The Tao Letter

Taoist Alchemy in Denmark (Part II)

It's now Week 2 of what David calls Foundation Training. See the forum for some idea of the scope of the theory and practice involved in this phase of the work.

Make no mistake, this is not Qigong and serves a completely separate purpose. Not that qi is not involved. It's the purpose and method that is different. It's not about physical health, or healing or augmenting your income. It's neither easy or fast. Nor is it sold or promoted. It's months and years of work with no guarantee of success. What is provided however are some objective criteria for success. No mind games here. Just hard work.

James

Taoist Alchemy in Denmark

David Verdesi (Shen) is one of those rare teachers with all the qualifications to truely transmit the Tao. I mean really really rare. As in actually qualified. And not only qualified, but actually teaching. Not often, and not easily accessed, but nevertheless, accessible.

It's week two of a four week series of seminars covering foundation practice and theory in Taoist Alchemy, as transmitted to David by a series of the most advanced masters on the planet. No exaggeration.

If you know Charles Luk, author of one of the original books on Taoist Alchemy Alchemy and Immortality then you have some insight into the material. Travelling to Denmark directly from studies with Taoist Transmitters in China, David delivers the essense and sense of the living Tao. No new age qigong here, this is from the original sources. Detailed, deep and integrated, not for the quick seeker, available to anyone with the committment to practice this path of self-cultivation requires.

Interested? Check out the discussion forum organized by his american students.

Also, in Europe, his Danish Organizer. The requirements are strict and the results are real. David has what no other western teacher has goes where no other western teacher goes. Everyone who knows him agrees

Silkeborg, Denmark

Great new tool

OK. I splurged. With a ready rationalization, it took little to convince myself that the time was now for a real video camera. High definition is here, so that was the choice. Review surfing definately overloads the input buffers. The biggest benefit of HDV at this moment is that it cuts down on the choices. Otherwise, it's a problem of oversupply. It was the Canon HV10 or the Sony HDR-HC3. One look through the Canon HV10 viewfinder and I went with the Sony! And, I'm (so far) very satisfied. There are issues. My 3 year old Inspiron 5100 chokes on the high definition files (not enough video memory to deit anything. Fortunately, the camera can convert a HDV file to a DV file on the fly during capture. And Studio 10 handles the DV edition just fine for Web development. Serious editing will require a new machine with a top-end video card with massive memory. Apple here I come!.

The early attempts are here.

Not A V-Rod (Jimmy West rides his steed)

Hockey Heros (Kier tells a story)

The Fish Room (Walkthrough shows the 10X zoom to great effect)

Off once more

I've promised myself (and others) that this winter's excursion to asia will be documented daily in this blog.

Daily? Very unlikely, but one should at least aim high. And, armed with a high resolution video camera, (Sony HDR HC3) it will be illustrated as well.

Flight to Bangkok via Bejing is Wednesday, Nov. 9. Until then, it's Ottawa, Kingston and Toronto, visiting old friends and generally winding down slightly from 6 weeks of unending preparation.

And, thanks beaterboys and dozergirls for the great sendoff last Thursday.

All the Chi in China

Temples in China are joyous places. You can tell as you approach a popular one (popular locally that is, not necessarily on the tourist charts) because there is often fine red paper scattered everywhere sometimes for kilometers around the site. Like the scent-trail ants use to return to a valuable find, you can follow the red paper until it eventually literally covers the ground. As you approach, the chi surrounding the shrine can become thick, like a subtle smoke or haze. Your bones vibrate to the ancestral chi. There is an effervescence to the air as it enters your lungs.

There is one of these places not far (in China this can mean anywhere from a few hundred meters to a few hundred kilometers) from where Sifu, Master Luo is from, near Zhanjiang in the extreme south. Across the harbour from the city center, near a long abandoned ferry landing, it's occupied by the usual fortunetellers, incense holders and doubly worn wooden benches for prayer. The unremitting noise and hot smell of fireworks trumps other worldly senses. Here one truly feels within the realm of the unlimited.

Adoration of Quan Yin is a national pass-time. Offerings to her benevolence and mercy fill the burners and tables. The doorway into the dedicated room into which the incendiaries are tossed is surrounded with her images, mantras and prayers. The sanctuary within holds countless Taoist, Buddhist and shamanic statuary and images mixed together with total abandon.

The What and Why of Chi

It may surprise even some seasoned Taoist practitioners why chi or qi, as only one of three phases of the life force has such a predominant position in Taoist literature and practice.

As one of the triad of Jing, Chi and Shen, none of which has more or less importance as part of an essentially seamless whole, chi nevertheless predominates as a focus and end of practice.

So, Why?

Man sits between Heaven and Earth
Heaven is above and Earth is below.

Like this

HEAVEN
|
MAN
|
EARTH

Chi is likewise between Jing and Shen

SHEN
|
CHI
|
JING

Chi is to the life force as humans are to all of manifestation (Post Heaven)

So, immediately we can see that this focus on Chi results from humanity's place in manifestation.

Of course with deepening practice there can be no end to the subtlety of chi and no real division of subtle energy that is final and definitive.

Your Shen is Jing to the Chi of some part of yourself. Your job is to bring it all into consciousness, including the indivisibility of it.

Where are all the Taoists

I chatted with David Shen (Verdesi) a couple of times in the past week. This fellow is the definition of the wandering taoist. First he was in Indonesia. Then Bangkok. Next was to be China, but events got in the way and now its Korea. All in pursuit of Tao. North American Taoists among you will know David from summer retreat workshops, Tao Garden or from presentations he has made at the NQA. David is well familar to many Europeans as he has taught in most major centers on the continent. He does have a web presence at QigongResearch.org but at present it loads an empty page. Does this represent the wu-chi David? David presently lives and teaches in Istanbul when he is not travelling.

Ron Diana is back home in New Jersey after teaching excursions to Europe and South America. He also hosted Dirk Oellibrandt teaching 4 Dimensional Healing at Walker Valley in the Catskills. This inspiring series of retreats is ongoing. Attendees included the magical healer Gene Dotson from Chapel Hill NC., one of my favorite Taoist extraterrestrials. A regular presenter at the NQA annual retreat Ron is THE Chi Nei Tsang (navel energy massage) practitioner/instructor/master in the eastern US. He is a practicing herbologist among many talents. A longterm student of Taoist Master Dr. Stephen Chang, Ron sells Dr. Changs herbal formulas on TaoHealingArts.com. I have used a couple of these herbs in really threatening situations and I can tell you, they work, they are of the highest quality and we can all benefit from Dr. Changs devotion to his family tradition and the highest traditions of Tao.

Plato is back on the Tao Forum. This may or may not be good news, depending on your sensitivities. He has got Michael Winn going. Michael is well known to Europeans and Americans as well. His annual Tao Mountain Retreat is among the best resources anywhere for authentic Taoist transmission, due in great measure to Michaels extensive contacts among American Taoists. He is the founding president of the NQA and a vocal advocate of (his term) a new American Qigong. He has published numerous Articles on his site HealingDao.com.

A new approach to practice

Taoist's are always talking about practice. Is this different from a Christian talking about prayer. The Taoist approach focuses on technique, development and mastery. None of this would appear to make sense if applied to prayer. Enlightened Taoists apply intention and concern themselves with sincerity. This seems closer but is still far from supplication. Taoists name many Gods or none. No single overreaching entity exists. The Tao neither exists nor does not exist. There is clearly nothing to which prayer can be offered.

To what can Taoist practice be appropriately offered. The ego looms large and is impossible to contain. Inappropriate intention erodes and eventually destroys any benefit from practice. How can this be avoided while maintaining spontenaity. Difficult questions but not without answers. But what answers are actually helpful?

10% practice, 90% right action.
So how does one recognize right action.
Find it in practice. Apply it in life.
Without that connection, what meaning can practice have.

First Entry

This is what came before