Reading - lost in translation

The feet can walk; let them walk.
The hands can hold; let them hold.
Hear what is heard by your ears;
see what is seen by your eyes.

TAOIST VERSE

borrowed from page a day calendars.

I've read a lot lately. It's occured to me that I may have a good academic understanding of the a few of the essential principals but I have had difficulty applying them. To say I have an academic understanding for me, I guess means I have a detached, non-practical understanding. This in itself is part of why I'm interested in T'ai chi - particularly the martial applications.

Perhaps this is why so many of these philosophers were martial artists and warriors. In the heat of battle if you are uncertain of the path then you pause, you decide what the thing to do is and then do it, rather than simply doing it.

One of the key elements is to be present. I believe this is referred to by the last two lines above - hear what is heard by your ears; see what is seen by your eyes. This also alludes to another key principal - don't let your conscious mind alter what you see. A child is present - in the moment, not worried about things done and what is to come. Also, a child experiences the true moment - far more than an adult. As an adult I will listen to what someone says but will not remember that - I will remember my analysis, my interpretation based on schemata (to use a cognitive psychology term) in my conscious mind.

So these two simple lines that would most likely make people chuckle at their simplicity represent two of the hardest things I am trying to learn and I have it seems failed.

I believed I had an ability to be present - you must in order to practice T'ai chi well. After reading a book called "The present" it occurred to me that while I have the ability - I don't do it! How bizarre is that? I know what it is, the benefits and yet I distract myself when I should be present.

I have also discovered that when I am present I am not good at listening - be it by ear, eye, touch or all my senses. I hear, see and feel but through the veil of my conciousness. It is this in part that leads to me being chucked around rather easily in the free-style pushing hands sparring I've started taking part in on Thursday nights. A martial demonstration of my mental discipline.

I now find that perhaps I don't understand the whole verse. I have an idea what part of it means but as you can read above - and with some irony - I read the verse and interpreted the part my consciousness was able to interpret and didn't analyze the rest till now.

oops...