New member says hi

[Neophyte]

Hi folks,

 

I'm new here and I'm new to the study of Tao. I'm currently reading (and practicing) Taoist Yoga, by Charles Luk. I'm looking forward to learning a lot from you folks; and hopefully I will progress in my training.

 

Greetings,

 

Neo

[sifusufi]

Hello! May you find all the good stuff

[Eric Yudelove]

Hi folks,

 

I'm new here and I'm new to the study of Tao. I'm currently reading (and practicing) Taoist Yoga, by Charles Luk. I'm looking forward to learning a lot from you folks; and hopefully I will progress in my training.

 

Greetings,

 

Neo

 

Hello Neo:

Charles Luk's book is good but it is incomplete and not well organized. I must urge caution if you are new to the practice. I started practicing from it back in 1981 and wound up almost killing myself. It is actually a translation of a 19th century book. I would urge you to seek out other sources.

 

Master Eric Yudelove

[Marblehead]

Hi Neo,

 

Welcome!

 

May you enjoy your time here.

 

Peace & Love!

[Neophyte]

Thanks guys, for welcoming me to the board.

 

Hello Neo:

Charles Luk's book is good but it is incomplete and not well organized. I must urge caution if you are new to the practice. I started practicing from it back in 1981 and wound up almost killing myself. It is actually a translation of a 19th century book. I would urge you to seek out other sources.

 

Master Eric Yudelove

 

Hi Eric.

 

I haven't been back to this thread since I first posted, so I didn't see your response until today.

You said that Luk's book is incomplete and that I should seek out other sources. I eventually want to master the material in Taoist Yoga, so what books do you recommend I use to build up skills so that I can eventually begin to practice from Luk's book? And when I do become skilled enough to begin Taoist Yoga, what books give the missing information to make Luk's book complete? (I know that it is necessary for me to find a Master, and I will soon begin looking.)

 

Thanks.

 

Neo.

[Eric Yudelove]

Thanks guys, for welcoming me to the board.

 

I happen to be rereading "Taoist Yoga" right now. I just ended a fairly long thread here called "Beginning Taoist Practices", based in large part on "Taoist Yoga" and "The Secret of the Golden Flower"(you MUST read the Richard Wilhelm translation if you haven't already). I urge you to check that out.

My book "100 Days to Better Health, etc" derived a great deal from the above 2 books, if you don't have it, you should get it. It sets out a very coherent practice course and is based only on authentic Taoist sources.

There might be books out there that specifically deal with interpreting "Taoist Yoga" but I am not aware of any-I really haven't looked. I haven't bought any Taoist books in a long time. I do have a rather extensive library but I have found very little out there that can actually help with Internal Alchemy. Some of Chia's books are very good, but difficult to turn into a coherent practice. I'll check this myself and see if I can find anything that looks useful. There is so much philosophy and Chi Kung out there but very little on internal work.

Even upon rereading "Taoist Yoga" for now the 6th or 7th time, there are so many gems here but there is still much that requires real knowledge or a very educated guess as to what he is talking about-definitely not something for the neophyte.

 

Eric Yudelove

 

Hi Eric.

 

I haven't been back to this thread since I first posted, so I didn't see your response until today.

You said that Luk's book is incomplete and that I should seek out other sources. I eventually want to master the material in Taoist Yoga, so what books do you recommend I use to build up skills so that I can eventually begin to practice from Luk's book? And when I do become skilled enough to begin Taoist Yoga, what books give the missing information to make Luk's book complete? (I know that it is necessary for me to find a Master, and I will soon begin looking.)

 

Thanks.

 

Neo.

[Eric Yudelove]

I checked and there is nothing out there that I can find giving more information about Luk's "Taoist Yoga". There were some postings on TaoBums back in 2007 that came to the same conclusion and that also found the book to be not only incomplete but misleading.

I continue to read it myself and I have been able to see a somewhat coherent system, but definitely incomplete.

For instance, there is an illustration on page 68 of two immortals mounted on a tiger and a dragon shooting beams of light into a cauldron. There is not one word of information about that diagram in the chapter or anywhere in the book.

This is where being a Tao Master comes in handy. The same night that I saw the diagram I was in my basement organizing my Taoists books, when just on a whim, I opened one at random right to the page where it gave a full description of the practice associated with the abovementioned diagram. After reading the description, it is obvious to me that when the author of "Taoist Yoga" repeatedly states that you need a teacher to get through this material, he wasn't kidding.

Unfortunately, there might not be a teacher around who could teach you. The Taoist population in China was reduced from about 2,000,000 in 1965 to about 50,000 in 1974 at the end of the Cultural Revolution. Until very recently the whole topic of Internal Alchemy was frowned upon by the State as being non productive. So much talk on TaoBums about the "purity" of ancient schools and lineage after a Holocaust that left the Taoist world in tatters and close to annihilation.We are lucky there is anything out there at all.

Set your sites a little lower for now, Neo

I'll keep working on it myself, maybe I'll come up with something worth publishing.

 

MESY

[Oleg Galkin]

Welcome Neo,

 

I wish you a good yoga practice and to spend a nice time here!

[Neophyte]

Welcome Neo,

 

I wish you a good yoga practice and to spend a nice time here!

 

Thanks Oleg.

 

I checked and there is nothing out there that I can find giving more information about Luk's "Taoist Yoga". There were some postings on TaoBums back in 2007 that came to the same conclusion and that also found the book to be not only incomplete but misleading.

I continue to read it myself and I have been able to see a somewhat coherent system, but definitely incomplete.

For instance, there is an illustration on page 68 of two immortals mounted on a tiger and a dragon shooting beams of light into a cauldron. There is not one word of information about that diagram in the chapter or anywhere in the book.

This is where being a Tao Master comes in handy. The same night that I saw the diagram I was in my basement organizing my Taoists books, when just on a whim, I opened one at random right to the page where it gave a full description of the practice associated with the abovementioned diagram. After reading the description, it is obvious to me that when the author of "Taoist Yoga" repeatedly states that you need a teacher to get through this material, he wasn't kidding.

Unfortunately, there might not be a teacher around who could teach you. The Taoist population in China was reduced from about 2,000,000 in 1965 to about 50,000 in 1974 at the end of the Cultural Revolution. Until very recently the whole topic of Internal Alchemy was frowned upon by the State as being non productive. So much talk on TaoBums about the "purity" of ancient schools and lineage after a Holocaust that left the Taoist world in tatters and close to annihilation.We are lucky there is anything out there at all.

Set your sites a little lower for now, Neo

I'll keep working on it myself, maybe I'll come up with something worth publishing.

 

MESY

 

 

Hi Eric.

 

Thanks for looking into it for me. Appreciated.

 

So the book is definitely incomplete. However, there could be enough complete information on this material which is little known right now, but which just needs to be translated from Chinese and published. It may take decades, but more information will probably be eventually published and revealed. So I'm definitely not giving up. I'll just have to realized that it's a life-long effort.

I studied the book up to chapter 10 thoroughly, and I came to learn that though the book may seem confusing at first, when studied patiently, it is definitely coherent and makes perfect sense. I understant everything that he writes, now. I must say that it does, actually, seem complete, but I admit that there may be more to the exercises than he alludes to. He explains them so that they seem simple to perform. That's why I've been practicing the first six steps. However, I may be missing many elements to the exercises that he doesn't include in the instructions. So my practices may be pointless. I was going to make a discussion post about acquiring info on microcosmic orbit. (I recently purchased more books on qigong, but they don't explain the technique of mo at all.) Are there any known books that do? Are there any about inner copulation? Judging by what you tell me, there may not be; but if there is any info on them out there at all, anywhere, then I want to find it.

You also said that you found the instructions for the diagram on page 68 with two immortals mounted on a dragon and tiger shooting beams of light into a cauldron. If you happen to recall the title and author of the book that you found the instructions in, could you please tell me?; I'll look into that book. (Don't give me the actual instructions, just the title.)

 

Sorry for the long post, but thanks.

 

Neophyte

Edited May 11, 2010 by Neophyte

[Eric Yudelove]

Thanks Oleg.

 

Before I give you any further information, I would like to know how long you have been studying & doing Taoist practices? Have you studied with a teacher? Have you studied & praciced anything except Luk's book?

 

Eric Yudelove

 

 

Hi Eric.

 

Thanks for looking into it for me. Appreciated.

 

So the book is definitely incomplete. However, there could be enough complete information on this material which is little known right now, but which just needs to be translated from Chinese and published. It may take decades, but more information will probably be eventually published and revealed. So I'm definitely not giving up. I'll just have to realized that it's a life-long effort.

I studied the book up to chapter 10 thoroughly, and I came to learn that though the book may seem confusing at first, when studied patiently, it is definitely coherent and makes perfect sense. I understant everything that he writes, now. I must say that it does, actually, seem complete, but I admit that there may be more to the exercises than he alludes to. He explains them so that they seem simple to perform. That's why I've been practicing the first six steps. However, I may be missing many elements to the exercises that he doesn't include in the instructions. So my practices may be pointless. I was going to make a discussion post about acquiring info on microcosmic orbit. (I recently purchased more books on qigong, but they don't explain the technique of mo at all.) Are there any known books that do? Are there any about inner copulation? Judging by what you tell me, there may not be; but if there is any info on them out there at all, anywhere, then I want to find it.

You also said that you found the instructions for the diagram on page 68 with two immortals mounted on a dragon and tiger shooting beams of light into a cauldron. If you happen to recall the title and author of the book that you found the instructions in, could you please tell me?; I'll look into that book. (Don't give me the actual instructions, just the title.)

 

Sorry for the long post, but thanks.

 

Neophyte

[Cosmiken]

HELLLLOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Neophyte]

"Before I give you any further information, I would like to know how long you have been studying & doing Taoist practices? Have you studied with a teacher? Have you studied & praciced anything except Luk's book?"

 

Eric Yudelove

 

Hi Eric,

 

I'm currently thirty-one years old. I was first exposed to Tao and Qi gong when I was 14 y.o. I learned the material from a magazine which was published back then (I don't konw if the magazine is still in circulation), called "Qi Gong". It taught me self-massage and kidney exercises. That is all that I studied until age 20-21, when I did train with a teacher. However, it wasn't a one-to-one training; I was in a class. It was Qi Gong but I don't know what branch of qi gong. I practiced this for a couple of years then abandoned qi gong and tao until about 6 months ago, when I purchased Luk's book.

I have since then also started studying the book Qi Gong for Total Wellness, by Dr. Baolin Wu. I was told that this is a good book for beginners, so I will be focusing on the teachings of this book for some time. It is an introduction to the 9 Palaces System.

I am also expanding my knowledge by studying some books by Yang, Jwing-Ming.

 

I decided to not emphasize Luk's book for the present. However, I still want to have a solid understanding of everything discussed in the book, so that I can master that book as an endpoint to my training, many years from now. (Basically, I simply want to acquire and secure the knowledge of what is taught in that book, as early as possible; I certainly don't plan to practice and make progress in that book until years from now, when I am well experienced.)

 

Sorry for the length, but everything I wrote has importance.

 

Thanks very much.

 

Neophyte

[Eric Yudelove]

Hi Eric,

 

I'm currently thirty-one years old. I was first exposed to Tao and Qi gong when I was 14 y.o. I learned the material from a magazine which was published back then (I don't konw if the magazine is still in circulation), called "Qi Gong". It taught me self-massage and kidney exercises. That is all that I studied until age 20-21, when I did train with a teacher. However, it wasn't a one-to-one training; I was in a class. It was Qi Gong but I don't know what branch of qi gong. I practiced this for a couple of years then abandoned qi gong and tao until about 6 months ago, when I purchased Luk's book.

I have since then also started studying the book Qi Gong for Total Wellness, by Dr. Baolin Wu. I was told that this is a good book for beginners, so I will be focusing on the teachings of this book for some time. It is an introduction to the 9 Palaces System.

I am also expanding my knowledge by studying some books by Yang, Jwing-Ming.

 

I decided to not emphasize Luk's book for the present. However, I still want to have a solid understanding of everything discussed in the book, so that I can master that book as an endpoint to my training, many years from now. (Basically, I simply want to acquire and secure the knowledge of what is taught in that book, as early as possible; I certainly don't plan to practice and make progress in that book until years from now, when I am well experienced.)

 

Sorry for the length, but everything I wrote has importance.

 

Thanks very much.

 

Neophyte

 

Neophyte:

The name of the book where you find the description is "Gateway to Wisdom" by John Blofeld All his books are good. There are some used copies available on Amazon.com.

I would really urge you to get a copy of my "100 Days" book. It is probably the only book out there that makes use of some of Luk's methods, especially the microcosmic orbit.

 

Eric Yudelove

[Neophyte]

Neophyte:

The name of the book where you find the description is "Gateway to Wisdom" by John Blofeld All his books are good. There are some used copies available on Amazon.com.

I would really urge you to get a copy of my "100 Days" book. It is probably the only book out there that makes use of some of Luk's methods, especially the microcosmic orbit.

 

Eric Yudelove

 

 

Thanks for the info, Eric. I will definitely be purchasing Blofelds books and your 100 Days book--it looks very promising. I noticed that you also have a book called, "Taoist Yoga and Sexual Energy: Transforming Your Body, Mind, and Spirit". Does this book also have information covered that 100 Days does not? The book looks very good, judging by what I read about it on amazon.com.

 

Thanks again,

 

Neophyte

[Eric Yudelove]

Thanks for the info, Eric. I will definitely be purchasing Blofelds books and your 100 Days book--it looks very promising. I noticed that you also have a book called, "Taoist Yoga and Sexual Energy: Transforming Your Body, Mind, and Spirit". Does this book also have information covered that 100 Days does not? The book looks very good, judging by what I read about it on amazon.com.

 

Thanks again,

 

Neophyte

 

"Taoist Yoga and Sexual Energy" is the sequel to "100 Days". It has much less of a direct connection to Luk's book. But if you Like "100 Days" I'm sure you will love it.

 

Eric Yudelove

[Eric Yudelove]

[

Edited May 20, 2010 by Eric Yudelove

[jimmy]

Hey Neo~ just a note to say howdy,, I am new here also, also new to taoism ,tho seems like i've been living it forever. Yack with ya later.. jimmy