Author Archive: Mary Layton
Mary Layton has practiced T'ai Chi for 35 years and co-founded T'ai Chi Ch'uan Academy of Modesto in1995. She and her partner have taught hundreds of students. Mary travels frequently to learn from her teacher Grand Master Kai Ying Tung. Interested in every aspect of health Mary likes to follow a natural path. She loves writing, painting, gardening, hiking and playing piano.
ZenView – Choices
Choices for the New Year by Mary Layton I confess in 2019 I would like to have more time. After giving it some thought I came to the conclusion that the biggest thieves of my precious time are the acquisition of material things and obsessive busy-ness. What I’d like to do is to lighten my […]
ZenView: Foresight
ZenView: Foresight By Mary Layton Foresight, having a sense of the future, is essential to our survival and safety. The Chinese have two good proverbs about foresight: “Weaving a net is better than praying for fish at the edge of the water” and “Remember to dig the well long before you get thirsty”. This is […]
ZenView
ZenView By Mary Layton Faith It’s good to have faith. People who go to church on a regular basis or are devoted to a spiritual practice, when faced with difficult or painful situations, can fall back on faith as a source of comfort and peace. They are not thrown off by struggles and worries; they […]
ZenView – The Journey
ZenView By Mary Layton The Journey There’s a famous Chinese saying : The journey of ten thousand miles starts with the first step. I wish I could paint or draw. But because I want to paint as good as Picasso I won’t even start. Now, if I would just start with a single, easy step, […]
ZenView – Learning
ZenView By Mary Layton The Essence of Learning Our body benefits from a variety of physical activities, i.e. T’ai Chi, swimming, walking and bicycling. But in order for our mind to stay sharp and healthy we need to give it some variety and new input as well. When we exercise our memory we are improving […]
ZenView – Identity
ZenView By Mary Layton Identity Who am I? This is the time old question we all wonder about without necessarily being completely sure how to answer it. A while ago I came across an interesting article written by German woman director and producer Doris Doerrie which I’d like to share with you. She gave some […]
ZenView – Unknown
ZenView By Mary Layton Fear of the unknown Human nature is hungry for information and knowing stuff. We don’t do so well with the unknown. In the ancient world kings would go ask the advice of an oracle or gaze into a crystal ball to see the future. Today we ask Siri, Alexa or go […]
ZenView – Happy New Year of the Dog
ZenView By Mary Layton Happy New Year of the Dog Dog lovers out there, you may like to know that this year’s Chinese New Year 2018 beginning Feb 16th, is the year of the Dog! Dogs are known to protect us, are loyal and playful and are our friends. It is said that the year […]
Zen View – Self Restraint
ZenView By Mary Layton Self-Restraint Recently I went to visit my T’ai Chi teacher who is a 3rd Generation Grandmaster of T’ai Chi. On the wall in his living room hangs a large Chinese calligraphy of one of the most important principles of T’ai Chi : Self-Restraint. Next to the very powerful looking character of […]
ZenView – Laughter
ZenView By Mary Layton Humor I love to laugh. When we were children, my brother and I were always laughing even though we didn’t always have a reason to. Sometimes we were reprimanded: Can’t you be a little more serious? To us a lot of the adults were acting weird and we enjoyed making fun […]
ZenView – Destiny
ZenView By Mary Layton Destiny A friend of mine told me a story about destiny. He didn’t know the origin of the story. But I liked it and want to share it with you. A beggar comes home to his shack and sees a mouse eating his food. He is upset. “Why do you take […]
ZenView – Willpower
ZenView Mary Layton Willpower On some level everybody deals with some kind of compulsion or addiction. It takes willpower to face this problem. We may be addicted to all kinds of substances and desires, to shopping, to working and busyness, to thinking and talking all the time. We may be obsessed with perfection, collecting or […]
ZenView – Comfort
ZenView By Mary Layton Comfort Comfort is an experience of physical and mental ease. From a Zen point of view comfort is largely something perceived in our mind. For example a Buddhist monk will be comfortable sleeping on a hard surface but uncomfortable when sleeping in a soft bed. To be less dependent on comfort […]
ZenView – Compassion
ZenView By Mary Layton Compassion It is time to celebrate our mothers again. We owe them so much, don’t we? They are the ones that bring us into this world after months of discomfort and finally incomparable pain in the delivery room. Of course it doesn’t stop there. From the moment we are born our […]
ZenView – Simplicity
ZenView By Mary Layton Simplicity From a Zen point of view simplicity is an important aspect on the road to peace and serenity. The idea is that the simpler your surroundings, the simpler and calmer your mind will be. If you are a serious Zen Buddhist you will shave your head, regardless whether you are […]
