Lifting the sky: the labyrinths of wisdom

“Lifting the Sky” is the name given by Chi Kung masters (a variant of Tai Chi) to one of their main exercises. Physically, it consists of raising the arms in an arc with the palms of the hands pointing towards each other and facing upwards, that is, towards the “sky”. The execution of the exercise is of little importance. I take it as a metaphor for a life attitude that gives primacy to Heaven, in the sense that the word has, on the one hand, in Chinese culture, and, on the other hand, in ours. In Chinese culture, Heaven (Yang) designates that which comes from above […], which animates the spiritual reality of existence. It opposes Earth (Yin), that is, that which comes from below […], which represents the material reality of existence. The movement of the hands and arms, which rise as if guiding Earth to meet Heaven, constitutes a kind of representation of the role that man can and should play in the union of Heaven and Earth. […] We dominate matter, manipulate physical laws, accumulate power and money, perfect rationality, and yet, the path we choose seems to lead directly to chaos. […] Will it not be necessary, then, to preserve spiritual realities to find in them the inspiration necessary for the practical, effective exercise of solidarity and responsibility? Will it not be necessary to do what brings neither money nor power and which many men and women practice without expecting any profit, but which the State ignores and the dominant culture despises, that is, “lifting the Heaven”?