chu: the beginning

(This essay originally was published on the internet on the Swiss internet magazine Gongfu.ch in Janurary 2001; here it is re-published with slight alterations.)

In chapter twenty-one of the Zhuangzi, "Old Dan" describes the mental state he had just left: "I allowed my heart to roam in the place where things begin (chu)."

Micro and macro cosmic correspondence is a common theme in Lao-Zhuang writing. The individual's experience parallels that of the heavens. This is the case with the phrase "ultimate power is identical with the Beginning." Chu means the beginning of the phenomenological universe, and it also refers to an accessible pristine condition that can be found at any moment within the human psyche.

The beginning, chu or shi, is the state of the psychic powers (body and mind) that is present prior to the conscious articulation of an idea. It is also termed the root (ben), the uncarved block (pu), the fasting heart (xin zhai), the One (yi), the nebulous (hun) etc.

In this primordial psychic state, conscious discriminating thought has been subordinated (cf. Zhuang Zi (ZZ): Wu si wu du = don't ponder, don't plan) and the "complete powers" (de quan) of the psyche are engaged. Because there is minimum interference from consciously articulated thought, the perceptual powers of the psyche are able to freely scan (roam = "you") the entire psychic field of undifferentiated mentation (which includes memory). ZZ: "It is this I call the fundamental root, from which one can have a full view of heaven. "

Chu is that nexus of psychic crossroads where raw data from the external world is initially recognized, interpreted, and responded to. In this nascent form of mentation, both preconscious recognition of stimuli and effectiveness (de) of response (ying) occur nearly simultaneously. And yet at this point of chu, neither of these mental/physical processes has yet become manifest under the full light of conscious awareness. What is occurring within the psyche is too occult to be put into either thought or spoken words. Zhuang Zi: "The mouth widens but can't make words for it."

We are never more than dimly aware of the mentation that occurs within this chu area of the psyche. (cf. Lao Zi: "Make use of the bright light but return to the dim.") Chu mentation is largely unmediated by conscious activity. And paradoxically because the light of consciousness is dim here, the processes are much more effective than mentation which is fully dominated by conscious thought. This is first of all because the "noise" of conscious thought interferes with a transparent (ching) and flexible (you = roaming) perception of the external field. Second, the noise of articulated thought interferes with the complexity of the highly resonant and finely integrated feedback system that operates naturally (zi ran) when the full psychic powers (body and brain) directly engage the outside world. Third, chu responses to the perceptual field are extremely timely: the nearly simultaneous timing of a series of highly accurate inputs and outputs between psyche and external world allows this resonate interaction to proceed far more rapidly than what can be achieved at the relatively languid speed of conscious thought. (cf. Huainanzi: "The moment is hard to catch and easy to lose.")

The precise timeliness (shi) and accuracy (zheng) of this primordial psychic mode is described by the term "de;" de is the creative power that "the authentic person" (zhen ren) is able to apply to any situation. ZZ: "Ultimate power (de) is identical with the Beginning." The importance psychically operating at the "beginning" can be appreciated in the following citation of the Huainanzi translated by Fung Yu-lan:

"If we look back to antiquity, the Great Beginning, man was there born out of Non-being to assume form in Being. Having form, he was regulated by things. But he who is able to revert to that state out of which he was born, so as to be as if he had never had physical form, is called the True Man (zhen ren). The True Man is he who is as if he had not yet separated from the Great Oneness."

In presenting the psychological dynamics of chu, I am not suggesting a reductionist model of reality. The psychological and neurological describe only two parameters of the world we inhabit. The spiritual dimensions of this world are too subtle and extensive to be captured by any paradigm, the universe extends to depths and distances too vast to be ever be encompassed by the human mind. But one can tap into the cosmic resources: to access the endless realm of richness and mystery to the greatest extent possible for a human being, one can learn to find within one's own psyche the powerful place called chu, the beginning. Once a visceral sense of this place is found within one's body, one may continually "return to the uncarved block" and access the remarkable power that is located there where everything in this world continually begins.