QiDr

What school are you attending, where do you hope to practice?

The Tao gave birth to One. The One gave birth to Two. The Two gave birth to Three. The Three gave birth to all of creation. All movement returns to the Tao. Weakness is how the Tao works. All of creation is born from substance. Substance is born of nothing-ness. That is the nature of Taoist immortality

Interesting site, but I am always leary of "new and improved" feng shui gizmos. A rule of thumb that I use is, if there is an explanation of how the gizmo works that conforms to Taoist Scientific Philosophy, I am more inclined to buy into it. If there is no explanation of the working mechanism, or if that mechanism conflicts with Taosit Sciences, I don't buy into it. One of the most beautifull things about Taoism is that, once you have accepted the concept of Qi, the rest of the Science is logical and seemless. Taoist Science can explain anything and is compatable with so called Conventional Science in that regard.

I became a Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine because of my Taoist training and lifestyle. It has always amazed me that there are so many Acupuncture Physicians and Medical Herbalists out there with no personal affiliation to Taoist philosophy. In my opinion, the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is one of the highest paths to an understanding of Taoist Science. Practicing TCM without practicing Taoist lifestyle is akin to becoming a Master Chef while living on a diet of twinkies and McBurgers.

The mushroom of longevity or immortality the Chinese speak of is Ganoderma lucidum, the Reishi mushroom. It is actually a wood fungus, not a mushroom in the fairy circle context. All edible mushrooms (reishi, shitake, miatake, button, et.) are considered medicinal to some degree but the Reshei is the king. A great longevity tonic is reshi wine (six parts wine to one part reshi, soak for a month and drink 2 ounces per day). Mushrooms are one of the herbs that are most easily processed into kidney essence and then to Shen (through Practices), and are considered one of the so called spirit foods because of this. Psychedellic mushrooms convert almost immediatly to Shen and because of this one percieves the world of the Shiens immediatly and directly. However, the experience does not last because 1. the mushrooms energy is so rarified and 2. there is usually no practice to support the experience. You get to look through the window but you can't open the door and go in because you have not done the work. The other way, with the Reshi combined with Practices, you eventually get to go in and stay.