i wonder if i might weigh in here. Taoism is but one of the chinese sciences. i have only recently done a talk on this subject. Some of the other sciences are things like acupuncture, feng shui, gardening, yi jing, etc. And i have to say, if you are studying taoism, and cannot cure a common cold, you are doing it all wrong. becoming healthy and curing diseases is just the first step.
i have seen this in many areas, where western minds specialise on one area, and disregard the rest. in ancient china, this was never the case. The ancient monks did martial arts, AND medicine AND philosophy AND the rest. i remember reading somewhere that the ancients, if we could interview them, would say that they are fully taoist, as how else can they understand the way of the qi in the world, and they are fully buddhist, as how else can they reach the buddha state, and they are fully confucian, as how else can they understand the governmental systems.
i claim to be a generalist, not a specialist.
And thank you Sean for the email invitation to enter this discussion.
Warwick.
ps, how do i get a photo on my signature?
