I enjoy reading and memorizing poetry.
The practice of Tai Chi and the philosophy 
shared throughout the classes has allowed me to 
reinterpret and understand some this material in new ways.

A few examples I would like to share can be found in the verses
below, from the poem titled “Burnt Norton”, by T.S. Elliot . 
During a class where Ben talked about the significance of the “Still Point”,
I had a small epiphany about a few verses that I was wrestling with at the time. 
I am now beginning to see more and more the merging and flow 
of my practice into my everyday existence. Life itself is becoming a more 
poetic experience.

From Burnt Norton Section II
“At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless; 
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is, 
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point, 
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.”

From Burnt Norton Section V
"Words move, music moves
Only in time; but that which is only living
Can only die. Words, after speech, reach
Into the silence. Only by the form, the pattern, 
Can words or music reach
The stillness, as a Chinese jar still
Moves perpetually in its stillness.
Not the stillness of the violin, while the note lasts, 
Not that only, but the co-existence,
Or say that the end precedes the beginning,
And the end and the beginning were always there 
Before the beginning and after the end.
And all is always now.”