Walker

I ran this question by a friend of mine who is selling a variety of pu'er in Beijing. He says he doesn't have a deep knowledge of tea, and Chinese humility aside, I don't think he's lying, so I'll have to run the question by the genuine tea master I know next I see her. But he did offer a few interesting points. -Poorly fermented pu'er may contain a cancer-causing agent as a result of problems with the fermentation processes. One can tell if it is has been poorly fermented if the tea carries a moldy odor. This type of tea is much more likely to be cheap. -Higher quality teas are often cultivated from very old trees. The variety he sells comes from 800-year-old trees. -Higher quality, higher price, and high altitude seem correlated. -Expensive teas will be grown organically. Educated Chinese are very conscious of the effects of agricultural chemicals on their health--for example, Beijing just announced that cancer is now the top killer of registered residents of the city, and experts peg chemical-laden food as a major cause, perhaps second only to smoking if I recall. -Good teas can be brewed repeatedly and will still yield color and flavor, although we are not talking about letting the tea steep for ten minutes, rather drinking Chinese-style. -Finally, he pointed out that good quality need not be coupled with an astronomical price. His tea is cheaper than the top brand of pu'er in the supermarket near me by 100 yuan/half kilo, but is significantly better. As for myself, I bought some cheap pu'er last fall and it carried a really strong metalic aftertaste. I've never gotten a good answer why this might be (traffic fumes? high iron content in the soil? heavy metals in pesticides?), but if you buy pu'er that tastes very metalic, I think you've probably got a bad batch. I also had the kind that tasted moldy, bought incredibly cheap in a Chinese supermarket in Auckland. It was undrinkable! As to that type of mountain your bagua teacher mentioned, I believe there are many such places in China.

Welcome to Beijing! Actually, I'm moving cities after the summer, but this is a big city and if you have the yuanfen, you can meet just about any kind of person here. If you don't quite know what yuanfen is yet, don't worry... One who is intent to learn the culture cannot live in China for long without getting a feel for this word. You'll know its importance soon enough. First things first, did I once read you write that you have asthma? My lungs have held up fine in this city but I know otherwise young and in shape asthma sufferers (including a dilligent bagua guy like yourself) who are suffering quite a bit here, as well as another guy who developed the condition because he liked to go jogging here. That the pollution in China is serious you no doubt know, but on the other hand, I think that it makes less of an impact on daily life than all the hoopla about it in the Western media would have you think. However, these types of influences do accumulate and if your lungs are already weak then you'll want to do what you can to tonify them in advance of arrival and after. Going to the holy mountains is always a good idea, but while I have met many extraordinary individuals in China, I met each and every one of them in bustling cities. For you, the experience may be very different, and you might find who you're meant to meet, if anybody in China, on your very first trip up a mountain. From my novice perspective the reality of what kind of practitioners you can find in temple environments is a very complex one, tied up with your yuanfen, persistence, willingness to proceed slowly/patience, open-mindedness, attitude, and many other factors. There are all types of people within those walls, just as there are all types of people without. I've been offered beer by a monk and been offered great wisdom and more by a man living in the world whose family produces liquor. Others might offer different advice, but I suggest you go slow and observe observe observe and then observe some more before you seal a teacher student relationship. Outside of Beijing there many smaller temples you could visit on weekends. I suggest checking out 凤凰岭 in the suburbs and keeping your ears open for what else is tucked about here and there. The only places I've known to be competely off-limits to foreigners are military bases and certain government buildings, and I've wandered unhindered in one of the former. Most important of all is definitely the language. It's a slow process, but be sure that unless you want to rely on people who can do your translating for you, it will probably take at least one year's more serious study before you can start to converse about topics of the sort that come up on this site, and much more time if you wish to do so with any sort of erudition. It's easy to live in China without learning the language or scratching the surface of this culture. I've met people who've been in country for more than ten years, even in remote places, who don't know how to put a sentence together. Seriously. So be ready to work hard! The bright side is that the Chinese know it is hard to learn this language and will respect your efforts if it is clear you are making them. Indeed, people are generally very forgiving and helpful, especially if they see you as renzhen. As for "the real Daoism is dead," I've heard that said many a time. Well, I suppose for those who have already made up their minds, then it's true. I can't say either way.

I don't know enough about spirituality to speak on, "how marijuana can impact one's spiritual progression." However, I've heard a lot of practitioners with decades of experience under their belts in the Buddhist, Daoist, TCM, and IMA worlds comment on this question. Bar only one, all of them stress, stay away from drugs. One teacher trained in Daoism explained that nothing is so disruptive to balance as drugs, and went so far as to tell me not to use any drugs, ever, ever again. To hear this man tell a student what to do is a very rare thing; I've never heard him speak this way, before or since, with any other students or me. Years later I heard him comment on when it is appropriate for a Daoist teacher to tell instead of suggest a student how to behave; only when the teacher senses that the student is in serious danger of destroying his/her own life or the lives of others, and, if I recall correctly, cannot stop himself/herself. The one senior practitioner I've met to support drug use, a rogue Nyingmapa fellow down under who had spent decades in Nepal and India, was sadly very out of his mind. To quash any ideas that I was merely unable to understand his crazy wisdom, consider the following. His main fear in life was that the New Zealand parliament was on the verge of being taken over by a secret Muslim army that would, after usurping control of the country via democratic means, tear their metaphorical masks off and reveal themselves as cogs in the wheel of the mysterious Black Mullah's master plan to enslave and torture all of humanity until the kingdom of Shambhala saves the day, but only after every last human has already been enslaved. These Muslims, it so happens, are also shape-shifting lizards, and all of this, including the entire history of Islam until the present, was predicted and recorded by Padmasambhava. The responsibility of Buddhists, therefore, is to oppose Islam. The above guy used a lot more than marijuana, but I offer this small illustration of one of his endless quirks to illustrate what kind of man in the position of spiritual teacher I have met condones drug use. I used a lot of marijuana off-and-on from the ages of 13 to 21, including during a couple of periods on a daily basis. I did not think I was addicted, until my then-heavily-damaged mental and emotional health led me to have an ever growing number of bad trips. Eventually these became the majority of my highs, and they were deeply terrifying, tormenting experiences. And yet it took me months and months and months to truly kick the habit! Many of my friends from those days who had nothing but pleasant, mellow highs are still deeply glued to the life. I cannot speak about how marijuana affects spiritual development on any esoteric level, but being stuck in endless doldrums, unwilling and effectively unable to even honestly assess one's own position, clearly will have an effect on the spirit. It may be good to keep in mind that as a college student, if you are in the average college age bracket, you are still very much in a developmental period in your life, which will continue until you are 25 or so. What you are doing now can take deep root in your body. After my highs became problematic, one symptom was a feeling of intense cold, sometimes so strong that I would have to bury myself in quilts, literally shivering, even in warm weather. Every Chinese doctor I meet is always quick to tell me that cold is deeply rooted in my body, and although I cannot prove it one way or the other, I would not be surprised if this has something to do with my previous drug use. At the end of the day, if you keep enjoying too many highs, you may find yourself drinking a lot of bitter, expensive herbs to clean up the effects of that other herb. Just something to consider.

I've been meaning to ask you... Does this idea work both ways? If somebody is able to sit in full-lotus for four hours, does that necessarily imply the person is a master?

Thanks for the words, very timely reading for me. Perhaps I had first clicked the thread without noticing, but I stood from my computer for five minutes, and returned surprised to see this post waiting on the screen.

Yeah, there're plenty of foreigners teaching here who are not native English speakers and don't have English-speaking country's passports. I think it might be easier if you're trying to teach kids rather than adults, and definitely easier the further you go from highly developed and regulated cities, most especially Beijing and Shanghai. Oh, and being white, being physically attractive... Sigh, very big factors. For those looking for a way to study in the PRC for free, this is your page: http://www.chinese-forums.com/showthread.php?t=19203 A similar scholarship exists for Taiwan. Teaching English is a good way to get a foothold in this country. If you've got time (ie, don't work for a private English academy with 25 classroom hours a week plus required in-office prep time; you won't have energy left to study and you won't have time to make Chinese friends and explore the country) and discipline you can learn lots of Chinese while teaching. But be careful you don't get screwed, especially if not being a native speaker means you're teaching at a somewhat, er, "negotiable" institution (not that they're all bad). The forums on ESLCafe.com are full of good advice, though don't be overly put off by the horror stories. A lot of expats love to exagerrate the troubles they've seen, especially online. 好好学习, sky sky to up。。。

Wait up, is this in English? Or fairly simple Chinese? I didn't try to go because I figured at my level of Chinese I'd be drowning in a sea of chengyu and shumianyu being issued by party functionaries, professors, and priests. If it's comprehensible... Shoot, I have tomorrow afternoon and Saturday free. Any chance non-invitees can come listen to the lectures? If you could send me a text or call me, I'd greatly appreciate it... Sent you a PM.

Much clarified. Thank you. To your first paragraph: Sounds like the core teaching of the Heart Sutra to me, but please correct me if I am wrong. To the extent that I am capable, I understand. I may not have succeeded in communicating as much, but it is what you speak of there that gives Buddhism so much appeal in my eyes. To your second paragraph, a good suggestion and one I aspire to slowly live up to to the degree that it is appropriate and possible in my life. To the third paragraph, perhaps in a horrible misunderstanding of Daoism, perhaps not, I tend to agree with that statement. It seems like a workable characterization of an idea which naturally defies definition. Reading you write that almost feels like, man, a breath of fresh air in this stuffy-ass debate hall TTB has turned into of late, as I think we might be getting somewhere closer to a mutual understanding, if one is possible. Many have said that Dao is more accurately considered as a process than as a thing, and if you look into the wuxing, the bagua, the yijing, the taiji, etc, it's clear that Daoism really is all about processes. As to whether many, most, or all Daoists of real accomplishment have the type of ontological ideas about the Dao as essence you suggest they do, I am not sure. Maybe my ideas are just an interpretation of Daoism that is overly colored by Buddhism. To the fourth paragraph, yes, it sometimes seems that way, sometimes doesn't. I lack the education and direct experience to say. Daoism is not widely understood even in its homeland, and non-Chinese speakers as a whole really lack deep insight into Daoism due to a dearth of bilingual, widely-accessible teachers and fathomable translated texts. This is especially so relative to what we see when we look into Buddhism. Furthermore, like Excorcist says, there are things that are difficult if not impossible to speak and write about. I think there could be great value in going slowly when things only seem certain ways.

Hmm. Trying to understand your thinking... What do you make of the following statements: -There is no Dao at all, it is a faulty concept. -There is something from which all being appears to spring from in every moment, some call it Dao, but Dao itself is dependently originated. A beginning and endless stream of causes and conditions dancing in emptiness that is even empty of emptiness gave rise to what some call Dao. When the causes and conditions for this Dao cease to exist, the Dao will also cease to exist.

Question, Vajradrihaya: Do you interpret the the taijitu (Tai Chi Diagram) as a process unfolding in linear time? Another question: Why cannot the term "Dao/Tao" be considered loose enough so as to include within its definition the ideas of dependent origination?

Same experience with feeling a little sick from the coils as I've used them on the road. Also, I swear Shanghai mosquitos are immune. It might even attract them. I think exercising right in the way of a fan or AC would have its own ill effects, though. I've had good luck doing martial arts in an open garage in an area with lots of mosquitos by burning Tibetan incense like Tara Healing Incense. One stick burning not too far from me seems to be enough. But I have a sense that the sweat I work up keeps em at bay, too, as they will bother me in the park when I stretch but not after I get into the workout.

Perhaps of interest to some of the posters here: A 1,800 page of Taoist Canon reference in English. Why? Let us be realistic. You landed in Beijing within the last month. Your classes either have not yet started or just begun. Unless you undertook substantial Mandarin study in the United States before arriving, you are still learning how to order your morning 煎饼 and navigate the subway. Even if you have a remarkable talent for languages it will be quite some time before you are ready to make a crack at the classics. And that is just your first crack. If I am correct here, then it is fair to call you a beginner. Is it not possible that after several years of intense study, you will realize that you yourself have been a victim of misconceptions? What would qualify them for the honor? Telling you you have already gotten it all figured out? Hah! Before I realized that you don't use pinyin, I stared at that sentence for a long time, thinking you were talking about your parole officer. It was a bizarre moment.

Free to read online here.

I hope you find a way through your depression soon! Just from the sounds of your story, your training in taiji has been spotty and you lack a connection with a master. In that case it seems to me best not to teach; how could you deal with the vast variety of questions and problems that might arise? Who will help you if trouble arises in a student that you cannot address? Who will guide your continual practice while you teach? You also mention teaching meditation, but in the same breath speak of being depressed because of your physical location and your unfulfilled desires. Speaking for myself, it seems clear that a prerequisite for taking responsibility for others' mind training is mastering your own mind. Speaking of depression as you do suggests a lack of mastery which could be dangerous for you and for your students both. I've heard teachers from more than one tradition emphasize very sternly that one takes on karmic responsibility for one's students. I heard a geshe tell a story of a lama who, for making one mistake in teaching the Dharma, had to reincarnate as a fox for 1,000 years. Whether or not one takes this tale literally, the point was that it is really no light matter to assume responsibility for others' spiritual development. Please be kind to yourself and do not sow the seeds of future suffering! Also, "it debases the arts if someone who isn't ready to teach starts teaching," rings true. Some questions that come to mind... If potential students saw your post here, would they sign up for your class? At least if you decide to start teaching, I hope you tell them everything you just told us before you let them start coming to your class. Why don't you move, find a good teacher, and continue training? Sounds like you and whoever you may one day teach would all benefit. Why do you want to teach?

I can't speak to if this is true or not, but as I am studying Chinese I am often amazed at how the mess of translated and transliterated terms we have for studying Daoism, TCM, and Chinese Buddhism in the English language fall into place much, much more elegantly in Chinese. Which I think is worth mentioning, Edweir, in case what you mean by "I can find descriptions of mentioning Shen on websites based in China," is simply that you've come across the word shen on Chinese websites. Assuming that you or some of the others here don't know much Chinese (perhaps very incorrectly!), I will point out that this word is actually a pretty common one found in all sorts of everyday and nearly-everyday language. Ie, mental illness is jingshenbing, to exhaust yourself is shanshen, etc. The connotations of the word shen can vary greatly.

Goldisheavy, it has crossed my mind to ask a few times when reading your posts, are you familiar with U. G. (not J.) Krishnamurti?

I'm not qualified to jump into the philosophical discussion here, although it has been fascinating to read. 松永道, thank you for that succint explanation of 性命. Two thoughts... Have you considered wwoofing? I did this for four months in New Zealand, hitchhiking from place to place and meeting all kinds of people. There are many farmers in many countries who take wwoofers, and as you will be able to see if you Google this organization, hosts tend to be very unusual people. In fact, in New Zealand many of the hosts (farmers and otherwise) became organic/permaculture farmers to find a way to live "off of the grid" and enjoy a lifestyle defined primarily by their own standards and wishes. Also in New Zealand, many of those hosts maintain various kinds of spiritual practices and say so in their profiles. I can't speak for other countries, but I suspect it is in many ways much the same the world over. It strikes me as quite possible that if you spent some months wwoofing wherever you are or would like to be, you might meet a person with a bit of land who would let you stay there, practically undisturbed and for a long period of time, in exchange for a few days of work each week. The typical wwoofer's commitment is 4 hours a day in exchange for room and board... If you found somebody who was amenable to your requests and had spare land this doesn't sound like much more work than you're looking to do. Also, much of it would be solo work, done fairly close to nature. As to teaching English abroad, I too am in China and I certainly don't have nearly enough time to sustain the practice routine you describe, but that is because I am serious about learning Chinese and also hold down a job that is about a 20 hour/week commitment once travel and prep time is included. However, here and in many other countries you will find plenty of ex-pats who have been around for stints of a decade or longer who don't speak the local language. Thanks to the ubiquity of English and the power of sign language, they get by just fine and thus are extremely time-rich people. Depending on how often you need to see your masters, it is possible to find a job like mine or with even less of a time commitment in one of many countries. Such a positions will allow you to comfortably survive with your own home and a round trip ticket to your place of origin once a year. If your lifestyle is simple--it sounds like it is--you should even be able to save quite a bit of money at the same time. I will add, though, that if you don't like dealing with people you may, um, not exactly like being Mr. Foreign English teacher.

Have you considered growing your hair out and tying it in a knot underneath your chin? If your hair is long enough, you can even make a "bottom knot" and skewer it tight with a piece of ivory or bone. Many young sages I have met go with this method.

Could you elaborate on this? I wish I could make my question more specific but I don't really know enough to do so.

I'm in... Coincidentally, I was already planning on ordering a few of Master Ni's books in the next month to keep me company while I move back overseas next month. Might as well be these three, so I placed the order. Amazon's got quite a few copies of the second two titles at pretty good used prices. And if you trust your memory, you could sign up for their credit card, get the free $30 credit, buy the books, pay down the balance, and cancel that thing before it even arrives at your doorstep along with your three almost-free books. I'm just sayin'...

If you don't want to see others' thirsty faces, do not show them yours. (Thirsty being a Chicago slang adjective used to succinctly describe behavior that is conniving, scheming, selfish, dishonest, and attempting-to-dominate or undermine--or a combination of those things. I guess this lesson is pretty self-evident, but it actually took me till last year to learn it, hah!)

Many thanks Karen and Dragonfire. I'll give Toothsoap a try first.

Fascinating and much appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to write up these small case studies.

Well, then again there is this. I've tried using Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap for tooth brushing and while it's not unmanagable I really don't like the aftertaste. I notice a sort of sickly sweetness that lingers in my throat. I could experiment with other soaps, but I'm not too enthusiastic about Zesty cleaning or Lever 1000ing my mouth. Are there any other options out there?