Tao Articles
What’s Beyond Unconditional Love?
Topic: TaoNews
Author:
Soul Fire bursts forth, dissolving dark clouds of illusion that fool our ordinary personality.
Dear Lovers of Pure Love Itself,
What is beyond Unconditional Love? Every religion or path has its own answer to that question. But for many teachings, unconditional love is posited as the highest value of “the God of your Understanding” or Source of All That Is, or at the core of whatever kind of self-help therapy you are engaged in. Conversely, “conditional love” is often put down as the cause of separation and struggle.
I have been exploring this question deeply while writing my book on Primordial Tai Chi: Way of Enlightened Love over the last 3 years. I haven’t published it yet, because I realized I had so much good material as I delved deep into Taoist cosmology and Qi science behind this magical form that it had to become two books. The second book is nearly finished, and I plan to publish them bogether along with an updated version of my Primordial Tai Chi DVD, aka Primordial Qigong and Tai Chi for Enlightened Love.
One of the key discoveries that I made was in understanding that everything, including love, comes in trinities. These trinities are just a reflection of the Life Force having three streams of consciousness: yuan or neutral-Original Breath, yang or Positive-Creative Breath, and yin or Negative-Receptive Breath. “Breath” is the Chinese translation of “Qi” or “Chi” – it implies that the Cosmos is a living Being, who from it’s original place of primordial deep stillness (yuan) is breathing in and out (yin-yang breaths).
Here’s an excerpt from the introduction to my book that elucidates my understanding of the three types of love.
In the map of consciousness that I’ve evolved, the love trinity is Conditional Love, Un-conditional Love, and Pure Love. These roughly correspond to the Taoist trinity of Human love, Earthly love, and Heavenly love. Un-conditional Love first arises in the soul, prior to our birth and experience of the world. It is our ground on Earth. After birth, the personality is gradually driven by various kinds of Conditional Love to meet it needs. Unconditional Love by the soul holds a mirror to the embodied personality to help it become aware of the limits of its Conditional Love.
Conditional Love and Unconditional Love each hold one half of this mirror. The embodied personality and formless soul form a polarized yin-yang pair within every individual. Beyond both is an impersonal kind of love. Lao Tzu might call it the Love from Heaven. It is the root or ground of the other two, i.e. it generates Conditional and Unconditional Love.
This third type I simply name Pure Love. Pure Love, within this trinity, is the spiritual ground of the cosmos, the source or origin of all souls. In religious language, it’s Divine Love. Pure Love is a name for the feeling quality of Cosmic Unity or Oneness or Source. Feeling makes it more tangible than simply “believing” or “thinking” of Unity. Out of this field of Pure Love feeling our individual human soul is born.
The human soul steps down and focuses the impersonal feeling of Pure Love into an individuated spark of Unconditional Love. The soul spark enters into manifestation, into body-matter via a mother. We spend nine months in our mother’s womb, time needed to convert our soul love into an embryo and eventually birth a body-mind (defined in Chinese medicine as 12 organ and bowel body spiirits).
Inside our mother’s womb, our soul’s Unconditional Love meets resistance as it flows through bloodline ancestral filters, astrological archetypes, and unresolved issues absorbed from the collective human field. These shape the quirky patterns of our personality and body. After we’re born, our soul’s desires gets diffused and expressed as the many forms of Conditional Love (“I love you/ I love that pleasure as long as I get it on my terms”). The most popular form of Conditional Love is romantic love. Most kinds of ordinary mind desire, whether healthy or obsessive, I classify as types of conditional love.
Love is held up as a “highest value” in most cultures, and is constantly exalted in popular song and film. But we must look beyond the never-ending “lip service” paid to love. It’s easy to become programmed by unconsciously adopted cultural ideals. I am a life long seeker exploring the mysteries of love and sex. But I’m no longer really interested in trading in old beliefs on love for new ones, or in the psychology or physiology of conditional love, or the promise of divine love in my afterlife, or even chasing after sexual love this life.
My Quest: Embody Pure Love NOW
What I seek is the EMBODIMENT of pure love, NOW, direct from the Source, in the present moment, in my physical body. I want to love the ground of my Being, and to feel its love for me, in both my soul and personality-body and in my relations to others, i.e. the collective field of love. The emergence of pure loving Presence in our own body is what I’m calling true Self-Love. That’s very different than worshipping some deity (Christ, Kuan Yin, Mother Mary, Buddha, etc.) as holding that loving Presence for us as a divine intermediary.
Taoists would call self-love the personality’s acceptance of its natural essence or personal spiritual power (de). De, also translated as natural virtue or integrity, arises spontaneously from the Tao, the Great Way. It is embedded into our soul, and thus defines our personal Way, our life mission and destiny. We don’t need outside beings to mediate between our personality and our soul’s inner essence. We can perceive our truth directly.
Pure Love is also my term for what Taoists call Primordial or Original Qi. This pure love arises as an impersonal cosmic field that is extremely subtle, with a very high vibration. The gap between this high frequency rapidly vibrating field of Pure Love Qi and our slow body sensory reality makes it a challenge for humans to physically experience this Pure Love Qi.
In the same way, millions of high frequency cosmic rays (gamma rays, neutrinos, etc.) constantly pass through our body unnoticed by us. But this background cosmic radiation supports our environment. Likewise, our personality, instead of directly radiating the true background Presence, expresses a watered down, diffuse, often corrupted, slow vibrating form of love via our personality’s thoughts, feelings, and actions. It seems that our main spiritual job as human beings is to dissolve this distortion between source/Original Presence and our personality.
I accept that all qigong, tai chi, sacred dance, and other body-centered methods (yoga, Feldenkrais, Alexander, Eurythmy, other martial arts, etc.) help us bridge that vibrational gap through conscious body movement. But the intent and design of the movement form is critical. I spend the entirety of Ch. 5 on how to most effectively align our intention before, during, and after Wu Ji Gong. Other chapters explore the unique geometric shapes of the Vesica Piscis and Torus created by the arm movements and show how one’s feet are dancing a Mandala of the I Ching. The functional Qi flow follows the shape of the movement form.
My personal mission as a teacher is to make subtle Qi (chi) as tangible as possible so everyone can use it to unfold their highest destiny. Understanding that Qi is the energy behind all levels of Love makes it easier for Westerners to grasp Qi’s essence. After spending thirty years teaching qigong, tai chi, yoga, and meditation to thousands of Western students, I’ve received lots of feedback as to what works and what doesn’t.
Wu Ji Gong – also known as Primordial Tai Chi or Qigong, Tai Chi for Enlightened Love, Enlightenment Qigong – has been the single most successful method I’ve found to help people experience and stabilize Pure Love Qi within their personality and body. Many of those reporting amazing results are total beginners. It is not only seasoned adepts of the esoteric who can feel powerful energetic shifts in their body, health, and life destiny.
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More excerpts will be coming as I approach publication date. Meanwhile, the most important thing is to practice the form itself. If you want greater insight and feeling into the form, or certification for it as a teacher, there are still some spaces left this next weekend.
- Nov. 23 – 24, 2013 (Sat/Sun): Asheville, N.C.
- PRIMORDIAL QIGONG / TAI CHI for ENLIGHTENED LOVE
This is where I go when I practice Primordial Qigong/ Tai Chi for Enlightened Love. It’s a bridge to the center of my cosmos.
with Feldenkrais for Effortless Super Learning of Tai Chi.
Led by Michael, plus recorded guidance by Joyce Gayheart.
Magical, powerful 800 year old lineage qigong ceremony (a.k.a. “Tai Chi for Enlightenment”). Integrates the magic square of feng shui, the dynamic inner coupling of Taoist alchemy, the healing benefits of medical qigong, and the earthly transmission power of China’s original tai chi form!
We gather the directional chi of Heaven and Earth in graceful spirals. This is one of my favorite forms, but requires deeper commitment (15 min. practice length). Combined with Feldenkrais, it opens up many levels of healing energy and ease of movement amazingly quickly.
I go far beyond the DVD during this class, revealing many things about the inner structure of the form, and how to intensify it with toning and focused intention.
For more about the form, and numerous testimonials about how amazing the form is, please see http://www.taichi-enlightenment.com
Cost: $185. ($90. deposit). Reviewers: $125.
NEW Location: Asheville Training Center, 261 Asheland Ave, two blocks south of downtown Asheville, corner Phifer St.. Use side entry (walk behind the main entrance, on the left) of Town & Mountain Realty building.
For list of hotels, please see website (scroll down a few pages): https://www.michaelwinn.qlogictechnologies.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?rm=mode2&articleid=117
contact: info@HealingTaoUSA.com
or call: 828 505 1444
Note: The course is the certification course for Primordial QiGong/Tai Chi for Enlightened Love. You receive a teaching certificate from Healing Tao University. Those seeking certification should have been practicing the form well in advance, if only from a DVD.
Mantak Chia learned this form from me on a China Dream Trip, and loved it! He has made it a part of the Healing Tao curriculum, so you can also now use this course as hours towards becoming a Healing Tao Instructor. For more info: https://www.michaelwinn.qlogictechnologies.com/instructorbecome.html
» Dec. 7-8: Internal Chi Breathing & Bone Rooting n Asheville NC
» China Photos – Spiritual Adventure of a Lifetime!
» SPECIAL DEAL: Internal Chi Breathing & Bone Rooting DVD
» Inner Heart within our Outer Heart
- Dec. 7 – 8, 2013 (Sat/Sun) Asheville, N.C.
- MEDICAL & SPIRITUAL QIGONG FUNDAMENTALS 3 & 4: Internal Chi Breathing and Bone Rooting with Michael Winn
Learn the 3 types of Taoist breathing: natural, reverse, and counter-force. Powerful “empty” or neutral force breathing method can be done anywhere, standing, sitting, lying. Opens belly center/dantien, the key to good chi circulation and self-healing. Standing and moving postures to open core channels of body. My simplified version of Iron Shirt Qigong.
We will also learn the Ocean, Sky, & Great Heart Breathing, aka Blissful Breathing Qigong. This form activates the Mystical Power of Three, that unites physical breath with subtle body breath in all three dantian. A short 5-minute form that packs a tremendous wallop.
Day 2 focuses on bone marrow breathing, rooting power, and simple bone-to-bone tapping. Excellent for grounding, preventing & healing chronic illness due to blood deficiency, osteoporosis, and many others. Stabilizes stillness for meditators, develops root for all movement artists (dance or martial arts). This bone work is the prelude to completing bloodline ancestral issues.
See http://www.healingdao.com/ckf3.html for more details.
Open to all, no prerequisites. Useful to have Fundamentals 1&2, but they can be taken in reverse order as well.
Cost: $144. weekend. $90. for Sat. only, or reviewers (both days).
Contact: info@HealingTaoUSA.com
Email if you have questions. Or call Jan to register by phone: 828 505-1444.
NEW Location: Asheville Training Center, 261 Ashland Ave., 2 blocks south of downtown Asheville. Starts 9 am on Saturday.
For more information about Michael Winn and his qigong/chi kung trainings, visit:
https://www.michaelwinn.qlogictechnologies.com
L: Hanging Temples 1500 years old, near Taoist Sacred Mountain of North, Mt. Heng. R: Mr. Hua is center of Taoist Dream Practice, where many immortals are said to achieved themselves.
Dear Lovers of Spiritual Adventure —
Even if you believe you cannot go to China, please still read this, take the trip vicariously. You’ll get a great education, with 60 photos making it easy. China Dream Trip is for people who believe life is a spiritual adventure. It’s for souls that hunger for the riches of ancient wisdom in faraway lands, and dream of merging that exotic experience into their present moment. I’ve been to more than 100 countries. My philosophy can be summed up:
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,but by the places and moments that take our breath away”. — an Enlightened Traveller
Visit 3 Sacred Tao Mountains on what I promise will be the most amazing trip of your life:
1. Mt. Heng, Taoist Sacred Mountain of the North, and nearby famous 1500 year old Hanging Temples.
2. Mt. Hua, Flower Mountain. Taoist Sacred Mountain of the West – the most spiritually powerful mountain in China. In written records, more Tao immortals achieved themselves on Huashan than anywhere else. In 2012 I got married atop its sheer 3000 foot granite cliffs. We stay in monasteries or caves used by ancient Tao adepts to dream their Way to immortality.
3. Lao Tzu’s Ascension Site in the Zhong Nan mountains, near Louguantai, “Place of Highest Contemplation”. This is where Lao Tzu also transmitted the 5000 character Tao Te Ching. It has amazingly high etheric energy – my favorite meditation spot in China.
PLUS stay in Huashan Monastery or Cave, and see China’s Major Cultural Attractions: Temple of Heaven, Great Wall, Xian ancient walled capitol, Terra Cotta Warriors, many powerful Taoist temples.
2014 DREAM TRIP HIGHLIGHTS – 15 Good Reasons to Go On This Trip
1. Beijing: Temple of Heaven, 4 days of qigong & tai chi training, Taoist White Cloud Temple, Forbidden City
The Temple of Heaven is a 14th century spaceship for launching Energy Bodies. I plan to build a replica in North Carolina for a retreat center!
2. Great Wall: do Primordial Tai Chi on top to capture its powerful Dragon Qi (chi).
3. Mt. Heng: Taoist Sacred Mountain of the North, breath-taking Hanging Temples, ancient pilgrim town of Datong with 9 Dragons Wall, Pagoda, and Sacred Grottoes with 50,000 Buddhas.
4. Xian: ancient walled capitol, Moslem bazaar, 8 Immortals Temple, City Gods Temple
5. Terra Cotta Warriors. 2300 year-old army of individually sculpted soldiers covers 5 football fields – China’s most famous site.
6. Mt. Hua “dream caves”: Flower Mountain’s fabulous peaks, temples, caves where we co-dream with immortal beings
L: those tiny dots are people, not ants, hiking up a ridge to West Peak monastery!
7. Louguantai. Lao Tzu’s ascension site, the original Taoist spiritual power center.
Cauldron and Taoist priest at the Temple of Lao Tzu in Louguantai.
8. Learn Spiritual Tai Chi in China. Anyone can learn and practice the gracefully simple 800 year old Tai Chi for Enlightened Love lineage form, aka Primordial Qigong. Mantak Chia learned this form on the 2010 Dream Trip, and loved it so much he adopted it into the Healing Tao certification system. Attendees on this trip get certified to teach the form. It’s an amazing form that combines qigong, inner alchemy, feng shui, and tai chi.
Get free DVD in advance, when you put trip deposit down. This is something that you’ll take home with you, a lifetime treasure. Even as we visit the “must-see” cultural highlights of China, we constantly focus on using Qigong & Tai Chi to develop a profound “earth connection”.
9. The EARTH QI IN CHINA IS DIFFERENT. It has been cultivated for thousands of years already, so it is more refined than other parts of the world. We practice in China’s most powerful sacred mountains and caves. Taoist adepts have practiced here for thousands of years. Their special Qi will support each of us. When you come home, you will feel super-grounded, ready to create your deepest Life Path.
10. It’s Easy. Climb on some of China’s most powerful sacred mountains. We keep the hiking easy, using cable cars to first get to the spectacular walking areas. Yes, there are a few short stretches of steep stairs – but who cares when the view is what is really taking your breath away? Our group qigong practice will give you incredible energy to handle those stairs and our packed travel schedule.
11. China’s top power spots: feel self-empowered. Our group tai chi practice at Taoist “sacred power” sites is very, very empowering. This form feels different in China, even if you’ve been doing it for years. The Tao Immortals who originally transmitted this form are likely to show up!
12. Shamanic 7-Star Big Dipper Qigong. Training by Michael Winn in the rare and ancient shamanic Seven Star Big Dipper Qigong Ceremony, from Nu Xian Pai, “Path of the Female Immortals” lineage. It aligns with Taoist inner alchemy method of absorbing purple Qi from the Pole Star. This shamanic qigong generates a very special and powerful Qi field — used in ancient times to build a protective field around one’s community or before going into battle. Taoists believe the Pole Star & 7 Big Dipper stars control human destiny. Are you ready to take control of your destiny?
L: Dream Tripper meditating in 8 Immortals Temple. You can feel the vibration of 1500 years of meditation. R: Tripper in deep trance at Lao Tzu’s Ascension Site near Louguantai – amazing etheric energy, my favorite power spot in China.
13. Deep Meditation. Taoist temples allow space for deep tranquil meditation in the midst of 1.5 billion people. We’ll meditate (you choose a method best for you) in Beijing’s White Cloud Temple and Temple of Heaven; Xian’s City God Temple; the 8 Immortals Temple (1400 years old!); Huashan’s Jade Spring Temple, White Ruler God Temple, and Goddess of the 9 Heavens Temple, one of many Flower (“Hua”) Mountain temples dedicated to female Immortals. There are many “cave temples” atop Mt. Hua, dedicated to various divine beings – Jade Emperor, Thunder God, Kuan Yin, etc.These temples are all highly charged with deep spiritual energy of the Tao.
14. Stay in a monastery or a cave on Huashan. This has been hugely popular and led to many powerful spiritual experiences. For those who don’t want to “rough it” fasting in a cave, you can sleep and eat in a comfortable monastery and meditate during the day in a special cave, a Kuan Yin Temple that is not open to the public, just our group..
L: Statue of Chen Tuan at base of Mt. Hua. He’s The Sleeping Immortal who dreamed for months at a time. R: Weak Peak of Mt. Hua has a monastery atop it where we stay.
15. Have the spiritual adventure of a lifetime!
Follow your own “Way” in China, on a Journey designed to be a life-changing experience. Do you want to enrich your life and have some “serious spiritual fun” with a fabulous group of souls? If you seek a shot of fresh energy to unfold your highest destiny, this is the trip for you.
To view the full China Dream Trip itinerary with 60 photos and cost information, please visit:
https://www.michaelwinn.qlogictechnologies.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?rm=mode2&articleid=140#
for more information, call 888 999 0555 or email: info@michaelwinn.qlogictechnologies.com (please ignore false “bounce” messages – it’s working)
Featured Special available until Sat. Nov. 30, midnight, 2013:
1. Internal Chi Breathing & Rooting DVD: reg. $44.95. Save 35% ($15.!) Buy for $29.95. + s/h
2. Easy standing postures – get a profound sense of peace.
3. Gain new flexibility in your tendons & joints
4. Get Grounded – and Stay Grounded!
5. Prevent & Heal Osteoporosis
• Bone Breathing – Tapping, Spiraling & Rooting
• 25 Best Tendon & Joint Qigong
• Dantian – Mingmen breathing
• 5 Standing Postures to Activate Core Channels
The 9 Major Benefits of Qigong Fundamentals 4: combines internal practice taught on Fundamentals 4 Audio plus the postures taught on the DVD.
Consider upgrading from DVD only to Audio CD + 2 DVDs for Fundamentals 3&4 Package
- Opens up our ability to expand the space inside and breathe inside our bones. Bone breathing moves the deep “jing” or sexual essence that shapes our body and health. A new sense of aliveness is born within our core self. When the bones are awake, the rest of you runs more effortlessly. You pump fresh hormones and life into your blood.
- Five standing postures calm your monkey mind. The anxious thoughts and distractions are re-directed into your bones and the earth. Some ‘empty mind’ standing postures drive the monkey crazy. The dynamic nature of bone breathing keeps the monkey engaged in a positive process and gradually brought to stillness.
- Allows healing of many chronic illnesses or alleviates their severity, including cancer. The deepest imbalances in our organs and tissues get gradually pushed down into our bone marrow. Releasing the trapped sickness from the bones can product swift (“miraculous”) healing beyond the comprehension of western doctors. 3500 scientific studies prove Qigong’s power to prevent & heal chronic illness.
- Excellent for women seeking to avoid or heal osteoporosis. Bones waste away because we don’t live inside them. Women lose blood monthly, and this exhausts the jing (= stem cell) supply in the bones that converts itself into blood. Hormonal precursors are produced inside the bones. Learn to manufacture what you need for good health – supplements are not enough. Isometric pressure on bone muscle + chi flow is what works.
- Increase your flexibility and stretch-ability with tendon and joint qigong. You never grow old if you stay limber. Spine, arm & legs & finger and toe joints all get a beautiful and quick tune-up.
- Prevent and heal arthritis – the bane of old age (and young age for some). Joints are like spark plugs between the bones – they need cleaning regularly to keep your “spark” in life. My top joint qigong exercises, collected over 20 years search.
- Learn to clear up and access ancestral issues. This is just beginning level of this work, being able to witness how many emotional and health issues are really blood – ancestral – genetic. But they can be changed by vibrating the bone marrow and “washing” it. Higher level marrow washing method is Lesser and Greater Water & Fire alchemy (Kan & Li).
- Standing practice and bone breathing is the very best method to build grounding. Grounding is essential for anyone stuck in their head or not quite living “in their body”. It benefits energy healers, meditators, martial artists, dancers, yogis, psychologists, all health care workers, business people. Everyone needs more grounding for comfortable flow of energy and to keep their sanity!
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Open up deeper level of internal chi breathing, between 1) bones and the dantian, 2) dantian and mingmen (gate of life) where you convert formless chi into your body & mind, and 3) internal counterforce breathing between crown of head (bai hui) and perineum (hui yin). This is deep, blissful experience of core self.
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1. Internal Chi Breathing & Bone Rooting DVD reg. $44.95. Save 35% ($15.!) Buy for $29.95. + s/h TO ORDER DVD, please email my office manager: Jan <healingtaousa@bellsouth.net> or call 828 505 1444 (or 888 999 0555 within USA). This discount is NOT available online. Ask Jan about upgrading from DVD only to Audio CD + 2 DVDs for Fundamentals 3&4 Package – still keep $15. discount!
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Loving the Pure Love at the Heart of the Way,
Michael Winn
“Who takes Heaven as his ancestor, Virtue as his home,
the Tao as his door, and who becomes change — is a
Sage.” — Chuang Tzu, Inner Chapters
“The Tao is very close, but everyone looks far away.
Life is very simple, but everyone seeks difficulty.”
— Taoist Sage, 200 B.C
Register online for on Healing Tao University, the largest Tao (Dao) Arts & Sciences program in the
West with 20 week long summer retreats featuring qigong (“chi kung”) and inner alchemy (neidangong) training. For more info, see http://www.HealingTaoRetreats.com
Or visit http://www.HealingTaoUSA.com, to order books/videos/tapes from the Tao Home
Study program. Call the Healing Tao USA Fullfillment center at the Mystical Number 1-888-999-0555 or more
ordinary numbers: 828-505-1444, or email info@HealingTaoUSA.com
Visit http://www.Taichi-Enlightenment.com for a glimpse into the world’s most magical spiritual tai chi form.
To get Michael Winn’s FREE 130 page ebook Way of the Inner Smile, with 25 fabulous photos of the world’s most spiritual smiles, go to homepage http://www.HealingTaoUSA.com and subscribe to “Tao News”. You will receive his “Chi Flows Naturally” newsletter and be on his most updated elist. You will immediately receive download info.
If you change your email address in the future and wish to stay on this list, simply re-subscribe to Tao News on our homepage.
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Healing Tao USA • 4 Bostic Place • Asheville, NC 28803 • Tel. 888.999.0555 • www.healingdaousa.com
China Dream Trip 2012
Topic: TaoNews
Author:
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 Healing Tao USA Home |
The Dream Trip to China is for people who believe that life is a spiritual adventure. It is for souls that hunger for the riches of ancient wisdom in faraway lands, and seek to merge them into the present moment.
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,but by the places and moments that take our breath away”. |
China “Year of the Dragon” Dream Trip 2012
Full 22-day trip May 18 – June 8, 2012
Michael Winn and Jem Minor will be joined in a powerful “Water & Fire” Taoist Wedding Ceremony atop Huashan’s 3000 foot sheer cliffs, famous as a meeting place for Immortals and Dragon Spirits. Have the spiritual adventure of your lifetime! Year of the Dragon is auspicious for travel and exciting change.
Flower Mountain (Huashan)’s spectacular West Peak, with a monastery on top, will be the Wedding site for Michael Winn and Jem Minor.
Right: Taoist monk views West Peak from valley below, the half-mile high cliff is the “Taoist Yosemite”.
Qigong Journey to 3 Spectacular Taoist Mountains, “Double Dragon Cave” & Golden Flower Temple + Stay in a Huashan Cave or Monastery + China’s Major Cultural Attractions
Get 3 “Mountain Mosts” on one amazing trip:
? Flower Mountain (Hua Shan) = Most Spiritually Powerful mountain in China. In written records and legend, more Tao immortals achieved themselves on Huashan than anywhere else.
? Yellow Mountain (Huang Shan) = Most Beautiful mountain in China. All Chinese people know this. That’s why it’s scenery was used for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” film.
?3 Pure Ones Mountain (Sanqing Shan) = Most “Secret Jewel” mountain to Taoists. Most Chinese don’t even know it exists. A powerful Tao Alchemy Temple surrounded by fantastic rock formations.
Details of unique Water & Fire Wedding Ceremony planned atop Mt. Hua that you are invited to attend:
https://www.michaelwinn.qlogictechnologies.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?rm=mode2&articleid=142
  Bridge of the Immortals, Yellow Mountain (Huangshan) |
| Michael Winn, Trip Leader
Michael is founder of Healing Tao University, co-author of 7 books with Mantak Chia, past President of the National Qigong Association, and experienced traveler to over 100 countries. He is an ex-war correspondent in Africa & Asia turned spiritual guide ? he’s explored both the dark and light side of humanity. He’s led dozens of adventure & sacred tour groups over the last 30 years on five continents. This is his 15th trip to China.
Alison Downey, Co-Trip Leader Alison is a Chinese medical doctor in Asheville NC, experienced China traveller (including 2010 Dream Trip), and Goddess-of-Exuberant Fun extraordinaire. She introduced Michael and Jem at an Ecstatic Dance movement group she helped found, and will be an officiant at their wedding atop Mt. Hua. She will lead side excursions for those interested in Chinese medicine.
Jennifer Minor, Assistant Trip Leader:
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 Michael Winn, holding a rare Red Panda in China
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| Trip Guides:
Cherry Li, born in Yunnan province (near Tibet), from the Yi tribe. She is warm, friendly, and dedicated to helping fellow Taoists understand Chinese culture and its people, and to travel comfortably inside China. She has been guiding Dream Trips in China for over ten years, and will assist us on Xian-Huashan portion. Dana Xu (“shu”), is a long time friend and guide who lives in Hangzhou. She is warm, sweet, and loves to share Chinese culture with foreigners. She’ll be with us on the core trip to Hangzhou and the Eastern mountains and temples. She’ll be a treasured friend to all! |
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This trip explores new riches in eastern China not offered on the previous Dream Trips. Plus continues our pioneer efforts as the only trip that offers genuine cave experience on Huashan. The trips are designed to keep the door open between Western and Chinese Taoist adepts, and to deepen the ground of our personal practice. Our qigong practice will connect us to the uniquely powerful Qi currents flowing in China’s sacred mountains. If your heart feels drawn to China’s mystery, I advise you to trust your soul’s guidance, and trust the Tao will supply the time and resources to GO.”
– Michael Winn
(Elijah Siegler also wrote a chapter “Daoism beyond modernity: The Healing Tao as post-modern movement” in David Palmer and Liu Xun’s book Daoism in the 20th century: Between Eternity and Modernity).
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2012 DREAM TRIP HIGHLIGHTS
? (Full trip only): Attend what I am confident will be the most powerful Taoist ceremony I’ve ever created: my wedding to Jem Minor atop Mt. Hua, on the Secret Celestial Pavilion (inaccessible to tourists). I’ve visited Huashan over ten times, and made friends with the Tao Immortals and Earth Dragon spirits that live there. I’m sure they will show up to empower the Chii Field of the wedding. Guests will also be participating in the ceremony with group practice of Primordial Tai Chi and Big Dipper 7-Star Stepping Qigong to empower a new cycle of love on planet earth during the auspicious Year of the Dragon.
- Climb on some of China’s most powerful sacred mountains. We keep the hiking easy, using cable cars to first get to the spectacular walking areas. Breathtakingly beautiful Yellow Mountain (Huang Shan) was made famous as the backdrop for the film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”. 3 Pure Ones Mountain is very hidden, considered a secret jewel amongst Taoists. Flower Mtn (Huashan) is the oldest Taoist mountain in ancient texts.
- Meditate in the deep cave used by famous immortal Huang in the 4th century to realize himself. Retreat in the nearby Golden Flower Temple of Taoism’s oldest alchemical Shang Qing sect. The Taoist orbit meditation practice of “Circulating the Golden Flower” was likely named after this temple.
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Learn and practice 800 year old lineage Primordial Qigong (aka Tai Chi for Enlightenment). It’s an amazing form that combines qigong, inner alchemy, feng shui, and tai chi. Get free DVD in advance, when you put trip deposit down.
Our group tai chi practice at Taoist “sacred power” sites is very, very empowering. This form feels different in China. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to practice it on the 3 Pure Ones Mountain or possibly in the Golden Flower Cave. Tao Immortals who originally transmitted this form to Chang San Feng, are likely to show up! - Regular daily qigong training in China by Michael Winn, and by local teachers where available. Training by Michael Winn in the rare and ancient shamanic Seven Star Big Dipper Qigong Ceremony, from the Nu Xian Pai or “Path of the Female Immortals” lineage. It combines beautifully with the Taoist inner alchemy method of absorbing purple chi from the Pole Star.
?Big Dipper shamanic qigong generates a very special and powerful chi field. It was used in ancient times to build a protective field around one’s community or before going into battle. Pole Star and 7 Big Dipper stars are said to control human destiny. Are you ready to take control of your destiny? 
8 Trigrams (bagua) gateway to Qingkeping Monsstery on Mt. Hua, with nearby cave for meditation.
3 Pure Ones Mountain vista, from an amazing walkway.
?We will practice this Shamanic 7 Star Qigong, together with the Wu Ji Gong (Tai Chi for Enlightenment) form, throughout the trip. Together they generate an amazing synergy!
?Taoist temples support deeply tranquil meditation. Meditate in Beijing’s White Cloud Temple and the Temple of Heaven; in the ancestral temple of Ge Hong in Hangzhou; in Ge Hong’s famous alchemist-Grandfather’s Tao Sanctuary on 3 Pure Ones Mountain, and in the 1500 year old Golden Flower Temple in Jinhua of the rare alchemical Shang Qing Taoist sect. Immortal Huang’s Double Dragon cave is treated like a temple. These temples are all highly charged with deep spiritual energy of the Tao.
?During the extra week, the powerful temples we’ll visit include: Xian’s City God Temple; the 8 Immortals Temple (1400 years old!), Jade Spring Temple (at base of Huashan), White God Temple, ruler of the West (atop Huashan), and Goddess of the 9 Heavens Temple, one of many Flower (“Hua”) Mountain temples dedicated to female Immortals. There are many “cave temples” atop Mt. Hua, dedicated to various divine beings, Jade Emperor, Thunder God, Kuan Yin, etc.
? See China’s top cultural highlights: Do qigong on the Great Wall, in Beijing’s Temple of Heaven; tour the Forbidden City, view the magnificent and massive 2300 year old Terra Cotta Army of Emperor Huangdi, experience Hangzhou’s amazing “Water Spectacle” (by Olympic Games Opening designer Zhang Yimou) over Westlake, and Xian’s colorful ancient Moslem Night Bazaar.
If you want to increase your resonance with all things Taoist, this is the trip for you!
PHOTOS:
Dream Trippers having fun at a Dumpling House
For collection of my top China Dream Trip photos:
http://www.healingdao.com/china_dream_trip_photos.html
For photos of previous Dream trip to HUASHAN, see:
http://www.healingdao.com/china_2008.html
For Photo Index: https://www.michaelwinn.qlogictechnologies.com/photos.html
HOW TO SIGN UP for CHINA DREAM TRIP
Money back guarantee: on returning home, you will not be the same person who left!
FROM LOS ANGELES: Full 22-day trip (May 18 – June 8) is only $5590., including airfare from LAX and three flights inside China, all land costs (food, hotel, bus, entry fees, etc.).This includes ancient Xian capital, Terra Cotta Warriors, and 4 nights in monastery or caves on Mt. Hua – and my wedding ceremony!
FROM LOS ANGELES: Short Trip (May 18-31) cost is only $4695. including international airfare, two flights inside China and all land costs within China – 4 star hotels where available, with magnificent banquets of tasty local cuisine. All bus, cable car, and entry fees included.
NOT included in pricing: fuel surcharges (set by airlines at time of ticket issue in March 2012, may be $100+ if oil prices rise), China visa fee, trip/medical insurance ( $150.+ strongly recommended). For tips to the dozens of porters, drivers, interpreter-guides, we simplify by asking everyone in advance for $75. short trip, $105 full trip (about $5 a day). Land cost may increase slightly if there is a significant currency re-valuation of yuan to dollar before trip begins..
You must be at LAX (Los Angeles) late on Friday night, May 18 (to catch 1:40 am flight early May 19). Low cost round trip add-on fares to LAX from domestic US cities may be available. Contact our travel agent, Virginia Chan, at 626-571-6727 (Calif.)
I’ve worked hard to keep this trip affordable – the trip is priced $150. lower than the similar 2010 trip, despite high inflation and a strong Chinese currency driving up travel costs. I also want your presence as a blessing at my wedding! It is priced $2500. below comparable quality tourist trips to China, which don’t cover the same range of exotic locations. In the travel market, this trip is a total bargain given all that is packed into it. When weighing the cost, know that your life-changing experiences of qigong in China, and travelling with an “enlightened” group of Tao-minded folks, will be priceless!
FULL TRIP FROM BEIJING: Cost for full Trip (May 20 – June 8) is $4390. Covers all land costs. It does NOT include international or 3 domestic flights inside China. The USA group is arriving in Beijing at 5 am on Sunday May 20. You will meet them for breakfast at Tiantan Hotel at 7 am. Afterwards, we do qigong in Tiantan Park. We recommend you stay at Beijing’s 4-star Tiantan Hotel on Sat., May 19. and we’ll arrange group rate and book it for you.
Book your return flight FROM Xian (airport code: XIY) to wherever you are going) on Thursday, June 8. We supply travel agent in China to help. Email us for specific domestic flights.
SHORT TRIP FROM BEIJING: Cost of Short Trip only (May 18-31) is $3595. Covers all land costs (does NOT include LAX OR 2 domestic flights, PEK-HGH-PEK. This is $400. cheaper than last year, as domestic airfare not included. Book your return flight FROM Hangzhou (to wherever you are going) after 11 am on Thursday, May 31.
FROM XIAN: Separate Cost for 9-day/8-night (May 31 – June 8) portion is $895. (does NOT include any airfare). Normally I do not permit people to attend the week on Huashan separate from the rest of the trip. But because of the wedding, this year I’m making an exception. Note that guests taking this extra week only are NOT guaranteed the right to sleep in a Huashan cave, which are very limited. But as a beautiful alternative, you can stay in a monastery and meditate during the day in a nearby powerful cave-Temple to Kuan Yin.
$100. DISCOUNT to my personal students, Healing Tao instructors, past China trip members or any attendee of Healing Tao USA summer retreats in the past three years. Students from live retreat teachings of Kan & Li level should email me about additional discounts, this year only.
Single room on Full 22-day trip: $740. does not cover monastery on Huashan (4 nights) or Jinhua temple (3 nights).
Single room May 18-30 (short trip) only: $545. Note: At Jinhua Temple, single rooms NOT included, but may be available at adjacent temple-owned hotel (about $50/night extra).
Single room for Xian/Huashan week only (May 31 – June 8): $195. Does NOT include 4 nights atop Mt. Hua.
RESERVE YOUR PLACE with $600. deposit, subject to terms of cancellation policy posted below. Credit cards accepted for deposit, but checks or wired funds are requested for balance of payments. If you need to finance the trip with credit cards, it’s acceptable, but please call us to arrange. The trip is not priced for everyone to pay by credit card (those airline miles you earn cost me 4%!).
BALANCE DUE: Trip fee balance due by midnight, Friday Feb. 11, 2012. All checks payable to trip organizer: Dao Alchemy Research Institute (or its educational branch, Healing Tao USA). Extended payment can be arranged if necessary. Don’t let money stop you from following your heart!
TAX DEDUCTIBLE: As an IRS approved 501c3 non-profit activity, US nationals may claim 40%+ of total trip fee as tax deductible (ask your accountant). Depending on tax bracket, this may reduce the cash cost of trip (in 30% bracket, over $500 tax savings). Your donation (and all profits from the trip) go to support Healing Tao University summer retreats, which gave away 20 scholarships in 2011!
Ecstatic Calligraphy, from Golden Flower Temple (Jinhua)
TO MAKE A DEPOSIT FOR CHINA TRIP:
You may call in your deposit to our office at 888-999-0555 inside USA, or phone 828-505-1444, or email: info@HealingTaoUSA.com
A phone call or email will also “time stamp” your deposit for a week while you mail a check payable to:
Healing Tao USA , 4 Bostic Place , Asheville, North Carolina 28803
Trip registrar is Jan Gillespie. It is safe to leave credit card information on the message machine, or send an email with card number in two sections for security. Note: Jan has NOT been to China; email your questions to winn (AT) HealingTaoUSA.com. You will receive extensive information on what to pack, how to stay healthy, how to prepare for the experience, etc.
PLEASE CONFIRM YOUR DEPOSIT (phone or mailed) WITH EMAIL TO: info@HealingTaoUSA.com.
DON’T DELAY in making an advance deposit ? reserve your space as early as possible. Last minute applications are accepted on space available basis, but may cost more if airfare fees have changed.
Questions? Contact Jan, Trip registrar, at 888-999-0555 or email: info@michaelwinn.qlogictechnologies.com
China Dream Trip & Qigong Journey May 2012:
A Qigong Journey to Three of China’s Most Sacred Taoist Mountains
Full 22-day Journey with “Taoist Wedding + Cave & Mountain Meditation” May 18 ? June 8, 2012
Short Journey: May 18 – 31, 2012
This schedule does not have all talks on Taoism or qigong practice times in it.
We lose one day due to crossing International Date Line, but we recover it on the way back.
Day 3: We arrive Beijing 5:20 am. Stay at 4 star Tiantan Hotel, near the wonderful Temple of Heaven park. We immediately visit the Taoist Temple of Heaven (Tian Tan), the most sacred place in Beijing. Before touring the temple, we spend the morning at Temple of Heaven park, Beijing’s largest and most colorful potpourri of people. It is filled each morning with qigong & tai chi players, ballroom dancing, gambling, folk singers, gymnasts & musicians.
Temple of Heaven, Beijing’s most powerful Taoist site. Entry to Forbidden City still honors Mao.
Built without a single nail. A 14th century star ship? I hope to build a replica in North Carolina!
Day 4: Qigong early morning in the park. Morning visit to the White Cloud Taoist Temple, headquarters of the Complete Perfection Dragon Gate sect. This is a powerful place to meditate & practice qigong. They have a fascinating museum of inner alchemy, and dozens of small temples and hidden parks to meditate in. Drive to Great Wall of China. The Wall is very impressive, a wonder of the World, part of a 2500 mile long wall. We’ll hike and do Primordial qigong on the Wall at sunset, when it is deserted. Evening banquet. Beijing.
Dream Trippers absorb chi from Temple of Heaven, in distance. Tiantan Park: Silk banner dancing dates back 2000 years.
Both are spiritual qigong forms that affect you personally as well as organize the larger field of your life/Nature. Both are unlike any other medical or martial qigong forms I’ve ever seen; each generates a unique and powerful chi field. Performed together, they are off the charts.
Primordial Tai Chi on the Great Wall of China. Master Chia on far left. Meditating in Inner Alchemy museum, White Cloud Temple, Beijing.
Mantak loves this form, will soon adopt it into the Healing Tao.
Late morning free to rest, or explore the giant maze of the nearby Red Pearl Department store – a cultural tour in itself. At 1:30 pm bus departs to airport, and we fly to Hangzhou, We’ll stay in a comfortable hotel near the famous West Lake. Zhejiang Province.
Day 6: We spend the day relaxing and exploring China’s most famous lake and surrounding hills. West Lake is so beautiful it is considered the premier location for honeymoon couples in China. It’s common to see weddings on the shoreline. We’ll hire small boats to take us out to the islands in the center of the lake, with exquisite classical Chinese architecture, meditative gardens, and lovely walking paths.
We’ll practice Primordial Qigong surrounded by the Lake energy. We’ll absorb the chi from the fabulous views of the surrounding hills, with temples and pagodas rising from their heights.
We’ll later visit the Temple of Ge Hong, a 4th century Taoist adept famous for his alchemical elixirs. We’ll enjoy the local cuisine, which is also famous in China. Hangzhou.
Day 7: Morning qigong at sunrise beside the shimmering West Lake. After a gourmet breakfast, we’ll stop at a teashop to try some famous Dragon Well (Longjing) Tea. Then take our private coach 3 hours up a new highway to what is considered China’s most beautiful mountain: Yellow Mountain (Huang Shan). We’ll take the cable car up the hard part, then hike an easy 1 hour, winding through its gorgeous, magically sculpted peaks. Its reputation for having the most breath-taking vistas in the whole of China is well-deserved.
Yellow Mountain is where the most spectacular mountain scenes in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon were filmed, including the famous final “leap off the cliff” shot. It’s interesting that there are neither Taoist nor Buddhist temples on Huangshan, in a country where most mountains have temples. It’s almost as if the beauty of the mountain itself was so sacred that it was left untouched by human culture. We’ll stay in a comfortable mountain inn, and enjoy the peaceful beauty. Huangshan.
Pagoda overlooks the serenity of West Lake
Day 8: First thing in the morning, we’ll do Primordial Tai Chi to gather the fabulous mountain beauty chi. The chi here is quite different than mountains where Taoists have cultivated. The vibration is not as spiritually intense, but it has a wonderfully innocent and free feeling to it. Rest of the day free for relaxing, meditating, or hiking to various spectacular viewpoints nestled within the forested valleys. Your hiking path is suddenly interrupted by craggy cliffs and soaring pinnacles of stone with marvelous hues of color. Really fit gung-ho hikers have all day to do the amazing 8 hour “Western Canyon” hike, up & down a vertical mile through hundreds of rock pinnacles. I will lead a shorter 2 hour hike to the Bridge of the Immortals.
Day 9: Morning free. We’ll take the cable car down to the base of Yellow Mountain for lunch, then bus in the afternoon about 2 hours to the base of 3 Pure Ones Mountain. We’ll stay in the tiny mountain village, in its lone 4-star hotel. There are charming shops with unusual high-chi rocks from the mountain. 3 Pure Ones Mountain.
Yellow Mountain spectacular vista at sunset. Amazing walkways built on sheer cliffs.
Lao Tzu lives on 3 Pure Ones Mtn! Is this cool, or what? Beauty, beauty, everywhere!
Day 10: We’ll catch the first cable car up 3 Pure Ones Mountain in order to have all day to explore its stunning scenery. It takes a couple of hours hiking to reach the powerful Taoist temple, called the Tao Sanctuary of the 3 Pure Ones, set within a natural cauldron of buttressed hills. But it is a most amazing hike. This mountain is a World Heritage site, and the Chinese have built amazing walk-ways along the edges of sheer cliffs so that the impossibly spectacular views become reachable.
3 Pure Ones Mountain is sometimes called a “baby Yellow Mountain”. It will be quite interesting for us to compare the two. I find the individual rock formations on 3 Pure Ones Mountain to be more stunning aesthetically. Energetically, I feel the chi from the Taoists meditating and communicating with the mountain spirits elevates the spiritual vibration of the entire mountain.
Dragon & Tiger temple, Tao Sanctuary. 3 Pure Ones: Snake Rising Pinnacle.
To explore the entire network of trails takes about 5 to 6 hours of hiking, but shorter routes are available. There are many Taoist temples and shrines dotting the north side of the mountain. One of them is the Dragon and Tiger temple, with exquisite miniature statues of Taoist deities and immortals meditating under the open sky temple (no roof). I asked the local Taoists where their favorite place to meditate was. They pointed to a giant rock facing the temple. After we reach the Taoist Sanctuary, we will do Primordial Tai Chi together on that “power rock”, which has special fengshui that allows it to absorb chi from the natural cauldron formed by the hills.
We’ll catch the last cable car down the mountain to return to our comfy 4 star hotel. 3 Pure Ones Mountain.
Day 12: We’ll continue our meditation and qigong retreat at Jinhua. The chi here is VERY special, even the famous Taoist Wang Li Ping (subject of “Opening the Dragon’s Gate: The Making of a Taoist Wizard”) holds retreats at Jinhua. The temple belongs to the Shang Qing (pronounced “Ching”), a 5th century Taoist sect that, previous to my discovering this temple, I believed was extinct in China. Shang Qiing were the first Taoists to publicly initiate the alchemical meditation practice of connecting the vital organ spirits to the spirits of the sacred cardinal directions. You will see these ceremonies still being performed here today. It is the perfect place to practice the kind of alchemical meditations taught by the Healing Tao.
“Highest Clarity Daoism, originating in the 4th century C.E., represents one of the earliest and most successful attempts to synthesize the foundational religious elements that had already appeared on China?s religious scene. These included shamanism, mystical experiences, astrology, the quest for immortality, meditation practices, court ritual and …. concepts of death and rebirth.
“The synthesis brought these various elements into a single complex system, the highest goal of which was the transfiguration of the body and its pre-mortem ascension into heaven. Should this goal not be attainable – other, lesser, forms of salvation were also available to practitioners so that even if they were to die, they could safely pass through the underworld and be reborn, intact, in the heavens”
The Shang Qing meditation technique involves visualizing gods descending into the 5 organs of the body at certain times of the year. This alone makes it interesting for adepts of One Cloud?s Alchemy Formulas for Attaining Immortality, which work with similar principles. Meditating in such a location is very empowering for those on the alchemical path. Jinhua Temple.
Entry to one cave near Double Dragon.. Western Taoist adept meditating in cave. China is OLD! 1800 year old tree as testimony.
Day 13: We’ll spend the day visiting the caves used for millennia by Taoist adepts, most famously the Immortal Huang in the Double Dragon cave. This cave has an underground waterfall and river in it, so it is very moist and warm. It can only be reached by laying down in a small one person raft that flows down a narrow tunnel to get inside the cave. Each cave has a different kind of chi, which we will experience and use to build up a “library” of different frequencies of deep earth chi refined by generations of Taoist meditators. Many Taoists are said to have achieved themselves in these caves, most famously a goat herder named Huang in the 4th century. The Golden Flower Temple still keeps a flock of pure white goats in “Immoral Huang’s” honor. He is the “local god” in the main temple, and countless miracles in the community are attributed to him. I was told that Westerners making the pilgrimmage to this ancient temple are eligible for similar good fortune.
Shang Qing 1500 yr. old Ritual to 5 Sacred Directions Underground river boat: Double Dragon entry.
Waterfalls inside Double Dragon Cave. 3 Pure Ones Mtn landscapes bend the mind at every turn.
Day 14: Morning free, time to load up on the temple’s delicious tea for gifts. Drive to Hangzhou airport. Main group will fly to Xian, the ancient capital. Those on short trip returning to USA may have afternoon to shop in Hangzhou, then fly to Beijing to connect to Air China #983. Depart Beijing 11:55 pm, arrive in Los Angeles 9 pm same day on Friday, May 31 (miracle of International Date Line). This gives time to connect to other flights, or Virginia (our agent in LA) will help you book a hotel to relax in Los Angeles after the 12 hour flight from Beijing.
Those staying for the full trip (and wedding atop Mt. Hua) will take a 2-hour flight to Xian.
FULL TRIP ITINERARY in XIAN and HUASHAN (includes 9 DAYS: May 31 – June 8, 2012)
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Entry gate to Huashan’s Jade Spring Temple. North Peak of Mt. Hua (“Flower Mountain”
Wedding Ceremony, Taoist Cave-Meditation & Mountain-Explorers Week
Read this article: For Michael Winn’s experience of living in a Taoist cave on Huashan for a week with no food or water, see article “Taoist Alchemy & Breatharians” originally published in Qi Journal (you may need a cookie to read this; just sign-in at top of articles page).:
https://www.michaelwinn.qlogictechnologies.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?rm=mode2&articleid=32
Also, please read the intense experiences from previous cavers following this itinerary.
I go out on a limb?my favorite meditation spot on Mt. Hua.
Who should attend this extra week? It is open to everyone with the time and interest. I’ve kept the extra week cost minimal to encourage you to stay – you’ve come all the way to China, why not go a bit deeper?
The core short trip gives everyone exposure to three sacred mountains and some highlights of Chinese culture. It’s a pretty action-packed travel itinerary. The extra week is time to stop moving around, to go within, to digest the powerful EARTH CHI that is unique to these cultivated mountains. This week gives us time to relax, to sink in deep and attune ourselves to the spirits of Taoist masters who merged with the spirit of the mountains, opening an earth-centered portal to immortality.
For people who have already developed a serious meditation practice, it is suitable to spend part of this week fasting in caves on Huashan. For others, it will be far more comfortable and useful to sleep in a Taoist monastery atop Mt. Hua and explore its fantastically beautiful peaks and caves, with shorter periods of meditation and qigong. Or do both ? two days in a cave, and two days atop Mt. Hua.
To sleep in the caves requires bringing special camping gear (sleeping bag, pad, extra warm clothes). It is a hassle to schlep this extra stuff across China for just a few nights in the caves. You really have to deeply DESIRE this experience to go through the extra hassle.
Dream Trippers at Sun-Moon Cave
It also requires extra hiking up a steep mountain opposite one of Huashan’s peaks. The caves can be cold even when its hot outside. You are not given any food (you can bring your own if you are not comfortable fasting). But basically it is a physical hardship to live in a hard cave.
I’ve designed the extra week to satisfy the needs of both paths of contemplation, one staying in mountain peak monasteries, the other spending part time in caves. Let me know which you feel called to follow when you put your deposit down. There are limited cave spaces and I have to figure out a complex schedule to satisfy everyone.
Please notify me if you wish to stay for ONE or TWO NIGHTS in a Cave. If space is available, some may stay for 3 nights.
Priority for reserving caves will be given to 1) my Kan & Li alchemy students 2) date when firm deposit is made, 3) general virtue and commitment to meditation, 4) willingness to explore bigu (fasting on food while feasting on chi) in the cave.
Those who are coming for the extra week (and wedding) will have a special cave (not open to the public) available to them to meditate in by day, while sleeping in a monastery at night.
Daily Itinerary
Day 14: Fly to Xian. Our hotel is in the very center of Xian, the 4 star West Capital Hotel. Immediately behind our hotel is the Taoist “City God” temple, which has a very powerful chi field. Xian was China’s ancient capital from Han to Ming dynasty (200 b.c. ? 1400 a.d.). After dinner, we’ll walk to the nearby lively Moslem Night Bazaar, which has the best craft bargains found anywhere in China, and delicious local foods. Xian.
Xian’s fabulous Muslim Bazaar…I bought this dragon-phoenix plate and love it!
Taoist monk from Complete Perfection Order. Mystical clouds around Huashan’s (Flower Mtn) 5-petals Peaks in each Sacred Direction
Day 17: Take the spectacular cable car ride (the highest in all of Asia) half way up the 7,000 ft. Mt. Huashan.It’s about a 2 hour hike to West Peak monastery, where we’ll spend the night. Rest of day is free, hiking on its five summit peaks, which form a giant 5-petalled flower (Hua shan means “Flower Mountain”). The views are stunning, with many temple shrines (mostly female deities) built in caves along the trail. There are thousands of stone-carved steps, which also make it impossible to get lost. The precipitous granite cliffs have the majesty of Yosimite Park, but this is far more amazing for its feeling of human will carved into the granite since ancient times.
Days 18, 19, 20: Those staying atop Mt. Hua after climbing on the peaks will divide into two camps: Cavers and Mountain Meditation-Explorers.
Some caves had doors on them at one point. Master “Stone of Perfection” serving a farewell meal to Cavers, breaking fast.
Some of the Cavers will hike down for one hour from the cable car landing area, and then hike up for 1.5 hours to the Pole Star cave area where they will check into a pre-assigned cave. Depending on number of Cavers, they may be divided into 2 groups, who will trade positions. There is a wonderful Taoist hermit, whose spiritual name is “Master Stone of Perfection”, living in the cave area and maintaining the caves physically and with meditation and ceremonies. Even though you are there to fast, he will undoubtedly offer to feed you in case you’ve had enough of fasting.
The Mountain Meditation group will stay in a monastery atop Mt. Hua. There are many, many things to explore. One of my favorites is a temple compound dedicated to the “White Ruler God” of the mountain. White refers to the metal/white gold element; this temple is the ruler of all the gods and immortals who are attracted to this mountain. There is a great courtyard for practicing qigong or talking to the Taoists living at the temple about their life as mountain adepts. In one corner of the courtyard is a cave, open for meditation with a small shrine inside it. The cave is said to have been used by San Simiao, a famous Chinese doctor from the Tang Dynasty.
The monastery group will stay for a total of three or four nights in this Taoist monastery atop Huashan’s peaks. The food at the monastery is excellent. We’ll have electricity, but no running water or heat. Hot water buckets available for bathing, and simple latrine. For those who prefer a shorter stay atop Mt. Hua, you can arrange in advance to descend earlier into Huashan village hotel below and spend time in Jade Spring Monastery.
Those staying at the monastery atop Mt. Hua will find plenty to occupy themselves exploring its different peaks and sheer cliffs. Many Chinese climb Mt. Hua to view the sunrise from the East Peak. The sunsets off the West Peak are amongst the most sublime I’ve found on planet earth, and strange paranormal events have been known to occur here (flying immortals showing up, etc.)
For the more adventurous, there are steep ladders and a “board walk” across the backside of the South Peak cliff that leads to a cave carved into the sheer side of the cliff. This gets you to the tree growing horizontally out over a 3000 ft. cliff, my favorite meditation spot on Mt. Hua. This group will also have the opportunity to practice the Primordial Qigong and Seven Star Big Dipper Qigong in a very powerful place.
After spending two days in the cave, some Cavers will move into a fabulous monastery less than one hour’s hike from their cave.
These caves have been used for 2500+ years by Taoist adepts, are carved from solid granite, and thus generally free of mold, dampness or water seepage. Their location has been kept secret, and thus energetically protected from the polluting influence or desecration of caves found on the main peaks by government and tourists. No cooking or heating fires permitted. Weather should be warm, even hot in June, but can still be cool at night. Come prepared for sudden changes in mountain weather (equipment list is provided). Some caves are large and may be shared by two people, both expected to maintain respectful silence.
Huashan’s death-defying “board walk” (optional!!!)
Day 21: Both the monastery and Caver groups on Mt. Hua will hike downhill to Huashan village where they can get a hot shower. This is a very beautiful hike, through a valley with a river filled with giant boulders and magnificent views of Mt. Hua in the background. It will take about 3 hours, more if you stop to explore and play along the river. If for health reasons you prefer to descend by cable car, that option is available, at your expense.
Two hour drive to Xian, then check into same 4-star hotel where we stayed previously. Time for final shopping spree in Xian’s wonderful bazaars and crafts shops, or explore the rich history of China’s ancient capital with its city walls still intact. Final group banquet. Evening free for packing. Xian.
Day 22: Morning free to shop and pack. We’ll do qigong in the City Gods Temple. Depart to Xian on afternoon flight to Beijing, connect to Air China #983. Depart at 11:55 pm, arrive in Los Angeles at 9pm same day (miracle of International Date Line), Friday June 8.
PHOTOS:
For collection of my top China Dream Trip photos:http://www.healingdao.com/china_dream_trip_photos.html
For photos of previous Dream trip to HUASHAN, see:http://www.healingdao.com/china_2008.html
For Photo Index: https://www.michaelwinn.qlogictechnologies.com/photos.html
Please allow a few months (minimum) to digest the experience energetically. The qigong forms will help you do that.
TESTIMONIALS from earlier CHINA DREAM TRIPS
F. Now for my life changes after China:
- immediately after the trip I began to realize that the JUDGMENTS I have are just my judgments. I can now feel the separation they create. And now know that its not the way things and people really are.
- my main Tango dancing partner told me I was DANCING better because I am softer and more relaxed!
- several friends are saying that my VOICE on the phone has become softer, slower, somehow changed.
- the shaman I sometimes see says I am “more myself” – whatever she means by this. I can feel what these feedbacks are referring to and I’m happy about it.
Cancellation Policy:
Note: Low cost travel insurance is made available to all trip members. (Last year it cost average $150.- 200. depending on your age & trip length). You are strongly urged to obtain it. If you do NOT obtain it, you must sign a legal release.
If SARS or some other bird-flu virus should it break out before the trip date, I personally believe the trip will still happen. Two reasons.
1. During the last epidemic there were virtually no cases where we are spending most of our time.
2. Chinese health system is much better prepared and alert this time around.
3. Extensive instructions are given to all trip members on how to stay healthy before and during the trip. These are my time tested travel methods to keep immune system at peak operating level. This strategy has proven very effective on previous trips.
Fees for cancellation are as follows:
1. if cancellation notice is received before midnite Dec. 31, 2011 – $300. fee.
2. If cancel Jan. 1 to midnite Feb. 11, 2012 – $600. fee.
3. If cancel between Feb. 12, 2012 and departure date of trip, full trip cost is owed and forfeited (NO REFUND on land or air). Also why it is essential you get trip insurance.
4. NO refunds for termination of travel AFTER trip begins. Even if a member must involuntarily cancel for physical health reasons AFTER the trip within China has begun, and does not use a portion of their already pre-paid services, no refunds will be made. It is simply too difficult to collect in China, and not worth the trouble. No refunds are made for unused excursions and special program activities.
If Healing Tao USA is forced to cancel the trip for any reason, its liability is limited to return of all deposits and payments for the trip.
We will supply you with a reliable and inexpensive travel insurance option (or you can choose your own). Check the terms and conditions of the issuer of your travel insurance policy as they are defined in the policy’s cancellation clause, which outlines your coverage, its limitations and exclusions. Usually written medical excuse from doctor or proven death in family are accepted.
I hope to hear from you soon ? that you’ve decided to join me for the spiritual adventure of a lifetime!
Love, chi, blessings,
Michael
China’s Crown Chakra: Mt. Changbai
Lineage & Origins of Healing Tao- PHOTOS
Topic: TaoNews
Author:
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 by Michael Winn
L: Precipitous view from 9,000 feet Mt. Changbai, into one of the highest volcanic lakes in the world. R: The highest volcanic waterfall in the world flows down into the valley where I believe One Cloud lived and meditated.
Dear Lovers of Deep Volcanic Earth Mysteries, Fall Equinox is upon us. The metal Qi (chi) cycle is sinking deeper into the Earth. I hope you did a ceremony celebrating this natural Holy-day. 25 Taoists from Asheville did a powerful White Dragon Spirit of the West ceremony at our home last night. Our collective ritual and meditations got a very amazing cauldron of Qi flowing. We each released our personal intention – what we most needed to Let Go. Equinox is a big event, it’s still not too late to do a ritual. Equinox is the perfect time for me to share my recent exploration of Mt. Changbai, “Perpetually White Mountain”. My story and photos will interest anyone interested in the lineage roots of the Healing Tao and the origins of its famous inner alchemy methods. Mt. Changbai is an active volcano with a well named “Heavenly Lake” atop it in northeast China. Every volcanic core acts as a kind of deep earth portal. But Mt. Changbai contains “water falling from Heaven” (collected in a lake) and “fire rising from Earth”, hot magma below the lake, held in exquisite alchemical balance. Spiritual Science of Water & Fire Normally, water sinks and fire rises, and they separate. According to Taoist Internal Medicine, this separation of yin & yang is why we grow old. Our sexual energy leaks out below, and our brain, over-cooked by excess thinking and our heart stressed out by reactive emotions, release heat above. Eventually this separation causes organ exhaustion and death. We need balanced water and fire to rejuvenate our bodies and grow new cells. In alchemy, when water and fire meet and couple in the reversed position of Mt. Changbai’s volcanic Heavenly Lake, the inner ground of our soul, called “True Earth”, is stabilized within the “ordinary earth” of our body’s field. This is the whole purpose of Water & Fire Inner Sexual Alchemy – to reverse and couple these forces in our body to preserve our integrity. From this True Earth soul ground the alchemically refined “True Gold” of an evolved Self can emerge if our virtue is high and we learn how to concentrate our consciousness. Our monkey mind – the undisciplined ego – continually scatters our consciousness with frivolous desires. True Gold is the part of us that is so pure it will live beyond this physical life, after death. This generation of True Earth is happening continuously at Changbai volcano, making it an especially beneficial place for humans to meditate there. One Cloud’s History & Healing Tao Lineage The nine days I spent on Mt. Changbai was for me a journey to the very roots of the Healing Tao lineage. Mantak Chia’s teacher One Cloud, an ardent life-long spiritual seeker of the Way, left his family and business in the 1920’s (around age 45) and went searching for an inner alchemy teacher in the remote wilds of Mt. Changbai. He found a Taoist hermit named White Cloud. White Cloud taught One Cloud the practical secrets of the original Tao Seven Formulas of Internal Alchemy that had been orally transmitted, adept-to-adept, for over a thousand years. One Cloud left Mt. Changbai sometime after the Japanese invaded Manchuria, prior to WWll. He told Mantak how he hiked down from Mt. Changbai one day into the nearest town (likely Erdao Baihe, the last town on the only railroad to Changbai). He climbed into a tree to rest, but was forced to stay in the tree for 7 days when Japanese soldiers camped below. One Cloud could survive this long without food, as he had attained the breatharian state. Later he walked all the way across China to Hong Kong (like walking from Maine to San Diego, only farther). In the 1960’s Mantak Chia left Thailand and attended high school in Hong Kong. It was his fate to study with One Cloud in his hermit hut in the mountains a few miles behind Hong Kong’s famous Yuen Yuen Taoist temple. It was in this Hong Kong hut that One Cloud regaled young Mantak with tales about Changbaishan (shan = mountain). No one knows what became of One Cloud’s teacher White Cloud, who stayed at Changbai – perhaps he ascended on an immortal crane into one of the Taoist heavens? Now, 33 years later, I discovered for myself that Changbai is an incredibly powerful portal for transformative Qi. I believe this fire & water volcano is the hidden source of spiritual power behind the success of the Healing Tao’s transmission worldwide. There are many other alchemical groups in China who have NOT spread beyond their local sacred mountain (most of which I’ve visited on my 14 China Dream Trips). My evolution of One Cloud’s formulas, after 30 years of teaching and refining them: http://www.healingtaousa.co/one_clouds_nine_tao_alchemy_formulas.html
As I meditated deeply at Mt. Changbai, One Cloud’s claim that he and his teacher White Cloud attained the breatharian state became very believeable. Note that documented cases exist, in multiple spiritual traditions, of people not eating for long periods and not losing weight. The volcano’s energy is so strong that it meditates you effortlessly. I’ve never had such easy, deep and powerful kan & li (water & fire) alchemical meditations. Every cell in my body, my deepest jing (bone marrow, sexual essence and DNA-RNA) felt like it was being vibrated at a super high frequency in a cosmic pressure cooker. When you are being fed this kind of Qi energy from within, giving up solid food can be effortless — if you have a method for capturing the powerful Qi field in your body. My visit gave me many amazing breakthroughs. I felt I had found the missing piece of a planetary jigsaw puzzle that began 33 years earlier when I had a visitation from a Taoist immortal a few days before I had myself locked inside the Great Pyramid (story is in my book chapter in Internal Alchemy: Self, Society,& Quest for Immortality, edited by Livia Kohn, excerpted at: https://www.michaelwinn.qlogictechnologies.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?rm=mode2&articleid=94). Staying all night in the King’s Chamber, and for many nights atop the capstone, activated in me the pure fire element needed for whole-planet alchemical work. But I found this fire initiation atop the Great Pyramid insufficient. The Taoist alchemical work seemed necessary to balance out the planet’s East-West hemispheric brain. At Mt. Changbai, I felt I had found simultaneously both the crown and root chakras of China, and that it somehow held a counter-balancing truth to the field held by the Great Pyramid. This relates to our planet’s two oldest traditions, Lemuria and Atlantis, a subject too deep for this letter but to be discussed fully in an upcoming book. I heard about White Cloud and Changbaishan from Mantak Chia 33 years ago, when I was one of Chia’s first Western students in New York’s Chinatown. I have been to China 17 times since then. Why did it take me so long to get to this sacred Taoist mountain, at the root of my spiritual lineage? Why has Mantak Chia never visited it? (note: Master Chia is now excited to visit it next month, inspired by my reports of how powerful it is). L: Tourists & pilgrims climb the 1500 steps up the west slope of Mt. Changbai. You can drive close to the rim on the north slope. R: Fantastic lava landscapes mixed with forest is typical, remnant of world’s largest volcanic explosion. It’s easy to NOT visit Mt. Changbai, as it’s so far out of the way. I travelled 17 hours by car and train from the nearest big city airport of Shenyang. It is north of North Korea, in Manchuria, essentially it is a part of Siberia. It’s the equivalent of northern Maine in the USA, or Nova Scotia above it. It is the largest pristine nature preserve in China (8,100 square miles). It’s where China’s most potent herbs like ginseng are grown, and Changbai Deer antler are harvested. I plan to offer herbal elixirs from Changbai soon on my new website (hopefully ready to launch in a few months). Wild Siberian tigers and amur bears still roam freely. Mt. Changbai volcanic rim has 16 peaks. But views of its lake are often covered in mists, especially during summer monsoon months. The internet is filled with stories of disappointed travellers. I was very blessed to have clear weather in late August. This perpetual cloud cover makes the long journey to Changbai risky for tourists, except in winter when it’s very clear… but can get down to -45 F on the rim! The forested areas on the lower slopes of Changbai are warmer, and were the perfect place for a Taoist recluse like White Cloud to get away from the noise of civilization. I hedged my risk of bad weather on Changbai by staying for 9 days. I had another reason to go, as I was invited to speak at an International Qigong and Longevity conference in Tonghua, near Changbai. Even in Tonghua I noticed my qigong practice was picking up a Qi transmission from Changbai, more than one hundred miles away. (See the summary of my talk on “The Three Secrets of Super-Longevity” below). China’s “Most Dangerous Volcano” May Erupt Soon Back to Changbai. What makes it so energetically powerful? It’s because of it’s intense volcanic activity. In 969 A.D. – about a thousand years ago – Changbai had what scientists call the “millennial eruption” – the most powerful blowout in the last 10,000 years, atomizing a three mile wide mountain top. It was one hundred times more powerful than Mt. Helena’s eruption in 1980. It was three times the size of the eruption that created Crater Lake in Oregon 7800 years ago. Crater Lake is lovely to visit today, it energetically feels very serene, but it lacks the “on-the-edge” water & fire dynamic that makes Changbai much more powerful. Changbai volcano has been erupting for several thousand years. But its biggest explosion was in the Song Dynasty. exactly when Taoist schools of neidan were flourishing and developing the internal alchemy formulas that White Cloud inherited from Tao masters like Lu Dongbin. I suspect the energy of that huge explosion affected the collective psyche of China and accelerated its spiritual development. Is Changbai ready to soon give another boost? Since 969 AD, Changbai has erupted again three times, including a minor flow as recently as 1903. It is considered China’s “most dangerous” volcano, and likely to erupt again within a decade or two. Researchers believe the magma chamber beneath Changbai has started to refill. From 2002 to 2006, seismic activity increased to 72 earthquakes per month. It peaked in November 2003 with 243 quakes. Hot springs near the volcano show increased gas emissions, caused by degassing of freshly injected magma.
L: Eggs boiled in hot spring for sale. This hot spring is a few hundred yards from where I believe One Cloud lived. R: Outdoor Taoist shrine at Small Heavenly Lake, Sun Simiao in the background, in foreground his assistant holds the Pill of Immortality. But the real elixir can only be cultivated internally. You can boil eggs in hot springs near Small Heavenly Lake, in a forrested valley about halfway down the side of the volcano. This is where I believe that One Cloud and White Cloud lived. There is Taoist outdoor shrine there, built 20 years ago for a love-story film made about Changbai. Today the shrine is used actively by pilgrims, and features Sun Simiao, considered the father of Chinese medicine. This is the holiest mountain for both North and South Koreans – half the volcano is within North Korea, and Koreans especially line up to bow and pray at the outdoor shrine. L: Small Heavenly Lake, which has stream water flowing in but no outlet. Amazingly, it’s level never changes, suggesting an underground outlet. R: Emerald Lake, aka simply as “green pond”, with triple waterfalls, a short distance from Small Heavenly Lake. One Cloud told Mantak Chia that “the higher he climbed up Changbaishan, the more warmth he found”. Hot springs would explain that remark, and Small Heavenly Lake or nearby Emerald Lake with its gorgeous waterfalls would have supplied needed water for hermits. The area has abundant herbs and edible greenery, and the deep valley is protected from harsh winds. I found the spiritual energy of Changbai is easier to meditate with and capture at the level of Small Heavenly Lake (beside the volcano’s fire-water coupling) than on the rim (2000 feet above the lake). The winters are cold and dry (due to Arctic winds) but there is only light snow. A strong Taoist internal practice can generate heat inside the body to repel cold. I interviewed the caretaker at Small Heavenly Lake, Wang Shih Fan, who has lived there 22 years and raised two children there. It’s definitely liveable. Ju Xi: Changbaishan Pai is THE Original Taoist Path My theory about where One Cloud and White Cloud lived was given credence by the only local Taoist I could find near the base of Changbai. Finding this totally secluded Taoist was an amazing story in itself. I had searched the internet in vain for any references to modern Taoists near Changbai. All the locals said there was no Taoist temple or Taoists they knew of. At the county museum it mentioned a Taoist hermit had built a bagua-shaped “Tao miao” (temple) on the rim of the North Slope (at 9000 ft. elev.) in around 1905, shortly after the train came to Changbai. It was built from stone, but the Taoist hermit found life so difficult on top that he abandoned it after some years and it fell into decay. I could not even find its remnants.
L: Bird’s Nest tower I found in the middle of Changbai forest, dedicated to Tao Immortals. Only in China! R: giant trees fill Changbai’s primeval forest. Given how powerful I felt the mountain was spiritually, I couldn’t believe that no modern Taoists were drawn to it. One day I went hiking in the forest at the base of the mountain, and I stumbled across a giant wooden “birds nest”, a tower that spiralled up to the treetops. The sign said – in English! – it was built so that aspiring immortals could climb up and have a short cut to talk to the Jade Emperor in Heaven. So naturally I climbed up, and on top of the Bird’s Nest did a wuji gong (primordial tai chi) ceremony. I asked to be connected to any living Taoists on Changbaishan. When I got back to my hotel, the manager immediately said to me, “by the way, I found someone who knows a local Taoist”. Wuji Gong really works fast! That somebody was the regional government’s director of Changbai Culture and History. We met within the hour. He said there was only one Taoist near Changbai, that he was famous elsewhere in China, but not locally, even though he was locally born. The next day, after a two hour drive to a remote forest location, I was introduced to Ju Xi (pronounced “juicy”). Ju Xi is really amazing. He has degrees in engineering and philosphy, and has written 7 books about the most esoteric aspects of Taoism. He is currently building a Taoist University at the base of Changbaishan, where he will train adepts in the science of “inner time and space”. I recorded a two hour interview with him, and plan to make a video, integrated with footage of Mt. Changbai. His research is of great importance for the global Healing Tao community. After he’s finished building in the next two years, I hope to bring some serious Western Taoists to do a retreat there.
L: Ju Xi, age 62, holder of the Changbaishan Path of Taoism. R: Classroom currently used by Ju Xi. His students come from big cities elsewhere in China. One of them told me: “Ju Xi is the best Taoist teacher in the whole of China”. His students clearly love him, as they are funding the building of Changbaishan Tao university. Here’s the jist of Ju Xi’s message: Mt. Changbai’s connection to Taoism goes back 4000 years. “Changbaishan Pai” – the Tao Path of Mt. Changbai – precedes the other schools of Taoism that developed over the centuries. Changbai has been recognized as holy and written about in most dynasties. The author of the oldest Taoist alchemical text from the 2nd century AD, Wei Boyang, was trained at Changbaishan. I was already familiar with his text, the Cantong Qi (Triplex Unity), and had concluded that it is the only ancient text with clear explication of the principles behind One Cloud’s inner alchemy formulas. Ju Xi’s research went far beyond what I had found – that the last dynasty in China, the Qing emperors from Manchuria, regarded Changbaishan as the source of their power. They declared that Huashan in the West and Tai Shan in the East both had dragon veins that were fed from Changbaishan, the top and most holy mountain in China. They declared Changbai shan was the 6th Holy Mountain, above the other five. How did Ju Xi comes to research all this? He was sentenced to hard labor during the Cultural Revolution. Afterwards, to recover his health, he came back home and to heal himself spent 3 years at the hot springs at the very base of Changbai. He read the Tao Canon (= Taoist “bible”, witih 1160 scrolls) during those 3 years, and did long meditations. He used information he found in it to open both his micro and macro cosmic orbits (8 Extraordinary Vessels). Later he travelled to all parts of China, to study the different Tao paths. He considers himself a Taoist philosopher and spiritual scientist, not a priest. Likely Location of One Cloud’s Cave or Hut I asked Ju Xi if he ever heard of One Cloud or White Cloud. He had not. But in the early 80’s he HAD heard of Taoist hermits still living at Small Heavenly Lake – where I had already concluded was the logical place for One Cloud to live. This was long before a road was put in for tourism. One Cloud would have left some forty years before Ju Xi’s healing time at Changbai’s lower elevation hot springs. The Director of Cultural History confirmed that the foundations of wooden huts of hermits had been found at Small Heavenly Lake. Bill Porter’s classic book, Road to Heaven, is an account of his hunting down Taoist and Buddhist hermits in China. He mostly portrays them living in simple huts, not caves. Huts can be sealed against cold wind, wild animals and bats, and can be situated near water or ideal feng shui sites. Even the caves on Huashan – carved out of solid granite by Taoist adepts – originally had wood doors on them, as my China Dream Trippers know well since they stay in them. I couldn’t find any caves on Changbaishan, and spent a fair amount of time looking for one. I heard no mention of lava tubes (like you find in Hawaii). Most of the lava-covered areas of the upper mountain are not liveable. The odds of One Cloud finding a second liveable cave near to his teacher White Cloud (assuming he found a cave) seem even more remote. Given that Ju Xi only heard of Tao hermits near Small Heavenly Lake, I vote for that as the most likely abode for both One Cloud and White Cloud, probably living in huts. Over my decades of Taoist cultivation, I’ve noticed my skill at feeling different layers of past-present-future realities have grown to a much higher level. During deep meditations, I asked my Inner Sage to find and share with me any unique memories of One Cloud or White Cloud stored within Changbai’s Qi field. I quickly got that their memories have already been dissolved alchemically by the larger Water & Fire cauldron of the volcano.
Santorini Island I found very supportive of teaching Taoist Water & Fire alchemy. But the crater perimeter is broken, so it doesn’t hold the alchemical Qi as powerfully as Changbaishan. I had noted a similar dissolving effect on the Greek island of Santorini, where I’ve taught of number of kan & li alchemy retreats. Santorini has villages perched on the rim of a still active volcano, but its now filled with ocean water. Greek students visiting from the mainland often commented that they felt disoriented and unable to remember themselves fully. This is caused by the increase in neutral force, generated by fire-water alchemy from the sea-filled volcano. Changbai has the same effect, only it is far more powerful within its fully intact crater. So I’m not surprised that all psychic memory imprints of One Cloud at Changbai have been erased. Tapping into Changbai’s Full Spiritual Potential Ordinary tourists to Changbai only see (with outer eyes) the lovely serene 5 mile wide Heavenly Lake visible from the rim. I sat on the North and West rims and meditated for three hours at each. This was abnormal behavior for a tourist, and it freaked out the rim guards, who kept asking if I was sick. “No. I’m just crazy”, I finally told them…:) Then I added I was doing neigong. They looked very surprised, but then left me alone. During meditations, my energy body was spontaneously drawn deep into the center of the lake. I could feel the potential of the 538 billion gallons of water in its cauldron – essentially a huge sexual charge — waiting to create “new earth” when hot lava again suddenly vaporizes the lake in a another super mega-ton nuclear explosion. Could this happen sooner than expected, part of the earth changes predicted by many as we transit into the Aquarian Age? In my attunement to Changbai’s Present Moment, I felt what a powerful Earth Portal this volcano is, a vast highway into the core of the earth. I’ve meditated atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii (at 14,000 feet),where I had a very fiery, multi-dimensional kundalini experience (read: Inside Pele’s Hot Volcanic Vulva: https://www.michaelwinn.qlogictechnologies.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?rm=mode2&articleid=110). In Hawaii you have the Pacific Ocean around you, but the volcanic portal is pure fire. So there is no real container for the water-fire interaction. Every volcano is a portal. But Changbai’s unique fire & water energetic balance I found allows for much greater stability in penetrating into the very core of Mother Earth. Attuning to Changbai is like entering deep into Mother Earth’s mingmen, our planetary gate of destiny. I’m not projecting myself into any catastrophic future triggered by Changbaishan’s second millenial eruption. I believe that the core channel of Planet Earth (connecting the north & south poles) is likely to experience a dramatic expansion before winter solstice of 2015. This will mark the end of the 36 year cycle since the earth’s axis began crossing the Milky Way’s Galactic “Dark Rift” in its center. This Dark Rift caused all the hullaballoo over the Mayan predictions around winter solstice 2012 (for more details on galactic alignment, read two newsletters: 1) Mayan Solstice 2012: Does Galactic Alignment Matter? https://www.michaelwinn.qlogictechnologies.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?rm=mode2&articleid=157
L: A mayan-style temple not far from Changbaishan, which may have influenced Mayan architecture over a thousand years ago. R: Bridge over Yalu River looks onto North Korea. The river is fed by Changbaishan. Kim Il Jong, North Korea’s last leader, came to power by leading a guerrilla movement against Japanese occupiers that was led from Mt. Changbai. Half of Heavenly Lake is in North Korea territory. Is a Global Shockwave Coming from Earth’s Core? If my gut feeling – and recent I Ching readings – are correct, a surge of Original Breath from the Earth’s mingmen and core channel as it hits matter could send a shock wave through the planet and humanity as early as next year. This might cause many different responses, ranging from “etherically feeling a little lighter” to apocalyptic visions in those who want that. Just as human souls have multiple timelines they choose from in each moment, Earth is a Being with multiple timelines. It’s like a software upgrade: Earth 3.5 or Earth 4.0? Which version of earth you end up on will depend on what you believe. This is why aligning your will, opening your heart. and having a regular cultivation practice is so important. These help to determine how ready you are to manifest the vibrational frequency underlying a given new reality upgrade. My personal approach is to stay grounded in my own core being and let any shock wave pass through and take me spontaneously to where I am most needed. I trust that Pure Love from Tai Yi (Great Oneness or Central Sun that precedes all yin-yang polarity) will radiate through my soul crystal and body, and guide me to support the creation of humanity’s highest destiny. I feel One Cloud’s transmission of Taoist inner alchemy was so powerful because it was and IS still backed by Changbai’s Deep Earth consciousness. We’re in a planetary historical big cycle of feminine energy rising from Earth, not masculine energy descending from Heaven. That’s why the old sky god religions are declining. At Changbaishan, the vibration of deep cooking of my jing, my sexual energy and bone marrow essence was amazingly profound, and omnipresent within my body. It has continued cooking within me, even after I returned to America. So I’m continuing to listen within the earth, using Changbai as my stethescope. Meditating in the physical presence of Changbai’s Water & Fire Qi field generated an almost automatic alchemical transformation. My whole Energy Body became much more solid. My normally subtle pre-natal Qi condensed into more tangible form. I experienced PHYSICALLY a unified energy state, rather than my normal feeling of a dense physical body with lighter flows of Qi moving through organs, bones, flesh, and meridians. I grasped how much easier it was for One Cloud to become a breatharian at Changbaishan than in some weaker Qi field, where most modern urban Taoists find themselves practicing. I continue to feel a deep unified jing Qi rising up within my body to unify all 3 dantian. My core channel continues to crystallize into one solid column of dynamic cosmic energy. It is my hope that reading this account and seeing the photos, that Healing Tao adepts anywhere on the planet can attune to this process.
Contents:
» China Dream Trip 2014 – Dates SET » 3 Secrets of Super Longevity – beyond 120 years » Fall 2013 Winn Teaching Schedule » SPECIAL DEAL: Deep Healing Qigong DVD » Nov. 9-11: Dream Conference & London Workshop » Crown Chakra Photos: China vs. USA China Dream Trip 2014 – Dates SET
China Dream Trip 2014 tentative dates are finalized from May 16 – June 3, 2014 (from Los Angeles). I still don’t have all the costs, that will come in my next newsletter. You can join the group in Los Angeles (airfare included) or in Beijing. If you want to be put on the China Dream Trip advance notice list, please hit reply and put China in the subject line.The Itinerary currently includes:
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| Deep Healing Qigong
This DVD by Michael Winn covers the following topics:
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| Deep Healing Qigong was formerly titled Medical Chi Kung. A simple version of it has been used successfully for decades in Chinese medical qigong hospitals in China to treat a wide variety of chronic illness. This is a “self-practice” form of medical qigong.
This DVD version of the qigong form has been super charged by Michael Winn, using his extensive knowledge of internal alchemy. Affirmations to activate the emotional body, adding color, sound and channel modifications and focusing the “yi” or mind intent have greatly intensified its effectiveness. This qigong set has 6 parts. If time is short, you can practice just one or two segments, still with great effect. If all six are done together, the form is extremely powerful. It can sometimes create an overwhelmingly powerful chi flow, enough to make your hair stand on its end. Deep Healing Qigong combines the best of body-centered feng shui or directional qigong, the alchemical healing process of mixing opposite polar forces, color therapy, Six Healing Sounds, body movement in sacred geometric patterns to activate the Eight Extraordinary Vessels, and subtle chi breathing that links and nourishes the human body with chi from the Earth’s energy body. What is the secret of Deep Healing Qigong’s amazing effectiveness? The synergy between all of these advanced methods help you re-birth a completely new and fresh Energy Body rather than trying to “fix” the dysfunctional energetic patterns of your old self. Deep Healing Qigong teaches the secret of completely emptying the body of its old patterns of sick energy, and then refills you using the chi from the sun and deep earth. Portions of this form are used in Michael Winn’s training of higher alchemical formulas of One Cloud, with deeper internal training that is not offered on this DVD. But the movements on the DVD are simple and can be performed by anyone, including (with slight modification) the wheelchair bound or bed-ridden. TESTIMONIAL for Deep Healing Qigong This single lengthy testimonial says it all. Deep Healing Qigong is my absolute favorite qigong form, as it is one of the most powerful I’ve come across. For starters, I was able to use continued practice of this qigong to help break emotional and energetic difficulties I faced upon the ending of a long-term relationship. It has a magical quality that helps eliminate addictive habitual patterns — be they physical or emotional. On the health front, I’ve been able to shorten the stay of physical illnesses through the use of this form. Despite feeling rotten and unpleasant while practicing, I’ve had some colds and flu end in a much shorter time then I thought possible. One beautiful thing about this form I’ve found, is that it seems to work on multiple levels. When I was first learning the form, I found that the parts of the form that I really liked, provided immediate benefits. To my surprise — I found that the parts of the form that I “didn’t” like as much would create profound shifts that would hit me days later. Moreover, I’ve found the form to actually get stronger and stronger through continued practice. It’s as if repeated practice causes it to tune in “deeper”. This is a wonderful ceremonial form to practice on solstices and equinoxes. In particular, I’ve found that if I practice the Deep Healing Qigong on the Winter Solstice, it will create sudden wonderful changes in my life at a surprising time weeks later. You don’t need to have any experience in the Healing Tao to learn this form (in fact, it was the first thing I learned), and in that case, the form provides a wonderful overview of things you’ll learn later in more depth. Then, as your knowledge base increases, you’ll find your understanding of the form deepen and you’ll find the form to get even stronger. All in all, I can’t recommend this form highly enough. Steven Sy, now Vice President, Healing Tao Instructor’s Association, and instructor in Iron Shirt Qigong and Tai Chi Qigong at Healing Tao USA summer retreats. Featured Special available until Oct. 22, midnight, 2013: 1. Deep Healing Qigong: reg. $44.95. Save 35% ($15.!) Buy for $29.95. + s/h TO ORDER DVD, please email my office manager: Jan Gillespie <healingtaousa@bellsouth.net> or call 828 505 1444 (or 888 999 0555 within USA). This discount is NOT available online. |
A reminder for those interested in attending an international conference of Dream Practitioners from different cultures. I’m presenting on Lucid Dreaming Qigong and Taoist Dream Practice on Sat. Nov. 9 to the entire conference, as well as offering a one day workshop on Monday Nov. 11.
70% of Gateways London main conference tickets are sold, so it’s likely to be sold out before it starts.
Michael Winn’s youtube interview on Lucid Dreaming Qigong & Taoist Self-Cultivation (40 min.) offers an in depth introduction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-dHwroC9GU&feature=youtu.be
Gateways Of The Mind in London is a two day immersive exploration of lucid dreaming, shamanic dream practices and out-of-body experiences.
DATES: London on the 9th & 10th November at The Tabernacle in Notting Hill. Gateways will host some of the world’s leading authors, teachers and practitioners of consciousness exploration. Speakers include Michael Winn (Taoist Dream Master), William Buhlman (Leading Authority of out -of-body experiences), Dr Stanley Krippner (Global Shamanic Dreaming) and Tim Freke (Lucid Living). Gateways of the Mind conference site: http://www.archetypeevents.com/gateways-london
Denali, Alaska: the “yang” peak of America, vs.Mt. Changbai, the “yin” peak of China.
Loving the Primordial Water & Fire Flow of the Tao,
Michael Winn
“Who takes Heaven as his ancestor, Virtue as his home,
the Tao as his door, and who becomes change — is a
Sage.” — Chuang Tzu, Inner Chapters
“The Tao is very close, but everyone looks far away.
Life is very simple, but everyone seeks difficulty.”
— Taoist Sage, 200 B.C
Register online for on Healing Tao University, the largest Tao (Dao) Arts & Sciences program in the
West with 20 week long summer retreats featuring qigong (“chi kung”) and inner alchemy (neidangong) training. For more info, see http://www.HealingTaoRetreats.com
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ordinary numbers: 828-505-1444, or email info@HealingTaoUSA.com
Visit http://www.Taichi-Enlightenment.com for a glimpse into the world’s most magical spiritual tai chi form.
To get Michael Winn’s FREE 130 page ebook Way of the Inner Smile, with 25 fabulous photos of the world’s most spiritual smiles, go to homepage http://www.HealingTaoUSA.com and subscribe to “Tao News”. You will receive his “Chi Flows Naturally” newsletter and be on his most updated elist. You will immediately receive download info.
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Taoist Dream Practice & Inner Alchemy
Topic: Alchemy
Author: Juan LI
note: Juan Li is a Senior Healing Tao instructor who illustrated all of the early books by Mantak Chia. He was my first teacher of Taoist Dream Practice in the 1990’s. A fuller biography follows this article. His website: http://www.ichingdao.org
Playing With the Clouds: The Foundations of Taoist Dream Practices
by Juan Li
The beginnings of dream practices in China are lost in the depths of antiquity. It is said that the emperors of the Shang Dynasty some 3500 years ago had attached to their court a category of ritual performers called Zhan Meng in charge of interpreting dreams and facilitating dream divination. These dream specialists worked together with the shamans and other ritual specialists interpreting omens which appeared either in the clouds, natural events or in dreams so as to chart the best human course of action for the emperor and other government officials.
The interest in the experiences which took place in dream state were not only confined to the government. There was a group of individuals who in the inaccessible recesses of the sacred mountains, far removed from ordinary human interaction, explored the infinite potential of dream state. These practitioners were those who followed the way of nature back to its origins living a simple life in accordance with the rhythms of nature. They were called Taoists, from the word Tao meaning path or natural way of living.
Like the ancestry of the dream practices, there have been Taoists in China for over 4000 years of recorded history. Very little is known about these Taoists, even in China, because they carried out their practices in utmost secrecy. Not because their practices were dangerous and had to be hidden, but simply because one very important aspect of their self cultivation was withdrawal from ordinary society so as a to cultivate a point of view radically different from most people.
Over the centuries the Taoists developed a highly efficient and coherent system of practices aimed at realizing the full potential of human beings. The Taoists were not content with having good health, and living a quiet life. Their practices were aimed at developing not only the physical aspect of their being but most specially the subtle and invisible aspects called the energy body.
The Way of Energy
A fundamental aspect of Taoist practices is the concept of energy or life force. Energy was understood as a vital force which is at the foundation of all phenomena, both physical and subtle. This energy which they chose to call QI manifests in a wide spectrum of variable intensities or frequencies. From the most subtle which is invisible to the eyes and can only be perceived with the most refined sensitivities in states of mental calm and heightened awareness, to increasingly denser aspects which we begin to perceive as emotional states to the densest aspects as solid matter. A modern analogy would be from radiation which we are unable to sense consciously, through electricity which gives a good shock to a stone which is easily felt as very hard. The ancient Taoists would sense all these states not as separate but rather as a spectrum of variable intensities.
Constantly aware of this energy which animates everything the Taoists went on to explore the non-physical aspects of the life force in their own bodies. The physical body we all can touch and feel is only the densest aspect of the life force, the grossest aspect of the energy spectrum. There are increasingly subtle aspects of the spectrum where the life force never reaches densification.
Every time a Taoist sits down to calm the mind and meditate something very peculiar takes place. The focus of the five senses and the mental attention begins to shift gradually from the dense physical to the more subtle aspects of the body. The longer the practitioner is able to remain calm without distracting thoughts arising or getting drowsy the more refined the sensitivity to the life force becomes. Some ancient Taoists by remaining focused on the subtle energy for hours day after day were able to sense the life force circulating through their bodies. After years of practice they were able to chart the flows of the life force in their subtle bodies with precision through what is called the energy meridians.
The discovery of the energy meridians brought a level of refinement to the Taoists practices where soon it began to have a profound effect on healing the body. Illness was understood as arising when the circulation of the energy was blocked from reaching organs and glands. It was observed that from the blockages at the subtle level of circulation, in time a physical malady would appear precisely in those areas affected by poor circulation.
In order to keep energy circulation at an optimum level the Taoists created a large variety of exercises, dietary practices and meditations. However good circulation is not enough to maintain good health. The Taoists noticed that our emotional states have a profound effect on the quality of the life force circulating through the meridians. If a person is very angry there is an increase in the heart beat and the circulation of the blood. The rate of breathing changes, often accelerating. Body temperature and muscle tone also increases accordingly. The body is literally boiling over with energy. However the quality of the energy boiling over is very poor due to the negative effect of anger.
It was noticed in antiquity that if a person goes to sleep with a tremendous amount of unresolved anger, first of all falling sleep becomes extremely difficult. There is mental agitation and the person is talking internally for hours. Then when eventually fatigue overcomes the body and the person falls asleep, there is invariably a succession of dreams where anger predominates.
In their refined exploring of the subtle energies the Taoists were able to feel where the emotions, both positive and negative, arise in the body. In the case of anger it was noticed that profound changes took place in the liver. This organ not only became more hot, but it could also become constricted and blocked so much that the circulation of the life force required so much effort that pain was felt on the side of the liver.
With the discovery of the profound effect that emotions have upon the quality and circulation of the life force the Taoists created an entire branch of practices to refine the emotions. One of the simplest practices discovered was that of the Inner Smile, whereby the practitioner sends a smile of appreciation to any part of the body along with a continuous wave of positive feelings. Another very powerful practice which developed was that of the Six Healing Sounds, where certain sounds are made which induce the vital organs to vibrate more harmoniously thus releasing tensions and blocked emotions in the organs.
The Emotions And Dreaming
One of the great insights of ancient practitioners was the fact that, if a daily regimen of energy practices is maintained-specially refining the emotions-the quality and quantity of dreams changes. If a person goes to bed after having cleared the vital organs from unresolved emotions the amount of emotional dreams and nightmares dramatically decreases, sometimes to the point that they disappear completely. This does not mean that the person ceases to have dreams, but rather that the quality of the dream shifts from restless to harmonious and pleasant.
One of the greatest insights gained exploring the connection between dreams and energy practices was that dreams are experiences taking place at the level of the subtle bodies. In other words, as a person begins to fall asleep and the senses gradually disconnect from the physical world, they turn inward. A process akin to having a good meditation. As the senses turn inward, the consciousness which was focused on the physical world through the senses also turns inward-in the direction of the subtle energy body.
The Taoists consider falling asleep as a process no different from entering into a meditative state. Just as in deep states of meditation if the body is fatigued the practitioner may fall asleep and go unconscious, so going to sleep has to take place, paradoxically, when one is not fatigued. For the Taoists falling asleep is an open door for playing fully conscious with the subtle energy body and carrying out energy practices without the limitations of the physical body.
Every time we let go into sleep our consciousness shifts its focus from the physical dense body to the subtle energy body at the other end of the spectrum. If we speak of sleep then it is of the physical body, since the subtle aspects never falls asleep. The subtle energy aspect operates 24 hours through our lives. We may not be consciously aware when we shift our conscious focus to the subtle body, however we all do that many times during our waking hours. For example we all had the experience when we were children in school of sitting bored through an uninteresting class. Then as the teacher continued talking we gradually began to go with our minds somewhere else. We began to dream with the eyes open about doing something far more enjoyable at that moment. Our conscious focus was far away from the classroom and the teacher. If this day dreaming went on for a long time, and all of a sudden the teacher asked us a question, we had to forcefully bring back our mental focus to the teacher, with predictable inability to answer the question properly. Ordinarily we say we were fantasizing at that moment, doing something which was not real in a physical sense. The Taoist would not call it fantasizing but rather shifting attention from the physical to the subtle, just as when we are dreaming in bed.
Dreaming is not an action which is confined to falling asleep. We dream 24 hours a day. A part of our consciousness which is not fully engaged in the physical plane dealing with day to day problems is focused on the subtle aspects of the body. Many times a day we shift conscious focus from physical reality to subtle reality. Our awareness at that moment may be focused on a friend that is at the other side of the planet. Sometimes if our focusing is intense enough something unexpected may happen: the phone rings! It is our friend calling from the other side of the planet to tell us they were thinking of us just at that moment. Has this happened to you? Ordinarily we call these happenings `coincidence’. A word for labeling the unexplainable. For the Taoists familiar with the full spectrum of the life force this is not something unexplainable. When we shift our mental focus onto someone far away at that instant we are in direct contact with the subtle body of that person. The geographical distance is irrelevant.
One of the insights which opens as one begins to consciously shift mental focus from the physical to the subtle is that the life force is not limited by physical reality. It could not be because the physical is just one aspect of the energy spectrum. There is the rest of the spectrum operating simultaneously beyond the physical. So energy is not limited by space, nor time which is also a function of space.
Every time we place the head on the pillow and fall asleep our consciousness focuses its gaze upon a dimension which is not limited by time or space. A dimension which is extremely fluid and efficient because it is not limited by time or the constraints of distance. In dream we have all experienced how in the fraction of an instant we can change from walking to flying across the landscape or being here and then on the other side of the moon.
The practices developed by the ancient Taoists around dream state were designed to tap into the inexhaustible reservoir of possibilities that transcending time and space offers. One essential notion they got rid of was the ordinary belief that dreams are fantasies with no basis on reality. A dream may not have any basis on physical reality, but then physical existence is not the only realm of experience there is. What we ordinarily call reality is limited to physical experience and is just a fragment of the totality of being. Dreams, intuitions, feelings we dismiss into the dust bin of the not-real. The Taoists would call that a fragmented vision.
The Practice of Dynamic Sleep
A fundamental goal of Taoist dream practices is the ability to enter dream state deliberately, as an act of will, fully conscious. Ordinarily as we begin to fall asleep and relax our senses disconnect one by one we become progressively unconscious, entering a twilight zone which rapidly eclipses into total darkness. From that moment on until we finally awaken several hours later we lose awareness of where we are or that we are asleep.
In Taoist dream practice one of the first things the practitioner does is make a firm decision to remain conscious as one enters dream state. This initial step is done by voicing a mental command of what one intends to practice or experience during that sleep session.
The sleep command is a powerful expression of willpower which is usually voiced over and over as the practitioner prepares to sleep. This repetition of the sleep command, like all energy practices is to be done with complete awareness and mindfulness, rather than mechanically or unconscious. As one begins to enter the twilight state of drowsiness the sleep command begins to function like a beacon guiding the consciousness across the threshold of the unconscious.
Opening Circulation
The sleep command however is not the initial step in dream practice. Dream practices are not isolated from other modalities of Taoist exercises. Usually a novice in the Taoist system will begin by learning to open communication with the life force through a series of exercises designed to open the flow of the energy meridians. Only when the meridian system is circulating properly and a degree of physical and emotional balance has been attained does one begins dream exercises.
It has been discovered since ancient times that if the circulation of the life force is not balanced, the resulting imbalance manifests very clearly in the quality of one’s dreams. Generally as the meridians are opened and one learns to regulate the emotions through specific energy practices, there is a reduction of ordinary dreams. One begins to have less and less of turbulent emotional dreams which originate from congested organs and in its place the luminous dreams of profound experiences begin to manifest from time to time. A practitioner, who for example has been keeping dream journals for several years, after a months of intense meridian exercises and meditations usually report very infrequent dreams that are very widely spaced apart. After some time they also begin to experience greater clarity in dream state. Dreams are more vivid, the images more powerful carrying a sense of transcendence.
In Taoist practice it is said that as we improve energy circulation and begin to harmonize the emotions in the organs there is a change in the quality of one’s energy from a gross state to a refined one. This is reflected as better health both physically and mentally. As the quality changes one can also say that the potential of the individual changes. The nervous system, the brain, the glands, the vital organs are all able to function at a greater degree of harmony. Instead of investing a great part of their vitality fighting illness and trying to maintain balance in the midst of fatigue and emotional upheavals, the organism is operating in an energy surplus mode.
The state of energy abundance is fundamental for the unfolding of dream practices. A Taoist invests years of constant effort bringing about such state. If dream practices are attempted otherwise when the body is tired and fighting imbalances, then one discovers that nothing happens, because the body needs the sleep for the basic function of resting the nervous system and the brain and repairing damaged tissues.
The Foundation of Calming The Mind
Preliminary to dream practices are also the states of mental calmness brought about by long meditations. When the senses turn inward in deep practice, the brain changes waves from active Beta to Alpha, deep Alpha and in experienced meditators to Theta and even Delta. This sequence of changes is very similar to that taking place as we fall asleep. The brain moves from polarization in Beta to greater integration in Alpha, Theta and Delta. This means that a regular meditator has learned to `fall asleep’ consciously seated quietly in a cushion.
We need to sleep in order to integrate the hemispheres of the brain and allow the nervous system to rest and repair itself. This essential step is accomplished in the hours of the night when we cease activities and turn the senses inward like a meditator. So if a person is meditating daily and able to integrate the hemispheres of the brain to some degree there is a resulting change in sleep patterns. Most experienced meditators need less sleep than people who do not practice. As their practice progresses is not unusual to begin sleeping an hour less after a few months. Some advanced practitioners get by with only three to four hours and in the Tao system there have been many great sages who eventually transcended the need to sleep at all. A sign of such people would be the absence of a bed in their house!
The Sharping of Mental Focus
If a practitioner has reached the level where the sleep pattern is changing through practices of concentration and circulation of energy then there is also an increase in the ability to focus the intention for long periods of time.
In meditation when the senses are turned inward the attention is focused on something such as the breath, an energy center or the circulation of life force in a meridian. As the years go by the practitioner automatically develops greater capacity to remain focused without distractions when the attention is placed on something. This is an increase in mental power and also an intensification of the will or intention.
In dream practice the intention which has been strengthened in sitting practice is then developed further in dream state. The Taoist aims at entering the normally unconscious states of sleep fully conscious, carrying forth the awareness and the intention like a candle in the wind.
The sleep command being voiced as one falls asleep is the first stage in training the intention to remain sharply focused through the ocean of the unconscious. This simple gesture opens the possibility of extending consciousness into areas where normally we go blank. The Taoists view dream practice as an opportunity to train the intention and the will in conjunction with the subtle aspects of the body. In other words consciousness which is used to being active only when awake in the physical learns to be awake in the subtle also. This is the subtle dimension which is operating 24 hours of the day.
The Breath And Calmness
Ancient Taoists discovered that as the mind becomes calm during meditation a similar process of calmness takes place in the way we breathe. The breath and consciousness are intimately connected and the change in brain waves that accompany a good meditation are in fact facilitated by a corresponding change in the gross breath passing through the nostrils.
Agitated states of mind are generated when the left hemisphere of the brain is most active. This is when we generate Beta waves. At the same time that the left hemisphere activates there is a predominance of breathing through the right nostril.
Our breathing alternates from nostril to nostril throughout the day. Generally we breathe through the right nostril from 45 to 90 minutes and activate the left hemisphere of the brain becoming more active. Then for a brief period of 3 to 5 minutes we breathe through both nostrils as the left nostril eventually takes over activating the right hemisphere of the brain. When the right hemisphere of the brain is active we enter into a more relaxed mental state with less activity and less agitation.
In meditation in order to enter into a state of calmness a change in the breathing pattern has to take place. If the practitioner is activating the left hemisphere through the right nostril breath then the first change will be to switch it to the left nostril, inducing calmer states to manifest. Eventually as the practice deepens and the brain becomes more integrated the breath takes place through both nostrils at the same time. This is the state where Alpha, Theta and Delta waves begin to manifest.
The Sleeping Tiger
In dream practice the practitioner aims at entering calm states of mind as quickly as possible. Taoists have traditionally brought about such changes by adopting the position known as `The Sleeping Tiger’.
In the Sleeping Tiger position one lays on the right side of the body. The right hand may be cupped around the right ear or under the pillow. The left arm is extended resting on the left side. The right leg is slightly bent at the knees, supporting the body, and the left leg is extended without making it totally straight. The purpose of this posture is to press on the right side of the ribs upon certain acupuncture points which induce a rapid change of the breath from the right nostril to the left. In this posture the road is open to enter the calmer states of mind and eventually induce simultaneous nostril breathing.
The posture of the Sleeping Tiger was not confined to practitioners in China only. The same posture is adopted by dream practitioners in Tibet and India. The same posture has been found in a sculpture of the sleeping priestess or goddess in the Hypogeum in the island of Malta dating from 3800-3600 BC. The Hypogeum is believed to have been used for receiving prophetic healing dreams by practitioners who spend the night within its precincts.
The Sleeping Tiger posture is not only used for entering dream practice it is also the ideal posture for entering death. In Asian art the Buddha at the moment of death is always shown lying on the right side with the right hand cupped around the right ear.
The Practice of Deliberateness
A novice after adopting the Sleeping Tiger posture and voicing the dream command will then have a long and rocky road still ahead. at the beginning usually nothing happens. One goes unconscious as usual or if too anxious to accomplish the goal of the practice have difficulty falling asleep. Worse yet some practitioners keep waking up over and over without having a restful night of sleep. What is lacking is a key ingredient of the practice which is going to sleep with deliberateness.
Normally we go to sleep without clarity of purpose, we simply cannot go on from fatigue and exhaustion so we lay down and close the eyes. Whatever happens next is beyond our conscious control. In dream practice the scenario is totally different. The practitioner has a clear goal and is carefully creating the right conditions to fulfill it. But not everything is tight control, there is also the conscious ability to let go into the unknown with the same deliberateness of a swimmer who jumps from a diving board.
One lets go into the unknown voicing the command ready to accept whatever happens.
The Stages of Dream Pracice
If the desire to succeed in the practice is excessively strong then, the ancient Taoists warn, one is headed for trouble. First because frustration and impatience is going to develop as we fail to reach our goal. Second because excessive force is a quality which has to be balance with yielding in order to develop the energy practices to their highest potential.
It is suggested in dream practice that we begin with the simple command to have a restful sleep regardless of how many hours we sleep. From that one follows with the command to remember dreams or simply to awaken at a certain time without alarm clocks. From those simple commands then one can eventually build up to the monumental task of becoming conscious within the dream that one is asleep.
The ability to become conscious that one is asleep in the middle of a dream requires that the awareness focuses with such intensity that it is not only possible to maintain the thread of the dream but also at the same time step back to realize that one is dreaming. This is made possibly because there is a surplus of energy and sleep is not being used primarily to rest and repair the body.
The body has to be rested and balanced for dream practice to unfold. If one is fatigued or carrying a heavy burden of unfinished emotional situations then progress will be very very slow. The body will be mainly occupied with maintenance without a surplus to `play in the clouds’ as the Taoists would say.
Power Naps of The Sleeping Tiger
It is generally assumed that dream practice is best done at night time when the day is done. Taoists dream practitioners are not content to have only one opportunity per day at entering dream state consciously so the practice of power naps was developed early on.
Power naps consist in taking short naps several times a day, lasting anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. The frequency of power naps allows the practitioner to develop the necessary skills at entering dream practice very rapidly. A by product of power naps is that the body is truly rested so sleep is truly deliberate and not out of fatigue.
One of the greatest Taoist dream practitioner of the past was Master Chen Tuan of Henan province in China. He lived during the 10th century and practiced power naps in a cave at the sacred mountain of Hua Shan in west China. It is said that visitors had often to wait while the master completed power naps. Chen Tuan is said to have realized the highest levels of Taoist practices in dream state, spending months at a time in deep conscious sleep. Beyond the constraints of time and space in a dimension that it extremely fluid.
The Realm of Fluidity
The physical dimension is the portion of the energy spectrum most affected by time and space. It is a dimension where there is a tremendous gap between wish and fulfillment of the wish, or between imagination and realization. It is a dimension where anything we do is limited by time and at the same time takes time to accomplish. One of the direct experiences which arises out of consistent dream practice is that time and space have no influence whatsoever in the subtle energy dimensions. Time and space are not a limiting factor and play no role whatsoever in phenomena. It is extremely hard for physical beings to imagine the state beyond time and space, specially if we have no direct experiences of subtle energy in our bodies or consciousness.
We all have experienced in our sleep the extremely fluid nature of dreams. We are able to fly, move great distances, transform ourselves into something else, become objects or simply turn into pure consciousness without a body. These are all random experiences of transcending physical corporeality.
As mentioned before dream practices are not truly aimed at working with ordinary dreams arising from unresolved emotional states or poor energy circulation. And Taoist dream practices have nothing to do with dream interpretation. The ability to remain conscious in dream state is for learning to play in the dimensions without time and space. Dimension where imagination and reality are one and there are no limits.
Master Chen Tuan during his long naps learned to transcends the mental limitations of time and space. One very common problem practitioners have to overcome is the unconscious projection of physicality into the non-physical dimensions.
When describing dreams or talking to ourselves in dreams we are limited by the language of time and space. We speak of `going somewhere’, `hurrying up’ and `coming back tomorrow’ and so on. One of the habits the dream practitioner learns is to be present all the times speaking the language of the instant that has no past or future, just eternal now.
In conscious dream state anything that is imagined is experienced simultaneously as dream reality. If one thinks of a house, there is a house instantly. This is totally different from the dense physical dimension where the thought of a house, and the mental image of a house does not manifest a physical house right away. As we all know the thought of a house might take years of effort to manifest. This is why Taoist say that the physical dimension is very dense and very inefficient when it comes to manifesting reality. There is a tremendous gap between imagination and manifestation.
In the fluid state of conscious dreaming it is possible to have direct experiences in an instant. Experiences which are as real and powerful as physical reality. If in a dream we have a very strong experience of loving someone, as we awaken into the physical dimension we still carry the emotional impressions of that love experience throughout the day. If dream state was pure fantasy there would be no powerful impressions to carry during the day and no emotional residue to recall.
Sustaining Focus
The ability to remain focused in conscious dreaming is made possible by the cultivation of mental power and increased vitality. Beginners who are able to awaken within the dream do so for very brief instants before either awakening fully into the physical or going unconscious into deeper sleep. Sustaining focus is very much like learning to ride a bicycle. One has to maintain a crucial balance for indefinite time, which in this case is not awakening into the physical or going unconscious, and at the same time carry out the numerous exercises for developing the use of the will and the intention.
As we grew up we learned to focus our attention in the physical world through all of the physical tasks such as learning to walk, talk and memorize in school. As babies our attention span for concentrating on anything was very limited and could not be sustained for more than a few seconds. As we entered school we learned more and more to use our mental focus for longer and longer uninterrupted periods. Usually the best students are those who from very early learned to focus their attention with intensity for long periods of time. A great teacher would be one who is able to keep the attention of the students fully engaged for long periods of time also. So in the physical dimension we become skillful at sustaining focus of the consciousness for long periods of time.
In dream practice the ability to sustain focus is a skill that develops gradually with much difficulty and many set backs. This is so because sustaining focus in the physical dimension requires only a fraction of the energy it takes for doing so in the fluid dimensions beyond time and space. A good analogy would be the difference between trying to run underwater and on the ground.
Surplus Energy
The fuel for dream practice is surplus energy-not only abundance of vitality but specifically a surplus of vitality to be invested in learning to sustain conscious focus in dream state. The preliminary energy practices mentioned before lay the foundation for starting dream work but they are not enough. At some point the practitioner has to dig deeper into the available resources and learn to utilize them more and more efficiently.
The obstacles and lack of progress encountered in dream practice serve as a mirror revealing where the weak points and blockages are in one’s overall energy structure. There is usually a deepening work in the area of the emotions, which is where a large portion of the available vitality is trapped in unresolved issues. There is also a process of harnessing the energy outwardly spent through the senses. Fluidity in both the physical and mental state is cultivated through movement exercises such as Tai Chi and Qi Gong. So there is a progressive movement towards excellence and efficiency that gradually transforms the individual into a new being.
The Mastery of Timing
One of the crowning insights of the ancient Taoists is the awareness that we are at the most fluid and efficient when we are operating at the right moment. If we carry out some action during the wrong timing then a monumental amount of energy is required to produce results and sometimes even that is not enough. In contrast when the action is riding the river of the right timing there is a minimum of effort needed to accomplish extraordinary things.
One of the deciding factors in all energy practices is the recognition of the right timing. In dream practice it means that one learns to listen to the body and the life force. Listening for that moment when the totality of one’s being points in one direction with uncompromising power.
Listening to the right timing means that the Taoist is totally committed and available to the practice whenever it calls. This is the result of a decision taken fully conscious at some point in the past. Without a strong decision and a definite commitment there is no way to begin directing the life force in the direction we want to go.
Ultimate Purpose of Dream Practice
The development of the intention and the will, the ability to sustain focus through the subtle dimensions, the harnessing of one’s vitality and the ability to become fluid and abandoned at the right timing are all directed at one important experience. That is the transition of consciousness at the moment of death from the physical to the subtle body.
Dream practice is the training ground for learning to utilize the intention, the will and consciousness in conjunction with the subtle energy body. At the moment of death there is a separation of the consciousness from the physical body into the subtle energy body. A crossing from time and space into the ocean of infinity.
The dream practitioner is someone who through sustained effort has learned to swim in the ocean of infinity without tiring or becoming scared. Someone who is consciously at home in the complete energy spectrum of the life force. Someone who is no longer fixed on the physical dimension as the sole reality worth exploring.
For the Taoists the ability to embrace the full spectrum of the life force is the most important task a human being can accomplish in this lifetime. It is said that `If one realizes the Way in the morning one can die at peace in the evening’.
The great insight of the ancient Taoists went even beyond life and death. So detaching the consciousness from the physical into the subtle dimensions is not an end in itself. It is simply a beginning of another cycle of being. A new cycle which continues under different conditions from the physical and yet carries a precious gift from the world. The gift is the `luminous pearl’ of indestructible insight condensed through the alchemy of refining the intention and the will. The traveller takes only that from the crossing through this world.
BIOGRAPHY OF JUAN LI:
Was born in 1946 in Cuba from Cuban and Chinese parents. In 1969 became interested in the dream work of Carl Gustav Jung and upon graduation from the University in 1970 came to Zurich to study at the Jung Institute. Since 1969 he began to keep a daily record of his dreams, some of which he illustrated in watercolors. From Zurich he went to India where he began to study yoga, eventually becoming acquainted with the Hindu dream practices. After 1971 he began to reside in Nepal where he continued his yoga studies with several Tibetan teachers. It was there that he became aquainted with the Tibetan dream practices. In 1982 he met the Taoist master Mantak Chia who introduced him to the inner teachings of Taoism and the internal energy work. By 1985 enough changes had taken place in the energy meridians and the organs that the entries in his dream diaries became very few and widely spaced apart. Ordinary dreams were reduced to a minimum and instead conscious dreaming began to take place with regularity.
In 1988 Master Chia asked Juan Li to begin assisting in teaching the Taoist system in Europe. From that time on he spends the greater part of the year conducting classes in several countries of western Europe. Among his classes one is dedicated to the dream practices. Juan Li and his wife Renu Li reside since 2004 in Spain.
Creative Explosion: Year of Green Male Wood Horse 2014
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