EMPTY VESSEL: Journal of Taoist Philosophy and Practice SPRING 2017

The Journal of Taoist Philosophy and Practice

Spring 2017

Immortal Sisters Conference

$5.95 U.S. $6.95 Canada

Healing Chronic Pain with Tai Chi Attaining Spiritual Fortitude and more!

The Empty Vessel

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Winter 2017

Spring 2017

ENERGY ARTS online classes go Beyond the ordinary™ The Five Keys to Taoist Energy Arts

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Dragon and Tiger Medical Qigong is one of the most powerful and accessible healing systems to emanate from China. As a superior low-impact health maintenance exercise grounded in spirituality, it is an excellent practice to directly feel and move chi in your body.

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Sign up for your online class today, visit www.energyarts.com

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Founder of Energy Arts, Bruce Frantzis is a Taoist Lineage Master with over 40 years of experience in Eastern healing systems. He is the first known Westerner to hold authetic lineages in tai chi, bagua, hsing-i, qigong and Taoist meditation. He has taught Taoist energy arts to more than 15,000 students. Frantzis trained for over a decade in China and also has extensive experience in Zen, Tibetan Buddhism, yoga, Kundalini, energy healing therapies and Taoist Fire and Water traditions.

Fall 2016

12/31/2015 7:23:57 PM

Contents

Spring 2017 Volume 24 Number 3

2

Immortal Sisters Conference

by Saumya Comer

3 Symposium of Medical Qigong and Tai Chi

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Healing Chronic Pain with Tai Chi

by Dr. Aihan Kuhn

10 The Birth of Empathy

by Michael Tophoff

16 Middle School Neidan: Fundamental Principles and Practices

by Robert James Koons

18 Attaining Spiritual Fortitude

by Hua-Ching Ni & Maoshing Ni

22 The Empty Vessel Interview with Stuart Alve Olson

Departments Along the Way 1 Reviews 29

This month's cover: Garden Reflections by our good friend and amazing artist Paul Heussenstamm. You can see more of his beautiful work at mandalas.com.

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What is Taoism (Daoism)?

“The Tao (Dao) that can be described is not the eternal Tao.” So begins the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) of Lao Tzu (Laozi) written some 2,500 years ago. How then, to describe the indescribable? How to fit into words that which is beyond words? The Tao can only be pointed to, or referred to, say the ancient sages. It cannot be held, only experienced. It cannot be touched, only felt. It cannot be seen, only glimpsed with the inner eye.

Tao, then, is the Way, as in direction, as in manner, source, destination, purpose and process. In discovering and exploring Tao the process and the destination are one and the same.

Lao Tzu describes a Daoist as the one who sees simplicity in the complicated and achieves greatness in little things. He or she is dedicated to discovering the dance of the cosmos in the passing of each season as well as the passing of each precious moment in our lives.

Taoism was already long established when Lao Tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching. It originated in the ancient shamanic roots of Chinese civilization. Many of the practices and attitudes toward life were already established before Lao Tzu'’s time.

For many centuries Taoism was an informal way of life, a way followed by peasant, farmer, gentleman philosopher and artist. It was a way of deep reflection and of learning from Nature, considered the highest teacher. Followers of the Way studied the stars in the heavens and the energy that lies deep within the earth. They meditated upon the energy flow within their own bodies and mapped out the roads and paths it traveled upon.

It is a belief in life, a belief in the glorious procession of each unfolding moment. It is a deeply spiritual life, involving introspection, balance, emotional and spiritual independence and responsibility and a deep awareness and connection to the earth and all other life forms. It requires an understanding of how energy works in the body and how to treat illness in a safe, non-invasive way while teaching practical ways of maintaining health and avoiding disease and discomfort. Taoist meditation techniques help the practitioner enter deeper or more expansive levels of wakefulness and inner strength.

But most of all, it is a simple, natural, practical way of being in our bodies and our psyches and sharing that way of being with all other life forms we come into contact with.

Today in China and in the West, Taoism is often divided into two forms, tao jio and tao jia. Or religious Taoism and philosophical Daoism. Many scholars argue that there are not two distinct forms of Taoism and in many ways they are right. There is really a great intermingling of the religious form of Taoism and its various sects and the philosophical Taoism of Lao Tzui and Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi). But many people who follow the Tao do not consider themselves religious people and do not go to temples and are not ordained as priests. Rather these two forms exist both side by side and within each other.

It is up to each of us to find the way to the Way in our own way. What we try to do with The Empty Vessel is offer articles and information to help you, our dear readers, to do that.

The Empty Vessel The Journal of Taoist Philosophy and Practice Publisher The Abode of the Eternal Tao Editor and Design Solala Towler Contributing Editor Kurt Levins Sr. Copy Editor Shanti

The Empty Vessel: A Journal of Contemporary Taoism is published quarterly by The Abode of the Eternal Tao, 1991 Garfield Street, Eugene, Oregon 97405.

E-Mail address: solala@abodetao.com.

Web site: www.abodetao.com.

Subscriptions are $24per year (U.S. funds).

Digital version is $20 per year. Please see our website under Store to order subscriptions. ©2017 by The Abode of the Eternal Tao, all rights reserved. The Empty Vessel is not responsible for opinions or statements expressed by authors or for advertisers' claims.

Advertising rates are available by calling The Empty Vessel at 541.345.8854, or emailing solala@abodetao. com.

Statement of Purpose The Empty Vessel is dedicated to the exploration and dissemination of Taoist philosophy and practice. It is open to sharing the various traditional and contemporary teachings in a nondiscriminatory manner. We at The Empty Vessel believe that it is in using these practices and attitudes of the ancient achieved ones in a timely and contemporary manner that we can best benefit from them and in doing so, be able to effect change in the world around us.

New from Solala Towler The Spirit of Zen: Teaching Stories on the Way to Enlightenment The Spirit of Zen is filled with stories, history and practical guidance from the masters of Zen. It is a journey through a world of paradox and insight, offering guidance on the path to enlightenment as well as the down-to-earth, living-in-themoment path of Zen. These stories, many of which are about satori or enlightenment, are funny, outrageous and full of paradoxes and puns; they are also earthy, sometimes even scatological. Nevertheless, they contain deep teachings on the Buddhist path.

As in his well-received book Tales From the Tao, Solala Towler feels that the simple yet profound truths of spiritual practice and awakening are often best learned from stories, rather than through ponderous exposition. These stories — profoundly illuminating as well as highly entertaining — contain the true flavour of Zen. Hardcover, 175 pages. Profusely illustrated with beautiful nature photos printed in black and silver on glossy paper.

Published by Watkins, the oldest esoteric publishing house in England, founded in 1893. $12.95 plus $5 shipping. Go to our site at www.abodetao.com (in store) call 541.345.8854.

Tales From the Tao: The Wisdom of the Taoist Masters A new version of this popular book, first published in 2005. This new hardcover version is a companion volume to the Spirit of Zen. The ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism is more popular today than ever. This accessible and enlightening collection offers stories and quotations from the most celebrated Taoist masters, including Chuang Tzu, Lieh Tzu and Lao Tzu, as well as new writing inspired by the traditional tales.

Set against a stunning photographic backdrop of the mountains, waterfalls and gorges of China, these stories introduce important Taoist ideas about our most basic human experiences, including birth, death, loss, gain, simple dignity in the face of challenge, how to judge character, when to move forward, when to retreat and how to surrender to the most fundamental experience of Tao itself.

Hardcover, 191 pages. Illustrated with the stunning photographs of John Cleare.

Published by Watkins. $12.95 plus $5 shipping. Go to our site at www.abodetao.com (in store) or call 541.345.8854.

Along the Way Ah Spring! The easing of cold and chill and the rebirth of warmth and budding and flowering...here in the Pacific Northwest... it has been a very wet winter...unusually even...there have been stretches of time where our backyard has been under water and looking like a marsh.

We also had a freak freeze this winter that had all the trees and even plants all covered in a layer of ice...beautiful but deadly as thousands of trees here in Eugene were damaged or destroyed with some folks losing their power for up to two weeks...(see ice plant photos in our winter issue).

Luckily we here at the Abode only lost our power for 24 hours...we also have a woodstove for heat and a campstove for the all-important tea making!

We lost a massive limb from way way up high in our huge grandmother willow tree...it fell right between our water tank and Shanti's studio...missing both of them.

It still rains almost every day, with all-too-brief days of sun or even driving rain (hails stones yesterday) followed by sunshine... hard to plan anything weather wise.

With climate change all of the old patterns of weather and climate that we have depended on for hundreds if not thousands of years is all up for grabs...with the current administration in the U.S so much else is going through tectontic shifts and so far it doesn't look good...racism is rearing its ugly head all over the country (not to mention in Europe) and the rights of indigenous people are being ignored and stepped upon even more than usual.

Many people are living in states of fear and panic in these troubled times...every day more senseless carnage is happening everywhere on the globe...it seems we are truly living in a Warring States era.

When Lao Tzu left the capital and his cushy job in the palace to strike out for the unknown wilderness he did so in response to what historians call the Warring States Period...society was crumbling and no one seemed to have any answers... I am sure that Lao Tzu himself tried to offer some counsel at that time but the powers-that-be had no time for his gentle and wise words... they were too busy making money and waging war on all their (perceived) enemies...sound familiar?

So Lao Tzu hitched up his wagon to his favorite water buffalo and let it carry him off to the edge of the known (at least by the Chinese) world, leaving behind a small yet powerful bundle of bamboo slips with his thoughts and advice on how to live a full and spiritually complete life...

Now, some 2500 years later we still read and study and practice his legacy...the Tao Te Ching has "stood the test of time" beautifully... there is so much inspiration and illumination to be found in his short treatise...and I think that we can all gather much wisdom that we can apply to our own troubled times, our own Warring States Period.

But it is only be applying the Old Boy's teachings to our own lives and the lives of those around us...personally as well as globally... that we can truly fulfill the ancient master's teachings and help build a world of tolerance and peace. May it be so!

Subscribe to and receive four issues of • Insightful and stimulating interviews with contemporary Taoist masters and teachers • Informative and inspirational articles on Taoist philosophy and practice.

• Reviews of the latest books & DVDs. Subscribe now for only $24 for one year.

(U.S. funds please.) or subscribe to our on-line version for only $20 at www.abodetao.com

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Saumya Comer Why is a Taoist Qi Gong woman’s conference important and necessary in today’s world?

But how can we apply this wisdom to our physical and spiritual practices?

The written records of female practices that have survived through the ages are largely metaphorical. Their meanings can be obtuse. For example, the Immortal Sister Cui Shaoxuan wrote;

The Immortal Sisters Conference has gathered together a group of accomplished female Qi Gong teachers who have devoted themselves to the exploration and understandings of these ancient Yin methodology practices. Each presenter at the conference has delved into the feminine aspects of Qigong in her own way to experience, digest and impart these refined teachings to her students.

Taoism is known for its balance of the yin and yang. The aspects of both female and male are interdependently woven together in its historical teachings. Even the earliest records of Taoism speak of the unique qualities women bring to the practice of Qi Gong. Both the Yellow Emperor, Huang Di, and the old sage, Lao-Tsu, are known to have had female teachers.

Yet despite this history and understanding, Qi Gong has over time become overly influenced by the patriarchal way, losing much of the original Yin methodology.

If you want to gain productive energy And congeal the jade broth, First seek the wax and wane, Grab the golden wave.

What exactly does this mean and how can one apply this wisdom to the 21st century?

Modern commentaries can help. From the translations of Thomas Cleary 1, we can derive that “jade broth” means the refinement of essence; “waxing and waning” refers to the waxing of positive qualities and the waning of negative qualities; and “the golden wave” is the purified creative energy of life itself.

Years of sincere practice are required to translate these Yin teachings into tangible and effective tools for physical and spiritual development. It is only after being fully steeped in the more general practices of Qi Gong that one can begin to appreciate the more subtle energies of the Yin methodology/ feminine alchemy.

The Earth and all its creatures are crying out for an inclusion of the feminine into all aspects of life - for the environment, for the political realm, for health and well-being, and for interpersonal relationships. The time has come for women to come together, clarify their “Yin” perspective and make these teachings available for the greater good.

The time has come at the first ever Immortal Sisters Conference.

Please join us August 25, 2017.

We will be stronger together.

1 Thomas Cleary, Immortal Sisters: Secret Teachings of Taoist Women, (Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books 1989), 63

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Symposium of Medical Qigong, Tai Chi and Eastern Medicine June 23- 30

Last June I got to spend almost a week on a fabulous 600 acre retreat center in the Berkshires in Western Mass. It was the first annual Symposium of Medical Qigong, Tai Chi and Eastern Medicine.

The teachers included Li Jun Feng, Mantak Chia, Lonny Jarrett, Robert Peng, Lee Holden, myself, Roger Jahnke, Michael Winn and others. It was a wonderful opportunity to share our knowledge and experience with each other and with our students. Many lively discussions were held in the dining hall, the classrooms and on the lovely grounds. This year they will have another even larger staff of instructors — all masters in their field.

The beauty of the surroundings, the high level of both teachers and students, the instant comaraderie over delicious meals prepared by the wonderful chefs and the opportunity to share deeply with others who are on the Way to wholeness and spiritual health — is a gift and rare opportunity.

Another wonderful thing about this event is that you can come for one day, a weekend or stay (as I do) for the whole week!

I recently met with Yingxing Wang, the originator and director of the facility to share a few things about this year's conference.

Please join me this year for gongfu tea ceremony qigong, tai chi and much else!

EV: So this is the second annual Conference for Medical Qigong, Tai Chi and Eastern Medicine, right?

Ying: Yes, this is the second one. TCM medicine, Tibetan medicine, Ayurveda medicine .. are all major parts of the symposium. Applications of Qigong and Taichi in functional medicine, integrated medicine or western medicine is what we are most interested in.

Qigong and Taichi are spiritual practices that have a profound effect on a person's physical health. Qigong and Taichi practitioners have a strong connection with nature and natural medicine.

We want to introduce people here in the West to the myriad and powerful healing modalities that come from the East. At the same time we want to feature practioners — both medical, energetic and spiritual —to anyone interesed in learning more about these methods of healing. They work on so many different levels — mental, spiritual as well as physical.

We have many well known teachers such as Mantak China, Li Jun Feng, Roger Jahnke, Daisy Lee and other powerful teachers and healers. It is an opportunity to come to a beautiful place in the countryside and learn, share and practice with these teachers and share with each others what we have learned on our road to healing and wholenss.

What is your goal in puttng on this conference?

For myself as a Chinese decedent, Traditional Chinese medicine is one of the most significant contributions from our heritage to

humanity. It's very dear to my heart. I wish Eastover to become a platform for the study of integral medicine, to help improve today's medicine and cure is one of our objective. We can easily understand science and tradition.

So our symposium, though it is very suitable for ordinary people who want to learn and understand Eastern healing modalities, is also aiming at professional practitioners.

Do you have a certain kind of person in mind who would be interesed in your gathering?

Yes, in China qigong and taichi are part of traditional Chinese medicine education; Eastover is filling a role that's not so much emphasized here.

There are so many aspects to Eastern healing modalities, many of which are not so well known in the West. Our gathering is an opportunity for not only high-level instructors but also high-level students to come together to learn from each other, to practice in such a beautiful natural setting.

How do you choose the instructors?

We have many more inquiries and applications of presenters than we can fit into our schedule. As we choose the instructors we do need to think about overcost and budget. But we value what a teacher can bring to the attendees first. We do consider a teacher's credentials, their healing ability from a spiritual, physical, mind-body approach. Though some are Western doctors and psychiatrists, they have to be applying Eastern medicine in their profession.

I understand that people can come for a day, a few days or even the entire week.

Yes, we are very flexible. If you are a local person, you can even come for one evening only. We also have camping options. Campers can even take showers in the brand new marble bathrooms in the pool building.

Please go to our website at www.eastover.com to see a complete schedule, a list of instructors and to register, or call 866.264.5139.

For a short but very cool video from last year's event go to: Eastover.com/symposium.html 2017 Int'l Symposium of Medical Qigong & Eastern Medicine.

A Book to Guide the Way SEEKING THE SPIRIT OF THE BOOK OF CHANGE 8 Days to Mastering a Shamanic Yijing (I Ching) Prediction System Master Zhongxian Wu The Yijing (I Ching) or “Book of Change” is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts and has held a key place in the Daoist tradition for thousands of years. This remarkable book provides a user-friendly eight day program that will be a fascinating read for anyone with an interest in learning more about the Yijing or Chinese philosophy and culture as a whole, as well as those who wish to learn how to use the Yijing for practical purposes. $29.95

CALCULATING THE BAZI The GanZhi/Chinese Astrology Workbook Karin Taylor Wu $35.00 978-1-84819-312-3 PAPERBACK

DAOIST REFLECTIONS FROM SCHOLAR SAGE Damo Mitchell and his students $29.95 978-1-84819-321-5 PAPERBACK

978-1-84819-362-8

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BA ZI THE FOUR PILLARS OF DESTINY Understanding Character, Relationships and Potential Through Chinese Astrology Serge Augier $19.95 978-1-84819-290-4 PAPERBACK THE WAY OF THE FIVE SEASONS Living with the Five Elements for Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Harmony John Kirkwood $29.95 978-1-84819-301-7 PAPERBACK

Healing Chronic Pain with Tai Chi Dr. Aihan Kuhn

Photos by John Compton

Pain is a negative feeling that can affect our life, emotions, and our ability to work. Millions of people suffer from chronic pain, either physical or emotional, sometimes both. Most of us understand that pain is a natural response to something in the body that is not right. But when the pain is affecting our quality of life, we need to find a way to either remove it, or reduce it.

Physical pain can lead to emotional pain; emotional pain can lead to physical pain. Conventional medicine can offer temporary relief, usually by the use of pain killers, but this offers no long-term solution. Long-term use of pain killers can do harm to our body, our brain, and our emotional health.

Therefore, many people have been seeking natural methods to reduce pain, and even to eliminate pain.

Types of Pain

There are several kinds of pain: physical pain, emotional pain, pain from somatic memory, and drug or substance induced pain.

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Physical pain can be caused from previous injuries either chronic or acute. It may be caused by poor posture, or even poor posture in the past. Pain can be caused by weight issues that affect body joints, muscles and the spine. It may come from structural problems such as scoliosis, or pressure on nerves from a bone spur. Anxiety and stress create tension in the body leading to pain. Pain can also be caused by inflammation, such is the case with arthritis, tendonitis, fibromyalgia, and other inflammatory ailments. Physical pain in the body is a symptom of stagnation. In Chinese medicine, we call this: “stagnation of Qi and Blood” (Bu Tong Ze Tong.)

Emotional pain can often be the main source of a lot of physical pain. Many people don’t understand the relationship between emotional pain and physical pain, but it is very important to understand this. Research studies have shown that there is evidence that emotional and spiritual pain do cause physical pain. Emotional pain can be from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It can also be caused by depression, anxiety, and quite often, stress. Other causes of pain may be related to

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social causes. These include having trouble trying to assimilate into the culture, or trying to fit in. Cultural differences can make people feel self-conscious, can cause issues in personal relationships, and in job related challenges.

Some pain can be from somatic memory, which means that the body remembers the pain from the past. The person can feel the pain even while there is no clear physical reason for it.

This kind of pain can be worsened when the individual thinks about the past. In the other words, the pain is amplified when you recall negative experiences even from the distant past.

Some pain can be caused from overusing drugs or other substances that affect the mind and the body. Many people have probably already experienced this, or know someone who has.

Natural Methods for Pain relief

The good news is there are natural ways to help you to reduce your pain, and even to heal it. I can say this with confidence because I have had experience healing my own pain.

I had terrible pain from arthritis in my back, and dysplasia in my hip. Being the fifth child in my family, I guess there wasn’t enough kidney “Jing” left for my parents to pass on to me. I had pain that seriously affected my work and my daily activities. When I found out that my doctor had no answer, I decided to help myself. That was the day that I started to change my own health and life. I used all natural methods to minimize my symptoms. I made some relatively simple changes in my

life, and now I feel very well. I’d like to share some tips with you so that you can practice them to help with your own pain.

There is a common mistake that many people make, even some medical professionals. They say: “When you have pain, you need to avoid movement.” This is not always the correct answer. Just think about your muscles for a moment, what would it be like if you didn’t move for several months? Your muscles would atrophy, right? If you didn’t move your joints for a month, you would become very stiff and it would be difficult to move at all after that.

Here are some tips for you to keep in mind: For acute pain, yes, avoid movement until the inflammation is reduced.

For chronic pain, movement will help, but it must be the right kind of movement to avoid injuries.

Movement can promote circulation and this promotes healing.

Avoid moving too much, because this may intensify the pain due to the inflammation that can be caused by overuse.

Practicing Qi Gong is ideal for pain reduction.

Try not to let pain affect your work or the things you really have to do, things you enjoy doing. When you are doing things that you enjoy, the pain is less because the good feeling can decrease the pain. When you are idle, the pain is worse.

This is why people often feel more pain at night.

Use medication as needed; but avoid using it for too long

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because pain medication does have side effects and some of the side effects can harm the body.

You may need to consider diet changes.

Avoid the foods that cause more inflammation, such as sugar or carbs, dairy products, alcohol, foods have high acidity, too much salt, or too much saturated fat. If you have rheumatoid arthritis, you need to avoid spicy foods, reduce coffee, dairy, and acidic foods. Eating more cooling featured foods can be helpful.

Eat foods that help healing, such as healthy fats from plant based oil or from fruits, vegetables, beans, and foods containing Omega 3, and Omega 6. These foods help to reduce inflammation. Also eat more fiber by eating all kinds of vegetables and fruits, all varieties, all colors, and all different flavors. Add spice to your diet such as hot pepper, ginger, garlic, turmeric, cinnamon, etc. If you have a flare up, avoid sea food and spicy food. Portion control is also important for healing. The best way is to eat small portions, and have healthy snacks between meals.

Additional nutrition: Calcium, Vitamin D, Vitamin B complex and good quality fish oil can all help to reduce inflammation.

Keep in mind. It doesn’t matter if you have physical pain or emotional pain, natural methods can help to reduce pain.

If your pain cannot be reduced by your own effort and daily practice, you can try some alternative therapies such as acupuncture, Tui Na therapy, or other massage therapy. But you

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will need to find a reputable practitioner. Don’t be afraid to try several different practitioners. It does make a big difference, so find out about the practitioner’s knowledge, experience, and energy.

Qi Gong for Pain Reduction

First, I want to mention that Qi Gong is the best exercise for healing; it is especially good for reducing pain. Qi Gong helped my joint pain most of all. It also helped me with many other health issues. At first, it may not seem to you that the Qi Gong is doing anything, due to its slow motion and invisible qi. But the subtle energy, and right dimension of movement, do work wonders for many people. I have seen it happen many times over in my healing practice.

What is Qi Gong?

Qi Gong is a gentle exercise having slow and gentle movements that involve the whole body. It also uses mind focus, and deep breathing to promote internal energy flow. This smooth flow of energy can benefit all of the organ systems, promote circulation, remove stagnation in the body, and harmonize the body and brain. This kind of self-cultivation practice produces powerful healing results. If you are fortunate enough to practice in a group, the group energy is also very beneficial.

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This is how Qi Gong helps to reduce Pain:

Qi Gong is a moving meditation that calms the nervous system and helps to reduce pain.

The deep breathing in Qi Gong brings more oxygen to the body and the brain, and oxygen is very important in healing.

Qi Gong helps to open body energy pathways or nervous pathways to remove stagnation in the body.

Qi Gong relaxes the mind, and removes body tension, helping to minimize pain.

Qi Gong can immediately reduce your stress level.

Qi Gong improves digestion and absorption, brings nutrition to muscles and tissues and helps in healing.

Qi Gong helps you to refocus, to remove your focus from your pain.

Qi Gong helps to balance the autonomic nervous system, which is a key to healing.

Best of all, Qi Gong is easy to do and easy to practice, so there is no added tension.

Acupressure for Pain This is my second favorite approach to pain reduction, the first being Qi Gong.

Acupressure is effective and convenient and you can do it in your home or office.

Here are some practices for you to try at home:

Find the place that has pain, either muscle, tendon, joint, or other place.

Take a deep breath, exhale and apply just the right amount of pressure with your hand or finger to the troubled area.

Hold for three breaths.

Repeat this process several times – bringing focus to the point of pain alerts the body to release its own pain relief and promotes healing.

Practice these steps daily.

You may feel amazing results from this practice. But, it is still better if you do Qi Gong daily, to remove the stagnation and improve circulation in the body.

Awareness of Your Emotional Health

Don’t forget to watch your emotion health. Having a balanced emotional state helps to reduce pain. Daily checking on your emotions is a mindfulness practice, and can be a powerful preventive tool.

Daily Emotion Check What is my emotional state today?

How is my stress level?

How is my spirit?

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Am I happy?

How do I deal with any negative thoughts?

When you ask yourself these questions each day, you are at the same time looking for solutions, especially if you are finding that your answer is negative. If you don’t raise these questions, you will not be able to find solutions.

Daily Qi Gong Practice Movements Open to see the sky:

Feet are at shoulder width apart. Place palms in the front of the lower abdomen, slowly inhale and raise arms all the way up above head; exhale separate your hands and arms, move them down on the sides of your body. Repeat this movement four to eight times. Your head follow your hands when raising them up on your inhale, then exhaling the head follows your left arm. The second time, when you exhale your head follows the right arm.

Neck and shoulder:

Slowly turn head to left, then slowly turn head to right.

Repeat this eith times. Slowly turn head on your inhale, then turn head down as you exhale. Repeat this for 8 times. Tilt head to left exhale, move head up inhale, tilt head to right exhale, inhale move head upright. Repeat this eight times.

Slowly rotate your shoulders up inhale, rotate shoulder down exhale. After rotate four time backward, you change the direction by rotating forward for four times.

Lifting shoulders up, inhale, relax shoulders, exhale. Do this eight times.

and relax; inhale and raise your hip, exhale and shift your hip.

Do this four times.

Swing arm & upper body:

Swing body to left, then swing body to right. Your arms just follow your body.

Horse stance practice:

Feet are at one and a half widths of your shoulder apart.

Inhale, raise your arms in the front of the body, exhale sick your hip and sink your elbow, palms facing forward. Holding this position forthree to five times, then relax the arms and body.

When is it time to take medication?

When the pain is more than you can handle, affecting your life and work, then it is time to take medication. When the pain is worse with weather changes, being stressed, having overworked your body, you may need to take medication for awhile to reduce the symptoms. Keep in mind, that medication is not the solution. Your daily practice is the solution. You are in charge of your health, not doctors.

Horizontal arm stretching:

Reach up (one arm at a time): Slowly breathe in, raise left hand and arm up as high as you can with open palm fingers pointing upward. Slowly breathe out, move hand down, relax arm. Repeat this on the other side.

Do this for a total eight times.

Side stretch (open feet and arms, bend to side):

Feet are one and a half shoulder widths apart. Lift left arm up above head as you inhale, exhale bend body to right; taking another full breath move left hand and arm down to side of the body as you come to an upright position. Do the same movement for the other side.

Hip rotation (knees are unlocked):

Slightly unlock your knees. Gentle circle your hip to left eight times, then circle to right eight times. Breathe slowly and evenly.

Reach feet:

Put your feet together. Raise your hands up with fingers interlocked, palms facing up. Slowly exhale move hands and arms down until reach your feet. Hold this position for three breaths. If you cannot touch your feet, you can just reach downward whatever level you can is fine. Repeat this movement four times.

Cover knees stretching legs:

Place hands on knees and inhale, at exhale shift your hip

The Empty Vessel

Aihan Kuhn, C.M.D., is a Chinese medical doctor trained in both Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine. She is a graduate of the Hunan Medical University, Changsha China. In China, Dr. Kuhn practiced OB/GYN in Chinese hospitals (1983-1988), studied Tai Chi and Chi Kung (since 1978) and returns each year to advance her training in both Traditional Chinese Medicine and martial arts.

Dr. Kuhn recently moved her offices to 2801 Fruitville Rd., Suite 120, Sarasota, Florida from Massachusetts. Here she conducts natural healing education programs for individuals interested in becoming a Qi Gong teacher, Tai Chi teacher, Tui Na practitioner and offers continuing education training for established professionals. She is also available for health consultations and conducts workshops for the general public. She is the author of Simple Chinese Medicine, and upcoming books, Tai Chi in 10 Weeks, Tai Chi for Depression, and Brain Fitness published by YMAA Publication Center.

President - Tai Chi Qigong Healing Institute Member - National Qigong Association Member - Oriental Bodywork Therapy For further details you may visit the author’s website at: http:// draihankuhn.com.

John Compton is a landscape photographer based in Vermont.

His website is: http://www.jpcpix.com

9

The Birth of Empathy Michael Tophoff

Travelling with Huizi over a bridge on the Hao River, Zhuangzi said: “The fish is swimming at ease. This is how fish enjoy themselves.”

Huizi said: “You are not a fish. How do you know the fish are enjoying themselves?”

Zhuangzi said: “You are not me. How do you know that I don’t know about the fish?”

Huizi said: “I am not you and I certainly don’t know about you; you are certainly not a fish and you will not know about the fish.

That’s for sure.”

Zhuangzi said: “Let’s trace back to your original question. You said: “How do you know the fish are enjoying themselves?” This question shows that you know I know about the fish. Since you know about me, why can’t I know about the fish? I got to know it over a bridge on the Hao River.”

(Zhuangzi, ch.17, 283, tr. Wang Rongpei)

INTRODUCTION

In Western culture, psychological growth of the person is considered to culminate in her independence, in her autonomy.

It is only then that the individual is able to manifest her personal freedom in assertive, self-reliant action. As soon as other autonomous, independent persons enter the field, however, the dynamics change. The other is perceived as essentially separate as well as different. This dichotomy of self versus other entails the potential of interpersonal contact. Consequently, this dichotomy lies also at the basis of interpersonal conflict. (Tophoff, 2016) Emphasizing the primacy of individual autonomy, however, frequently comes at the expense of the fundamental, biologically based interconnectedness of self and nature. In Daoist philosophical and religious traditions, the focus is less on autonomy than on communality. It is only within the awareness of interconnectedness that dichotomy between self and non-self, which, historically, has too often been proven fatal, may ultimately be transcended.

The main ingredient of interconnecting is empathy. Empathy is the recognizing of emotions in others and the ability to place one self into the shoes of the other person, as if one is the other. The as-if quality in empathy is essential, as it points not to identification with the other but to difference. The awareness of difference (1), as had been said earlier, is the essential condition for contact.

Neurophysiologically, empathy is possible through brain cells that start to fire when we watch the activity of another person that touches us (Rizzolatti, 2009; Austin, 2006.) Also other mammals, e.g. chimpanzees, are genetically able to interconnect and to show empathy (De Waal, 2009).

In this paper, empathy as the most important ingredient of our interconnectedness will be explored. The birth of empathy is

traced here as to its historical, Daoist roots. The nature-nurture paradigm of empathy is discussed within the context of inborn nature on the one hand, and self-cultivation on the other. Empathy, as will be shown, can only be manifested by its operational consequence, which is compassion.

NATURE AND INNOCENCE

In its essential dialectics, the Daode jing (2) (Waley,tr. 1958), dynamically embraces an ethical stand vis-à-vis human behavior, while at the same time underlining the ruthless indifference of the dao (3). The text always balances on the narrow ridge of words and of their significance: ‘The Way that can be told of is not the Unvarying Way; The names that can be named are not the unvarying names’ (Waley, tr. 1958, 141).

The Daode jing ‘coaches’ the human being along the line of virtuous behavior (de), behavior that is in accord with the dao.

Virtue is fully embodied in the concept of the Sage (shengren) and by his awareness of complete interconnectedness, as well as by his attitude and his actions. The Sage is ‘socially responsible, benevolent, helpful in all actions (…), he acts appropriately at all times (…), he always sees the inherent patterns of nature and the world, and thinks of the greater good of all” (Kohn, 2014, 68). He understands what people need, and thus he shows empathy. In this way, ordinary people too should ‘honor and venerate Heaven and Earth, (…), be compassionate and empathic to the orphaned and lonely’ advises Master Redpine (abt. 320 C.E., in: Kohn, 2004, 15), and he continues ‘ Seeing other people suffering loss should give them pain’. In the Fifty-Eight Prayers of Great Clarity (in Kohn, ibid., 104) the Daoist practitioners are encouraged ‘to put themselves into one other person’s place’. The Huainanzi (4) focuses on ‘humaneness’ (ren), referring to the ability to empathize with others and treat them with compassion (Meyer, in: Major, J.S. 2010, 885).

In radiating empathy, the Sage embodies the dao, making his way in tune with the dynamics of cosmic change. ‘His morality depends upon following something that is there by nature’ (Van Keerbergen, 2001, 101). His mode of being in the world ‘reflects most closely the movements of the Way’ (Lee, 2014,10), and thus is in harmony with it. However, harmony is not sought after as a special goal to be attained. It is not because altruistic, empathic actions are placed higher on the moral scale of interpersonal virtues, that the Sage performs them. Being in tune with the dynamics of cosmic change does not imply moral judgment.

(Though) ‘the goodness of the cosmos is all pervasive (…) it is not

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In radiating empathy, the Sage embodies the dao, making his way in tune with the dynamics of cosmic change.

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necessarily a moral goodness. (…) The goodness of the cosmos goes beyond human morality because it is cosmic and natural, and both cosmos and nature are cruel and unjust at times’ (Kohn, 2011, 2).

According to the Daode jing neither the Way nor the Sage is ultimately humane (Meyer, in: Major 2010, 885).

The Sage, then, has transcended moral distinction. He no longer morally discerns between virtue and non-virtue, between structure and anarchy. He is, in the words of Zhuang Zi, ‘free of distinctions in that he does not allow likes and dislikes entering him (…) but always goes along with his inherent naturalness’ (in: Kohn, 2014, 61). What, then, implies ‘inherent naturalness’? Is it the abode of empathy?

Inherent naturalness, or inborn nature (xing), refers to the functional dispositions of the human being. It ‘defines our inborn, genetically defined uniqueness’ (Kohn, ibid., 102), and thus our personality. Our personality, to put it in contemporary terms, is a construct of a set of validly measurable personality traits.

These, indeed, are inborn and genetically determined. Empathy is anchored in our brain through mirror neurons. In Austin’s (Austin, 2006, 268) words the brain has “mirrors” that ‘would reflect others, become sympathetic with them. Inside (has) ways of experiencing outside.'

The Sage has realized his inherent naturalness, which manifests itself in mirroring the world. The mirror does not do anything, she simply is. Like the mirror, the Sage ‘acts’ by nondoing (wu-wei). In this deeply Daoist sense, the Sage does not act virtuously and consciously empathic, since she is not concerned with virtue as such. This is why she may justly be called innocent.

No wonder that Daoism’s metaphors for ‘the Sage’ point to this very innocence. The Sage is called ‘Little Child’, ‘An Infant’ by Lao Zi (Waley, tr.1958, 153, 168). Zhuang Zi speaks about ‘The Child’, ‘A Little Baby’ (Watson, tr. 1968, 57, 153).

Ordinary man, however, is no longer a little child. Nor is he a Sage – yet. When inherent naturalness is not manifested, is empathetic behavior at all possible?

NURTURING LIFE: SELF-CULTIVATION

Chan Buddhists, too, use the metaphor of the mirror, emphasizing its need to be cleaned and polished, so that it might reflect clearly again the world as it is. Historically much earlier, Daoists refer to ‘returning’ as the path to naturalness - returning, indeed, to our own inborn nature.

Is moving along the Way indeed backwards instead of forwards? Within the dialectics of yin and yang, beyond all alternatives, it could be said that movement is implied in stillness, as stillness is implied in movement (5). The ‘wayfarer’ needs to stay still in movement because only then she is able to connect to the awareness of her fundamental interconnectedness, and thus, potentially, to empathy.

Research shows that – even though empathy is possible through the construction of the brain – tangible empathic action needs conditioning and training (Jinpa, 2014). Indeed, the Daode jing can be understood as a paradigm of training – be it of training in the sense of wu-wei, or training by non-doing.

Self-cultivation, or ‘nurturing life’ as it is called in the Zhuangzi, ultimately refers to the allowing of mindful stillness, so that awareness of interconnected empathy becomes possible.

‘Quietness, stillness, emptiness, not-having, non-acting – these are the balancers of Heaven and Earth, the very substance of the Way and its Power’ (Zhuang Zi, in: Waley, 1974, 69). Here, it is no question of consciously changing or modifying something

which one does or doesn’t want. It is not a teleological, future oriented striving to become or to acquire something of value.

Instead, it is a movement ‘backwards’, a returning to the source of our naturalness. Commenting on the Zhuangzi (6), Kohn (2014, 124) formulates succinctly: ‘The central focus of the text is on allowing rather than pursuing, easing into the experience and relaxing into non-action’. Easing into the experience and relaxing into non-action, however, is not at all tantamount to laissez-faire.

‘Relaxing into non-action’ can be hard work, requiring stamina, and demanding deliberation and vigor of the practitioner of the Way. Here, one of the self-defeating, self contradictory pitfalls is the deliberation of wanting to reach the source of inborn naturalness. Yet, without deliberation, in the sense of a mindful alertness the wayfarer is lost. The very desiring of virtuous behavior in fact alienates the practioner from staying in touch with the Way: ‘When Humaneness and Rightness are established, the Way and its Potency are abandoned’ (in Huiainanzi, 96). Selfcultivation is not exercising with a fixed goal in mind. Instead, it is an open, mindful exploration of what is presenting itself inside and outside of oneself.

The methods which are helpful in developing our sense of interconnectedness reflect this seeming contradiction between discipline and allowing, between hard work and wu-wei.

These methods include meditation, forms of movement and the martial arts.

Meditation, be it by sitting (zazen), by standing (wuji) or by walking (kinhin), may be conceived as a training in mindfulness.

Mindfulness, nowadays, is often popularized and commercialized into a commodity, into ‘McMindfulness’ (Hyland, 2016, 177), a therapeutic panacea. In the original Buddhist sense, however, mindfulness (sanskr. smriti) is a form of remembrance, a recollecting of ‘how it originally is’. In fact it is a returning to inborn nature. In mindfulness, attention is focused on the actual flow of internal and external events within the perspective of the Way of virtuous behavior. In this way, through mindfulness, returning to the source is facilitated.

Next to the well known forms of movement such as Qi Gung and techniques of breathing and breath control, Sensory Awareness (7) might be briefly mentioned. In free, minimally structured movements, practitioners explore their own personal path by studying a recursive dynamic that balances autonomy with interconnectedness. In Sensory Awareness, experiencing personal autonomy, the practitioner considers the intimate connection between her external environment and inner consciousness to seek response-able ways to understand these two realms within their interconnectedness. The result of this process may well be a new and mindful re-learning, a remembrance, a returning. This deeply Daoist process of returning helps to bring us closer to the Source, to Inner Naturalness, and thus to inner mastership.

Chinese Martial Arts, specifically of the internal gong fu categories such as Taiji, Xingyi chuan and Bagua, also can be conceived as powerful methods on the way of returning to the source (Tophoff, 2013). In these arts, stillness is cultivated in movement, movement is integrated within stillness. The circular nature of these processes is illustrated through the Daoist paradigm of change, which is essentially expressed in the Daode jing as the Law of Opposites: ‘What is in the end to be shrunk must first be stretched. Whatever is to be weakened must begin by being made strong’. (Waley 1958,187). Change, here, is not to be conceived as linear, but rather as circular. In these martial arts this paradigm is, so to say, translated into movement, allowing the essence

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‘Relaxing into non-action’ can be hard work, requiring stamina, and demanding deliberation and vigor of the practitioner of the Way.

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of ‘returning’ to become internalized within the practitioner.

EMPATHY IN ACTION: COMPASSION

Somewhere on the Way empathy is born, by returning to the source, and by being nourished by the cultivation of mindfulness. At this moment, empathy may be experienced as an attitude, or as a state, with undertones of feelings and cognitions.

The awareness of empathy as such is a transient, inner state of consciousness. It is, however, not externally manifested, because it has not yet been translated into interconnected action. What, then, would empathy in action imply?

Neurologically, mirror neurons are not only involved in emotional, interpersonal cognition, but also in motor cognition (Schulte-Rüther, 2007). The empathic perceiving of one’s suffering child by the mother activates brain centers to promote her adequate, compassionate action. Prinz (2013) notes that ‘perceptual representations are linked with motor responses’.

Inherent in empathy is the tendency to act. Empathy, so to say, potentially activates the organism in the direction of the other(s). It is important to underline again that empathy, as such, is beyond good and evil. In the Daode jing moral distinctions are transcended. Also the torturer, for instance, is in need of degrees of empathy to inflict well-defined damage to his victim.

In the Daoist context of virtuous behavior, however, empathy may translate itself into compassion. In that case, compassion may operationally be defined as empathy-in-action. It is only when empathy is translated into compassionate action that virtuous behavior is achieved. The Daode jing, chapter 67 is very explicit in this respect: ‘I really have three prized possessions (8), (…) the first of these is compassion. (Ames, tr. 2003, 183). ‘For only he that pities is truly able to be brave (…) Heaven arms with pity those whom it would not see destroyed’ (Waley, tr., 1958, 225).

Brave and courageous, the Sage shuns coercion, violence and suppression. Instead, she allows empathy and empathy driven compassion to manifest itself.

SUMMARY

Instead of autonomy, Daoism emphasizes interconnectedness. Its main ingredient is empathy. The birth of empathy is traced to its historical Daoist roots of inherent naturalness and self-cultivation. Contemporary neurological research underlines the inherent nature of empathy. It is, however, only when empathy is translated into compassionate action that virtuous behavior is achieved.

1. Eventually, it may be necessary to transcend this dichotomy, e.g. in conflict management, which is only possible on the base of interconnectedness which is based on a ‘we’ (Tophoff, 2016).

2. The Daode jing (lit. The classic of the Way and of Virtuous Behavior) allegedly was written by Laozi about 400 BCE. 3. Ames and Hull (2003, 57) translate dao somewhat differently as ‘the active project of moving ahead in the world (…) way making (…) a pathway that can be travelled’.

4. The Huainanzi is a collection of texts by Liu An, King of Huainan (165 – 122 BCE).

5. In Daoist forms of martial arts precisely these dialectics are essential (Tophoff,2013b).

6. The Zhuangzi derives its name from the Daoist philosopher Zhuang Zi who lived somewhere between 370 – 319 B.C.E. (Watson, 1968,1).

7. For an extensive description of Sensory Awareness the reader is referred to Tophoff, 2003).

8. The other two possessions are: frugality and the refusal to put oneself in the foreground.

REFERENCES Ames, R.T.e.a. (tr.) 2003. Dao De Jing. New York: Ballantine Books.

Austin, J.H. 2006. Zen-Brain Reflections. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Hylant, T. 2016. The erosion of right livelihood: counter-educational aspect of the commodification of mindfulness practice. In: Person-Centered & Experiential Therapies, 15, 3, 177.

Jinpa,T.e.a.2014. Compassion Cultivation Training Course. <ccare. stanford.edu/education/cctstaff> Kohn, L. 2014. Zhuangzi, Text and Context. St.Petersburg: Three Pines Press.

Kohn, L. 2011. Living Authentically. Dunedin FL: Three Pines Press.

Kohn, L. 2004, Cosmos & Community. Cambridge, MA: Three Pines Press.

Lee, J.H. 2014. The Ethical Foundations of Early Daoism. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Major, J.S. e.a.(tr.ed). 2010. The Huainanzi. New York: Columbia University Press.

Prinz, W. e.a. (Eds.) 2013. Action Science: Foundations of an Emerging Discipline. Cambridge, M.A.: M.I.T.Press.

Rizzolatti, G.,e.a.2009. Mirror Neurons and their Clinical Relevance.

In: Nature Clinical Practice Neurology, 5, 24 – 34.

Schulte-Rüther, L. e.a. 2007. Mirror Neurons and Theory of Mind. In: Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19(8), 1354-1372.

Tophoff, M. 2003. Chan Buddhism: Implications of Awareness and Mindfulness-Training for Managerial Functioning. Destelbergen: Cartim.

Tophoff, M. 2013a. Daoist and Chan Buddhist Dimensions of Self and No-self in Integrative Psychotherapy. In: The British Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 10, 2, 45) Tophoff, M. 2013b. Daoist Principles in the Martial Arts: Their Relevance for Illness Prevention. In: Journal of Daoist Studies, vol.6, 161-175.

Tophoff, M. 2016. Conflict Resolution within a Buddhist Context. In: Journal of Mediation & Applied Conflict Analysis, 3, 2, 123 – 136.

Vankeerbergen, G. 2001. The Huainanzi and Liu An’s Claim to Moral Authority. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Waal, de F. 2009 The Age of Empathy. New York, Harmony Books.

Waley, A. (tr.) 1958. The Way and its Power. New York: Grove Press.

Watson, B.tr. 1968. The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu, New York: Columbia University Press.

Wang Rongpei, 1999. Zhuangzi I. Hunan: Hunan’s People’s Publishing House.

Michael M.Tophoff, Ph.D., clinical psychologist-psychotherapist, undertook his postdoctoral training in psychotherapy and group processes in Europe, in the USA and in Japan. Dr.Tophoff teaches conflict management at the Business School of the University of Amsterdam. He has published internationally in the fields of psychotherapy, mindfulness, Buddhism and Daoism, health care and the martial arts. michael@tophoff.nl

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Middle School Neidan

Fundamental Principles and Practices Robert James Coons

Photo by Shanti Price Neidan is the art of energetic meditation in Daoism and represents the most direct route to cultivating the three treasures of Essence, Energy, and Spirit.

Neidan was formalized under the masters Lu Dongbin, Zhang Boduan, and Wang Chongyang before the thirteenth century, but it was further developed by many different masters in the years since then until our modern times.

In total there are about ten major schools of thought in Nei dan, which include the Southern Ancestor school of Zhang Boduan, The Northern Ancestor school of Wang Chongyang, the Zhang Sanfeng school, and many others. Today I would like to share a little with you about the Middle School of Neidan called Zhong Pai. Zhong Pai Neidan was created by a Daoist master named Li Daochun in the 13th century who released the

book called “The Anthology of Central Harmony,” which is a series of essays on meditation that detail his complex theoretical ideas on the subject of internal energy cultivation.

Li Daochun was followed by other masters such as Yin Zhenren and Huang Yuanji who also authored their own important books. Yin Zhenren wrote the book “Xing Ming Gui Zhi” which contains the largest collection of illustrations about Neidan available in one book. Huang Yuanji was responsible for the Dao De Jing Chan Wei commentary, which is the only commentary of Laozi to be entirely based on Neidan practices.

Huang’s students left behind the book “Le Yu Tang” which further illustrates his ideas.

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Middle School Key Theory

The theory of the middle school of Neidan is very complex, but it is based around the central idea of being natural. Both of the earlier major Neidan schools of Nanzong (southern ancestor) and Beizong (northern ancestor) have their own theoretical basis which is predicated either on first cultivating energy and then consciousness (Nanzong) or first cultivating consciousness and then energy (Beizong).

The Middle School seeks to combine these two practices into a dual cultivation method called “life and nature dual cultivation.” This dual cultivation takes the form of using an open and clear consciousness to cultivate energy and then to allow the energy to further clear the mind and make one able to achieve the level of “meeting immortality.” The idea of the Middle School is that is that after the energy moves in the body, it is better to allow it to behave naturally and go to the places it chooses to go, rather than trying to control the energy along one individual pathway. This means that the Middle School does not require the energy body to be built along a specific delineation of events, but rather allows one to build Qi simply along the lines that ones own body and mind allow for.

The Middle School is also uniquely suited to building strong energy along the “Chong Mai” central governing meridian, which runs from the perenium to the sky gate on top of the head.

Here are some key points from The Book of Central Harmony by Li Dao Chun: - The place from which anger, affection, sadness, and joy has not yet emerged is called the Centre. All things connected to the centre are called Harmony: This concept refers to the emptiness in the centre of one’s natural mind, from which no feeling, thought or emotion has yet emerged. It is the centre that Li believed practitioners should return their minds to in order to become stable and balanced. After that silent and and empty centre has been achieved, then the energy in the body will move in harmony with it. Therefore, the term “Central Harmony” in the name of Li’s book actually refers to the way in which the body and mind work together to create the harmony between silence and energetic movement.

Quietude and Stability

Quietude and Stability is the concept of how to anchor the mind in such a way that it comes to a stable resting point.

This resting point is called “genuine intention” and is the way that Middle School master Li Daochun explained the basic method of stopping the mind from “wild imagination” and “wandering away.” This method of silent setting of the mind cannot be forced, but rather needs to be gradually developed, just like how a master sword maker gradually folds the metal over and over until the sword is sharp and perfect. The mind which can constantly be brought back to quietude and stability will be able to develop a strong sense of spiritual energy and poise, and this method is one of the keys to changing essence to energy and energy to spirit.

in Daoism to be like fire. The mind has both strong yang fire and weak yin fire, just like the blue flame at the centre of an orange flame.

The water trigram is made up of two broken lines with a solid yang line in the centre and represents “Jing” essence in the body as well as the corporeal form of the body. The yang line in the centre of the water trigram is living essence, and the yin line in the fire trigram is considered by Li Daochun to be the Qi energy of the breath, so when the breath and essence are directed together, and the mind directed to quiet, Li Daochun posited that the Yang line of the water trigram would move to the place of the Yin line in the fire trigram, changing the body to the full Yin Earth Trigram, and the consciousness to the full Yang Heaven Trigram. This may seem a bit complicated, but essentially what it means is that the spirit is not clouded by the thoughts and emotions (represented by Yin energy) and that instead of being aware of the body, one is aware of the total spiritual illumination of the mind and is able to collect the “Golden Elixir.”

Li Daochun had many other ideas, but these are very important basic concepts and worthy of deep study.

Yin Zhenren added the concepts of a very clearly explained energy body, meditation on the “Ancestor Portal” point between the eyebrows, and a detailed path of achievement from the outset of practice to achieving Buddhahood and casting off the shell of the body.

Huang Yuanji further defined the earlier Daoist idea of the Single Opening of the Mystery Gate, which is a point between regular consciousness and the “Pre Heaven State.” This is the time when the Three treasures of the original essence, energy, and spirit come together and develop as one, refining and building the spiritual energy of the body.

The Middle School of Neidan has been one of the most influential schools in Daoist history and was a direct inspiration for the Western School of Li Xiyue, the Wu Liu School, and even the Neo-Confucian Wang Yangming.

The Middle School also had a strong effect on twentieth century Daoist Master Chen Yingning and Cao Zhenyang of the White Cloud Temple.

Although it is a very important school in Neidan, the Middle School has not been clearly discussed thus far in the Western Literature on Daoism, and it is my hope that this article and others like it will eventually create more interest in this excellent method of study, so that more and more people are exposed to it.

Water and Fire Combine to Create Real Taiji

Taiji is the harmony of yin and yang and water and fire at the form of yin and yang with mixed characters. The fire trigram is made up of two outside yang lines and one broken yin line in the centre. It represents the mind, which is considered

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Robert James Coons lives in Guelph Ontario Canada and Kaifeng Henan China. He runs the website and released the book Internal Elixir Cultivation, the Nature of Daoist Meditation.

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Attaining Spiritual Fortitude Hua-Ching Ni and Mao Shing Ni, Ph.D.

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The following eight practices on strengthening the chi are to assist the attainment of spiritual fortitude: 1. Concentrate the Chi 元氣是本, 和氣是用, 清氣是頭, 正氣是心. 和氣用世. 靈氣足寶.

Original chi is the root, Harmonious chi is the helper, Clear chi is for the mind, Upright chi is for the heart, Harmonious chi is for living in the world.

Spiritual chi is the most treasured.

2. Embrace the Chi to Attain Peace 靜心致福, 清心添壽, 正氣除障, 和氣解殃.

A quiet mind invites blessings, A clear mind lengthens life, Righteous chi can help remove obstacles, Harmonious chi can help dissolve troubles.

3. Apply the Principles of Spiritual Development 從繁以入簡, 從難而入易, 捨渭須存精, 捨多可從一.

Use the complicated to enter simplicity, Use what seems difficult to enter what is easy, Use what seems muddled to identify the essential, Use what appears diverse to discover unity. 意念散馳除, 心氣流蕩攝. 敕聚斂心光, 華光澈天地.

Remove the scattered thoughts in your mind To allow the natural flow of your heart.

Concentrate on the light beam from the heart To allow the radiating light to reach the Universe.

4. Govern the Chi through Action and Non-Action 體宜動,心宜靜, 靜可為法, 動亦可為法.

The physical body still needs to be active, But mentally it is most suitable to be quiet.

Both being active and being quiet Can be beneficial in your spiritual practices. 氣動散靜斂, 以靜收氣, 以微動聚氣, 以動行氣.

So, collect the scattered chi by being quiet, And circulate the chi with gentle movement. 不執動, 不執靜 動靜任所之, 動靜能交互.

But do not insist on movement

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Or become too attached to stillness.

Allow the spontaneity to follow both, As they mutually assist and complete each other. 反心而收氣. 無為是有為. 不可求強靜, 靜中宜有動. 有為是無為, 動中反致靜.

Gather the chi without using the busy mind, Non-activity will naturally generate activity.

Absolute quietness cannot be forced, Yet recognize the vibrations in the quietness.

Spontaneous activity gives rise to non-action As the gentle movement yields to stillness.

5. Seven Aspects of Spiritual Fortification 元部法: 元者元氣 The aspect of originality enhances the original, primordial chi 清部法: 上清為天 The aspect of cleansing prepares the psyche to tour the vast sky 正部法: 正以為人之神 The aspect of righteousness prepares the psyche to be a selfless God 明部法: 心明則無惑 The aspect of clarity prepares the mind to be without confusion 和部法: 和以處世 The aspect of harmony prepares the individual to live peacefully with the world 靈部法: 靈以致神 The aspect of spiritual efficacy prepares the psyche to become intuitive and undertake great achievements. 捷部法: 捷以收效 The aspect of efficiency in accomplishment trains an effective psyche, which then achieves good results without waste.

6. Practice for a Quiet Mind 晨起清除畢, 小坐以聚氣. 一月用一啟, 周行而復始.

Gather the chi in short simple sittings. Every morning for a month, take one of the eighteen images given to train the mind. The next month choose a new image, or rotate them cyclically:

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但抱無念心體 Embrace the subtle energy of the mind with no further projection. 萬里晴空無纖雲 Be at one with the vast cloudless sky. 飛鍚懸碧空 Watch the shining silver light of the moon in the high sky. 日出時海天金光滿 Witness the sun in the golden sky rising from the horizon of the sea. 月滿西川 Observe a pond filled with bright moonlight. 無影寶鏡 (壁) Gaze at a non-reflective mirror, or wall, to see through life’s shadows and illusions. 臍內金鼎赫赫然 Visualize a shining gold caldron behind the navel as the energy gathers there. 赫赫金丹衹一丸 Take in the shining gold pill or elixir of immortal medicine. 未發之中 Be as undisturbed as the mind before any emotion arises.

正恁麼時, 捉住時空凝一點 Catch and seize an instant in time-space. 恬澹虛無, 真氣從之.

Be detached and relaxed as the chi generates naturally. 美意延年是履德, 胸膛佈星為修行 Realize goodwill to all as you deploy the stars on your chest. 聚氣於脊 Collect the chi on your spinal bone. 學仙最要先調心, 安心良處在先天. 乾坤袋中金輪運, 臍下生氣自綿綿.

To become achieved, first attune the mind; moral fulfillment comes from connecting with the pre-Heaven chi. As the harmonious integration of your male and female energies turns the golden wheel inside your body, the vital chi will continuously generate in the lower abdomen. 飲食須有節, 起居當有常. 上古有真人, 心中常思慕.

General rules when training the mind to gather the chi: Do not overeat, Live with a stable schedule of normal activities, Thinking of the ancient achieved ones being connected to their indomitable spirits will help you to become spiritually uplifted.

致中和 Embrace internal harmony. 恬澹寧心, 月影寒潭 Be like the moon reflecting clearly and peacefully on a cold, deep pond. 懷抱 (內) 嬰兒稚氣 Embrace the innocence of an infant. 懷抱 (內) 光明, 懷抱日月光.

Embrace inner brightness like the sky when filled with sunlight and moonlight. 善惡莫思, 以空為有 Be like the empty, unoccupied mind without any judgment or thought of good or bad.

Hua-Ching Ni — author, teacher, healer — addresses the essential nature of human life and works to further the personal growth and spiritual development of this and future generations. He was raised in a family tradition of healing and spirituality that is being continued by his two sons, Drs. Daoshing and Mao Shing Ni, and by his many friends and supporters throughout the world. For futher works of Hua-Ching see the website at www.taoofwellness.com.

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National Qigong Association

22nd Annual Conference Friday–Sunday, July 21–23, 2017 Robert Treat Hotel, Newark, NJ

KEYNOTE • Friday, July 21



Chungliang Al Huang: Jing-Qi-Shen:

Are you...

• New to the world of Qigong and the Energetic Arts?

• A practitioner looking to deepen your personal practice?

• A healthcare professional or healer looking to broaden the scale and scope of your practice?

• A teacher looking for ways to enhance both your teaching skills and practice?

The NQA Annual Conference is the place for you! 

Experience the Kinetic & Visual Qi Vibrations

 PROFESSIONAL TRACK • Friday & Saturday, July 21–22

Ted Cibik: Applications of the Luo Channels in Dealing with Autoimmune Diseases & Cancer

 ENTERTAINMENT • Saturday, July 22

The Great Saturday Night Tao Wow

 PLENARY • Sunday, July 23

Chungliang Al Huang: Creative Qigong & Tai Ji Practice in Daily Living 

Three days of workshops, lectures, seminars, and demonstrations presented by over 20 leaders in the fields of Qigong, Taijiquan, and the Energetic Arts, plus...

• Networking with friends in the Qigong community • Distinctive vendors & products • Silent auction

For Conference details and to register, please visit

www.nqa.org or call 1-888-815-1893

The Empty Vessel

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The Empty Vessel Interview with Stuart Alve Olson

Stuart Alve Olson, a longtime protégé of Master T.T. Liang (19002002), is a world renowned teacher, translator, and writer on Taoist philosophy, health, martial arts and internal arts. Since his early twenties, he has studied and practiced Taoism, Chinese Buddhism and Asian related arts.

As of 2016, Stuart has published more than thirty books, many of which now appear in several foreign-langage editions.

On Christmas Day in 1979, Stuart took Triple Refuge with Chan Master Hsuan Hua, receiving the disciple name Kuo Ao. In 1981 he participated in meditation sessions and sutra lectures given by Dainin Katagiri Roshi at the Minnesota Center for Zen Meditation. In late 1981, he began living with Master T.T. Liang, studying Taijiquan, Taoism, Praying Mantis Kung Fu, and Chinese language under his tutelage.

In the spring of 1982 through 1984, Stuart undertook a two-year Buddhist bowing pilgrimage. "Nine Steps, One Bow." Traveling along state and county roads during the spring, summer, and autumn months, starting from the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis and ending at the border of Nebraska. During the winter months he stayed at Master Liang's home and bowed in his garage.

For more information as well as updates on Stuart Alive Olson's upcoming projects and events please visit: www.valleyspiritarts.com.

His organization, The Sanctuary of Tao is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the sharing of Taoist philosophy and practices through online resources, yearly meditation retreats and community education programs. The underlying mission of the Sanctuary of Tao

is to bring greater health, longevity and contentment to its members and everyone it serves.

Please visit www.sanctuaryoftao.org for more information about his organization and its programs.

EV: Maybe we can begin by you telling us a bit about your background and what led you to do all these great translations and teachings that you have been doing for many years now.

Stuart: It’s still a mystery to me (laughter). I started learning about all of this when I was young, around 15 or 16 years old.

Don’t want to make a big deal about it, but when I was younger I used to have out of body experiences. I didn’t like them. They actually scared me. Fortunately, my best friend’s older brother was going to the University of Minnesota at that time and he was one of those early hippy intellectuals. He turned me on to a lot of books on Tibetan Buddhism, and those books helped me answer many questions about what I was experiencing and gave me an interest in Asian teachings.

A couple years later, for some reason, my younger brother for Christmas bought me this book called Taoist Health Exercises by Da Liu. That really caught my interest. After that I started really getting interested in things Chinese, especially the language.

As far as seriously learning the Chinese language, that didn’t happen until I turned 29 years old, when I ended up at the Gold Mountain Monastery in San Francisco, and a few months

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later I moved up to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Ukiah, California. That’s when my interest peaked, especially in learning to read Chinese. I wasn’t all that interested in speaking it, but reading had my full attention.

In 1980, I went back to Minnesota to see my family and began arranging to undergo a bowing pilgrimage, Three Steps and One Bow. In June 1981, I was fortunate enough to meet Master T.T. Liang, who had just moved to St. Cloud, MN, from Boston.

I wanted to meet him because I knew he had done translation work for his Taijiquan book, Tai Chi Ch’uan—For Health and Self-Defense. We hit it off really well and so I began staying with him. I spent my remaining time with him before going off to do my bowing pilgrimage in the spring of 1982. It was during this period when I really started learning to translate, and reluctantly learning Taijiquan.

I had learned a little bit of Taiji at City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, and from a friend, Vern Peterson, who was teaching in Minneapolis at that time, and I thought it might be good to know as a form of exercise while on my bowing pilgrimage.

But I really wasn’t all that interested at first. Yet, every morning and evening Master Liang would just tell me to follow along.

Before I left he had somehow taught me the Taiji form, two sword forms, a saber form, staff, pushing hands, the Taiji TwoPerson form, and some Praying Mantis Kungfu.

EV: When you say “staying with him,” you mean living with him?

Stuart: Yeah, I ended up living in his home with his family for a little over six years.

EV: That’s a very traditional apprenticeship, living with the master like that.

Stuart: Yes, it’s kind of a lost thing. But concerning my translating, I’m not academically trained. I’m what I call pure interest trained. Now, not to denigrate anyone else’s work, but I don’t like translations without commentaries, because I lived at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas and Chan Master Xuan Hua, the teacher there, who was really incredible, had a wonderful statement. He said “giving a text to somebody without commentary is like giving an ant a watermelon and telling it to swallow the entire watermelon in one bite.”

This is particularly true of Taoist texts. Taoism seems to have a lot of mystical and cryptic type of language in it. And it’s a language that isn’t purposely meant to be cryptic, I don’t feel, but it was purposely trying to protect a school and their thinking. You can look at all the Taoist internal alchemy texts and you will see that each developed its own unique terminology.

EV: Definitely.

Stuart: The Yellow Court Scripture has its own language; the Secret of the Golden Flower; The Jade Tablets on Nature and Life; Realization of the True; all have their own unique language, and so with other texts as well. When reading the works of certain Taoist alchemists you come across terms like a Jade Rabbit on the Moon and a Three-Legged Crow on the Sun, or Dragon Soaring and Tiger Fleeing, or Reverting Jing to Restore the Brain and Yin Convergence, which all have the same meaning in the end, but

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to the average person, all these terms are meaningless. Because of all this obscure terminology a lot of these texts were avoided by early Western scholars simply because of the language, like James Legge, who thought it was all nonsense.

I’ve also noticed that some of the more recent translations are made by those who speak and write Chinese but they are not practitioners. So it’s really clear when they translate a text they make a lot of mistakes because they don’t really know empirically what these texts are getting at. There is a huge difference between a “scholar” and a “practitioner.” Not that a scholar cannot be a practitioner but oftentimes they are not, so they don’t really understand what they are translating in a very real and practical way.

I think that scholars serve a very useful purpose, and many do great work. Scholars like Fabrizo Pregadio and Thomas Cleary, for example. But if you’re not a practitioner as well, you’re not going to get it. A clear example of this was a guy who was translating a Taijiquan text who wanted my opinion on it.

For example, in his work, he took the phrase “xu ling ding jin” to mean “stretch the neck and push the head upwards,” which is how it could read in a literal sense, but the right translation of it would be “to retain a light sense of energy on top of the head.” So it’s not that what he translated was wrong, it’s just he didn’t have the empirical knowledge to understand what the text was implying. A lot of translated texts are like that.

I was very fortunate. I got to spend a good 13 years with Master Liang, who was a true linguist. He spoke seven languages fluently over the course of his life. We were both kind of book crazy. When I moved into his house I had around 800 books, all in English, and he had an equal number in Chinese and by the time I moved from his house he had all of my books and I had all of his. Because he loved English and I loved Chinese. Chinese was in many ways boring to him. * Xu ling ding jin, 虛領頂勁 EV: So did you learn your Chinese from Master Liang or did you study somewhere else?

Stuart: I studied Chinese at City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. I also did a lot on my own. I also had other Chinese friends who helped me over the years, but Master Liang was the most helpful when it came to specific Taiji/Taoist language and terminology.

In Buddhism, if you know 300 characters, you can read most Buddhist texts. Taoism takes about 900. But it’s not all that complicated. Chinese is not as difficult as English.

Sometimes I feel like English is my second language (laughter).

Taiji and Taoism are culturally really vast subjects in Chinese, as you know. I mean, if I pick up a book on Feng Shui or Book of Changes, that language is going to have nothing to do with Lao Zi’s Daodejing or Zhuang Zi. It’s actually two different ways of using Chinese, so it gets very technical. It’s like if someone hands me a Western medical book. I’m not going to be able to understand most of what is being written.

So these particular books I have been translating are the ones I worked hardest on around Master Liang, namely the Taiji and Taoist works. The books that I have done have had my undivided attention for a very long time, and presently I feel like I am just catching up. I have about 20 books still sitting in my computer, about 90 percent translated, with partial commentaries, but they’re incomplete. Time and money are

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the biggest obstacles to getting them out. I want to put them into English and let other people read and learn from them as I did. So, it’s not like I have some method to my madness about it. These are works that really caught my interest and I hope I have time to complete them. Mostly because if Taoism is really to take root in our Western culture the traditional texts need to be explained in Western terms. We can’t steal a culture and so Taoism will need a Western perspective in order to survive here.

EV: Well you’ve really been pumping them out in the last few years. I’ve been really impressed by how much work you’ve been able to accomplish. And they’re good! That’s one of the things I wanted to mention. I highly recommend your translations because not only do you explain all the arcane concepts and images, but you also do a commentary, which I think is really important. There are some other publishers who bring out translations of Taoist texts but, like you mentioned, there’s no commentary, there’s no explanation, and for people who don’t already know how to read that language they’re not that helpful.

Stuart: Well when I started living with Master Liang, I read his book every month, and every month I found something new.

Starting with some really basic ideas of “before heaven,” “after heaven,” or even the word “qi.” So I really started to learn how to tear the characters apart, radical by radical. Terms like the character qi. I discovered that the character for qi shows rice cooking inside a pot and the vapors coming off of it. So, “heat,” “vapors,” ideas like that started connecting later on with everything else they talked about in these Taoist books.

What I find most useful is, once you learn how to tear the characters apart it’s not that complicated. Once you get past some of the terminology, we’re talking about some really basic things coming to light.

EV: On the other hand, even a concept like qi, in the older translations of Taoist texts we saw in the ’40s and ’50s, they translate as breath. Even now people just think it means energy but there are so many different kinds of qi. Qi exists on so many different levels, which is really interesting to me.

Stuart: Yes, in Chinese, if I say “tianqi,” I can translate that as “heaven’s breath.” It actually means “the sky’s weather” or simply “weather.” They use the word qi for electricity (dainqi), they use it for emotions (qingqi). There is anger qi, sorrow qi, hate qi, and so on. Qi is not necessarily this mystical, magical thing that you’re going to use to perform miracles with. Qi is something that is integrated into everything we do. Right now I am dissipating my qi by talking. When I shut up and breathe, I am accumulating qi.

But you can translate qi as “breath,” or “vital energy,” or “vapors.” This is why it gets incorporated into so much of Chinese language and culture, whether they be Taoist or not.

They’re making use of this concept of qi as an energy or influence.

EV: What do you think about this idea of Dao Jia and Dao Jiao?

Some people say that you can’t call yourself a Taoist unless you are an ordained Taoist priest. I know people in the West tend to identify more with “philosophical” or Dao Jia…learning the practices and not becoming a priest or monk.

Stuart: I know lots of these people. In fact, I have taught a few of them, especially on the Yellow Court Scripture. The main Taoist centers in China won’t teach it, either because they don’t know it or the central government won’t allow it. But this clergy-secular opinion is just a Western thing, a “my dog is shinier than your dog” philosophy. To me it’s kind of childish and, not to be too harsh, it’s a little bit ignorant and self-serving in my opinion.

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Some of these ordained Taoists I teach can’t even tell others they are learning from me because they will be scolded or punished for going outside their little network. It is this kind of behavior that will harm Taoism in the West because it lends itself to an elitist cult mentality, and eventually someone might make you drink the Kool-Aid (laughter). As Master Liang said, this type of behavior is like being at the bottom of a black lacquer barrel.

Not a good thing.

EV: You’re talking here about this idea that no one can identify as a Taoist unless they are an ordained Taoist priest?

Stuart: Yes, but it’s not true whatsoever. It’s like being unable to call yourself a Christian unless you are a priest or a Buddhist unless you are ordained. Religions always find a way to incite this superior and inferior chasm.

It also relates to when Westerners come back from China and think that what they learned is so far above anybody else. It’s just not a good idea to make this distinction. It’s just not. Because what they are doing is turning themselves into a kind of elitism. That serves Taoism very poorly because Taoists are not and have never been elitists. At least not until recently.

And another thing is what to do about all the Taoists before 200 AD? Was Laozi not a Taoist? Was Zhuangzi not a Taoist?

EV: Well actually there were not Dao-ists.

Stuart: Yes that is true but at the same time all Taoists are deriving their wisdom and teachings from these early teacher-disciple relationships, not from an organized clerical tradition. It isn’t that I am against the Taoist clergy. I think they serve a wonderful purpose, and indeed people can learn very valuable things in that tradition. I have no objection with them. Nonetheless, they should not discount the value of what others learn in a teacher-disciple relationship either or what someone may learn entirely on their own. It’s also the case in organized Taoism that there’s a lot of infighting between different factions and sects of Taoism. This infighting becomes more politically and financially motivated rather than being spiritual. People forget that all of that (religious Taoism) presently is being run by the Chinese government.

On the other hand, fortunately they (the government) got smart and realized that by keeping the temples open and renovating them, more people will come and they will make money, especially from tourists. This has helped reinstate a lot of the temples there.

My friends at the British Taoist Association helped renovate temples in China. They didn’t just go there, pay their fees for a lu, and run around with pieces of paper to aggrandize themselves. I really respect this organization, and the cultivators within it. They are really doing good work and have done it the right way, and so greatly help in preserving Taoism in the West.

So I look at it…and this is going to seem like a weird analogy…but it’s really true. Cows, chickens, and pigs will never be on the endangered species list because we use them as a food source. Only those animals that we don’t use as a food source are subject to extinction. So, if China keeps building temples promoting Taoism for tourists, well…Taoism in some respects is not going to go extinct in China.

Taoism developed originally as a teacher-disciple union. Starting with Lao Zi and Guanyinzi at the northwest

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passage, where Guanyinzi encouraged Lao Zi to write the Daodejing. In the beginning there were no schools, no temples.

There were no monasteries. Not that those are bad or wrong, but I don’t want to see the loss of the teacher-disciple relationship either. In my training I got to live with Master Liang, and I fully understand the importance of that relationship and the great opportunity I had. But once you organize and you have these schools, then you have an educational institution. You get a syllabus of what it is you have to learn. It’s just like going to college. It isn’t treating the idea of what a student personally needs. Rather, it treats what the school needs. Then, at the end, you get a lu or a degree and off you go. But with the studentdisciple relationship it’s much different, much freer, and in my opinion, less religiously motivated.

EV: But that kind of study is really fading, especially in the West.

Stuart: Yes that is partially because financially it’s not that feasible. With Master Liang and me, that could work between us.

It meant that he had a stable life and I could walk into it being this poor wanna-be Buddhist monk, but it worked because I was really dedicated to this stuff and really just wanted to learn it, and so I became this poor wanna-be Taoist layman instead.

Fortunately for me I met a guy who knew what I really needed to learn, and we liked each other.

EV: Well you were really fortunate, really to have that relationship that way.

Stuart: I got very lucky. I got to be at City of Ten Thousand Buddhas and be around Xuan Hua and some of his monks, who were all really incredible, and because of that I got to meet tons of other people, and many scholars and masters of other traditions. I was really fortunate for that kind of experience.

And then to be able to live with Master Liang and to make all sorts of other acquaintances because of him.

When I would go to Taiwan, Liang would give me introduction letters and gifts to bring other teachers, and so I was able to meet people who will probably never end up in the history books, but these were incredible people, and I learned so much from them.

EV: I would imagine that at the same time there were also some challenges with living with the master.

Stuart: Yeah, challenges in the sense of…well first of all he lived for practical jokes. Because he wanted to have three hearty laughs every day. He knew laughing was going to keep him alive and healthy. You could read my book Steal My Art: The Life and Times of Tai Chi Master T.T. Liang and hear a lot of those stories. It’s the most unusual Taiji book you will ever read because in the last third of the book I just tell stories about his practical jokes, which to me exemplified his mastery more than his martial art skills.

EV: You have been working very hard and bringing out some really great translations and the one I am reading now is your latest, the Yellow Court, and I am curious about how you get the original Chinese texts.

Stuart: That’s a question I get frequently. Well remember when I told you about T.T. and the stealing of each other’s books?

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Within this collection of his there were tons of books that T.T purchased in Taiwan in the ’50s. I’ve got a pretty vast library, probably around 900 Chinese books. Also, I went to China back in 1986 and ’88 and I dealt with some publishers because I was working with them on getting my book Imagination Becomes Reality into the foreign hotels there. Within that I also received and bought many books. But most of these works I have are no longer in print.

So all these books that I’m translating…if I get time I want to also publish them in Chinese as well. We did that with The Immortal: True Accounts of a 250-Year-Old Man, Li Qingyun.

You can get the original Chinese text from us in both Chinese and English.

EV: I like that your books are not just text with commentary but they also involve practices. To me, this is what makes Taoism different from other paths—that you can’t understand it intellectually but you need to do the practices. Laozi talked about this 2500 years ago. “Empty the mind. Fill the belly.”

I’m also interested in hearing how you got connected with Li Qingyun, the 250-year-old man you wrote about. Because that’s quite a story.

Stuart: Well that one was almost immediately thrust upon me

by T.T. Liang.

EV: Really?

Stuart: Yes because the man that authored that particular book that I trans,lated, General Yang Sen, he and T.T. were really good friends. I remember when we got the news that he had died. T.T. was really sad.

So I translated part of it early on in 1983, partly with

T.T.’s help, because it was very difficult for me at the time and my Chinese wasn’t up to standard, but he constantly pushed me about it. Later I discovered the reason why he pushed so hard.

He had promised Yang Sen he would translate it into English, so he transferred that promise to me.

EV: You also have the book where you teach all the practices from the first one, that is very helpful.

Stuart: Yes, Li Qingyun: Longevity Methods of a 250-Year-Old Man. I just focus on the practices because when you read the larger book they’re a little harder to follow and extract. There’s a lot of material in The Immortal book. As a matter of fact I am presently working on going to China with a film crew to vet and document the Li Qingyun story. For instance, there’s a professor at Chengdu who found documents from different royal families sending Li Qingyun birthday greetings on his 100th, 150th and 200th birthdays. That’s pretty compelling evidence.

Plus, many other such records need to be vetted as well. It’s an amazing story and has been selling quite well, so I think people are liking it.

EV: For people who are not familiar with this book…Li Qingyun is said to have lived for 250 years. And there is documentation that says this is really true.

Stuart: Yes, though in our culture we have a tough time accepting that. But you have to look at Li Qingyun’s life. At age 13, he takes off with three herbalists, wanders through numerous mountain ranges, living in nature, drinking natural water, eating herbs, never took one pharmaceutical his whole life, and he practiced all these longevity exercises. Here’s a man who never suffered from the tensions and stresses of society. As a

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matter of fact, he said that if you are living in a city you are shortening your life.

So on one hand I understand people’s doubts but, on the other hand, you’ve got the NY Times’ correspondent back in 1933 who went to China and was able to meet with Li Qingyun’s last wife, and vetted him so well that even the Times reported his death.

EV: So your new book, the first volume in a two-volume set on the Yellow Court, is a very interesting book. I am really enjoying this one.

Stuart: Well if Taoism is an interest of yours, the Yellow Court is one of the original source books. The Yellow Court was probably one of the main teachings for about 600 years in China. Just about any internal alchemy book you’ve read quotes the Yellow Court. This is a genius work. Whether you take on the full Yellow Court practices or not is irrelevant. Just by studying this work you are going to learn a lot about internal alchemy, medical qigong, Taoist philosophy, and Taoist mysticism, because it’s all there. This is one of the original source books of these things.

The second volume is from Madam Wei Huacun, and because she is a woman she was kind of put on the back burner.

But her work is absolute genius. There are 36 chapters of her explaining different aspects of this practice. She is the first to really make it clear about this whole process of swallowing saliva, conserving Jing (sexual essence), and many, many other subjects as well. If you read the Yellow Court, all of a sudden Eight Brocades just blossoms for you. Madam Wei was, in many ways, responsible for taking the metallurgical processes for the pill of immortality teachings and turning them into an internal contemplative process.

Then, thirty years later, her main student Yang Xi and her two sons start what they called the Highest Clarity Sect of Taoism, which remained one of the most popular schools of Taoism for over 600 years.

EV: So was she connected to any of the Taoist schools?

Stuart: Interestingly enough, since she was very young she was always interested in Taoism and eventually she went to the Celestial Masters Sect, but because she was a woman they only allowed her to pour wine, a libation server, at their meetings.

She did pick up on a lot of things, though. She never actually became a priestess within that sect. She also never wished to marry, but was forced into marriage by her father. She never wanted children but she ended up having two sons. After they had grown up she delved deeply into Taoism.

She would lock herself in her bedroom and there are reports about how her family would hear her talking to people.

We might say she was really having immortal visitations or she was schizophrenic, which one? Now I don’t think she was schizophrenic. I think she really was gifted, as evidenced by her writings. She claimed teachers (immortals) came to her and transmitted these teachings to her. And, of course, when you look at Taoism historically, almost every principal teacher talks about having either a visitation from an immortal or they’re learning from them through dreams. But Madame Wei, being a woman, was accused of insanity. No such view fell on male teachers. Interesting.

EV: What we might call channeled works.

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Stuart: Yes, even besides her back story—what she came up with was genius. She basically took External Alchemy (Wai Dan) and turned it into Internal Alchemy (Nei Dan), and it is really insightful. Just like the first volume of the Yellow Court, which is really valuable to us today. Later on in history we see a lot of teachers who were basically saying what she said but used different terminology. They borrowed a great deal from the Yellow Court. I can find the whole of Eight Brocades practices and theory in the Yellow Court teachings.

She talks about why we do certain internal things and the connections between things like the kidneys and ears. Why the three areas of Taoist practice are to “return the light,” which is the whole idea of returning the illumination of the spirit within us, the idea of “guarding our speech,” so that we don’t dissipate qi, and the idea of jing being dissipated through the ears. All these are connected to our internal organs…and she brought these ideas up in her work. Just too much to discuss here.

EV: I think our modern society is pretty much based on getting people to dissipate their qi and jing in every way possible.

Stuart: Oh, it’s a constant. Our culture is based on things like speaking, whether it’s true or not; seeing, but only seeing what we want to see; and hearing what is only outside of us. There’s no internal reflection on anything anymore. It all has to be an external expression. Things like you are not successful unless you are wealthy, you are not appreciated unless you have a beautiful body, or you are not considered intelligent unless you have a college degree. None of these views are Taoist.

EV: I think that one of the beauties of the Taoist practice is that people can remain Jewish or Christian, whatever their religion is…they can do the practices without having to convert to Taoism.

Stuart: This is very true, and my opinion of it is that if a person, no matter their religious affiliation, who craves to go sit in a quiet place by a lake or up in the mountains and just wants to sit there and be quiet, they’ve just become a Taoist. It’s really just about wanting to be with nature—where we came from. We’re all looking for that contentment, that feeling. And everybody knows what I’m saying when I say how you just sit by a lake and it’s just trees and water and the sounds of nature—it is so healing. Everybody knows this. It’s not some kind of profound philosophy. It is the heart of Taoism. The Yin Convergence Scripture starts with this phrase, “Contemplate the way of nature, imitate the way of nature, then all is done.”

Or Zhang Sanfeng’s poem where he is high in the mountains resting his head on a boulder and looking up through the pine trees and states, “how wonderful it is to be in the acquaintance of no one.” This is beautiful.

EV: So it's not just a foreign, Chinese philosophy.

Stuart: Right, it’s everybody. Native Americans were Taoist, in practice. They studied nature very deeply. We all need to feel that we are part of the earth. And that doesn’t mean that you’ve run off to be a farmer or herb gatherer. It just means that you have accepted nature. Everything we need is in nature, everything. Every pharmaceutical company knows this and they’re

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always running to South America to rip off nature.

We have everything we need. Every disease can be cured through nature. It’s sitting right there for us. And once we unlock that kind of discovery, life gets easier for us. As Saint Augustine wisely said, “There are no miracles, just unknown laws of nature.”

EV: Is there anything you would like to leave us with?

Stuart: Yes, I just want to say to everybody, and I want to say this in such a way that it is gentle, but get rid of the politics in Taoism. Your Taoism is not better than some other person’s Taoism. We are what we are and we all tend towards our own endowments. Call it karma if you wish. I respect people who get into the Taoist clergy; I respect people who just want to be philosophical Taoists; people that want to be feng shui Taoists; there are so many avenues.

We need to get over the politics. This is what can destroy things. If Taoism is really to survive in the West what we have to first understand is to stop asking about what is traditional or “real” Taoism because even Taoism doesn’t know what it is. And that term “traditional” only fuels resentment.

If you really look at it, what we need to do is understand three rules or principles of Taoism: non-contention, noninterference, and non-conformity. If you can follow those three

things you’re a very accomplished Taoist.

Of course non-conformity doesn’t mean you just do the opposite of what everybody else is doing. It means that you are going to do what you know is right in your heart for you.

Taoists always understood this, maybe even before the time of Lao Zi. They just followed their Way. We need to find what suits us and practice it and don’t be upset with people who do other things. Taoism is not going to exist in this culture unless we learn to adapt. If you run over to China to learn Taoism you’re still bringing a lot of Western cultural ideas with you. We Westerners are not Chinese, and we can’t be. This is why I said earlier we can’t steal a culture.

We must make Taoism our own Taoism.

A zest for life is also important. We’re trying in the West to give Taoism a new set of roots in our culture. Some of us are going to become clergy, academics, healers, and others will be writers, artists, or musicians. They’re all wonderful. It’s all beautiful and we don’t need to get political about it. Then it’s really Taoism.

I got to hang out with the Hopi Native Americans for a while, and their idea of the highest level of life is to be a good human being. Good human beings care about other people and try to make the world a better place. This is a very high state of being. Taoists call this state, “a True Human Being (Zhen Ren).”

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Spring 2017

Reviews

Yellow Court (Volume One) The Exalted One's Yellow Court External Illumination Scripture

by Stuart Alve Olson Softcover, 435 pages, $34.95 Valley Spirit Arts This translation of this ancient Taoist text, dated to the Zhou dynasty and attributed to Lao Tzu himself, is a fascinating compendium of thought and practice. The author describes it as, "The Yellow Court teachings were the first Taoist texts to describe the methods of Internal Alchemy through meditation and Qigong methods, as opposed to the earlier metallurgical processes of External Alchemy."

The translation itself is clear and concise and is not only followed by a commentary by Wu Chengzi (a Tang dynasty Taoist scholar and adept) but has the translator's notes and explanations of many of the cryptic Taoist terms used within the original text.

Many ancient Taoist texts are full of such terms and imagery and it helps so much to have some guidance on how to read them. Many of the ancient Taoist teachers and scholars used a mystical language, full of fantastical metaphors and images that were designed to "hide" the teachings from the uninitiated.

This author is doing such important work (see interview this issue) and it is such a joy to have these important works presented in such a clear and helpful way. Many of the early translations of Taoist texts were filtered through a Christian lens and were often mistranslated and unclear.

Stuart Olson has been a longtime student and practitioner and it shows in his masterful translation and explanations. We look forward to volume two, The Internal Illumination Scripture, due out later this year.

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Li Qinghun Longevity Methods of a 250-Year-Old Taoist Immortal

by Stuart Alve Olson Softcover, 230 pages, $26.95

Valley Spirit Arts

Last year's volume, The Immortal: True Accounts of the 250-YearOld Man, Li Qingyun by Yang Sen, translated by Stuart Alve Olson, introduced us to this fascinating and seemingly historically accurate Taoist sage, who not only lived for 250 years but is mentioned in many Chinese records over several centuries.

The new book is a companion work and goes into much detail on just what Li Qingyun's practices were to live such a long and healthy life.

Filled with illustrations and detailed explanation, chapters on The Fundamentals of Longevity, Food and Herbs for Longevity, Sex and Longevity, Eight Diagrams Elemental Exercises and Embryonic Breathing and Longevity are covered in detail.

A welcome addition for the modern student of these ancient longevity practices.

A Daoist Practice Journal, Book 2: Circle Walking, Qigong & Daoist Cultivation

by Michael Rinaldini (Shifu Li Chang Dao) Softcover, 317 pages, $19.95 A lovely and personal journal of a modern Daoist aspirant, covering not only the author's own journey but filled with quotes and allusions to classical Daoist teachings. Subjects covered are circle walking as well as Daoist meditation (zuowang) and the Way of Tea. Books like this are valuable, I think, in that it makes the teaching more personal as we follow along with the author's own explorations into these timeless teachings.

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Immortal Seasonal Qigong Program This special retreat program is a series of 4 Seasonal Five Day Qigong Classes that honor and teach about the energy of the seasons, from a Taoist Qigong perspective Immerse yourself in a QiGong Practice that embraces the Tao. Program Dates: April 1-5, 2017 July 1-5, 2017 October 7-11, 2017 January 6-10, 2018 Dr. Ted J. Cibik 89th Generation Taoist Priest Founder of Formless Toaism and Doctor of Chinese Medicine and Medical Qigong. Dr CIbik is a long time National Qigong Association Board member professional training presenter. He has been teaching Taoism and Medical Qigong and Qigong programs since 1999

Classes held in the Inner Strength Campus 66 acres of beautiful woodlands and meadows.

Overnight accommodations available to a limited number of students.

Enjoy our walking trails and meditation gardens.

Curriculum includes: Shen - Gong for the 4 cycles Herbs for the Seasons for Clearing and conditioning Biorhythms of the seasons and it's affect on the mind and body Taoist Mudras for the Seasons And Much More This program is oriented for the Qigong Practitioner or Taoist student Class time includes Qigong Practice * Lecture * Meditation

Certificate of 40 Qigong training hours available at the end of each session.

Attendees of all four sessions graduate with a Certificate in Immortal Seasonal Qigong and may teach it's practices to their students or clients.

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For Details visit www.MedicalQigongCertification.com

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Spring 2017

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The Poetry of Passion The Daoist Arts of Wudang Mountain Zhuangzi’s Perfect Happiness in the Light of Contemporary Western Psychology and more!

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Spring 2017

Directory Oregon College of Oriental Medicine. Three year academic and

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clinical program. We offer classes in Oriental medicine, acupuncture, and China internships are available. Preparatory to national certifica-

tion and state licensing examinations. (503) 253-3443 for information, literature.

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available for seminars on the topic of your choosing. Contact her to

schedule at kim@embracethemoon.com or by calling (206) 789-0993.

meditation for self cultivation. Chinese herbs, daoist healing to har-

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Taoist arts offered in a friendly and cooperative environment. Classes, 9th Street, NYC 10003. (212) 477-7055. www.taoist-arts.com.

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Daoist Traditions College of Chinese Medical Arts in Asheville,

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– Three Level Relaxation, Organ Balancing Meditation, Expansion Abode of the Eternal Tao, 1991 Garfield St. Eugene, OR 97404/www. abodetao.com.

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The Taoist Institute offers studies and services in Chinese qigong, tai chi chuan, Daoist weddings, shamanic energy & Reiki healing.

Director: Dr. Carl Totton. 10630 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood, CA, 91601 (818) 760-4219. www.taoistinstitute.com.

Embrace The Moon School for Taijiquan and Qigong is located

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development programs in these systems. Founder & Chief Instructor

Kimberly Ivy has 35 years of experience in the Martial Arts (Judo, Aikido, Taijiquan), Qigong & Yoga. She holds black belts in Judo &

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modern authentic lineage holder Seal Script Talismans for the pracinformation, 330.608.1386. 1386 Braceville Robinson Road, Southington, OH 44470.

Chi Wellness, The Center of Qigong. 3-year Medical Qigong

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Movement classes for all health objectives and self care. Medical qigong treatment, and Qigong Lifestyle and Chi Nutrition coaching appointments. Consulting and training for enhanced productivity and

balance customized for organizations. Founder/Director: Debra Lin Allen. 4155 East Jewell Av., Suite 105, Denver, CO 80222. (720) 4270406 / DebraLin.ChiWellness@gmail.com / www.ChiWellness.net.

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The Essential Qigong Training Course

A Complete Home Study Course on DVD and Audio CD This Essential Qigong Training Course includes

• The fundamentals of qigong: organ systems, the five elements, and the body’s energy meridians.

• Qigong techniques to cleanse the body of impurities, pathogens, and toxins.

• Exercises for gathering qi to create a reservoir of healing vitality in the body—and how to direct it to heal yourself or others.

• Visualizations for finding harmony and peace with the universe.

• The 12 key benefits of qigong, from improved health and well-being, to increased energy and sexual vitality, to heightened intuition and creativity.

• Qigong history, including a timeline detailing its earliest writings in 500 BCE through its evolution to the present day.

• A complete training course in qigong as it was meant to be taught—step by step by an expert in a 100-day format.

Included is

• 59-page study guide with detailed instructions to guide you through our training each day • All-new material integrated with meditations and exercises from the Ken Cohen classics Qi Healing, Qigong, and The Practice of Qigong • Five audio CDs covering every phase of qigong theory and practice, including 25 rare meditation exercises.

• Three DVDs of essential teachings and hands-on exercises, including a complete 90-minute programmable workout.

Ken Cohen is a renowned China scholar and qigong master. Author of the internationally acclaimed book The Way of Qigong: The Art

and Science of Chinese Energy $99 plus $10 shipping and handling Healing and more than 200 journal from The Abode of the Eternal Dao articles, he recently won the leading

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Spring 2017