Do not try to outwit your Master

Last night at our usual Taiji practice, I picked up a very valuable lesson from the Master that I want to share with all:

While training and practising, never harbour the thought of trying to outwit the Master. If you do, you will never learn the skill properly.

I like to add:

This is because you will:

1. only be choosing what you want to learn but not everything that is taught to you.

2. you have a narrow mind and will be bias, not appreciative and impatient.

3. worse still, you will be combative, egoistic, harbour more anger, not compassionate.

I figure out this applies to Taiji, learning other forms of martial arts, in sports and even at our job - such as to be better than your boss so you can collect his pay and take over his position. You will be deadly wrong for you will not have anyone to teach you anymore.

Your other colleagues will also stay away from you.

Do understand that all of us have a talent that in one way or another will be better than others and similarly each and every other person also has some talent that is superior to our own. And this is why we all must co-exist harmoniously. No one person as an island can survive.

In all cases, if you train, practise and perform diligently, your skills will improve. The day will come when you become better than your Master, your Teacher, your Boss.

Let that day happen later. Meantime, practice diligently.