exorcist_1699

Before proving the possibility of physical immortality , why not first proving whether stopping of aging is possible ? If stopping of aging is possible, then probably immortality is somehow realistic . Besides, it only requires you spending 2-3 years to prove it ; so the worst situation is that you would only be cheated by the "Neo-Taoist" for just 2-3 years , which is far better than stuck at the words of LaoTsz for whole life .

"Water" is said to be the meta-jing .

A comparison between taoist method and the Zen's , although not suitable for beginners, is , however, advantageous to people who already attain some understanding / experience of spiritual cultivation . It also can reveal to us some of the most secret part of human intelligence ( or universe 's intelligence ) that trivial Science , such as psychology , can never tell . To taoists, the existence of jing-qi-shen process is undoubted , what the Zen's genius does is just "skipping" jing and qi , go directly to shen (MIND) level , polish it and upgrade it to the status of being a Buddha( King of Emptiness) ;However, it is only those talents and genius, who follow this way, can really " assimilate" and sublimate jing and qi ; to most other guys, they are more likely entangled in some kind of unproductive spiritual stillness , which , although giving them a sense of peace and tranquility,is, in fact a trap that ruins their lifelong effort... Same as western theology and many other religions' praying , without following the taoist jing-qi-shen framework , Zen's Enlightenment is difficult to evade from being labeled as some kind of mysticism .

In fact , there are 2 preachings in Buddhism: 1) To the mass : more religious, talking more about reincarnation , tortures in hell , worship of different Buddha... 2) To small group of good , "intelligent " guys: talking about mindlessness, the way of getting rid of our concepts , how to exploit endless layers of emptiness..etc. It sounds not so religious : How can you claim a thought which admires emptiness, gains intelligence and power from nothingness , as a religion ?

In stead of being trapped in all those philosophical bullshits, which people can keep on talking , talking....for years, I prefer to rely on more concrete criteria: 1) After practicing your cultivation for 1-2 years, are you forever free of diseases ( a broken arm in an accident is another story) ? 2) Do the wrinkles on your face recede after practicing Taoist/Buddhist qigong? Your withered face brightened again? your mind now more peaceful , free of worries ?

Everything is judged by Time and history. Animal so huge as dinosaurs, human beings so wicked and powerful as Hilter and Stalin, all are judged by Time/ history . This fact conversely shows us how important Toaist claim of free of aging ,free of the passing of times . Although it, together with the capability of curing diseases or not , are two important criteria to judge our practice ,is always accused by many simple-minded guys as exaggerated or misleading people to wrong destination; however, in all Taoist writings ,the phenomena is repeatedly recorded as an important proof to testify the correctness of our practice. Unable to stop the "biological clock " or even reverse it , is definitely unacceptable to the Taoist masters. Does Buddhism also talk about it ? Of course, it does, only mediocre monks deny it ,stubbornly sticking to afterlife , unproductive mindlessness or morals without any proof. Any careful reading of Buddhist classics ,documents,monk's biography ..will reveal this to you. If a Buddhist/Taoist practitioner can't cure his/her or others' diseases( including aging), I have to say, definitely there is something very wrong in his/her practice .

Scientific study on Zen meditation may be interesting , however, there is a danger of belittling and distorting the target . The problem is like trying to put a big container into another one with smaller size and different shape . People always carelessly think that everything can be studied by scientific means , categorized by its terms and manipulated by it. Zen is beyond the reach of any trivial science . Zen is also far from just clearing our mind . The more zealous you want to study it by science , the lesser possible you can grasp it .

What most people deal with in daily life are things full of colors, forms, sounds , sensations and pleasures, so they , in most of time, do not feel boring in their life. However, consuming these not boring things usually leads to loss of our jing and shen , which in the end push us into a dead end . A specific Taoist saying is that Nature " steal" qi from us secretly , which is similar to condemning us to a slow death penalty ; it also gives people an impression that death is inevitable . I think, to most of the people , it really is if they are not fortunate enough to come across Taoist great theory of qi in their lifetime. Taoism deals with nothingness , which seems to be having no characteristics at all , so it is boring . Nourishing the most interesting , fantastic things out of such very boring status is an inescapable challenge we have to face if we are eager to run away from our destiny ...

It is said that without experiencing a status close to insanity , we can't become a Taoist immortal . Really, Taoism views everything different from others : All people view privileges & money the most important things in their life , Taoism views them as dust and sand. All people insist humans can't live without breathing and eating, Taoism views it as only a low-level way of existence barely worthy of living. All people view sex as a force for producing new life ,Taoism views it as a force leading to death. All people insist that death is inevitable, Taoist claims that even capable of living for hundreds of years is only an accomplishment trivial. All people are entangled by being and having , Taoism gets absolute freedom in nothingness and emptiness. Real Taoist is an "insane "guy , one in hundred-thousands of "sane" people .

What makes we live and reproduce also makes we die , this is the dialectics ( if in taoist term: yin /yang structure ) of life . In post-heavenly area, or what most guys want to call/ blindly succumb to : scientific/ natural area , there is no way out and people think that the best they can do is only to delay it ;people rush to death like flying insects foolishly plunge to fire . However, at other level we may reach , our destiny can be reversed . Of course, at that level, the time/space structure of our existence will be different from the present one .As in the physical world, in order to change the space/time structure of our existence, we have to input some energy ,say, speed up our traveling speed close to light's, so that change can be initiated . In case of cultivating an endless life , we need to input some "energy" so as to change our humble, vulnerable status. But what is the "energy"? Spirit is the "energy" . From where ? From emptiness . By what way ? By Awakening .

The 5-E system , now mainly absorbed in TCM and Taoism , has much abundant contents and special implication than other cultures' ; They may look a little similar , however, if you mix it up with other cultures' ones, for example , Indain or old Greek at first look , you definitely overlook something very important .

Maybe you already came across an immortality on the street but not recognized him/ her . To those work as customs officer, customer service clerk..etc, some day you meet a guy who holds a passport/ identity card.. with an appearance looks 30~40 years younger than his actual age, then he is the one...

My understanding is that in order to attain immortality , we first have to return to the pre-heavenly status where the 5- element doesn't exist . The original process is something like that : Taiji status ( Pre-heavenly ) => "degeneration/ embodiment" of it in the physical world => split into yin/yang qi (post-heavenly) =>embodiment of this kind of qi in human body => further split into 5-element qi , i.e, there are different kinds of qi in our organs , which correspond to different seasons/food/emotions/ sounds...etc . Back to the pre-heavenly status means a reversed process... . Of course, the principle is very important in TCM when talking about how to diagnose diseases and heal them . On the other hand, in Taoist cultivation , the importance of 5-element principle can be shown in the following simple fact: It is absolutely impossible for us to get a stable, high-quality state of qi if some part of our body is in a disturbing status, a disorder of qi . It also tells us how important we have to pay attention to seasonal changes and our daily emotions, food, drinks ,sex...strict self-discipline is always needed .

There was a period of time I always waked up in the midnight , and , started spontaneously performing some sort of formless, seemingly following what the qi at that moment wants to run , movements . Of course, I was in half-sleeping status , and other people are in dreaming , I couldn't have any photos taken and post them here . It is said that qi flows in different meridian channels of our body in different time periods of a day. As it rises spontaneously in my half-sleeping status , I can claim that the qi appears at that moment much natural ( as LaoTzu suggests ) than others' , which mostly are deliberately aroused by paying attention to their breathing , by visualization...etc.

I also have story to tell: I never believed in qi gong when I was in my 20's ,and , vieweing it something strange ;Taoism , to me , is solely a wonderful philosophy . Any friend who mentioned the miracle of qi gong to me would be laughed by me with sympathizing look on him . Then , one day many years ago, it was when I participated in the Guangzhou Trade Fair on a business trip . As I walked aimlessly between different exhibition halls nearly after the end of a whole day's work , I found a guy who set up a table/booth at the corner of a hall , selling some kind of qi-gong/TCM related products (cushion , bags..etc) ; only because of curiosity , I approached and sat down beside him and started a casual, qi gong-related talk . In fact , there was nothing special in the talk's process , which took around 15~20 minutes , only his piercing eyes on me seemed bewildering ... After returning from Guangzhou ,China to my living place (at that time , Hong Kong) , on the same night , I then carelessly paid attention to my dian-tian ( I had been told about the area, but never believed it anything special ) before sleeping ,then....sometime , you can get drunk without drinking any wine..

To: Qui-Tao 1) I do not make any comments on the content of the book; maybe it is a good one . 2) Whether Da Mo is the author of the mentioned two books is still an issue unsettled. Maybe you are correct; maybe I just overreact to those seemingly look like a casual mixture of marketable elements...

The book's title is confusing and it is for marketing purpose than telling readers anything real . Da Mo is said to the master who initiate Zen Buddhism in China, however he is also the master who contributed something to the start of Shaolin Kung (gong) Fu. Originally Buddhism does not pay attention to the body ,thinking that attachment to it will bar people from spiritual cultivation. Strangely Shaolin temple did generate kung-fu which pays a lot of attention to the posture, movement and health of human body . As many people know , only Nei Gong ( interior exercises ) makes people youth ,martial arts( king fu )is unlikely to contribute a lot .If we are talking about looking 30~40 years younger than your actual age, then without attaining pre-heavenly qi ( in taoist expression) , it seems absolutely impossible .

Besides Chuang Tze and Lao Tze , I think the following three pieces of writings ,accompanied by the spread of Taoism across the world and China's rise to become, probably ,another Superpower , will be translated into English in the next 20 years if we are lucky enough to find some guys who are capable of doing this nearly impossible jobs: - 悟真篇 - 伍柳仙踪 Because all of them have been well known for more than one hundred years , or one thousand years among the Chinese Taoists, their value are unquestionable .As Lao Tze already laid down the general principles of Tao ,the writings after it are more concerned about how to put it into practice, make them happen in real world and on human body . Zen Buddhism ,originated in China, was introduced by the Japanese to the West after the 2nd World War; on the other hand, Kung-fu was spread by the Hong Kong movies from the 1970's to the world ; What is coming is the most difficult ,but crucial part of the Chinese culture : While Confucian is said to be the facade of it , Taoism is certainly its core deeply hides.

Understand the difference between Zen Buddhism and Taoism is advantageous, and there is nothing to do with trying to arouse the sectarian quarrels between the two schools . We all know that nourish a greater ,omnipotent Mind out of mindlessness is the target of Buddhism, however, because of lack of the concepts /stuff such as jing and qi in Buddhism , what the seemingly good result it likely generates is a clear , still state of mindlessness , a static ,tranquil unity between the self with the university , which, many people recognize as some status close to the destination or some sort of accomplishment; Unfortunately it is not . In contrast , it is actually some kind of trap in Buddhist way of cultivation that bars most people from advancing. Different ways have different traps, Taoist has its own ; for example , attachment to sexual pleasure or incorrect "dual cultivation" ..etc I started learning Mandarin from teenage .

In fact : 1) Wet dream does not necessarily lead to nocturnal emission if all or most of your jing (sperm) are already transformed to qi; 2)Without wet dream, you still can have your jing lost in night time . Knowing the Time and change of yin and yang is always important .Before reaching the pre-heavenly level, you are still entangled by the forces of yin/yang , here , concretely speaking , movement of the moon and sun .

Such assertion seems too early and superficial . Japan could just throw away its old cultural legacy , and adopted the Western one in one stroke easily , China can never do in the same way ; Chinese has her own Taoist cum Buddhist cum Confucian heritage of looking at the society and universe. Facing the new times and things, all have to re-adjusted and re-thought in such a framework , it therefore means a longer and more painful process... For example , in TCM , the drop of the traditional principles, but leaving only the Chinese herbs and those dose's combinations ( 柴胡湯, 小青龍湯...) is just a disaster to Japanese TCM's tradition, making her re-thinking of the medical heritage and re-shaping of her medical system difficult .

Although the Japanese are good at making delicate ,technical things, it seems , before the Meiji Reform , they never produced any great thinker or writings in religion or philosophy . It is nothing to do with the size of the country, Holland is never big , but it had Spinoza. Geographical location and other cultural factors can't be ignored. You can't expect Sri Lanka or Thailand, although having introduced Buddhism for over one thousand years , gives rise to a school like Zen Buddhism . Cultural heritage definitely limits people's level of achievement in cultivation . Without Great writing and master beside you , your accomplishment is anyhow limited .

Instead of paying attention to , attaching to any methods, forms, places to start , it seems better to adopt " detachment " / forgetting as the method ; If it sounds difficult to beginners , then the following may be helpful : first paying attention to it , then forgetting it .

A Buddhist classics ( from " 金剛經 " , I do not know its Sanskrit's name , sorry ) tells us : " Any attachment to whatever forms, wherever places is illusory " It seems both paying attention to breathing and visualization are entangled by such shortcomings, so they are unlikely to be superb methods .