nothing02

I've been thinking a lot about this, with the assistance of these very insightful comments, and would like to throw this out there. The idea of solidity in your own being, i.e. having a healthy ego, probably equates to sufficiency of blood. I also think that, as useful as the Chinese system is overall for purposes of health and self-improvement, probably its least helpful aspect is its pursuit of immortality. Self-improvement is good and part of life, but if you cannot ultimately say "this is good enough" (which you never will if you pursue immortality or perfection), you will be unable to find solidity in your own being. Incidentally, I was watching a video by Lonny Jarrett and noticed he has a blood-deficient appearance - pale, with a head of gray hair. Not to pick on Lonny, I've got my imbalances and we all do, but his perspective on Chinese medicine may be an expression of his blood deficiency. In other words, he is the sort of person who naturally downplays the grounded, blood-replete aspect of being (where a person accepts their flaws and doesn't give a f*ck - i.e. has a strong ego) in favor of a more spiritual, heart-guided approach. Or I'm nuts. Maybe some of both.

This is insightful. So what would developing a normally functioning ego equate to in terms of Daoist cultivation or Chinese medicine? If someone could put this into words, it would provide a very useful missing piece. I haven't heard this stated exactly anywhere. I agree that Daoism does not actually have the term "egolessness," but it seems that wuwei is for all intents and purposes something very similar.

Thanks, it doesn't sound idiotic to me. To be fair to Lonny, I think that he's focusing on healing, not on spiritual development, though obviously the two are linked. And yet, the majority of people go through life spiritually unhealed, but not suffering from any apparent problem. Hmm.

I would like to start a discussion on the role the ego and the heart play in Chinese medicine/Daoist cultivation. I recently shelled out $85 for Lonny Jarrett's book "Nourishing Destiny." It's a pretty amazing book, and obviously Lonny is a smart guy. But he has a very specific viewpoint that the heart should be the guiding force of the entire human system. He describes how to use herbs and acupuncture points to cultivate an attitude of openness, dissolving ego boundaries and "merging with the universe" that does seem to be in line with the traditional Daoist view of health. Not everybody agrees with this, though. There's a very well-reasoned view that Westerners shouldn't try to dissolve their ego boundaries, because the society we live in an the way our psyches function do not support this. Someone (I'm not sure who) actually wrote an article ripping Lonny a new one over this: https://christiannix.com/pdf/a letter to lonny jarrett.pdf Personally, as smart as Lonny Jarrett is, I agree with this article, not with him. Ego boundaries have an important role to play in our lives. It's nice to have an image of yourself as being the ultimate "good guy" and lacking ego boundaries, but if you actually dissolved them, I think you'd find yourself very dysfunctional in a society that demands they be maintained. This is not an issue of abstract right and wrong, but an issue of how you actually (mal)function in the world when you don't have an ego. Make "go with the flow" your guiding philosophy, and you realize that the "flow" really consists of the underlying patterns and ways of thinking and acting of the society you live in, as internalized and experienced subjectively by you. If that society is misguided - and does anyone in 2019 think Western society is not misguided? - you will be too, unless you practice some kind of resistance to the flow. So if all this is true, it seems that while the idea that you should always have an open heart might have worked in China 1000 years ago, it is not appropriate in the west today. In terms of herbal practice, if someone had an issue like "phlegm misting the heart," the heart would be opened with aromatic herbs such as shi chang pu. I think you could even call this an herb that helps dissolve the ego. So here's what I want to discuss: if we take the viewpoint that ego boundaries should be maintained and strengthened, not dissolved, how would that be reflected in herbal or acupuncture practice? Which organs would you treat? I wonder if it would be the kidneys (where the will is seated according to TCM) or the gallbladder (whose "determination" is supposed to help give the heart direction), or if maybe TCM is just the wrong tool to accomplish this. Does anyone have experience with systems of cultivation other than Daoism that give the ego and heart a different role, and how do those practices translate into the Chinese system?

Thanks, I sort of suspected the book was a crock. It's hard to find any printed info on Taoist magical practices. I'm sure numerous people are engaged in these, but most of the printed sources seem very Western occult-inspired. Jerry Alan Johnson seems like the best source. Too bad all his books are like $5000 each.

Has anyone read this book? Any opinions on whether it's authentic? https://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Taoist-Sorcery-Getting-Even-ebook/dp/B0045U9RBY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1510172007&sr=8-2&keywords=min+tzu

Hi everybody! I am a longtime lurker/reader and decided to finally start posting - so here I am making my introduction on this board. I'm a longtime student of yoga and am just getting started with qigong. I've dabbled with various types of practices and am currently working on educating myself on Chinese medicine. Looking forward to exchanging experiences/advice/randomly chatting!