In premodern China, many martial arts styles hold becoming one with the universe (Tian ren he yi 天人合一) to be the ultimate goal.
However, this widespread notion of becoming one with the universe is an ambiguous concept.
What does this mean? The founder of Yiquan, Wang Xiangzhai explained this concept with detail.
Becoming one with the universe does not literally mean you become the universe.
It means the universe protects you from anything because your will becomes one with the will of the universe.
Wang Xiangzhai also explained how you can physically feel you are one with the universe.
However, if you cannot feel zhengli (opposing force) and maodunli (contradicting force), it is difficult to put it in practice.
Wang explained if you want to feel that you are one with the universe, you should start feeling zhengli of air which is surrounding yourwhole body.
Since it is the easiest to feel zhengli by your hands and arms, you start by feeling air around your hands and arms.
As you gradually feel air around your whole body, you can feel maodunli from your entire body.
At this point, you may feel like you have become one with the air surrounding you.
After a while, you may feel like your body has melted into the surrounding world and has become one with the universe.
You can do this in any posture, lying, sitting, standing, or even in motion.
Edited by Jun Ming
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