Immortality

Hello everyone, The following video discusses Aviilokín K'shi''s understanding of Tao; he feels/experiences his understanding comes form a past-life connection to Taoism. He explains that the Tao should not only be seen as the source of life, but that the ancient Taoists especially used the Tao as a passageway into the secrets of nature; the Tao is the universal essence of all things, and therefore has a bridging/connective functions between all things, including the laws and principles of nature. His work in general emphasizes that this communion preceded and was a cause to esoteric knowledge such as nei gong and Taoist tantra, and that such knowledge should be held more as a symptom of Tao cultivation rather than its essential identity. With this he means that those who practice nei gong, qi gong, etc. without living in a state of actual Silent communion with Tao will not succeed in actually finding that transcendental connection and realization of nature and her laws, whereby one does not transcend ignorance and disharmony. He feels that this aspect of Tao cultivation is hardly ever emphasized in our contemporary approach to Tao, with most efforts aiming at precisely only such efforts as energy cultivation, knowledge of diet, and sexual tantra; or simply looking at Tao cultivation from a socio-cultural and historical perspective (a scholarly approach). The video that discusses this is a bit rudimentary; just text on a black background following the narration, and background music: How a Taoist Mystic Knows Truth. It is six minutes long. Kindly, Immortality

Hello everyone, I just wanted to ask the moderator team if I have permission to post a YouTube video on Tao cultivation. I sometimes assist a friend of mine in digital matters as he is not too comfortable with unnatural radiation; he has made a video about his experience of cultivating the Tao, but at the very end there is a reference to a related book he has published. I fear that by just bluntly sharing the video it might come across as spam. Hence, I would like to ask the moderator team for permission, and give my kind understanding should permission not be granted. Kindly, Immortality

Hello, I'm working on a manuscript, and am looking for some substantiating material on the Taoist tantric method of exchanging the breath—inhaling one-another's exhalation so as to transmit qi between two practitioners. Thank you, Immortality

Hello, I have a very urgent request... there is someone in the Taoist community of Maoshan that is very, very important to me. I have lost the contact details of this person, but have reason to believe she might not be well. Is anyone able to provide me with some form of contact information, that will help me connect with the Maoshan Taoist community? Is there perhaps a main temple office? Thank you; I really hope you are willing to help me. Immortality

Perhaps a nice way to identify the author is by referring you to a free, small, poetic story he has written that emphasizes attuning yourself with the transcendental principle of Tao: The Fables of Lokaii. Immortality

One must cease to concern oneself with intellectual rigidity, for through learning, one does not attain the Unknowable realm of Tao. How may intellectual learning ever serve this cause? And the realm of Man is a realm of fear, how shall mere intellectual learning ever overcome this sorrow? And through fear thine intellect graspest for the Knowable, for thou fearest the Unknowable like thou fearest the dark, this is a desolate path in which one cannot touch the true heart of things. Many Men, prosperous and splendid, believe to live in joy but are in truth imprisoned, thinking they have scaled the heights of accomplishment. I alone am in my heart independent, so that I liken a lake tranquil, whose silent water reflects clearly the cosmic secrets in the deeps of the night. So clear am I! Like an unconditioned infant child, of whom none may yet foretell what his bearing shall be. A homeless wanderer I must seem, ever existing outside the crowd, appearing to have lost all things. My clarity thus makes me seem as foolish, and my serenity as disorderly. Among Men of learning, I am held as muddled. And the traditionalists behold me, and find that I am uncultured. Tranquil and silent like an ocean ceaseless, I am deemed a virtueless fool, deeply scorned. How I exist beyond the ken of Man, finding sanctum and providence sacred but in the primordial origin.

To be receptive to the divine nourishment, one shall know immortal life as an infant suckling the breast of the great mystery. This harmonizing sustenance is said to function as the root of both heaven and earth. Be as gentle and soft as silk, in the serenity of surrenderance collect this cosmic providence for both the fulfilment and the preservation of one’s life.

O the famine of the people! for lords consume their crops and take their wealth for their own. How shalt thou succeed in governing a people roused by hunger bitter? It is as if thou eatest of corpses like the carrion crow eats the flesh of the dead. But how shall a tree hope to live if he plunders the earth in which his roots should remain firmly settled? O the Taoist mystic! whom in Void finds his great abundance, he alone is worthy of being called a noble lord.

@Cleansox I'm a friend of the author. However, he said he'd rather not have his name mentioned as he fears it will be interpreted as spam.

Speaking with respect, I don't think it is right to sort of write something off as "new agey" simply for that it doesn't necessarily conform to doctrine or tradition, or that it cannot be found in some book of officialdom. I always get the impression that calling something "new age" is the same as saying "redundant and invalid" or "pseudo-spirituality"; much like the mainstream "pure sciences" like to automatically brush off everything that is sophisticated enough but doesn't conform to their "intellectual territory" as "pseudoscience". First of all, remember that Lao Zi and Buddha were visionaries in their age, and rest assured that the contemporary establishment of that time would have called them something very similar to the effect of "new age". George Thompson might be describing his spiritual experience using his own terminology that doesn't necessarily fit the jargon of orthodoxy, but why invalidate it on that account? Second, considering the very spirit of Taoism, is it not all about freedom? We use the Uncreated realm of Tao, where jargon, lineage nor tradition exists, in order to connect with the eternal truths of nature. This is something so utterly beyond the ken and restraints of lineage, religion, priestly hierarchy, and traditional parlance that we should never invalidate the individualist, expressing his mystical dance of harmony with nature in his own way. I'm not saying that this is necessarily happening in this topic —I'm not making any accusations nor do I have a belligerent attitude— but I see this attitude quite often within the Taoist and Buddhist communities, which is breaking my Taoist heart. "If it isn't traditional, it isn't valid." I think Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi would have a thing or two to say about that :). Concerning New Age, anyway, I find them far closer to the Taoist spirit than what I have often encountered in Taoist communities. New Agers are open minded, they are eclectic, they are not restrained by lineage, tradition or ritual; they follow their own Way. Yes, I perceive the aspect of transcendental cultivation (i.e. Stillness) is missing, but still I feel they have the right Taoist spirit! Yours kindly, Immortality

Hello, I once read an introductionary book on Taoism, whose title I have unfortunately forgotten. It contains a quote of an ancient Chinese emperor's description of a Taoist. This quote is very dear to me, but I can alas not remember its literal content nor historical context (who precisely said it and when). I'd like to describe the quote here; I hope the community will be able to help me identify it. Description: A certain Chinese emperor describes a Taoist; he wanders all alone with only his beggar's bowl, he does not speak, safe but with a highly accomplished master in order to help him increase his cultivation of the Tao. Thank you, Immortality

Hello everyone, I once read a book whose title I have alas forgotten, but it described a ritual within Taoism in its religious form in which the priests roll around in the mud to cleanse off their sins, while a high priest summons "the highest god" to forgive the pennants for their sins. I would be curious if you would be able to tell me more about this ritual, and to precisely what branch of Taoist religion it belongs. Kindly, Immortality

Sorry: I meant this to be an edit not a quote. :-)

People are born, and then go straight unto the gates of death. Those who follow the path of life, so follow the path of inevitable demise. Thirteen days it takes for the waxing moon to become full, after its luminous crescent first appears. Thirteen days it takes for the full moon again to vanish into the void of death. Like the moon arises with fullest energy and must then fade into the sable night, people walk the roads of life with fullest emotion, and so arrive at death. Yet those of self-restraint gather the energy of the life that has been given unto them. In preserving life so skilful, walking upon their path, it is as if wild animals cannot harm them, armies do not conquer them, and swords do not hurt them. And so in the sage’s heart there is no place for death.

Thank you, Would anyone here be able to render this in pinyin for me? Kindly yours, Immortality