松永道

- Lack of money

This is a problem.

 

 

- No idea where to establish it

Unless someone already has a plot of land somewhere, the exact place isn't too important. Water, mountains, forest, arable land are important.

 

- Don't have a committee - a group of people that are going to do it for sure and make the decisions

I think it will come down to one person getting something going. I'll be working with my teacher and other Chinese on putting together a Chinese Medicine, Taijiquan, and Neigong education center in China. If we have success there, I'll be able to bring the structure anywhere. Though if someone else gets something solid going sooner, I could help there too.

 

- Don't have clear objectives in place

My vision is simple: teach and demonstrate the Way. To me that means understanding, following and cultivating the laws of nature. 天人合一。 Heaven and Man are One.

 

Living in harmony with our environment. Permaculture farming. Sustainable living. Solar, wind, geothermal, methane; using 'full-circle' or 'cradle-to-cradle' technologies. Study technical skills of green living.

 

Living in harmony with our community. Emphasis on interpersonal understanding. Study of human commonality. Traditional and modern medicine, anatomy, physiology, exercise, history, and psychology.

 

Living in harmony with oneself. Personal cultivation. Study of human uniqueness. Discovering and pursuing your individual destiny. Arts and spirituality.

 

In ancient China there was a phrase, "to go to the mountain". It meant to leave society for a time, intensively cultivate, and later return a Zhen Ren, sage or real human. This is what I envision for such a place. Certainly not a monastery to live out your lifetime, though some in house teachers, doctors, farmers, etc who may stay for quite a long time. Though I'm not sure a strict curriculum is a good idea, I imagine the school could have three types of visitors. Patients, short-term live-in retreat students, and long-term live-in students. I want students to come here to "go to the mountain," and afterwards return to society well equipped to make to world a better place

 

- Don't have a architectual plan for the facilities

I have an idea for this but I don't know how to upload pictures.

 

 

- How do we be self-supportive within the community in terms of food, resources, and money

Grow food and herbs, receive donations, for-charge teachings and medical treatments. (ideally to be able to offer free teachings and treatments) Potentially look into affiliation with the Unitarian Church and offer some free teachings by way of Sunday sermons.

 

 

- What teachings will be available

There will have to be some sort of process to review teachers, a board of enlightened sages perhaps? A good faculty should be able to work together and interview and select new teachers. As any particular tradition - I'm open to all of them: Taoist, Buddhist, Hindu, Shamanic, Christian, Islamic, etc but to be sure, emphasis must be on the essence of these teachings, not the ritual. Ritual belongs in history class. We are interested in the meaning not the words.

 

 

- Is it a Taoist complex or a Buddhist or eccletic

Eclectic. A good teacher is a good teacher.

 

 

- Which teachers will be on residence

The ones who would like to be.

 

 

- How do we motivate people to get involved

Not sweating this one. If you build it, they will come.

 

- Where do we start

By achieving as much of our individual potential as possible. We need giants to build this thing not a bunch of broken people. Succeed at what you're good at. Any and all skill sets will come in handy once this thing starts coming together.

 

 

- How do we let the greater community know what we are about

Not a concern. If you build it, they will come.

 

 

- How do we be 'in the world but not of the world'

I'm of the world. I'm also not of the world.

 

 

- How do we make sure the intent stays pure and this intent is passed down from generation to generation

Cross our fingers. Nothing lasts forever.

松永道 : there is no name of my practice. As an MD I just have an office. But taking your suggestion:

what about: conscious becoming (becoming conscious) as indicating a healthy process, like "becoming healthy"...

 

I know that others might value it differently but: becoming consious is a necessary step in development in general and healing as well, isn't it?

 

 

Ti Shen literally means to raise the spirit. To lift ones spirits or raise the spirit to a higher level.

 

 

Tong Shen basically means to achieve a state of enlightenment. Tong means to open. So to open one's spirit.

 

 

The Way of Medicine

Agree with your statement but in my case a selfish attitude was involved, this is bad karma. This person doesn't want to get healed, she just wants to absorb energy for free instead of learning how to cultivate it.

 

Namaste.

 

No judgments from me.

 

You're really better off avoiding a thief who understands what she's doing. I simply wanted point out that many 'vampires' don't understand how their manipulation actually affects other people. People too often batter away at one another emotionally without realizing that they are really engaging in a form of combat on the energetic level that can manifest physical consequences.

 

I know for one when I was young and unaware I would consistently undermine my little sister's confidence. Every time she accomplished something I pointed out her faults. In essence, that confidence was an abundance of Qi and I, deficient, would steal it at the first opportunity. It made me feel good. Of course it did, I stole her abundance. But it didn't last because I was leaking and without connection to my own energy sources.

 

If you look, you'll find all sorts of energy contests between people. From the simple crabbiness of missing a meal to overt character assaults. Some people use neediness and clinging, some incite your interest and stay aloof. Almost everyone hustles a little in their own way. 意到气到，Where attention goes, Qi follows.

 

But it's a bleak worldview to see only the hustlers. Working relationships charge both sides because both parties give. Let your lover fill your entire field of awareness, she will be charged and in turn she'll charge you. And as you receive more, you'll have more to give, and so goes the upward cycle.

 

Listening is giving, yang within yin; where attention goes, Qi follows.

 

Jingshen in modern Chinese means consciousness.

 

Jing is often translated as essence.

Shen is often translated as spirit.

 

What else does a good acupuncture practice need?

 

If you already have a name for your practice then perhaps we could find some other fitting characters.

From what I know, there are only three ways to get energy. From your environment (physical and spiritual), from your own reserves, and from other people. If you ask me, the bulk of human interaction exists to cooperate getting energy from the environment, through love and pleasant activities; to cooperate in evoking energy from one's own reserves through invigorating activities; or to compete for energy through emotionally competitive activities.

 

The third category is the realm of what we're calling vampires - though I'm troubled by the term. Nearly everyone does it, though some people are real experts. And it seems to me the reason for their skill stems from an inability to acquire adequate energy from the other sources. They have either depleted and do not know how to replenish their reserves, or they have a blockages that prevent them from accessing their reserves and/or the environment.

 

Their needy, manipulative, emotionally abusive, standoffish, cynical or other such energy stealing behaviors will diminish if they learn how to tap these other energy reservoirs and replenish their reserves.

 

Shutting them out and avoiding them is good for you in the short term, but they'll just find other victims and continue being victims.

 

Heroes vanquish demons - healers transform them.

 

Too often our demons are allies with empty bellies. Give them a meal, share your abundance, but don't without sharing your mind. The sacrament is bread and wine. Feed them then teach them to feed themselves.

 

Though we're fundamentally in agreement, I'll play devil's advocate for kicks.

 

Daoism is a religion. Why? Because it has a name. To designate oneself a Daoist is to identify with a definition, a linguistic structure. That's dogma, even if it's an ode to freedom. To even say you're a Daoist is a departure from the fundamental philosophies of Laozi, Zhuangzi, and other philosopher-sages. There is no Daoism nor Daoists separate from religion. However, there are many who cultivate the way without religious ceremony.

 

Ya dig?

James, thanks for sharing your experience.

 

And Santiago, very good videos, thank you. As you are fond of commenting on good internal martial arts by saying they look like good Silat, I look at this healing as think, wow, this looks like good Chinese medicine. The resemblance is uncanny. I love to watch masters at work. You must have felt like a well grounded cloud afterwards. Good luck with more KAP Workshops, I hope many more.

 

"Gold is heavy, but ego is heavier."

What deficiency should you reflect on?

I'm exploring the difference between the Guodian text and the Mawangdui Dao De Jing chapter 40.

Robert G. Henricks translates the two versions this way:

 

"Returning" is the way the Way moves;

"Weakness" is the way the Way works.

The things of the world arise from being,

And being comes from non-being.

 

"Reversal" is the movement of the Dao;

"Weakness" is the function of the Dao.

The things of the world originate in being,

And being originates in nonbeing.

 

There's another way to interpret the first line (the second line in your English versions). It echoes the Christian phrase, "the meek will inherit the earth."

 

 

You could say the Dao uses weakness. You could also say the Dao uses the weak. Weakness is not how the way works, rather it is what the way works through.

 

...Avoid fried, crispy-crunchy stuff. Avoid bread and other wheat products like the plague. Minimize or eliminate dairy, with the exception of fermented organic stuff -- kefir, yogurt. High intake of quality fat is essential...

 

Yes!

 

I embarked on a no-easy-energy diet a year ago, eliminating sugars, simple carbohydrates, and alcohol from my diet completely. Basically vegetables and meat. For the price of an initial two weeks or so of low energy, your body will learn to switch over to long burn energy metabolism and you will start being filled with all sorts of vitality and flexibility. Your mucus membranes will clear out, clearing the eyes, ears, nose, and mind, your body will get lighter.

 

But there is a price, it removes you another step from common society. Sugars may give you a headache or hangover. One days off won't cost you much but two or three days of indulgence will set you back.

 

If you have family that love to eat, I'd suggest starting after the new year, enjoy Thanksgiving and the winter holidays and give it a go after the coldest part of the year passes. You'll have the seasonal energy working for you, winter is a time to store, spring makes for good house cleaning.

There's more than one way to cut a pie into five slices.

 

One thing to think about concerning the Chinese Five Phase system is that it was originally developed out of seasonal energies, not elements as building blocks of the universe.

 

In spring things sprout and the weather is getting warmer. Wood

In summer things grow and the weather gets hot. Fire

In autumn things fall and the weather is getting cooler. Metal

In winter things are in storage and the weather gets cold. Water

Earth is where it all takes place, earth provides the Qi. (later earth is also categorize earth as the Long Summer season, or as the transition 15 days between seasons)

 

The Five Elements developed out of the one year seasonal cycle just as Yin and Yang developed out of the daily cycle. They later where developed into philosophical systems for comparing things and for understanding movement and transformation.

 

As for the building blocks of the universe, in ancient Chinese thought, it's all Qi. And Qi is most often divided into 3 levels of grossness: Jing, Qi, and Shen. Jing being material, Shen subtle and ethereal, and Qi mitigating between the two.

 

Now as for my very limited understanding of the 4 elements in the west and 5 elements in Ayurveda, they seem to be classifications of things rather than movements.

I'd cut all dairy while you're sick, too much fat and sugar, big time mucus forming. Save the yogurt for after the illness passes. Yogurt and other fermented foods are good for the immune system, just not when you're already ill.

 

Green tea is a good idea if you have a Heat illness (flu-like symptoms, fever, red-eyes, yellow mucus, knife-like sore throat), but it tends to be cooling and is counter indicated for a Cold illness (fear of cold, slight fever and chills, clear/white mucus, mild sore throat, pale complexion). For heat illnesses, overdose the vitamin C, and concoct some vitominova bombas (juice fruit meals, mainly citrus). For Cold illnesses go for spicy chicken soup as per rain's suggestion, ginger tea, etc. In both cases stay bundled up, rest & sweat. You can (and should) continue to practice your forms but just to keep things flowing, don't over do it.

...the greatest shield a sage can have is the fullness of their own virtuous accomplishment. Then...

 

"The mighty horns of the rhinoceros,

the powerful claws of the tiger,

the sharp blades of weapons,

find nowhere to pierce him."

 

These are not just idealistic words, the truth of their energy manifestation is a living reality.

 

Good conclusion.

 

When I first starting doing Qigong, I did healing stuff right away because I discovered I could and no-one told me I shouldn't. I loved the high I could give folks and started doing it frequently. On one trip to visit many friends in New York I did it all day long for days in a row. From the first experience I noticed giving a non-contact qi massage made me very thirsty and a bit tired, but spiritually energized. Many in a row, day after day, and I started getting sick. Finally, one day I decided to work on a friend who I suspected had some pretty gnarly qi issues and paid the price for it.

 

After that I stopped doing qi massages and months later took a Swedish massage. But eventually I started running into the same run down, sickness issues again. So I asked around, "how can I protect myself?" One teacher told me to visualize a auric shield. Another said take epsom salt baths. So many solutions, but none of them really sat well.

 

Finally, I went to our dean of the Chinese medicine department at the time, Heiner Fruehauf, and explained my predicament. To paraphrase he said, "a cow poops on the earth and the next day a flower grows out." Waste, illness, evil Qi is in the eye of the beholder. This is the beauty of Qi's true meaning. Everything is Qi. All Qi in different forms and frequencies. And it's all capable of transformation. In fact, Qi never stops transforming. So what's evil Qi? Is it shit or fertilizer?

 

"Master Wu, I have heard that there are various ways one can prepare oneself for dealing with sick energy. Isn't it true that we need to protect ourselves from sick qi somehow?"

 

His simple answer was "As soon as you think like that your spirit is already lost."

 

This was a profound statement and made very emphatically as if to say "get that garbage out of your head".

 

Here's a quote on attaining internal stillness

 

 

 

In Daoist theory, Hun, Jing, Shen, Po, Yi, can be interpreted as five consciousnesses that make up the human being. The Hun governs sight, both internal and external. The Jing, essence, and Zhi, willpower, govern hearing. The Shen, spirit, governs communication. The Po governs scent. And the Yi, translated as mind but literally interpreted as the the sounds and images of the heart, governs the movement.

 

For example, an internal dialog during mediation means the Shen, Jing, and Yi (Heart, Kidneys, and Spleen) are all in use because you are communicating and listening to mental sounds.

 

Yi seems to be the most important to tame because it's the central hooligan in riling up all the others and Yi's the first to get excited when one of the others misbehaves. When Yi comes to rest, the others will too. So what's this mean to you? Well in my opinion, don't move! Make a goal, set a timer, and use your best discipline to not move a muscle until you're saved by the bell.

 

I'm assuming your goal is to tame the mind. To move when the mind desires is not taming and it won't transform you. When Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree he said, though I may die and turn to dust I will not move until I'm enlightened.

 

That said, I still believe meditation offers many benefits even if decide not practice your will and equanimity through the pain.

Historically, Chinese medicine doctors became doctors through three routes of study. One, the master apprentice relationship. Two, through one's family lineage (often families would pass down secret techniques and medicinal formulas). And three, self study. Only in the past century has the fourth route, university study, become prominent.

 

If you're just interested in studying, first self study. Self study, then get to know some a Chinese doctor or a few and learn diagnostics and other techniques from them. Any good teacher loves to teach a bright, self motivated student.

Go for a swim in the ocean. If you can't get to the ocean prepare a Celtic Sea Salt (make sure it is the good stuff from health store) bath.

 

Drink heaps of water.

 

Massage your feet morning and night. Take it easy for a bit in regards to cultivation. Don't try and move energy anywhere at the moment. Just practice some deep diaghram breathing, breathing down into the belly.

 

So many of us want to jump into the deep end with practices without getting the basics right first. Go learn some good Tai Chi or Kung Fu. Build up a good foundation and then work back up to other practices.

 

The right advice.

 

To it, I'll add with or instead of the evening foot massage, give your feet a hot soak before bed - and if you get cold easily, put on some clean socks afterwards. (Why? Massage and heat both open your feet, allowing excess Qi and Blood to move down.)

 

Go to sleep earlier and wake up earlier. (Why? Night time belongs to Hun, Hun rises.)

 

Taiji, Gongfu, standing practice strengthen and open the legs, moving energy down. De-emphasize spiritual practice for the time being and focus on building the physical framework.

 

Eat well and often but not sugar and soda.

 

Lastly, if you feel like spending, any acupuncturist worth their salt should be able to deliver quick relief and also help you take care of the root issue.

Pathogens make the immune system. Woe to he who lives in a sterile world.

Clyman says it himself, his system begins and ends with the lower Dantian. If you're looking for health and power, then I think it's good, it is neigong (unlike many systems which call themselves neigong but actually aren't). However, neigong was developed for enlightenment and higher understanding of the universe, Clyman clearly doesn't use his neigong for these purposes. A complete neigong system doesn't begin and end with the lower Dantian, it only begins there.

...I never say becoming a Buddha is still low level attainment, actually, I do think Buddha is a very high attainment, I personally experienced the entire process of becoming a Buddha, I know how many hardships one should experience to become a Buddha. I will never belittle Buddha because that is belittling myself, I want to keep humble though.

 

 

 

I think you should include this quote in all your marketing materials.

I've read it and it's good.

 

But to be clear, it's basically a Daodejing adventure narrative. You'll find the Daodejing worked into the story and other chapters that describe some ways De is applied in life and in meditation. Liao knows his stuff.

 

That said $50 is a steep price for a fiction novel. I think I paid $16 used and don't regret it.

With the above posts foremost in mind, let us proceed on point. Excuse me for taking temporary direction with this but my inspiration with this has been vitalized.

 

I will present my very rough and preliminary vision statement, and once again invite all commentary and suggestions.

 

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"By 2018 we have acquired, through self-sufficient means, at least 100 acres of fertile land and have constructed temples of cultivation, education and arts facilities, housing for teachers, students, and community members, and have also established the means for communal sufficiency in the form of permaculture farming, commercial ventures (eg. cafeteria, grocery store, relevant small business etc.) and light industrial ventures that adhere to ecological and right livelihood practices."

 

----------------------------

 

Take temporary direction! You have good, practical ideas and I think you're the type who could get them done. Could I add, the area best be on a mountain with living water (lake, streams, or waterfall)? Or would this add an unnecessary dimension of difficulty?

 

As far as another idea goes (this one wouldn't even necessarily require a static location), what about cataloging cultivation systems. Bringing every master together at first would be difficult. So, what about capturing on video and in writing the basic essentials of each cultivation system. The volunteering master would provide, with the support of any resources we can provide, video of cultivation exercises, audio commentary, and written pictures and theories. Everything would be compiled, cataloged, and finally approved by said master.

 

Any master who attends will be given access to each of the other master's teachings. This way they could study one another's systems and generate their own questions, criticisms, and understandings. This could pave the way for a later in-person meeting, discussion, and synthesis.

 

Of course, I don't expect the small nuances of every system can be cataloged. However, the basic, most important practices and philosophies can be.

 

---

 

Sorry, I've been absent. Though I suppose I could be credited with raising the idea, you have had the same in your minds - I take no special credit. We all have different strengths to contribute. Mine, aside from ideas, are still in incubation. That's to say, I will keep contributing to this idea (indeed over the long term), but my most imminent priorities are to cultivate and transform my mind and body into a laboratory capable of really doing this research.

 

 

 

...So I don't really understand why some people oppose your idea when to me it looks like just another dimension of this forum's community of something that we already have here only in a different form.

 

Oppose! Oppose!

 

Opposition is how immune systems are made. Opposition is how muscles are built.

 

Expose our flaws or do us disservice.

The 'best' way is self-awarenes brought about through lots, and lots, and lots, of practice.

 

Agreed.

 

However, it wouldn't be a bad idea to start studying some basic energy anatomy. I would start with the acupuncture meridians and organ systems. It's best for you to feel these through practice but having the knowledge won't hurt. Knowledge and experience are a double-helix, a yin and yang - you need both. Knowledge gives form, experience imparts substance.

 

Go slow into the deeper stuff, if you discover an unknown thing through practice, you'll know it's real, but if you study too much and have great desire, you might hallucinate your progress. Best not fall into that trap. Let your practice out-pace your book studies and you will really have something in the end.

 

 

 

There will be an Energetic Anatomy Encyclopedia someday. Keep up your practice and maybe you'll be one of the writers.

Another long day.. I've got a very interesting translating job, but it isn't leaving me with much extra Shen to devote to this thread at the moment. I'll certainly be giving more consideration to this particular translation in the (hopefully near) future - it's one of the more important poems.

 

YMWong and Procurator, thanks, please keep it coming. I can see both of you favor a very literal translation. In your case YM, I'd even suggest that instead of using the word spirit, perhaps it's best to just use Shen. Jing, Qi, and Shen commonly translated as Essence, Energy, and Spirit has always seemed a bit unfitting. Spirit especially is a loaded term in the west, it carries a lot of extraneous ideas. Procurator evidently also takes the same issue with Tiao, commonly translated as 'to regulate'.

 

I still haven't figured out just how literal is appropriate for these ancient texts. Truly in Chinese they are often meant to be read surprisingly literally. However, part of the culture just doesn't translate, such as "spirit of no-spirit" or "Shen-less Shen". Shen is consciousness, it's the observer behind the mind, but it's also more.. how to translate? That I'm neither a master nor a poet is two strikes against me!

 

Thank you both for the critiques, they have certainly not fallen on deaf ears.

 

---

 

Craig and friends, thank you for your support, but no worries. I really appreciate criticism. And if it's constructive, all the better! I had a friend tell me today, "living in society makes the weak, weaker and the strong, stronger." It resonated. The insults, inhumanities, comforts, and cravings will tear us down unless we use each one as an exercise for enlightenment.

Is that your translation, SYD, or an interpretation ?!?

 

There is quite a bit, IMHO, to be heavily re-worked

 

YM

 

It was a quick translation to try and save a sinking thread and maybe a wee comment on why the thread detoured in the first place...

 

Please post or contact me with your critique, I respect your words.

Ok, peace with it then.

 

I've been busy all day these days, but I'd like to get this topic back on track so here is just a little bit on the 10th method, 凝神寂照 Ning Shen Jizhao Crystallizing the Spirit.

 

 

Peace,

Song

Procurator,

 

I know you're a person will valuable things to say. But why are you sabotaging yourself? I think you have every right and reason to question, but the way you do it really reduces your chances of getting a good answer.