Help Needed - Full Detailed List of Taoist Practices

[Stigweard]

I am wanting to create a TaoWiki page with a comprehensive listing of available Taoist practices. Specifically each entry must contain:

• Benefits,
  
• Demands,
  
• Technical details,
  
• Disadvantages,
  
• Historical origins,
  
• Cultural relevance, and
  
• Available sources of tuition (i.e. personal instruction, website, book, audio, DVD etc.)
  

Here is a basic list of practices to start on:

 

~ Nei Tan, Internal Medicine, which can support a person's spiritual future through refinement of the physical, mental and spiritual essence,

~ Tai Shi, Internal Breathing, which is higher than external breathing, although both are usually practiced together,

~ Tao Yin, Energy Channelling, for purposes of health and spiritual benefit,

~ Chun Shih, Visualization or concentration,

~ Fu Erh, External Nutrition, using natural herbs and other things,

~ Shing Jeau, Walking, for gathering and refining energy,

~ Fuh Chi, Internal Energy Maintenance,

~ Bei Gu, to stop eating food completely (especially helpful to those who are cultivating spiritually so that they can stop looking for and preparing food for themselves - eventually they combine their life with the environment),

~ Fu Chi, Intaking Natural Energy through breathing and swallowing, which should be practiced with Bei Gu,

~ Fang Jung, Sexual Cultivation,

~ Fu Jyeo, Secret Talismanic Characters, Words and also Invocations,

~ Jing Tan, Golden Elixir,

~ Shr Jeah, Method of Exuviation into a New Life."

 

Your help and assistance will be greatly appreciated and robustly acknowledged

[zhoupeng]

I am wanting to create a TaoWiki page with a comprehensive listing of available Taoist practices. Specifically each entry must contain:

• Benefits,
  
• Demands,
  
• Technical details,
  
• Disadvantages,
  
• Historical origins,
  
• Cultural relevance, and
  
• Available sources of tuition (i.e. personal instruction, website, book, audio, DVD etc.)
  

Here is a basic list of practices to start on:

 

~ Nei Tan, Internal Medicine, which can support a person's spiritual future through refinement of the physical, mental and spiritual essence,

~ Tai Shi, Internal Breathing, which is higher than external breathing, although both are usually practiced together,

~ Tao Yin, Energy Channelling, for purposes of health and spiritual benefit,

~ Chun Shih, Visualization or concentration,

~ Fu Erh, External Nutrition, using natural herbs and other things,

~ Shing Jeau, Walking, for gathering and refining energy,

~ Fuh Chi, Internal Energy Maintenance,

~ Bei Gu, to stop eating food completely (especially helpful to those who are cultivating spiritually so that they can stop looking for and preparing food for themselves - eventually they combine their life with the environment),

~ Fu Chi, Intaking Natural Energy through breathing and swallowing, which should be practiced with Bei Gu,

~ Fang Jung, Sexual Cultivation,

~ Fu Jyeo, Secret Talismanic Characters, Words and also Invocations,

~ Jing Tan, Golden Elixir,

~ Shr Jeah, Method of Exuviation into a New Life."

 

Your help and assistance will be greatly appreciated and robustly acknowledged

 

First let me just say that I think it is a great idea to make a wiki about taoist practices as the information has always been scattered and was never really systematized in a formal way. Every practitioner seems to have his own focus and you will find people calling themselves taoists who practice all sorts of very different things.

It would be really nice if we could get the people here to contribute by writing something about their practices in the wiki so as to create a form of documentation of the spectrum of taoist practices inclusive of the different traditions represented.

 

Having said that, I do recognise that it is a momentuous task given the sheer volume of the material and the tendency for taoist practices to be somewhat holistic: for example Nei Dan can, and usually does incorporate many of the elements you listed for many practitioners.

 

Good luck anyway and I keep following this thread to see what we can come up with!

[Stigweard]

First let me just say that I think it is a great idea to make a wiki about taoist practices as the information has always been scattered and was never really systematized in a formal way. Every practitioner seems to have his own focus and you will find people calling themselves taoists who practice all sorts of very different things.

It would be really nice if we could get the people here to contribute by writing something about their practices in the wiki so as to create a form of documentation of the spectrum of taoist practices inclusive of the different traditions represented.

 

Having said that, I do recognise that it is a momentuous task given the sheer volume of the material and the tendency for taoist practices to be somewhat holistic: for example Nei Dan can, and usually does incorporate many of the elements you listed for many practitioners.

 

Good luck anyway and I keep following this thread to see what we can come up with!

Thanks for the encouragement. Yup potentially a big task but worth the effort as far as I am concerned.