Personal, reflective, and gently investigative, these early essays have a raw, fresh quality which predates the more formal theory and practice of Peter Ralston's two best-selling books, Cheng Hsin: The Principles of Effortless Power and Cheng Hsin T'ui Shou: The Art of Effortless Power . Many of the questions for which the martial arts work of Cheng Hsin is a vehicle of discovery -- identity in relation to others, authenticity in the face of belief systems, the draw we have to pursue ineffective self-serving urges, and our tendency to conceptualize rather than experience things -- are described here in simple, almost conversational language. Attempting to grasp what authentic knowledge is, Ralston's queries become a quest for how humans can develop a deeper sense of themselves as participants in the world.