A sceptic’s journey towards enlightenment. 5: Grasp the sparrow by the tail

Do it right and you won't fail!

Grasping the tail of a sparrow in a Chinese landscape (Midjourney)

As the sparrow tries to fly from your palm, you react ever so slightly by lowering your hand. Consequently, the poor creature cannot use the force of its legs to take off. Thus we learn to feel the force of our enemy and react to it with softness. Or so I was told early on in my tai…