An Edo Era Manga originally published in 1800. This is a humorous story about a group of retired men and women who encounter a Taoist Immortal. They request to become students so they too may live forever.
This is the first book to examine extensively the religious aspects of Chinese alchemy. Its main focus is the relation of alchemy to the Daoist traditions of the early medieval period (third to sixth centuries). It shows how alchemy contributed to and was tightly integrated into the elaborate body of doctrines and practices that Daoists built at that time, from which Daoism as we know it today evolved. The book also clarifies the origins of Chinese alchemy and the respective roles of alchemy and meditation in self-cultivation practices. It contains full translations of three important medieval texts, all of them accompanied by running commentaries, making available for the first time in English the gist of the early Chinese alchemical corpus.
The first English translation of Master Li Ching-yun's teachings on the Eight Brocades, the central practice of qigong. • Explains the physical and spiritual benefits of the Eight Brocades and offers step-by-step instructions for this powerful sequence of postures. • 85 illustrations highlight the postures and philosophies. • Author's commentary provides insight and depth to the original translation. Throughout history Taoists have promoted the development and restoration of the Three Treasures-- body, breath, and spirit--through the gentle practice of qigong. At the center of the qigong practice are the Eight Brocades, a series of postures that developed during the 3,000-year Taoist quest for longevity and vitality. Now qigong expert Stuart Olson translates into English Master Li Ching-yun's treasured teachings on the Eight Brocades. One of the most famous qigong masters of this century, Master Li Ching-yun is reliably chronicled to have lived more than 250 years, during which he practiced the Eight Brocades on a daily basis. His longevity and personal endorsements attest to and validate the Eight Brocades as the quintessence of Taoist health and qigong practices. With Master Li Ching-yun's original teachings as a guide, Stuart Olson presents an authentic yet accessible approach to this unique practice. Each exercise is accompanied by original text from Master Li, step-by-step instructions for each posture, illustrations of the positions, and insights on theory and practice. Because the Eight Brocades are the foundation of all qigong, this book provides valuable advice for all practitioners, regardless of the style they practice or the depth of their experience.
A collection of tales and legends about the semi-divine Eight Immortals of Chinese Taoism, each of whom is supposed to have lived as an historical person. However the main role of the Eight Immortals is as symbols of the success of Taoist discipline and magic.
An illustrated guide to follow the path to the Immortal Tao • Reveals the 9 inner alchemy formulas for the Sealing of the Five Senses practice, including strengthening the senses and activating the Thrusting Channels • Explores how abuse of the senses leads to energy loss and degradation, for example, listening too much hurts the mind • Explains how to transmute warm chi into energy for the immortal spirit body, created through mastery of the three Kan and Li practices In ancient times, the Sealing of the Five Senses involved both Taoist Inner Alchemy and physical sealing of the sensory organs to prepare the master for extended periods of astral travel and meditation, during which he would remain completely motionless for years at a time. In modern times, physical sealing of the senses with wax is no longer required; however, in order to accumulate profound energy and gather cosmic light for the immortal spirit body one must stop the energy losses that occur through the senses. In this guide to energetic sealing of the senses, Master Mantak Chia and William Wei reveal the 9 inner alchemy formulas for the Sealing of the Five Senses practice, including strengthening the senses, connecting the senses to the organs, activating the Thrusting Channels, and harnessing the energies of the Big Dipper and the North Star. They explain how to stop energy losses through the five senses and transmute warm chi into energy for the immortal spirit body. The authors explore the importance of proper diet and eating habits in this practice, providing striking examples of World War II concentration camp survivors who were able to obtain energy from chewing water. Revealing the benefits of Sealing the Five Senses for non-Immortals, the authors explain how abuse of the senses leads to energy loss and degradation, for example, listening too much hurts the mind and crying too much harms your blood. They show how sealing the senses allows one to create the Crystal Room cauldron, where fire and water energy can couple to generate a superior essence used to achieve greater awareness and “steam” all the body’s major organ systems. An advanced practice for those who have mastered the three Kan and Li practices, the Sealing of the Five Senses is the final step on the Taoist path to Immortality.
A detailed guide to restoring the eight foundational areas of health • Explains how each of legendary Taoist masters known as the Eight Immortals has a specific area of health as the focus of his or her teachings • Offers practices, techniques and guidelines for each of the Eight Immortal Healer teachings, including the important roles of oxygen and water in the body, nutrition, detoxification, exercise, energy work, emotional pollution, and spiritual hygiene The Eight Immortals are a group of legendary ancient Taoist masters, each associated with a specific area of health or a powerful healing technique. These eight disciplines can bestow vibrant health and well-being and provide the antidote to the stresses, ailments, degenerative diseases, and toxins of modern life. In this guide to the healing practices of the Eight Immortals, Master Mantak Chia and Johnathon Dao share the legends of each Immortal teacher and detail the many ways to apply their wisdom through nutrition, exercises, supplements, detoxification methods, spiritual practices, and energy work. They explain how the first Immortal, born during the 8th century AD, is associated with oxygen, considered in the Taoist healing perspective as the body’s primary nutrient. They discuss how oxygen deficiency is the main culprit in cancer and virus and provide a number of oxygen therapies including the use of hydrogen peroxide and deep breathing to stimulate the metabolism and immune system. The second Immortal Healer centers on water, and the authors explain how chronic dehydration can lead to a host of ailments and offer advice for rehydrating. The other teachings of the Immortal Healers include Nutrition, with guidance on supplements, superfoods, toxic foods, and daily meals; Detoxification, with detailed guidelines for cleansing the body’s organs and glands; Avoiding environmental poisons, with advice on vaccines, dental amalgam fillings, sunscreen, chemotherapy, fluoride, and pesticides; Exercise, with step-by-step instructions for Inner Alchemy practices, yoga, and breathing techniques; Maintenance of the energy body, through acupuncture, chi kung healing, magnet therapy, and photon sound beams; and Emotional pollution and spiritual hygiene, with a wealth of practices for balancing the emotional body and staying connected to Source, including forgiveness, meditation, and karmic yoga. By following these Eight Immortal Healers, you can take control of your health, remove the root causes of the chronic ailments that inhibit well-being and longevity, and choose to live life to the fullest in happiness and radiant health.
A comprehensive guide to the core practices of the Universal Healing Tao System and the advanced esoteric practices of Inner Alchemy • Explains each of the nine levels of Inner Alchemy and their more than 240 formulas • Explores the Four Healing Arts for transformation of the emotional body, physical body, energy body, and spiritual body • Provides simplified versions of core Universal Healing Tao practices to more easily integrate the system into your daily life • Shows how these exercises were designed to increase longevity and ensure the survival of consciousness beyond death Explaining the evolution and core of the Universal Healing Tao system, Master Mantak Chia and William U. Wei offer a condensed approach to the Inner Alchemy practices taught to Master Chia by his first Taoist Master, Yi Eng, more than 60 years ago. Beginning with the basic principles called the Five Enlightenments, the authors explain each of the nine levels of Inner Alchemy and their more than 240 formulas, including simplified versions of the Microcosmic Orbit, the Inner Smile, Sexual Alchemy exercises for men and women, Fusion of the Five Elements practices, Kan and Li Alchemy, the Sealing of the Five Senses, and Star and Galaxy Alchemy. They explore the Four Healing Arts that encompass the nine levels of Inner Alchemy--Living Tao practices for transformation of your emotional body, Chi Nei Tsang practices for transformation of the physical body, Cosmic Healing practices for transformation of the energy body, and Immortal Tao practices for transformation of the spiritual body--all aimed toward the survival of consciousness in a self-aware vessel. They also offer simplified versions of the other core practices, such as Iron Shirt Chi Kung, Bone Marrow Nei Kung, and Wisdom Chi Kung, to help you easily integrate Inner Alchemy and Universal Healing Tao practices into your daily life. Providing a primer not only on the foundational practices of the Universal Healing Tao System but also a condensed guide to the esoteric practices of Inner Alchemy, Master Chia and William U. Wei show how these exercises were designed to increase longevity, providing you with enough time to master the more advanced spiritual techniques and ensure the survival of consciousness beyond death.
In this seventeenth-century Chinese novel, Han Xiangzi, best known as one of the Eight Immortals, seeks and achieves immortality and then devotes himself to converting his materialistic, politically ambitious Confucian uncle—Han Yu, a real historical figure—to Daoism. Written in lively vernacular prose interspersed with poems and songs, the novel takes its readers across China, to the heavens, and into the underworld. Readers listen to debates among Confucians, Daoists, and Buddhists and witness trials of faith and the performance of magical feats. In the mode of the famous religious novel Journey to the West, The Story of Han Xiangzi uses colorful characters, twists of plot, witty dialogue, and action suitable for a superhero comic book to convey its religious message—that worldly life is ephemeral and that true contentment can be found only through Daoist cultivation. This is the first translation into any Western language of Han Xiangzi quanzhuan (literally, The Complete Story of Han Xiangzi). On one level, the novel is a delightful adventure; on another, it is serious theology. Although The Story of Han Xiangzi’s irreverent attitude toward the Confucian establishment prevented its acceptance by literary critics in imperial China, it has remained popular among Chinese readers for four centuries. Philip Clart’s introduction outlines the Han Xiangzi story cycle, presents Yang Erzeng in his social context, assesses the literary merits and religious significance of the text, and explores the theory and practice of inner alchemy. This unabridged translation will appeal to students of Chinese literature and to general readers who enjoy international fiction, as well as to readers with an interest in Daoism.
These books by the popular Manga writer and artist Santo Kyoden were originally published in 1789. This volume contains two humorous stories that were popular with both common Edo citizens (the city that would become Tokyo) and Samurai. The Girl Who Became a Taoist Immortal is a story about romance and betrayal at a gathering of Taoist Immortals. The Diary of Lord Fudo of Three River Island imagines the Buddhist Deity Fudo Lord of Light lives a rather downtrodden life in Edo. These early Manga were popular during the 18th and 19th centuries in Japan.
The first English translation with commentary of three classic Taoist texts on immortality • Translates The Jade Emperor’s Mind Seal Classic, The Immortals, and The Three Treasures of Immortality • Defines the Taoist concept of immortality and examines the lives and practices of Taoists who achieved this state • Reveals the steps needed to achieve immortality in our modern society Taoist mystics claim that it is possible to achieve immortality: “Within each of us dwells the medicine to cure the affliction of mortality.” Now Western readers can access the wisdom of Taoist masters on the subject of immortality through the first English translations of three classic Taoist treatises: The Jade Emperor’s Mind Seal Classic; The Immortals, from the Pao P’u Tzu by Ko Hung of the Sung Dynasty; and The Three Treasures of Immortality, from the Dragon Gate Sect. The Jade Emperor’s Mind Seal Classic teaches that one can attain immortality through the cultivation of the three treasures of Taoism: ching (sexual and physical energy), qi (breath and vital energy), and shen (spirit and mental energy). Chinese history is sprinkled with accounts of individuals who applied the lessons of the Jade Emperor and lived up to 200 years. Drawing on his extensive knowledge of Taoism, martial arts, and Chinese history and culture, Stuart Alve Olson accompanies his translations with informative commentary that explains the historical context of the texts as well as demonstrates the practical applications of their teachings in contemporary life.