EagleShen

IMO be very careful using his books, it's really easy to get a lot of energy stuck in the head and/or cause blockages in the perineum with his approach, especially in regard to sexual cultivation. His approach is very Yang, and doesn't have anywhere enough of the foundational Yin aspect of daoist practice. There's a lot of doing and moving Qi rather than being and allowing Qi. Perhaps it's different learning from him. I had a lot of problems learning his stuff, the main one being a lot of energy stuck in my head - it did inspire me to spend 7 years doing martial arts to egt grounded tho. I've worked with a number of guys who have had similar problems. If you do dealt want to do his stuff, learn some good taoist meditation too. Some martial arts practice wouldnt hurt either.

Well said. We turn flowers into poo, and the earth turns poo into flowers, it's all perfect really .

Learnt a Tree QiGong practice as a part of Master Tao's Dragon Gate Dao Yin QiGong, you can work with different trees to treat/heal different conditions in the body. It's more like sharing energy with the tree rather than draining it. Yes, trees are amazing

Oh got all excited! Good motivation to revisit learning Mandarin .

Thanks for the review Immortal_Sister, I'm wondering how your further studies have gone? I've been considering getting the book and DVD of the women's practices for my lover, she's interested in finding out more about women's QiGong practices, she's already done a fair bit of women's yoga and QiGong (she's a TCM practitioner too) but is looking to expand her knowledge beyond the teachers she's had over the last 2 years. After reading your review I'm inclined to get it for her. I love it when Taobum members put up reviews of teachers work on here, super helpful.

All of my main Taoist teachers have emphasised the importance of 'living a normal life'. They also have an attitude of balance, ie it's important to spend time in retreat and it's important to bring it back into the world.

As i understand this passage, it'd be referring to the mixing of the male and female pre-orgasmic/ejaculation secretions, and the ability of both partners to be able to then absorb this combined essence into their bodies.

I've been wondering if a person's attitude to desire comes down to basic assumptions in their outlook on life. If you believe you were born here to learn to escape, then all attachment and desires are necessarily to be transcended through moving away from them. If you believe you were born here to bring bridge/fuse heaven and earth, then all attachment and desires are necessarily to be transformed through moving towards them. A thought

This rings in me like an elucidation of the first chapter of the Tao Te Ching, may have to track this one down as well! (ed note: nice use of fashionably deci belle, i got all inspired and thought i'd go for broke and use 'elucidation')

Totally agree. There is what i refer to as an 'effective philosophy'. The effective philosophy of the yang approach of 'forcing' is that the body does not naturally cultivate, you have to make it. The effective philosophy of the Yin approach is the the body naturally cultivates, you just have to untrain what's in the way. It's a far less perilous approach to err on the side of Yin, and to use Yang sparingly when it's most effective.

This This discussion reminds me of a famous painting with Confucius, Buddha and Lao Tzu in it that attempts to demonstrate the difference between the approaches. The 3 sages are all sampling out of a large cauldron labelled 'life' (or something). Confucius looks like he's just tasted the most sour thing you could imagine, and Buddha the most bitter thing ever. Lao Tzu, however, looks like he's just tasted the sweetest nectar. Additionally, i'm not entirely convinced the detachment is a particularly good translation, most people tend to think this means you don't feel desire, where as I understand the whole concept more as 'it doesn't rule you', ie you can still feel it, and in fact you could argue that only one who is detached from desire can actually fully experience desire. This is part of the reason i enjoy Daoism so much, as there is nothing which is not the Dao - and at the same time at the heart of mastering the mind is not being ruled by the 'ten thousand things' (including the 5 senses).

I like that, "making space for more", still there are Yin and Yang ways to do this, but this translation has at least a more neutral connotation than packing. Thanks.

Re packing and non-packing, it's a case of Yin and Yang practice IMO. The packing is a Yang approach, pushing energy into the LDT. The Yin approach is allowing the LDT to deepen so that it naturally stores more. Both methods would be employed in some training regimes. Many leap straight for the Yang approach in the quest for results or internal power, and miss the deep wisdom of Yin cultivation.