Looking for a semi-contemporary teacher on Taoist philosopy

[wakeupneo]

Hey everyone. I was wondering if someone could direct me to a high-quality teacher/literature on Taoist teaching/philosophy(life death and everything between). 

 

Everything i find on taoism is either Lao Tay, Chang-Tzu and "soccer-mom" teaching. 

 

I was wondering if anyone cant point me to a resource that is rich, perhaps even esoteric that really breaks down Taoist philosophy. Thanks

[vonkrankenhaus]

Taoist philosophy is basic and plain.

 

The only Way for Nothing to change is to become Something - WuJi, Tao.

 

As it so happens, some thing appeared - TaiJi. 

 

That thing exhibits Polarity - YinYang.

 

Polarity generates Movement - Qi.

 

Movement over Time can be measured - Wu Xing.

 

Polarity, Movement, and Time produce All Things.

 

Not mystical. Not esoteric. Not metaphysical.

 

This is cosmological science, such as is used to construct Calendars and create Medicine, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

-VonKrankenhaus

[rideforever]

Forget it nobody knows of any.

Most people want some kind of energetic power that certain schools have cultivated but this isn't Taoism, Taoism is the enlightenment of the Tantien in the belly.   Either that or they like talking with flowery poetry going round in circles and not caring.

Even famous Damo Mitchell says that spiritual enlightenment is a question of being "still" ... and that's as far as he's got !!!

 

Better bet is 

"Wuji Gong and the Secret of Immortality" (Stephen Elliott)
"Inside Zhan Zhuang"  (Mark Cohen)

"Returning to the Source" (Osho)

"The Secret of the Golden Flower" ... just get a translation and read it yourself simply, don't bother with any interpretations you can buy, it's a very simple text.

 

Don't listen to me though.

 

[OldDog]

There are two ways to know something; be told something or experience something. Only experiencing something is practical. Experiencing something is immediately relevant and therefore applicable and useful to your current local context. To be told enough somethings to meet any need is impractical, requiring greater and greater detail to cover all of an infinite number of possibilities. In short, you'll not find such a comprehensive resource.

 

Daoism is not about having a preconceived set of somethings to handle all cases. It is about the fundamental nature of things and change ... as pointed out in vonkrankenhaus' post ... and then applying this understanding to your local unfolding context. This is called wuwei. What more does one need to know.

[JohnC]

I would encourage experiential knowledge. Although reading from a master that is deeply experienced has a transmissive quality and can be a great pointer on the way.

 

Teachers/lineages I would recommend:

Stillness Movement - Michael Lomax

Spring forest Qigong - Chun yi lin

Xiao Yao Pai - I'm not sure the master of this, but have heard amazing things about this lineage.

 

There are others, but those are the lineages I know of that direct you to direct knowledge and experience of Taoism.

 

Not the mental interpretations of translations that I see a lot of in the west.

 

John

[Shubin]

It is hard to find a high-quality, semi-contemporary teacher/literature on Taoist teaching/philosophy.

If you can read Chinese, there are some articles and videos at https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/c_167929717 .

Edited July 4, 2019 by Shubin

[vonkrankenhaus]

8 hours ago, rideforever said:

Taoism is the enlightenment of the Tantien in the belly.

 

This is not a definition of Taoism.

 

What's in this Tantien?

 

Digestion, assimilation, and reproductive organs and functions.

 

You want to "Enlighten" that?

 

Learn how to eat, and how much, and what results.

 

What you end up with is not the definition of "Taoism" and all that is associated with it, history, time periods, people, folk religion, , etc, etc. But it will help your "belly" and brain - necessary for "enlightenment" of guts.

 

Books about Eastern philosophy in the west often show a Lohan or some image of a Buddha - with a big belly. Book will be about "enlightenment" and maybe has word "Taoism". So your statement has these - TAOISM is the ENLIGHTENMENT of the BELLY.

 

Very simple to see why everyone modern thinks this, from the biggest images and words they see in media.

 

Easy to study Taoism. It is the study that reveals what Taoism is.

 

Bring the belly too, and study Taoism to see what it is.

 

 

 

 

 

-VonKrankenhaus

[rideforever]

1 minute ago, vonkrankenhaus said:

Tantien

 

Well, anyone can and do ascribed to Taoism anything they want, mickey mouse if you like.

But if you ask a serious question what is it ?   Then it is the path of the enlightenment of tantien, end of.

That is the definition.

Tantien is a centre of identity in the belly, it is not of the course material body, and the gateway to the Source (the source of energy of this universe).

Enlightenment means that it is cultivated to become present from a mere potential, and then embodied meaning you become it rather than have it, and that your intelligence flows inside it.

But ... I know people prefer the mickey mouse cartoons.

[vonkrankenhaus]

1 minute ago, rideforever said:

But if you ask a serious question what is it ?   Then it is the path of the enlightenment of tantien, end of.

That is the definition.

 

Try even THIS:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoism

 

 

 

 

-VonKrankenhaus

[Sebastian]

I recommend Master Ni Hua Ching. At 102 years old this year, he is still contemporary, esoteric as you requested and thorough in his portrayal of Tao.

 

This is a good book to get started, about his father, eternal light.

[wakeupneo]

Thank you all for your responses. 

 

I will check out some of the aforementioned resources. 

 

Dealing with a slew of health problems has created some existential questions. 

 

The body dies and breaks down into the elements, presumably the mind/ego go along with it, does consciousness remain or are Daoists some what materialists when it comes to consciousness. 

Edited July 4, 2019 by wakeupneo

[rideforever]

19 minutes ago, Sebastian said:

This is a good book to get started, about his father, eternal light.

Nice book

[vonkrankenhaus]

21 minutes ago, Sebastian said:

I recommend Master Ni Hua Ching

 

Yes, this is good.

 

His "Book of Changes and the Unchanging Truth" is basics, and I Ching commentaries.

 

But even here, you will see some mistakes.

 

Consult many sources, and become familiar with the Classics and history.

 

 

 

 

 

-VonKrankenhaus

[Sebastian]

3 minutes ago, rideforever said:

Nice book

 

You bet. Just holding the book and looking at the picture on the cover will make you feel relaxed. Even if you place it on your desk, on the side, forget about it, the effect is the same.

 

The reason is his Father's image is radiating light in every direction. One Master I know who is spiritually sensitive - his third eye is completely open - told me that he couldn't even make out the face of the person on the cover, because there was so much Light radiating from his face.

 

It's a little bit like in the Bible.... Jesus says the Father's face is hidden by its Light. Of course I'm not saying this person is actually God, just that he is a radiant Sun.

 

The Ni family books were the first I ever read where I felt a direct energetic transmission coming from the books. This one is particular. Really amazing books to own and study, for a lifetime. The Light will also protect you. You can take these books on trips for example.

[rideforever]

12 minutes ago, Sebastian said:

books

 

Do you know about his other books ?   For instance he has a "workbook" for spiritual development - is this a bit too much hard work ?
And there is another one called Ageless Counsel: For Modern Life ?

Which one to get ?
I read some reviews and he seems to have a lot of knowledge.

Edited July 4, 2019 by rideforever

[Limahong]

14 hours ago, wakeupneo said:

I was wondering if anyone cant point me to a resource that is rich, perhaps even esoteric that really breaks down Taoist philosophy.

 

Hi wakeupneo,

 

Your thread reads ~ Looking for a semi-contemporary teacher on Taoist philosophy.

 

What is semi-contemporary?

 

- Anand

 

[Sebastian]

Quote

   For instance he has a "workbook" for spiritual development - is this a bit too much hard work ?

 

It's funny, people in Master Ni's circle simply refer to the "workbook for spiritual development" as the "Yellow book", and it is yellow in color indeed. But that is actually a very clever name, because this particular book radiates a very strong yellow light - which comes from the Golden Light invocation contained within its pages. You can attune yourself to this Light yourself by reading the book. My energy is also attuned to it, at least I try to recite it daily and know it by heart. So it's a matter of resonance, maybe look at the cover of the book and see if you feel anything. Otherwise it's true this book is a little bit dry in terms of content, it is like a list of practices and rules to live by, but it is also spruced up by wonderful invocations that can reform your energy. I love the Sun invocation and the Moon invocation in particular and do these daily as well.

 

Let me try to think of the most helpful books.... Stigweard had a great recommendation list here in 2008.

 

 

Out of these three he is recommending, my favorite was "the gentle path of spiritual progress". Master Ni keeps answering questions with such wisdom I couldn't put the book down until I was done with it.

 

But I also love his lesser known books. If you want personal recommendations, I loved "the power of the feminine". Maybe because Master Ni has great respect for Jesus and mentions him countless times in that book. I actually have markers at every page where he mentions Jesus, but the rest of the book was wonderful too.

 

And this very old one "the integral way of life". This book is seldom spoken about but it carries an amazing vibration too, because it details an encounter and discussion that Master Ni had with Jesus. 

 

All these books are jewels. I do like the ones about his parents a lot, his Dad and his Mom too, this one, because they are written with great love and respect. And the books contain the energy of his parents.

 

You can't go wrong with these I think  Hope it helps. Happy reading.

 

 

[wakeupneo]

3 hours ago, Limahong said:

 

Hi wakeupneo,

 

Your thread reads ~ Looking for a semi-contemporary teacher on Taoist philosophy.

 

What is semi-contemporary?

 

- Anand

 

Hmmm... the last few hundred years perhaps

[Limahong]

1 hour ago, wakeupneo said:

Hmmm... the last few hundred years perhaps

 

Why do you specify this temporal slot in Taoism?

[wakeupneo]

1 hour ago, Limahong said:

 

Why do you specify this temporal slot in Taoism?

I quite familiar with what other traditions say(naturally they are different based on whether the teaching is exoteric or escoteric). I vaguely heard some Taoist theories that the soul combines and forms with other souls, which then take a new body... but wanted to learn a little more. Again, with the health issues it's really been on my mind. I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes in dread thinking of "permenant insentience" having said that I still want truth and not some fairly tale. 

[Walker]

11 hours ago, Sebastian said:

I recommend Master Ni Hua Ching. At 102 years old this year, he is still contemporary, esoteric as you requested and thorough in his portrayal of Tao.

 

This is a good book to get started, about his father, eternal light.

 

Strongly agree!

[Sebastian]

Here are a few recent videos of him (at the right time stamps, when he's done speaking you can close the video because it's unrelated afterwards) - His energy is really sublime.

 

Video 1

 

 

Video 2

 

 

Here is a video of him performing Taichi at 101... still spry !

 

 

 

[Limahong]

3 hours ago, wakeupneo said:

I vaguely heard some Taoist theories that the soul combines and forms with other souls, which then take a new body... but wanted to learn a little more.

 

Hi wakeupneo,

 

I am coming across the said Taoist theories for the first time... thank you

 

- Anand

 

[Limahong]

16 hours ago, wakeupneo said:

I vaguely heard some Taoist theories that the soul combines and forms with other souls, which then take a new body... but wanted to learn a little more.

 

Hi wakeupneo,

 

I find the above mind blogging.

 

If a soul combines with other souls to form a new body...

 

(a) Who has ownership/accountability/responsibility... of the new body?

(b) Or is the new body a shared body?

(c) If it is shared, how is eating, sleeping, love-making... routined, rotated...?

 

I dare not/ don't know how to think further.

 

Good night... I will sleep on my own steam or lack of.

 

- Anand

 

[wakeupneo]

21 minutes ago, Limahong said:

 

Hi wakeupneo,

 

I find the above mind blogging.

 

If a soul combines with other souls to form a new body...

 

(a) Who has ownership/accountability/responsibility... of the new body?

(b) Or is the new body a shared body?

(c) If it is shared, how is eating, sleeping, love-making... routined, rotated...?

 

I dare not/ don't know how to think further.

 

Good night... I will sleep on my own steam or lack of.

 

- Anand

 

It's no different then Buddhist/Hidu teaching where the end game is soul/consciousness of individuals merging with universal consciousness. Who knows? Maybe we already are an aggregate of souls? I know I sure act and feel like that at times:)