The Dragon's Head Blog: National Program in Longueuil, Canada

The regional centre, in Longueuil, Quebec, was already a hive of activity when Chris Lewis, the leader of the national program, shared with us that ”organizing a workshop was the workshop”. Organizing a program would give us the opportunity to learn ”who are we and how we do things”.

Chris suggested change as the theme for the weekend.  Change, as demonstrated by going beyond our hesitations, surpassing our usual habits. On the menu there was push-hands …. lots of push-hands. The more we do, the more we can feel that push-hands are a complete form of Taoist practice, not only encompassing the toryu, but also showing us how to help each other, how to be attentive to ourselves and those around us.

Chris shared some important, essential stories to help us understand the foundations of our organization, what we have accomplished by working together, what we are passing on to future generations and what are our values. We shared stories and tributes to remember Dave Frame. There was chanting, lok hup, and conversations about the eight virtues, most notably that of honor.

It was an exceptional weekend to further our practice and help us understand even more the breadth of Master Moy’s vision.

We also took time for the annual regional meeting during which we found out about the region’s health. It’s important to consider not only our own personal health, but also to care for the health of our organization.

Sunday afternoon we turned around to face a new direction for the final set. Over 200 participants were moving together in harmony, the only sound being that of our delightfully soft footsteps.