easy. It requires a fundamental experience of the principles involved such that they can be recognized in any form. And it also requires a training ground, the purpose of which is to transform the very body and being of the individual into alignment with those principles. So it is that Shissai (a master "Zen" swordsman, Japan, 1728) said: Thus it is important to teach men how to acquire discretion, great insight, forthright conviction, and an honest Heart. To teach them to acquire a personal awareness and self-discipline and thereby place them on the solid ground of practice. Cheng Hsin offers that solid ground. It has a lot to do with rearranging the patterns and design of one's body, thinking, feeling and perception. Cheng Hsin is a total endeavor, requiring a transformation of the entire Being, not just one aspect. We already appear as a multi-dimensional event, and any powerful and ultimately effective study or practice must address itself to that fact. I would like to see martial arts turned into a place for the development of human beings, and of honesty. A place where we can see what it is that we do in life that really makes us suffer and hurt, or be ineffective and incomplete. Martial arts are an excellent place to see that, if done right. Otherwise - and ninety percent of the time it is otherwise - it is done like everything else, just to add to our survival and protection, our "rightness." It's the same approach we have to everything else, and only ends up increasing resistance and separation. I'd like to see these arts become as functional as they can be. A very valuable tool, the way of a Warrior, not the way of pretense and struggle. A tool for growth, not self-deceit. When the words "martial arts" are mentioned, people generally think of something very crude or limited. Cheng Hsin is so much more than that. However, when a friend of mine was talking to a publisher of a "consciousness" magazine and made mention of consciousness in fighting, his response was, "What does fighting have to do with consciousness?" I'd like to answer that question." [Introduction] [The Spirit of Cheng Hsin] [The Cheng Hsin Adventure]   .