Investing in Loss

August 16, 2002

My Tai Chi teacher had a number of students who had studied other styles of

martial arts. Of course, most of those styles were external. There was no way

that someone who was steeped in Tae Kwon Do or Isshin Ryu principals was

going to learn Tai Chi well, unless they gave up their preconceptions about

what each move in the form " meant. " In most cases, the only thing that the

externalists could " see " when they looked at form was where the strike would

be. Needless to say, they missed a lot by interpreting the form that way.

So in order to become an internalist, they would have to give up their

external mentality, even though they were in most cases second or third

degree black belts in other styles. And, at the time I first began to study

with my teacher, I was one of those 23 year old black belts. Let me tell you,

that letting go of that identity and thought process, which was a source of

pride and identity for me in those young years was very hard.

Investing in loss in this sense could easily be seen to relate to Taoist

admonitions to become as a child, etc as in giving up a previous world view

in order to be able to learn something.

Similarly we find the other admonition, " You can't learn what you think you

already know. "

By learning to give up some part of my ego in order to progress, I think I

learned a good lesson that is applicable in many many other situations.

I would think about this whenever I tried to teach a student of western

allopathic medicine something about Chinese medicine. Unless they were

willing to give up something (their particular paradigm as well as their own

hubris), they would not be able to gain the knowledge that was presented in

front of them.

Guy Porter

DrGRPorter

August 17, 2002

Interesting thread as it further begs the question that occurs to me whenever there is discussion (as oft there is) regarding the benifits of studying chinese language: that is, how does the practice of other indiginous Chinese arts or religious practices effect the practice of CM? Is the practioner of Ba gua or Shaolin better advantaged to understand medical classics than the acupuncturist who "aerobicises"? My experience of practing martial arts, zou-wang (non-conceptual meditation) and CM is that the are all the same practice and they inform each other. nice enough to say, eh? but articulating how they inform each other is a more difficult undertaking. Hearing others experience may help me to articulate my own.

As for "investing in loss", Guy and others have noted that loss can be used as a strategy for gain. I quite agree that someone steeped in allopathic medicine, as he mentions, may have to relax some firmly held notions in order to appriciate CM. Same for the Taiji student.

But there is something else in this statement, "invest in loss" and I think Guy is on to something that it relates to Laozi's suggestion to be like a child. Laozi also reminds us that "in studying Dao something is lost everday". Is this really a strategy or a trick? can we really gain something be loosing? maybe, but that's just more gain. What if its just loss? Are we so "invested in gain" that we can't even contemplate losing without it being a strategy to win? Of course there's nothing wrong with investing in gain, its just that everyone already knows to invest in gain. We don't need a classical text or martial art practice to remind us to invest in gain, we do it all day long. I think Laozi just thought somebody should make a small case for loss. Not because loss is so great or even better than gain, its just the rest of the story. It puts the other foot on the ground. We really do lose something everyday? Have you noticed? Does your noticing help your patients?

dean

Friday, August 16, 2002 6:12 AM

Re: Investing in Loss

My Tai Chi teacher had a number of students who had studied other styles of martial arts. Of course, most of those styles were external. There was no way that someone who was steeped in Tae Kwon Do or Isshin Ryu principals was going to learn Tai Chi well, unless they gave up their preconceptions about what each move in the form "meant." In most cases, the only thing that the externalists could "see" when they looked at form was where the strike would be. Needless to say, they missed a lot by interpreting the form that way.So in order to become an internalist, they would have to give up their external mentality, even though they were in most cases second or third degree black belts in other styles. And, at the time I first began to study with my teacher, I was one of those 23 year old black belts. Let me tell you, that letting go of that identity and thought process, which was a source of pride and identity for me in those young years was very hard.Investing in loss in this sense could easily be seen to relate to Taoist admonitions to become as a child, etc as in giving up a previous world view in order to be able to learn something.Similarly we find the other admonition, "You can't learn what you think you already know."By learning to give up some part of my ego in order to progress, I think I learned a good lesson that is applicable in many many other situations.I would think about this whenever I tried to teach a student of western allopathic medicine something about Chinese medicine. Unless they were willing to give up something (their particular paradigm as well as their own hubris), they would not be able to gain the knowledge that was presented in front of them.Guy PorterDrGRPorterThe Chinese Herbal Medicine, a voluntary organization of licensed healthcare practitioners, matriculated students and postgraduate academics specializing in Chinese Herbal Medicine, provides a variety of professional services, including board approved online continuing education.