The Importance of Chi
by Justin Stone

Because I am anxious for T’ai Chi Chih teachers and students to understand the importance of Chi and of the TCC practice that enables us to know the CHI and use it to our advantage—nothing is more important—I am going to devote most of this article to quoting Swami Rama of India, who once held the prestigious position of Shankaracharya of Southern India. Swami says:

Prana (Chi) means ‘first unit of energy in man.’ The Prana (Chi) which sustains life in the human body is the cause of the expansion of the universe. Anything you find in the phenomenal world is the manifestation of Chi. The breaths are the vehicles for Chi. The breath of the individual is a practical manifestation of Chi, the Cosmic Breath. The body and the functioning of its organs are dependent on Chi. It is Chi that maintains the life-link between the physical and the mental.

Chi is not only the life principal in the individual but it is also the Cosmic principle. Chi is the vital force in a living being which is incessantly active, whether one is awake or asleep.

When the Chi departs the body, all other organs follow. The breathing system is the vehicle of Chi.

All animate and inanimate objects of this universe are results of the vibration of Chi. This vibration of Chi is the prime cause of all events happening in the universe. Chi is the Cosmic life principle. It is that which makes us living beings and produces vibrations. Without vibrations and movements this would not exist. We are able to live because every part of the immeasurable realm of Chi is constantly vibrating. We are, in fact, nothing but a mass of vibrations—a unit of the energy of the infinite Cosmic Chi. This Cosmic Chi, the Cosmic energy that is sometimes called “Intrinsic Energy,” in the Orient, exists from eternity to eternity. Everything is caused by the Chi, which has its own laws. CHI is the Universal Life. All of us have come into existence by the power of Chi. Every object in this Universe obeys the order of the same Mother Energy, the CHI.

This is pretty powerful stuff, I admit. I will soon be 86 years of age and have not noticed much deterioration mentally or physically, though I cannot speak for the future. Undoubtedly this is due to T’ai Chi Chih practice, and I am certainly grateful for the T’ai Chi Chih discipline making it possible to somewhat merge with this all-powerful force. If the T’ai Chi Chih movements are practiced consistently and correctly, one can get the eternal benefits. Is superficial activity a better way to expend your efforts? Think about it.

Reprinted with permission from The Vital Force, July 2002

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