The Journal of Daoist Philosophy and Practice - CommunityAwake

The Journal of Daoist Philosophy and Practice
Summer 2012 $5.95 U.S. Canada $6.95
The Three Treasures
and the Golden Embryo
Shen, Hun and Po in
Chinese Medicine
Dimensional Learning
Perspective
The Uncarved Block
The Empty Vessel 1

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2 Summer 2012
tmc&hsingi07202012.indd 1
8/1/2012 5:31:40 PM

The Empty Vessel 3

Features
9 How Will I Know When
My Tea Is Ready
by Josh Chamberlin
15 The Three Treasures
and the Golden Embryo
by Barclay Powers
23 The Uncarved Block
by Solala Towler
28 Shen, Hun and Po in
Chinese Medicine
by Giovanni Maciocia
Contents
Summer 2012 Volume 19 Number 4
42 Dimensional Learning
Perspective
by Michael Vasquez
Departments
Along the Way 5
Summer Season 8
Directory 53
Cover photo
from Wudang Mountains,
Tools for Living the Dao 54
by Sandie Osborne
(also photos on pages
8, 9, 24 & 26)
4 Summer 2012

“The Dao that can be described is not the eternal Dao.”
So begins the Daodejing of Laozi written some 2,500 years ago.
How then, to describe the indescribable How to fit into words
that which is beyond words The Dao can only be pointed to,
or referred to, say the ancient sages. It cannot be held, only
experienced. It cannot be touched, only felt. It cannot be seen,
only glimpsed with the inner eye.
Dao, then, is the Way, as in direction, as in manner, source,
destination, purpose and process. In discovering and exploring
Dao the process and the destination are one and the same.
Laozi describes a Daoist as the one who sees simplicity in the
complicated and achieves greatness in little things. He or she
is dedicated to discovering the dance of the cosmos in the
passing of each season as well as the passing of each precious
moment in our lives.
Daoism was already long established when Laozi wrote the
Daodejing. It originated in the ancient shamanic roots of Chinese
civilization. Many of the practices and attitudes toward life were
already established before Laozi’s time. For many centuries
Daoism was an informal way of life, a way followed by peasant,
farmer, gentleman philosopher and artist. It was a way of deep
reflection and of learning from Nature, considered the highest
teacher. Followers of the Way studied the stars in the heavens
and the energy that lies deep within the earth. They meditated
upon the energy flow within their own bodies and mapped out
the roads and paths it traveled upon.
It is a belief in life, a belief in the glorious procession of
each unfolding moment. It is a deeply spiritual life, involving
introspection, balance, emotional and spiritual independence
and responsibility and a deep awareness and connection to the
earth and all other life forms. It requires an understanding of
how energy works in the body and how to treat illness in a safe,
non-invasive way while teaching practical ways of maintaining
health and avoiding disease and discomfort. Daoist meditation
techniques help the practitioner enter deeper or more expansive
levels of wakefulness and inner strength. But most of all, it is
a simple, natural, practical way of being in our bodies and our
psyches and sharing that way of being with all other life forms
we come into contact with.
Today in China and in the West, Daoism is often divided
into two forms, dao jio and dao jia. Or religious Daoism and
philosophical Daoism. Many scholars argue that there are not
two distinct forms of Daoism and in many ways they are right.
There is really a great intermingling of the religious form of
Daoism and its various sects and the philosophical Daoism
of Laozi and Zhuangzi. But many people who follow the Dao
do not consider themselves religious people and do not go to
temples and are not ordained as priests. Rather these two forms
exist both side by side and within each other.
As it says in the opening lines of the Daodejing: “Dao or
Way that can be spoken of or described in words is not eternal
Dao.” It is up to each of us to find the way to the Way in our
own way. What we try to do with The Empty Vessel is offer articles
and information to help you, our dear readers, to do that.
The Empty Vessel
The Journal of Daoist Philosophy and Practice
Publisher
The Abode of the Eternal Tao
Editor and Design
Solala Towler
Proofreading
Jack Woltz
Contributing Editor
Kurt Levins Sr.
Copy Editor
Shanti
Technical Consultant
Darrell (Tandava) Klette
The Empty Vessel: A Journal of Contemporary Daoism is
published quarterly by The Abode of the Eternal Dao,
1991 Garfield Street, Eugene, Oregon 97405.
E-Mail address: solala@abodetao.com.
Web site: www.abodetao.com.
Subscriptions are $24per year (U.S. funds).
Online version at www.CommunityAwake.com
©2012 by The Abode of the Eternal Dao, all rights
reserved. The Empty Vessel is not responsible for opinions
or statements expressed by authors or for advertisers'
claims.
Advertising rates are available by writing to The Empty
Vessel, 1991 Garfield Street, Eugene, Oregon 97405,
calling 800-574-5118 or emailing solala@abodetao.com.
Statement of Purpose
The Empty Vessel is dedicated to the exploration and
dissemination of Daoist philosophy and practice. It is
open to sharing the various traditional and contemporary
teachings in a nondiscriminatory manner. We
at The Empty Vessel believe that it is in using these
practices and attitudes of the ancient achieved ones in
a timely and contemporary manner that we can best
benefit from them and in doing so, be able to effect
change in the world around us.
The Empty Vessel 5

THE DEITIES OF THE DAO
YOU ARE INVITED TO
THE NINTH ANNUAL TAOIST GATHERING:
Dr. Alex Feng and Charlene Ossler
of Zhi Dao Guan, The Taoist Center, in Oakland, CA
invite you to participate in the Ninth Annual Taoist Gathering October 26-28, 2012
at Samuel Merritt University Health Education Center, Oakland, CA –
a weekend devoted to the study, practice, and Community of Taoism.
‣ Keynote: Deities in Daoism by Grandmaster Zhang Yuanming
(Mt. Qingcheng Center, the Palace of the Heavenly Dragon, China):
‣ The Daoist Sacred Feminine - Visualizing Transcendence:
Femininity and Transformation in Daoism - Dr. Hirsh Diamant PhD
‣ Deities as Intermediaries of Dao: The Celestial Court of the Jade Emperor – Liu Ming
‣ TCM Spiritual Herbs – Dr. Anita Marshall
‣ The Eight Immortals – Dr. Thomas McCombs
‣ Zhang San Fong –The Legendary Taiji Orginator - David Wei
‣ Scientific Measurement of the Divine Light Within – Dr. Beverly Rubik
‣ The Altar for Personal Cultivation – Dr. Ted Cibik
‣ The Origins of Ancient Taoism in 5,000 BC – Greg Leveille
‣ And others-see www.thetaoistcenter.com for the full agenda
Special Friday afternoon workshop: Meditation through Chinese Brush Painting with Hirsh Diamant
PhD Classical text of the Song of 13 movements, Wu Xing, and Ba Gua. $75 for the four hour class.
Friday evening Taoism Class and Meditation followed by
two days of provocative Taoist presentations, meditation, qi gong,
and other forms of practice, ritual and exploration
$225 Early Bird registration for the full weekend
$150 for Sat & Sun ($125 if you mention this Empty Vessel Ad!)
$275 after September 15th
Information at www.thetaoistcenter.com
or write/call Zhi Dao Guan at 3824 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland CA 94619. 510-336-0129;
info@thetaoistcenter.com
Attendees praise this unique annual event:
“ This is down home Daoism – accessible to All”
“Energizing! Inspirational!” “Laughter, Meditation, Movement, Deep Thought-UNIQUE!”
6 Summer 2012

Along the Way
The recent horrendous shooting in Colorado, at the premier
of the ultra violent Batman movie, has a lot of people
shaking their heads and wondering what is it about modern
people, the youth in particular, that flock to these dark and
twisted movies. Go into any video store and you will find
endless rows of horror movies that make The Exorcist look
like a fairy tale.
To Daoists this would seem to be a case of disturbed or
shut down shen. Are modern people so inured to violence
and horror that they need to go and seek it out in movies I
expect this is only true in the West as many people in Africa
and the Middle East have enough real horror around them
without looking for movies about it.
Of course I love watching Chinese martial arts movies,
which can be pretty violent. Yet there is always a feeling of
nobility about the hero. He or she is usually protecting the
weak or downtrodden and the fights are highly choreographed,
with a minimum of actual bloodshed.
Of course humans, since ancient times, have always had
their stories of heroes and bad guys. In China we find many
stories in such ancient books as The Watermargin Heroes
and The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In India there is
the story of Rama and Ravena, which goes back thousands
of years. The Old Testament is also full of stories of conquest
and deceit, with thousands dying.
Yet I still feel there is something about this modern age
that works to close people down so that they cannot enjoy
the subtleties of the human experience. The music is louder,
the films are more violent, the pornography business is
booming more than any other, people are getting more and
more unhealthy and dysfunctional, the average American
diet is getting worse and worse and the political climate in
our capital has become poisonous.
It would seem that the days of the ancient masters of
Dao are long gone. Yet there are still pockets of people in
the world who do not subscribe to the modern paradigm
of thinking and living. There are still people who have their
hearts and eyes open to the wonders of the world. There
are still teachers and students who are willing to put aside
the petty interests of modern society and work hard and go
deep for their own cultivation.
High in the Wudang mountains there is a hermit I visit
every year, who has lived in a cave for twenty years. Everyone
calls him Jiaye (Old Grandfather) and yes, you can
find him on Youube (under Bee Daoist). His sweet toothless
smile has more beauty in it than any painting of a sage.
Once, when I asked him what his cultivation practices were,
imagining all sorts of esoteric cave practices, he told me that
he meditated every day. Then he said, "It is very important
to cultivate a loving heart." Sage advice indeed, from an old
Daoist yogi who has the smile of the sun and the fortitude
of the old masters.
May we all find our heart sun and allow it to shine on
everyone around us and may we all be enlight-ened, all in
our own time and fashion! May we all become healthy, bright
beings who bring healing and solace to those around us!
Solala Towler, editor
Subscribe to
and receive four issues of
•Insightful and stimulating
interviews with contemporary Daoist
masters and teachers
• Informative and inspirational
articles on Daoist philosophy and
practice.
• Reviews of the latest
books & DVDs.
Subscribe now for only $24 for one
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The Empty Vessel 7

Summer Season
Dr. Maoshing Ni
Heavy under sweltering heat of summer,
Too lazy to flutter my feather fan,
I lie naked in the grove of green woods.
Resting contentedly without care,
Gazing at my hat slumped on a rock,
I am caressed by a gentle breeze rustling
through the pines.
Li Bai (Li Po)
Peach blossoms eagerly bloom through summer,
But the wind and the moon won't wait.
One may look for men of the Han era;
But not one can be found!
Day by day blossoms come and go;
Year by year people change and grow old.
Today where we kick up the dirt
In times old was a great sea.
Han Shan
To most individuals, the seasons are part of life that
we all have to contend with. In our modern, high-tech
lifestyle where people live and work in climate-controlled
"boxes" and are oblivious to the effects of the changing
seasons, some are even resentful of being "inconvenienced"
by the changes of seasons. In the science-fiction
future, perhaps with the push of a button, people will no
longer experience the depression in winter that comes
with SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder).
However, despite what bubble we may construct
around ourselves, we can never divorce our connectedness
to the Universal Law. Our body and mind will
continue to follow and mirror the rhythms of the cosmos.
This rhythm is so primal that it is fundamental to our
ability to survive and thrive.
The seasons are wonderful opportunities for humankind
to experience the ceaseless, cyclical powers of the
universe. The seasons express the Law of Change. And
when one learns about change, one can minimize the
8 Summer 2012

negative and maximise the benefits that come with each
and every change.
The Daoist sages of ancient times observed and
taught that each season is represented by an energy phase
or cycle. Summer is represented by a symbol of two solid
lines that denote maximum Yang energy. The element associated
with Summer is Fire. This is obviously the time
of abundant growth and expansion in nature.
As The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine states, "In
the three months of summer the Heavenly energy descends
and the Earthly energy rises. When these energies
merge there is intercourse between Heaven and Earth,
plants mature and animals, flowers and fruits appear
abundantly."
The Fire energy phase encourages a more active lifestyle,
including increased physical and sexual activities
and being open and carefree with one's emotions. But at
the same time, one should be aware of not going to the
extreme with any activities, so as not to deplete one's
Yang and create damage to one's health, which tends to
manifest in the ensuing season of Autumn. The organ
system most affected by imbalance during the Summer
is the heart.
During Summer Solstice, when the Yang has reached
its zenith, it is the pivotal point when Yang begins its
decline while Yin starts to grow. This is the reason why
Summer Solstice is a critical time for traditional Daoists
to perform special practices to cultivate and preserve
one's Yang.
Special herb tea such as ones containing lotus leaf,
coicis seed, chrysanthemum flower, bamboo leaf and
others to help one maintain balance and adapt to the
energetic shift are also important.
When one's life is not attuned to the Universal Law,
The Yellow Emperors's Classic of Medicine warns, "If this
natural order is disregarded, the root of one's life will
be damaged and one's true energy will wane. When one
respects the natural law, it is possible to be free from illness.
The sages have followed this and the foolish people
have not."
The best tool I have used to help me stay attuned
to the changes around me is the I-Ching or the Book of
Changes. By working with it regularly, you will gain
deeper insights about life and develop your spiritual
knowledge of the Mystical Universe. By diligent cultivation,
you can reach for the nadir and yet prevent decline,
thus enjoying abundant health and longevity in your life.
Dr. Mao Shing Ni, known as Dr. Mao, is a 38th-generation
doctor of Chinese medicine, an authority on Taoist anti-aging
medicine, and author of the best-selling book Secrets of
Longevity, Second Spring: Hundreds of Natural Secrets for
Women to Revitalize and Regenerate at Any Age, Secrets of
Self-Healing, and most recently, Secrets of Longevity 8-Week
Program: Simple Steps that Add Years to Your Life.
Dr. Mao is a cofounder of Yo San University and the Tao of
Wellness, the acclaimed center for nutrition, Chinese medicine,
and acupuncture, located in Santa Monica, CA. He can
be reached at www.askdrmao.com.
The Empty Vessel 9

How Will I Know When
My Tea is Ready
Josh Chamberlin
This is a story about my fortunate experience with
an elder tea master.
My friend and I were invited to a tea event in Taipei,
Taiwan. I didn’t really know what to expect. I just knew
that we would be drinking tea in a very elegant setting.
The goal of this event was twofold. The first was to introduce
the attendees to the location. It is a tearoom where
people make an appointment to enjoy tea and discuss
business or simply enjoy each other’s conversation. The
atmosphere is serene, with an elegant mixture of modern
and ancient. The room is plush and several brew areas
are set up. This is definitely a nice getaway
from the hustle bustle of Taipei city life. The
second point of this event was to introduce us
to some extremely limited production High
Mountain Taiwan tea. Many people claim to
have and sell this type of tea, though there
simply isn’t enough produced. The idea was
that we were to drink the teas and remember
them and in this way we would have a clear
impression about what these types of tea actually
are. The first teamaster was a Li Shan
Oolong, the second was a Da Yu Ling 105K
Iron Goddess varietal and finally there was a
Fu Suo Shan Oolong.
Many tea elders and tea masters were in
attendance. There was no assigned seating, but
as it turned out, there was a friend of a friend
sitting at one of the tables, so we decided to
join him. I was impressed by the brew skill
of our young brew master. He made several
infusions and demonstrated that his brew skill
was substantial and far surpassed my own. I
was sitting directly across from him so I was
paying attention and taking mental notes, as
well as photographs.
The man sitting at the head of the table
was involved in a conversation with the woman
sitting to my left. I overheard a bit of their
conversation. They were talking about how
his cup smelled different than hers though
the tea being served was the same in each of
their cups. She was very impressed by this.
I guessed that the man was in his late 50’s or
60’s, I couldn’t be sure but it was clear that
he was of an older generation who deserved
respect. He was interested to find out that
I sell Taiwanese tea in the U.S. He asked me, “Is tea a
beverage or a culture” I know this type of question is a
test. This is the type of question that people ask me when
they want to find out how much I really know about tea.
I am constantly tested in Taiwan. Sometimes I pass and
sometimes I fail.
What does it mean to pass If I pass, I gain acceptance.
Doors open. People invite me into their homes
and offer to teach me many things. If I fail, I am deemed
slightly unworthy. I will not be taken seriously. Either
10 Summer 2012

way, I learn. But when I fail, the learning
comes from humiliation, which is always
humbling and slightly painful. I am accustomed
to these tests, but within the test, I
also have to evaluate if this is a person that
I want to learn from. Some people will offer
to teach with hidden agendas. They will
tell me a great deal of info with the hope
of selling me some expensive items or with
the intention of some other personal gain.
I have met enough of these types to know
that I am put off by them so I tend to protect
myself. So when I heard the question, at first
I had a bit of an adverse reaction. How did I
know that this question was a test Simply
because both answers are correct. He wanted
to understand my perspective. I answered
the question the same way that one goes
about putting their head in a lion’s mouth
– very carefully.
I said that most Americans just want a
cup of tea so in America tea is a beverage,
but that in reality tea is a culture. When it
is brewed with the appropriate teaware,
with care, and with the intention of bringing
something to those drinking the tea, then it is
nothing less than culture. My answer spoke
to both aspects, addressing both answers,
as both answers were correct. I just want to
mention here that another tricky thing about
answering this type of question is that the
answer needs to be broad enough to encompass
both answers, but at the same time due
to my younger age as well as my yet to be
established status, it was important to keep
the answers as brief as possible, as a sign of
respect to the elders. Taking up less talking space allows
for more important information that could be stated by
an elder. My answer was apparently adequate enough
that the venerable master nodded.
His cup was more fragrant. This is what the woman
to my left was so thoroughly impressed with. His was
more fragrant than hers as we smelled them side by side.
He explained, “I brew tea every day, no matter what. I
have brewed two pots of tea every day for the last twenty
years, without exception. There is no secret to Chinese
Gong Fu. (Here Chinese Gong Fu refers to an art form that
comes from diligent practice.) There are many things that
can be achieved through time and focus. Just as a deep
impression can be made in a stone from drops of water,
so are we transformed through focused practice. There
is an interaction that takes place between people and tea
when they brew tea. Through this diligent practice, one
can have a deep understanding of tea. A person can only
have one thing in their body.”
This was his explanation of why his teacup was
more fragrant. It was because he had developed a way
of interacting with tea so that the fragrance, just the cup
from which he drank from was more fragrant than that
of another. After listening, I paused and smelled my cup.
It was less fragrant than the venerable master's, but more
so than the person in between us. I was thrilled.
How is knowledge transmitted Sometimes with
some of the more esoteric types of knowledge, it is done
through subtle communication. A student of esoteric arts
has to listen, observe and feel. Then it must be absorbed
and not just intellectually understood, but combined into
a personalized understanding. Part of what I am describing
is my interpretation of what occurred and in no way
do I claim that it is right. As the student brewed tea, and
picked the pot up to pour, the teacher said, “Feel it in the
center, all the way down through your core” At that moment,
I felt a downward spiraling pull as if it was water
going down a drain. This feeling was taking place both
outside of me with the tea, and internally, in my core. If he
had not pointed this out, I would have never noticed it. It
was very subtle. But this was it. This was the feeling that
one can feel and it lets them know that the tea is ready.
Since then, I have practiced creating this feeling
internally. When the feeling materializes, I pour the tea.
The Empty Vessel 11

I’ve noticed my brews have started to improve. Such
is the way of tea.
The master offered some words of advice. He
told me that the music we listen to and the poetry
we read will also enhance the quality of the tea
we brew. He recommended that I contemplate the
work of Zheng Ban Qiao ( 鄭 板 橋 ), a Qing Dynasty
painter, writer and poet whose work can be found
here: www.chinapage.com/calligraphy/zhengbanqiao/
zhengbanqiao.html.
It turned out that he had been to my hometown
of Eugene, Oregon and he said that Eugene is a
beautiful environment. He encouraged me to brew
tea outdoors. His last bit of advice was this, “Don’t
just buy tea that your customers want. Be sure to buy
tea that you feel is good. This way, your work will
be sure to have meaning.” He then asked me which
hand I brewed tea with. “My left hand.” I replied. He
then took my left hand, clasping his hands around
it. Furrowing his brow and entering into a state of
deep concentration, he transmitted something into
my hand – an energy that would be with me as long
as I brew tea. When he let go, I felt moved. Somehow
I had been transformed. I felt so grateful and so
honored to receive this gift. I had not gone looking
for it, nor was I expecting it. It took me by surprise
as an act of generosity.
As we prepared to leave I overheard the woman
sitting to my left ask the Master a question, “Do you
write about tea”
“No,” replied the venerable master, “as soon as
I write it, it is wrong.” This was oral knowledge that
he was passing on to us.
J-TEA was nothing but a hope for Josh Chamberlain in
2004 while he was living in Taiwan as an MBA student.
Spending several years in Taiwan allowed him the opportunity
to learn about tea from tea masters and tea
experts. Tea became a bridge, which allowed Josh deeper
access into Taiwanese society. As tea continued to reveal
itself as a bridge, Chamberlain knew others would enjoy
it. And so the story of J-TEA began.
In time, J-TEA manifested into a teahouse in Eugene’s
Friendly Street neighborhood where many weary travelers
of this modern world's battered landscape can pull up
to the tea bar and feel the relaxing effects of any number
of the carefully selected teas provided. Josh continues to
visit Taiwan’s tea farms and study with traditional tea
teachers in his continual quest for tea knowledge.
J-TEA positions itself to uphold the values of locally
cultivated products, namely sustainability, local traditions,
and high quality, when it comes to tea. He focuses
on traditional tea farming practices, which encompass
techniques that cause the least harm to the Earth (i.e.,
pesticide-free and small-scale family owned farms).
Chamberlain's direct personal connections, through
bi-annual visits to Taiwan, enable him to procure highquality,
unadulterated, whole-leaf teas.
Fall 2009
The Journal of Daoist Philosophy and Practice
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12 Summer 2012

Empty Vessel China Tour 2013
Hangzhou • Mao Shan • Wudang Mountains • Beijing
May 10-26, 2013
Join us in May when we travel to the sacred mountains of Daoism – Wudang Shan – home of Daoist taiji, qigong and
martial arts. We will spend days hiking and visiting some of the many Daoist temples there, attend classes with a
local master, drink tea in the temple teahouse and practice Wuji Qigong, a 600 hundred year old qigong form, created
by the famous Wudang Daoist master Zhang San Feng. We will also be visiting Maoshan, an ancient Daoist mountain.
We will visit the Qianyuan Guan, a Daoist nunnery, famed for the purity of their practice and the wonderful sounds of
their orchestra. The abbess, Yin Xinhui, is one of the few heads of temples who does not take government money for
rebuilding (which means fewer tourists) but works to maintain her temple through ceremonies (which, hopefully we
will get to witness while we are there.)
We will also be spending time in Hangzhou, one of the most beautiful cities in China. Hangzhou, circling around West
Lake, has long been revered for its beauty and culture. While there we visit a tea plantation (where the famous Dragon
Well tea is grown), as well as the museum of Chinese Medicine and take in an awe inspiring lake show by Zhang Yimou,
the well known Chinense film director, called West Lake Impressions (check it out on youtube).
The last few days will be spent in Beijing, where we will visit the White Cloud Temple, the Great Wall and the fabulous
tea market as well as attend some amazing acrobat shows. All along the way we will eat amazing food, meet qigong
masters, artists, musicans, tea masters, and one cave dwelling hermit.
“Thank you so much for planning such a perfect trip for us.”
“Thanks again for organizing such an amazing trip. I had a
fantastic time and will never forget it.”
For more information call or write:
The Abode of the Eternal Dao
1991 Garfield St. Eugene, OR 97405
541.345.8854/solala@abodetao.com
The Empty Vessel 13

Temple in Wudang Mountains
China Tour 2013 itinerary
May 10 (Arrive in China May 11)
Fly to Beijing from SF
May 12
After a leisurely breakfast visit White Cloud Daoist Temple, fly to Hangzhou in afternoon
May 13
Hangzhou
While in Hangzhou we will visit the tea plantation where the famous Dragon Well (Lung Jing) tea is grown as well
as the Chinese Medicine Museum, the Lingyin Buddhist temple with all its fabulous sculptures, the beautiful West
Lake and take in an amazing show by the famous Chinese film director Zhang Yimou called West Lake Impressions,
which takes place on the lake!
May 14
May 15
Hangzhou
Bus (our own) to Maoshan
While visiting this ancient Daoist mountain, we will be spending time at the Qianyuan Guan, a Daoist nunnery,
famed for the purity of their practice and the wonderful sounds of their orchestra. The abbess, Yin Xinhui, is one of
the few heads of temples who does not take government money for rebuilding (which means fewer tourists)
May 16
May 17
May 18
Maoshan
Maoshan, fast train to Wuhan in afternoon
Train to Wudang
14 Summer 2012

Wushu demonstration in Wudang mountains
We will spend days hiking and visiting some of the many
Daoist temples there, drink tea in the temple teahouse
and practice Wuji Qigong, a 600 hundred year old qigong
form, created by the famous Wudang Daoist master
Zhang San Feng. We will also visit our old friend Jiaye
(Old Grandfather) a Daoist master who has lived in a
cave for almost 20 years and will have classes in Daoist
meditation with a local teacher, Hu Laoshi.
May 19
May 20
May 21
May 22
May 23
May 24-25
Wudang
Wudang
Wudang
Wudang
Train to Wuhan
Beijing
For this last leg of our trip we will visit the Great Wall
of China, the Tibetan Lama temple, spend time at the
fabulous Tea Market, and get some last minute shopping
done.
Your Tour Leader
Solala Towler has been editor/publisher of The Empty Vessel:
The Journal of Daoist Philosophy and Practice since 1993.
He has had 12 books published on the Daoist arts and
has led seven tours to China. He is a certified instructor
of several styles of Qigong as well as Daoist meditation.
You can learn more about Solala’s work at his website
at www.communityawake.com under The Abode of the
Eternal Dao. He has been to China eight times.
17-day China Tour
Per person: $4300
Single room supplement: $400
Credit card payment available
(Price may be subject to change.)
What’s included:
• Roundtrip airfare from U.S. to China
• All hotels double occupancy
• Study tuition
• Meals
• Excursions and sightseeing
• Translation
• All bus, train and air transportation within China
May 26
Fly home
To register for this trip contact us to send
a $1,000 deposit. The remainder of the cost
will be due 90 days before departure.
Upon registration you will receive a packet
of information on China travel, what to
bring etc and a reading list.
The Empty Vessel 15

The Three Treasures
and the Golden Embryo
An Experience of Chinese Alchemy
Barclay Powers
Ancestor Lu, a Taoist alchemist, suggested that what
is assumed to be physical—the human body—in its ideal
form consists of the three treasures—vitality, energy and
spirit.
The first of these Three Treasures is jing. In Sanskrit
it is bindui; in Tibetan it is thigle. It is also sometimes
referred to as prenatal qi and is a combination of the qi
of both of our parents at the moment of conception.
This is one of the reasons that, in Taoist thought,
sexual activity is not advised if both or even one of the
parents is under the influence of alcohol, seriously unhealthy,
or emotionally unstable. This would result in the
baby being born with poor jing, and hence be born with
a poor constitution.
Jing regulates our hormonal and reproductive systems,
controls our growth throughout life, and regulates
our central nervous system, including the brain, spinal
cord and bone marrow. It also governs our constitution.
Jing is said to reside in our kidneys and is also the repository
of our creative and sexual energy.
Another role of jing is linked to the aging process.
Too much loss of sexual essence, or jing, in men through
incorrect sexual habits leads to faster aging. This is one
of the reasons you may see more women than men in
retirement homes or assisted living centers; women far
outlive men.
The second Treasure is qi. In Sanskrit it is prana; in
Tibetan it is lung.
Qi can be thought of as basic life force, or vital energy.
It is what animates us, what gives us life. It warms us,
keeps our organs in place and directs all our movements.
Not only that but there are different kinds of qi; for
instance, organ qi, protective or wei qi, among others.
Modern Chinese even refer to the weather as a kind of qi.
One of the more familiar types of qi, accessed during
acupuncture treatments, is meridian qi. This type
of qi travels throughout our body in specific pathways
or meridians, linking organs to each other. This is what
acupuncturists tap into when they insert needles.
You get qi from the air you breathe, the food you eat
and the water you drink. This is why it is so important to
eat fresh, high quality food. Eating too many processed foods,
with little qi in them, will produce poor qi in your body.
Qi can also be thought of as electricity. It can’t be seen
but it can be felt, even measured. You can even think of
your meridian system as an electrical system complete
with junctures, fuse boxes, and miles of wiring, all connecting
in one great multi-level energy circuit.
There are also other kinds of qi—emotional qi, spiritual
qi, even thinking qi. The act of writing this book and
you reading it, produces a kind of qi connection by communicating
information which you receive.
There is also primordial qi, the original animating,
creative force of the universe.
Master Hua Ching Ni, physician, co-founder of a
school of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and teacher of
Tao philosophy, describes the universe as alive. “It is the
continual transformation of primal chi, the pivotal energy
and living soul of the universe.”
Primal qi connects the universe just as the nervous
system interacts within the human body. It is the basic
natural force of the universe. All things in the universe
are the same, just different nuances of qi. Or as ancient
sages have said, “All things are one, and the one is all
things.”
All transformation is the result of the exchange of qi,
forward or backward.
The last of the Three Treasures is shen, also called
spirit or consciousness. It is what gives our lives meaning
and links us with our divine source. Shen is said to
reside in the heart and to open through the eyes; as in
“The eyes are the mirrors of the soul.”
A Western doctor shines a light in your eyes, not just
looking for cataracts, but taking advantage of the opening
that gives a direct view of the condition of your retinal
blood vessels. Seeing them clearly in the back of your eye,
the doctor has some idea of the condition of your blood
vessels in general.
A doctor of Chinese medicine can tell the seriousness
of a condition by looking into the patient’s eyes. Bright
or clear eyes indicate that the shen or spirit is strong;
then the chances of recovery are good. Clouded, glazed
or unfocused eyes indicate a more doubtful prognosis.
To the Chinese, the mind also resides in the heart.
Follow your heart, learning by heart, listening to your
heart—these all come from this belief. These sayings are
16 Summer 2012

Stage 1: Gathering the light
also used in the West, hinting at the same heart/mind
connection.
Ancestor Lu considered the spirit to reside in an alchemical
storehouse. If secure, the spirit was calm. The
spirit controlled the vitality of the body, crystallizing the
Great Elixir, creating the Immortal Embryo.
The original self is obscured by the senses. Seeing
a beautiful sunset, you forget to see who you really are.
Hearing a rousing symphony by Tchaikovsky, you forget.
Tasting a pungent curry sauce, you forget. Smelling the
deep sweetness of a red rose, you forget. Pounding the
earth, jogging through a park, your body forgets who
it really is. Once the senses are removed, the true self
emerges. Only then do you recognize your Original Face,
the Golden Embryo of the trikaya.
It’s been said by some that a good way to see differently
is to shift the focus of consciousness back just a bit
into the brain from where it is now. So, as you look at
these words, think about where you seem to live behind
your eyes. Now move this focal point back an inch or
two. If you can do this exercise regularly with a quiet
mind and slowed breathing, you can achieve a shift in
consciousness. This is because you’re actually shifting
back your sense of consciousness to where the seat of
consciousness – the Third Eye (upper dan tian), the pineal
gland – resides. This technique will help you think
about consciousness and its nature, how it leads you to
wonderful places, and yet how the very nature of your
senses distracts you from who you truly are.
An ancient Taoist text called the Huainanzi, describes
this process:
When the mind (the will) is concentrated on the inside of
the body, it can pervade everything just as the One or the Tao
itself. As long as the mind stays unmoving, one will never know
what one is doing, nor where one is going…The body is like
a withered tree, the mind is like cold ashes. The five orbs and
the body itself are beyond one’s thoughts, one knows without
studying, sees without looking, accomplishes things without
doing anything. Without throwing light on things one will find
them clear, pushed along one will move, instinctively one will
go on—flowingly, as the shadow follows the light.
Hidemi Ishida, Taoist Meditation and Longevity Techniques
In ancient Taoist texts this practice is known as “fasting
of the heart.” The idea here is that by stilling the mind
the practitioner is calming the shen, which, remember,
resides in the heart.
The ancient Taoist philosopher, Chuang Tzu, describes
it like this:
You must center your heart/mind in perfect harmony. Do
not listen with your ears but with your heart/mind. Do not
The Empty Vessel 17

listen with your heart/mind but with your vital energy (qi).
Hearing stops with the ears, thoughts and ideas stop with the
mind. Your qi or vital energy though, resides in stillness and is
open and receptive to all things. True knowledge or Tao, resides
in stillness and emptiness and to attain this emptiness one must
use the fasting of the mind.
Chuang Tzu: The Inner Chapters by Solala Towler
How exactly does one proceed in this “fasting of the
mind” practice
First sit quietly, away from
external noises like traffic, television,
and people talking. Then
focus on your breath. If thoughts
come because of stresses in life,
let them unfold and process, and
then let them go. Fantasies and
random thoughts should be discarded.
Return to focus on your
breath. You will create a state of
mind that is at peace, detached
from external senses. You will hear but pay no mind to
what you hear, as if you had heard nothing.
Lao Tzu says:
Allow yourself to become empty.
Abide in stillness.
The ten thousand beings rise and flourish
while the sage watches their return.
Though all beings exist in profusion
they all end up returning to their source.
Returning to their source is called tranquility.
This is called “returning to their original nature.”
Chapter 16
Another term for Taoist meditation is “sitting and
forgetting.” By sitting quietly and allowing all outside
influences to fade away and all inner thoughts to flow
by without grasping and without attachment, your body
becomes “like a withered tree” and your mind “is like
cold ashes.”
Even though these images may seem a bit grim this
state is actually one of complete detachment and inner
quiet. This is the first important stage of internal alchemy.
If you are not able to sit quietly while breathing deeply
and slowly, you will not be able to attain the higher levels
of neidan practice.
The next level is to be able to maintain this meditative
state in all activities. While walking, standing, eating,
drinking, sleeping, and resting, you continue to meditate.
Keeping your breath and your essence intact, the spirit
remains in the body, increasing longevity.
If you are able to maintain this quiet mind/spirit in
all of your activities then you will be able to go on to the
higher levels of neidan practice, the Immortal Embryo
or the Golden Elixir.
The ancient Taoists believed there is an indescribable
something, Tao, running through the universe like a fuse.
The secret to enlightenment and ultimate freedom is to
If you are able to maintain this
quiet mind/spirit in all of your
activities then you will be able to
go on to the higher levels of neidan
practice, the Immortal Embryo or
the Golden Elixir.
dissolve one’s self into Tao, surrender to it to achieve
longevity, health, and balance.
Time after time, though, the Taoists talk about their
goal of living in their bodies forever. Legends, such as
those about the Eight Immortals, support that idea.
Even scientists today suggest that, according to
what we know now about the way the body ages and
why, technology a hundred years from now will allow
individuals born then to live hundreds of years.
The vital lessons of the ancient
Taoists are much more practical
and applicable to you. The Taoist
alchemists basically said that you
can use your body as a foundation
for achieving enlightenment.
Chinese alchemy, in ancient
texts, teaches that the cosmos is
the final stage in a series of spontaneous
transmutations stemming
from original non-existence.
Primeval unity is a union of opposites, generating the
cosmos.
The ultimate goal of the Chinese alchemist is the
achievement of the Golden Elixir. This is the stuff of which
enlightenment is made!
According to the alchemists, the process was very
much like the process described in the awakening of the
kundalini through tantric methods. The jing is cultivated
and preserved in the lower torso in a firing process like
the concept of tapas used in yoga. Jing is heated by an
inner heat and it rises up through channels known as
nadis in Sanskrit. Once it reaches the top region of the
body, this process opens up new vistas through the third
eye. The individual is then able to look upon his Original
Face, his Golden Embryo, or what Ancestor Lu calls the
Primordial.
To revisit and summarize the essential formula for
attaining the completion state of Chinese alchemy and
realizing the Tao—you refine jing into qi, qi into shen,
return shen to the void, and return the void to Tao. Or,
another way to say that is to refine your essence into vital
energy, vital energy into spirit, and return the spirit to
the void. When shen is returned to the void, the yin and
yang subtle bodies have embraced. When the void is
returned to Tao, it is called “shattering space.” You have
seen the Golden Embryonic version of yourself dissolve
into nothingness.
In body-centered Taoism, the physical body is valued,
in contrast to Hindu or ascetic renunciation practices
which attach no value to the physical body. Longevity
is prized because it takes many, many years to refine the
Three Treasures and particularly to refine shen, the spirit
hidden within the body.
Mixing ingredients together transforms the original
elements and, as with a recipe, achieves a known result.
When you heat egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and cream and
cool it, you have made a custard. When you add flour, salt,
18 Summer 2012

Stage 2: Origin of a new being in the place of power
milk, baking powder, and cook it in a pan in the oven you
have made something entirely different, a cake. Kitchen
alchemy is the province of all good chefs.
Alchemy of any kind can be defined as the seemingly
magical process of transmuting one substance into another
substance of greater value. It’s been described, for
example, as the process of turning lead into gold. There
have always been those adherents of alchemy who were
concerned with mastering the outer world in such a way,
and they approached physical security and longevity
as an outside-in process. Their pursuits led to discoveries
such as gunpowder, and eventually developed into
chemistry and modern day pharmacology.
When you see fireworks exploding on the Fourth of
July, you can see evidence of the results of outer alchemy.
Inner alchemy is living in a continuum of spirit, in
a proper alchemical mix of body and spirit. The goal is
the union of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity.
Without proper balance in outer alchemy, you see the
oceans become great dumpsites for humanity’s discarded
material. You see oil spills and oil seepages.
The environmental movement is the outer alchemical
movement towards balancing the needs of humans
with the precious gifts of mother Earth. It is right to have
concern regarding industrial pollutants in our air and
water. The effect of changes in water temperature upsets
the balance of life in the oceans and weather patterns,
which, in turn, transforms the experience of the entire
world. The balance of nature is upset when the ozone
layer develops holes and the ice caps melt.
All adherents to the inner branch of alchemy are
devoted to activating what the Indians called kundalini
and the Chinese called the Immortal Embryo or Golden
Flower, in order to achieve enlightenment or realization
of the Tao.
This alchemical process is sometimes described as
the refining of elements of the body with the mind, and
awakening the latent spiritual content, and refining it
into the “gold” of spirit.
The process begins with the spiritual or subtle gold,
which exists within every human being. This subtle
gold comes into form with the initial spark of life at an
individual’s conception, prior to gender differentiation.
After a human sperm wiggles into an egg, and the
resultant zygote becomes implanted safely in the wall
of the uterus, there is a period of time when the fetus
is neither male nor female, but both. It is androgynous.
This embryonic “gold,” which we have also called “the
starting point of the body,” stays in the body. It lies in
a dormant state until activated through qi raising techniques
such as yoga, tai chi, qi gong, and meditation.
Through transformation and integration the alchemist
achieves realization. At this point, the practitioner
becomes aware and has access to universal consciousness—cosmic
consciousness. It also results in the beginning
of tremendous physical rejuvenation and health
benefits. Your superpowers await your alchemical work
to generate your own immortality.
In Taoist alchemy, an Immortal is a person who
achieves the completion stage of alchemy and has fully refined
all three forces—jing, qi and shen—into a functional
state of total multi-dimensional awareness. In this way,
they exist beyond time and space and are thus immortal.
The process of working with jing, qi and shen is one of
The Empty Vessel 19

Stage 3: Separation of the spirit-body for independent existence.
transformation—from the gross level of jing up through
the more refined energy of qi and then to the even more
refined energy of shen or pure spirit. Then there is one
more layer of refinement, back to the primordial Tao or
Wu Ji, the universe.
The Chinese system, unlike other cultivation techniques
of the East and West, uses the body as the starting
point. These practices are not geared toward getting the
practitioner up and out of the body, but instead turn you
inward and downward.
Lao Tzu advised, “Know the yang but hold to the
yin.” In other words, honor the yang or upward, outward,
dynamic energy but the real key in self cultivation is to
work with the yin aspect, which is connected to the earth,
to water, to the dark mystery of the yin principle.
Indeed, the quest to become a Taoist Immortal was
said to involve both body as well as the mind. In this
system, the body is revered. Without the body in which to
ground the spiritual/energetic practices the practitioner
can easily be led into body-negating ascetic practices,
those same practices that the Buddha rejected. Good
health and longevity indicates mastery over the physical
body and complements the realization of the spirit body.
Many of the qi gong techniques practiced today were
originally created, like many of the yogic practices of
India, to strengthen the body and energy system of the
practitioner so that they could then go on to the more
subtle refinements of internal alchemy.
There is a story of a devoted practitioner of the Taoist
arts who was frustrated in the lack of progress after years
of earnest efforts. One day, an Immortal appeared to him
and told him that he was ill and would never find success
unless his health was restored. The adept began taking
care of his body with proper food, sleep and exercise after
which he had amazing experiences.
Outer practice is done to maintain health, flexibility
and strength, which are all good things, but the most
powerful alchemical practices involve quiet sitting
(zuowanglun).
If you ask a Taoist master even today what is the
highest, most powerful practice of self cultivation they
will not tell you kung fu or tai chi or even qi gong. Quiet
sitting is what they will say. Of course what looks on the
outside like someone sitting quietly and immobile can be
deceiving. On the inside the practitioner will be moving
energy either in the Small Circulation (up the back and
down the front) or else in the Large Circulation with
energy going to all parts of the body.
As mentioned before, Taoist alchemy involves a process
or refinement or transformation of gross energy into
ever more pure realms until the practitioner reaches the
level of Wu Ji, the Primordial. Then it will be up to him
or her whether they will remain in the physical world, or
“fly off to heaven on the back of a dragon”, or even travel
back and forth from one world to the other.
But all these spiritual travels and experiences begin
with the foundation practice of breath, intent, and focus
– usually beginning with the practice already described.
It is in creating a firm and solid foundation, energetically
and spiritually, that you can then build ever higher into
the rarified air of the purely spiritual, where the physical
no longer has a hold on you and where you can “live off
20 Summer 2012

dew and air” like the Immortals written about in ancient
Chinese texts.
Meditation has long been used as a tool for achieving
inner harmony by many cultures. Taoist meditation can
be done in various ways—moving, standing, sitting or
even lying down.
The goal of meditation is to achieve a level or experience
of peacefulness, relaxation and the opening of one’s
deeper or higher nature.
By creating an atmosphere of detachment to the comings
and goings of the world, the ten thousand beings,
you will not get so caught up in the distractions of the
world and, instead, find a place of peace and tranquility.
By slowing down, by watching your breath, by allowing
your mind to move more slowly
and deeply, you can reach new levels
of understanding about yourself as
well as the world around you.
The first and fundamental practice
is one of bringing the fire of the
heart (shen) down to the water of
the kidneys (jing) and heating that
water up in the cauldron of the lower
dantian or field of elixir, located in
the lower abdomen. By “cooking” this substance in this
alchemical fashion the practitioner is able to refine his or
her qi to a much purer state.
Here’s another description of this process, from an
ancient Taoist text.
…your pure yang qi is born after the essence is refined and
made into an elixir. After you refine the qi and complete the
Spirit, the Realized Numinous Divine Immortal transcends the
ordinary and enters into sacredness. You abandon your shell
and ascend to immortality and this is called “transcending and
escaping.” This is the method of divine immortals that has not
changed for a hundred million years!
Stephen Eskildsen, The Teachings and Practices of the
Early Quanzhen Taoist Masters
The actual practice is quite simple and can be done by
anyone. It is for the higher levels that you need a teacher
or guide as altering your qi can create all sorts of special
effects energetically and can be confusing or even painful
if you do it incorrectly. The fundamental practice though,
is done by putting your attention or focus on your lower
dantian (actually one third of the way inside the body
just under the navel) during meditation.
So begins the first step in the alchemical process to
reach that alchemical gold. Once awakened and properly
brought up through the body to activate the pineal gland,
this alchemical process transforms the alchemist.
Sit, either on a cushion or the edge of a chair. Then,
either close your eyes or keep them open only slightly.
Breathe slowly and deeply, through your nose, and from
your belly, using your diaphragm to really fill your lungs,
from the bottom up. As you inhale allow your abdomen
to expand. Then, as you exhale, allow it to contract. In
The goal of meditation is
to achieve a level or experience
of peacefulness, relaxation and
the opening of one’s deeper or
higher nature.
Taoist practice, this is called “natural breathing.”
Now concentrate your internal vision upon the space
below your navel, in the lower torso. This space is called
the lower dantian or “field of elixir.” By concentrating on
this space you will be able to build a strong foundation
of qi or internal energy.
Begin by counting your breaths on each inhale
and exhale. Start by counting up to ten and then begin
again. This will help your mind to have something to
concentrate on as thoughts pass through when you begin
meditating.
As you inhale, breathe in clear or golden light or
healing qi. Feel it enter every cell of your body, filling it
with light. After practicing in this way for some time you
will feel heat or tingling in the lower
dantian area. This will eventually
begin to permeate your whole body
and is the first step in the alchemical
transformation of jing, qi and shen.
Then, as you exhale, let go of all
tensions, toxins, pain or any negative
energy you feel in your body. Feel it
flowing out of you like dark smoke.
As you inhale allow that golden
light or healing qi to enter your body. Feel it flowing into
your whole body, into every dark corner. If you have
disease or pain, allow that healing qi to flow to that part
of your body and envelop it in healing light.
End the meditation by briskly rubbing the palms
of your hands together, either 36 times or as long as it
takes to produce some heat. Then lay your palms over
your eyes and breathe the heat from the lao gong points
in your hands into your eyes. Then rub your face a few
times, gently, up and down.
Be easy in re-entering the world immediately after a
meditation session. Move slowly and savor the peaceful
feelings you have created. You may be very sensitive or
emotionally open at this time and can be easily affected
by the negative energy of the world outside your door or
of another person. Give yourself some time to acclimate.
Another form of meditation, called sitting in tranquility,
is just to sit and breathe, thinking of nothing, envisioning
nothing. Merely sit and let yourself “be breathed.”
In this way you allow yourself time to simply be. This
can have a wonderfully rejuvenating effect on both your
body and your spirit.
Lao Tzu described this type of meditation as sitting
and letting the mud settle. Often your minds and emotions
can be likened to a muddy pool of water. During
those times, you can be unclear, turbulent; your light is
dim. But if you merely sit and let the mud settle to the
bottom of the pond, you can be as clear water, with the
sunlight shining through from above.
Another form of meditation is to stand with your
arms out in front of you, in a half circle, as if you were
hugging someone. With your mind intent, send roots
down into the earth at least three times your height. Notice
how you stabilize and become rooted in the earth.
The Empty Vessel 21

Stand there for 5-20 minutes, drawing healing yin energy
up from the earth.
You can even meditate lying down. A famous Taoist
master called Chen Tuan, is said to have practiced sleeping
meditation for months at a time!
Lie on your right side or on your back. Your palms
may be held face up or face down. Concentrate as before,
on breathing slowly and deeply into your lower dantian,
your lower torso. Feel your abdomen expand on the inhale
and contract on the exhale. Just continue to lie there,
breathing in and out, and imagine that you are receiving healing
qi from the universe.
Sometimes in Taoist meditation you can work on
gently guiding your qi throughout your meridians or
special pathways, such as the ren mo which runs up the
back of your body, along the spine, and the du mo, which
runs down the front of your body.
Always remember to gently guide the energy, never
forcing it (wu wei), allowing it to flow
like a stream of water. It is said that
qi follows yi or the mind. This means
that you can guide the qi to where you
want it to go merely by using the mind
to guide it.
If you have a place of pain or
disease breathe the qi into that area
by guiding it with your mind, in a
gentle and non-forceful manner. Notice
the painful area fill up with light
and healing.
If you wish to live in harmony with the world you
need to be able to live in harmony within yourself. By
learning how to sit or stand or lie in meditation, you can
become more harmonious and peaceful. Actually, when
you practice meditation, you are “doing nothing” in the
best Taoist tradition.
As so much emphasis in the West is in “doing” it can
seem frivolous or lazy to be not doing. But by “not doing”
you can reach areas within yourself that all the “doing”
in the world will never be able to reach. You can do less,
while accomplishing more.
Meditation is the perfect way to harmonize your inner
being with your outer being. By allowing your mind
to focus on your breath you can balance both sides of your
brain, or your yin and yang natures.
By allowing yourself to “be breathed” you can find
that still center in the very midst of an otherwise noisy,
clamoring mind that will lead you to true understanding
and awareness of your higher or deeper self.
Once you have glimpsed and then experienced this
deep inner nature you will begin to move, in a deeply
harmonious manner, into your real life.
Meditation, then, becomes not something that you do
for a time to achieve a certain goal but instead is something
that you do as a part of living, like breathing itself.
As Lao Tzu says:
Can you hold the body and spirit as one
The goal is to no longer to
identify with your limited
human self but to be able to
experience your unlimited and
eternal nature, or Tao.
Can you avoid their separation
Concentrating your chi
And becoming pliant,
Can you become like a
Newborn baby
Clearing your mind and
Contemplating the profound
Can you remain unflawed
In understanding all things
Can you remain apart from them
Chapter 10
This practice is about much more than mere relaxation.
It is not only about quieting the mind, (though that
is a prerequisite for further practice) but it is also about
balancing, strengthening, harmonizing and refining
your internal state, in order to be able to delve deeply
into the currents of your being to connect to the eternal,
ever flowing Tao.
Taoist practice slows and quiets the conscious mind
and allows more sense of the universe.
While the mind remains in the present
through meditation, it supersedes
the instability of emotions, the ongoing
dialogue of the intellect, and the
distractions of the senses. The mind
centers on pure consciousness. As the
Original Spirit begins to unfold and
the innocence of the Embryonic Self
reveals its face, Tao begins to radiate
throughout your body. Not only do you gain new understandings
of yourself, but you become more at one
with the universe.
That is the goal of Taoist alchemy; to Return to the
Source or Return to Tao. In other words, the goal is to
no longer identify with your limited human self but to
be able to experience your unlimited and eternal nature,
or Tao.
In this way, you can become one of the self-realized
ones, or sages such as the person Lao Tzu describes in
the Tao Te Ching.
The sage practices non-action.
She teaches by not speaking,
Achieves all things while
Undertaking nothing,
Creates but does not take credit.
Acts but does not depend
Accomplishes much while not
Claiming merit.
Because she claims no merit
Her work will last forever.
Chapter 2
To become an Immortal, to become a sage, to become
a wise man or woman, takes the level of commitment not
found in the ordinary person. It is not something you can
learn in a weekend workshop or from reading a book or
watching a video.
Teachers can certainly be helpful but it is really your
22 Summer 2012

own self-cultivation that will produce the light that will
illuminate your life and help you to realize your own
essential nature as being one with Tao.
This is just what all the internal alchemists were doing.
To them the meaning of “lead” and “gold” meant
something else. That something has been known by
many names:
The Philosopher’s Stone
Elixir of Immortality
Golden Elixir
Kundalini
Dharmakaya
Golden Flower
Immortal Fetus or Embryo
Embryo of Buddhahood
This idea of an Immortal Embryo goes very far
back in Taoist internal alchemy practice. The basic idea
is that through practicing Taoist internal alchemy, you
are able to solidify and transform your internal energetic
state to create a kind of energetic embryo or subtle body
that can live outside your body. Many illustrations can be
found in ancient Chinese texts of the practitioner sitting
in meditation with a small fetus floating above his head.
Taoist neidan practices are basically a process of refinement.
Essence, breath, and spirit are combined into
one entity. Just as the outer alchemists refined their ingredients
by mixing and firing them in very specific ways,
so also do the inner alchemists mix and fire—through
various breathing and meditation techniques—so that
they can create something that is even more valuable and
precious than gold, the Immortal Embryo.
By doing these types of body-centered spiritual
practices, the practitioner circulates his or her qi to all
their limbs and organs, in the macrocosmic orbit. Then
the practitioner runs qi up the back channel or du mo
and then down the front channel or ren mo in the small
heavenly circuit or microcosmic orbit. What happens then
is that all the qi in the body begins to run very smoothly
and strongly.
What this means is that the internal qi or life energy
of the body is linked up and running smoothly so that the
internal organs can do what they need to do to maintain
a healthy and strong system.
The Taoists were able to create both spiritual and
physical change in their bodies. By doing energetic practices
that are grounded in the body, the Taoists were able
to transcend the body, or at least what is the accepted
norm for bodies. It is the recreation of conception, which
results in a Golden Embryonic version of yourself.
The famous Taoist alchemist Ke Hung (Ge Hong),
284-364 C.E., advised that physical exercises and sexual
yoga only prolong life. Actual immortality and supernatural
abilities come from workings of the secret elixir of
life. His book, the Pao-p’u Tzu, is a treatise on the methods
and practices for gaining immortality. It is an interesting
combination of both internal and external alchemy, with
many complex recipes for attaining not only good health,
but the complete reversal of the aging process.
He also wrote about three types of immortals. There
are the immortals who practiced “the deliverance from
the corpse” (shih-chieh) and, at the moment of death,
left their bodies behind but continued to purify until
their body disappeared, as in the Rainbow Body stories.
There are those who are “earthly immortals” and roam
around on sacred mountains. Then there are those who
are “heavenly immortals” and “rise up with their bodies
and ascend into emptiness.”
Regardless of their end result, a practitioner is
rewarded at different stages by many things such as
improved health, reversal or slowing of the aging process,
more balanced emotions, improved intellect, inner
clarity, etc.
Whether your interest is in immortality, attaining the
Immortal Embryo or enlightenment, or just a healthier,
more balanced life, Taoist internal alchemy has much to
offer. You can have a more youthful appearance and better
health, while discovering the true source of yourself.
KEY CONCEPTS
• Essentially, Chinese Alchemy, like the Indian system,
works with the experience of spiritual/energetic
channels in the human body.
• Practices that allow qi to flow properly will lead
toward union with Tao and enlightenment.
• Through practices, one’s consciousness is brought
back to the point as it existed in the womb, part of a
greater, universal consciousness.
• The Three Treasures—Jing, Qi and Shen—represent
the secret of immortality when fully actualized, the
Golden Elixir.
• The goal of Chinese alchemy is to create the Immortal
Fetus or Golden Embryo. At the time of enlightenment,
the meditator achieves an inner vision of a Golden
Embryonic version of him or herself.
Reprinted, with permission, from The Lost Secret of Immortality
by Barclay Powers, published by Golden Elixir Productions
© 2011. (wwwlostsecretofimmortality.com)
Barclay Powers is an author and futurist filmmaker. He
earned his Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Studies from Columbia
University and has an extensive background as an
independent scholar. He has studied Chinese, Tibetan and
Indian meditation, yoga and martial arts traditions for more
than 30 years. Powers is currently releasing multiple media
projects worldwide in film and print, related to the evolution
of consciousness, based on his studies with numerous masters
of ancient wisdom traditions. His most recent film, The Lost
Secret of Immortality, based on his book, won best spiritual
documentary at the New York International Film Festival,
2011 and the Silver Palm Award at the Mexico International
Film Festival, 2012. Visit his website at www.lostsecretofimmortality.com
for additional information and to order copies
of the book and graphic novel. To order The Lost Secret of
Immortality DVD please call Nancy at 541.531.7656.
The Empty Vessel 23

The Uncarved
Block
Solala Towler
24 Summer 2012

The principles treasured by the Daoist are simplicity,
equilibrium, harmony and quietude.
Hua-Ching Ni 1
“Rabbit’s very clever,” said Pooh thoughtfully. “Yes,” said
Piglet, “Rabbit’s clever.” “And he has a brain.” “Yes,” said
Piglet, “Rabbit has a brain.” There was a long silence. “I suppose,”
said Pooh, “that’s why he never understands anything.”
Winnie the Pooh 2
The principle of the Uncarved Block or P’u in Chinese
is an essential element of Daoist philosophy and practice.
It is the concept of the simple, uncluttered and natural
man and woman and their way of life. This way of being
in the world is in perfect accord, of course, with the
teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi. 3
Laozi says:
Fame or self: Which matters more
Self or wealth: Which is more precious
Gain or loss: Which is more painful
He who is attached to things will suffer much.
He who saves will suffer heavy loss.
He who knows when to stop does not find himself
in trouble.
He will stay forever safe.
Chapter 44
The ancient Daoists were not only content to live
simple, natural lives but actually felt there was a solid
advantage to doing so. It isn’t necessary to “drop out”
and live in the mountains away from the world in order
to live a simple, natural life. What we’re actually talking
about is an internal state of simplicity and naturalness.
We may be involved in all kinds of things, from running a
large clinic to teaching a group of children or overseeing
a complicated business. Yet all of this need not stop us
from having internal simplicity and naturalness.
It is when we allow outside pressures and complications
to take up residence within us that we run into
trouble and lose our sense of safety and spontaneity,
which to Daoists is very serious indeed. How often do
we meet someone at a party or other gathering and are
asked by way of introduction, “So what is it that you do”,
as if a description of our work life defines us. Why aren’t
we asked or why don’t we ask, “What is it that interests
you in life What turns you on” That information would
probably go much further in describing or defining us to
others and to ourselves.
Remember the principle of wu wei It is often in not
doing that we get the most done! Often not doing defines
who we are much more thoroughly than all the doing we
could possible produce. Yet we get caught up in an urge
to produce to some extent. After all, if I were following
the principle of wu wei exactly, I wouldn’t even be writing
this book!
It is said that the Dao will manifest itself to everyone,
sooner or later. There is no rush or even set time when this
will or should happen. But all the teachers, both ancient
and modern, stress that it is in the natural simplicity of
our being that we can best manifest and embrace the Dao.
The question is, how do we do this
Hua-Ching Ni says: “A natural human being is
directed by his spiritual energy and causes appropriate
responses not by his need, but by his pure spontaneity.” 4
Remember, spontaneity is something that rises from
deep within our true nature and cannot be artificially produced.
This spontaneity also has something of the “holy
fool” in it. Max Kaltnemark says the true Daoist must,
in his perfect simplicity, have the appearance of a fool. 5
Indeed, there is a vast tradition of “holy fools”
throughout the world. Here, however, we will limit
ourselves to the Daoist version of this interesting and
amusing figure.
N. J. Girardot describes him thusly:
Taoist images of madness are related to the mystical experience
of the chaos condition and to the unique effortless
freedom of wu wei, the sage’s playful freedom beyond human,
or even humane, bounds. The Taoist as a ‘demented drifter’ is
aloof and indifferent to the normal order of the world. From
the perspective of his belly knowledge, the Taoist is a wayfarer
who knows that ‘the way things appear to be – permanent,
predictable, manageable – is not the way things really are in
an ultimate vision of the real.’ 6
The “holy fool” is one who is not actually a fool in
the real sense, but is called that by a society that does
not understand his or her actions. This is because the
Daoist is operating outside of the norm, or what society
at large considers normal. To the highly rigid and structured
Confucian society of the Han dynasty and beyond,
the Daoists, with their free and “wild” (in the sense of
natural) ways, were often regarded as fools and rebellious
outcasts, content to live “in the world but not of it.”
And, because they were basing their understanding
and approach to life on something other than the status
quo, they were considered rebels and malcontents or
just empty-headed dreamers. It was a state not always
comfortable for them either.
As Laozi puts it so poignantly:
The Empty Vessel 25

Is there a difference between yes and no
Is there a difference between good and evil
Must I fear what others fear What nonsense!
Other people are contented, enjoying the sacrificial
feast of the ox.
In spring some go to the park, and climb the terrace.
But I alone am drifting, not knowing where I am.
Like a new born babe before it learns how to smile,
I am alone, without a place to go.
Others have more than they need, but I alone have
nothing.
I am a fool. Oh, yes! I am confused.
Other men are clear and bright.
But I alone am dim and weak.
Other men are sharp and clever.
But I alone am dull and stupid.
Oh, I drift like the waves of the sea,
Without direction, like a restless wind.
Everyone is busy,
But I alone am aimless and depressed.
I am different.
I am nourished by the great mother.
Chapter 20 6
This is a beautiful way to describe the often sad
feeling of being different or cut off from the crowd. Daoists
have to get used to going their own way and being
misunderstood, or even ridiculed because of their beliefs
and way of life. But isn’t it better to be called a fool than
to actually be one After all, isn’t the unhealthy, unbalanced
and unconscious way that most people live true
foolishness
When we first become aware and sensitive to the
subtle currents of energy in our being – spiritual, physical
and emotional – it can be painful. Many of us are not
used to being particularly sensitive and we sometimes
come up hard against our limitations, created both by
the world and by ourselves. We may feel alienated and
cut off from those around us who are busy rushing after
the next thrill, the next high, the next desperate way of
trying to be real.
While there are, even today, many students and followers
of the Way, they are often hard to identify. You may
see a wide eyed, open-ended look that is offered when
you least expect it, or perhaps a certain loose limbed way
of walking, a sign of one who is attuned to his or her own
energy flow. You may encounter an attitude toward healing
or an openness to the use of herbs or acupuncture,
or a way of unaffected talking, and a deep awareness of
the importance of good listening. Or else you may hear
a good strong laugh, coming from deep in the belly, a
laugh that says yes, I am a believer in the sanctity and
miraculous unfolding of each precious moment in the
Dao and I am willing to share that feeling, that awareness,
that experience with you.
There is also the shared knowledge that most of what
passes for “reality” in the collective unconscious is actually
a huge joke, a play, a pantomime.
To the Daoists, what we experience on the material
plane is as real as the nose on our face. Yet at the same
time it is also a bit of a dream. Zhuangzi once dreamed
that he was a butterfly, flitting merrily about the multicolored
flowers. When he awoke he exclaimed, “How is
it that I can be sure that instead of Zhuangzi dreaming
that I am a butterfly, I am not a butterfly dreaming that
I am Zhuangzi”
In another place he says:
Men in general bustle about and toil; the sage seems unlettered
and without “knowledge.”...When people dream they do
not know that they are dreaming. In their dream they may even
interpret dreams. Only when they awake they begin to know
that they dreamed. By and by comes the greater awakening,
and then we shall find out that life itself is a great dream. All
the while the fools think they are awake, and that they have
knowledge. Making nice discriminations, they differentiate
between princes and grooms. How stupid! 7
The experience of “life as a dream” frees us from the
awful burden of always having to do it right, of toiling
under the enormous weight of having to be ‘on the job’
at all times. It frees us also to make mistakes and allows
us the freedom, the privilege, of starting over again, time
after time if need be. And, most of all, it frees us to change,
to begin anew, to metamorphosize into whatever lovely
and colorful butterfly we always wanted to be but never
felt the permission or strength to become.
Remember, the Dao does not judge, it does not punish,
it does not condemn. We do that ourselves. And as we
judge, so also can we forgive ourselves and others who
have wronged us through their own mistaken sense of
reality. And we find, in that forgiveness, an even greater
sense of freedom and unlimited potential – for growth,
exploration, and an enlarged sense of the Dao and our
place in it.
Through forgiveness, through trust, through taking
chances with ourselves and others, and through returning
to our “original nature” – our own sweet simple and
natural self, our own “uncarved block” – that we can
begin the journey that leads back to its beginning, to our
original nature, or Dao.
Once, after a particularly poignant lesson by his
teacher, Lieh Tzu decided that, in truth, he had never
learned anything, so he went home and for three years
did not leave his house.
26 Summer 2012

The Empty Vessel 27

He cooked meals for his wife,
Served food to his pigs as though they were human,
Treated all things as equally as his kin,
From carved jade he returned to the unhewn block,
Till his single shape stood forth, detached from all
things.
He was free of tangles
Once and for all, to the end of his life. 8
Or, as Hua-Ching Ni puts it:
Become the kind of person whose wish is infectious. Then
what you want, others will want, and while you seem to do
nothing (wu wei), everything will be done. The power of the
infectious wish comes from certain virtues: compassion, moderation,
and humility. These virtues and their power are te.
Te cannot be achieved, however, until you have erased the
aggressive patterns etched by society into your nature. You must
return to your natural self, to p’u. You must discard morality
and ambition, for if you keep these you will never be capable
of compassion, moderation and humility. When you discard
some of your wishes, you will have them all. 9
Reprinted from Cha Dao by Solala Towler, Singing Dragon Press,
2010
1
Tao: The Subtle Universal Law and the Integral Way of Life,
Hua-Ching Ni,SevenStar Communications, 1979
2
Winnie the Pooh, A.A. Milne,. Methuen, 1924
3
Tao: The Subtle Universal Law and the Integral Way of Life,
Ibid.
4
Lao Tzu and Daoism, Max Kaltnemark, Stanford University
Press, 1969
5
Myth and Meaning in Early Daoism, N.J. Girardot, m University
of California Press, 1983
6. Lao Tsu: Tao Te Ching, Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English, Vintage
Books, 1972
7
Chuang Tzu: Genius of the Absurd Clae Waltham, Ace Books,
1971
8
The Book of Lieh Tzu, A.C. Graham, Colombia University
Press, 196
9 Tao: The Subtle Universal Law and the Integral Way of Life,
Ibid.
NEW FROM SOLALA TOWLER
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28 Summer 2012

Shen, Hun and Po
in Chinese Medicine
Giovanni Maciocia
Photos by Karl Ardo
The Empty Vessel 29

Le coeur a ses raisons que la Raison ne connait point
Pascal, Le Pensees
Where is fancy bred, in the heart or the head
Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
SHEN
TWO MEANINGS OF “SHEN”
1) Shen indicates the activity of thinking, consciousness,
insight, emotional life and memory, all of which
depend on the Heart. I translate this as “Mind”.
2) Shen indicates the complex of all five mentalspiritual
aspects of a human being, i.e. the Mind itself, the
Hun, the Po, the Yi and the Zhi. I translate this as “Spirit”.
The “Ling Shu” in chapter 8 says: “Life comes about
through the Essence; when the two Essences [of mother and
father] unite, they form the Mind.” Zhang Jie Bin says:
“The two Essences, one Yin, one Yang, unite...to form life;
the Essences of mother and father unite to form the Mind”.
Therefore the Mind of a newly-conceived being comes
from the Pre-natal Essences of its mother and father. After
birth, its Pre-natal Essence is stored in the Kidneys and
it provides the biological foundation for the Mind. The
life and Mind of a newborn baby, however, also depend
on the nourishment from its own Post-natal Essence. The
“Spiritual Axis” in chapter 30 says: “When the Stomach and
Intestines are coordinated the 5 Yin organs are peaceful, Blood
is harmonized and mental activity is stable. The Mind derives
from the refined essence of water and food.”
Thus the Mind draws its basis and nourishment from
the Pre-natal Essence stored in the Kidneys and the Postnatal
Essence produced by Lungs, Stomach and Spleen.
Hence the Three Treasures:
These Three Treasures represent three different states
of condensation of Qi, the Essence being the densest, Qi
the more rarefied, and the Mind the most subtle and nonmaterial.
The activity of the Mind relies on the Essence
and Qi as its fundamental basis. Hence the Essence is
said to be the “foundation of the body and the root of the
Mind”. Thus if Essence and Qi are strong and flourishing
the Mind will be happy, balanced and alert. If Essence
and Qi are depleted, the Mind will suffer and may become
unhappy, depressed, anxious, or clouded. Zhang Jie Bin
says: “If the Essence is strong, Qi flourishes; if Qi flourishes,
the Mind is whole”.
SHEN 神 (of HEART)
Is the Qi that:
Forms life (but also with Po and Hun) from the union
of the Jing of the parents
Allows the individual to be conscious of his or her self
Permits the cohesion of various parts of our psyche
and emotions
Defines us as individuals
Feels and assesses the emotions
Is responsible for perceptions and senses
Is responsible for thinking, memory, intelligence.
Wisdom, ideas
Determines consciousness
Allows insight
Is responsible for perception and cognition
Determines sleep
Governs the 5 senses (sight, hearing, smelling, taste,
touch)
THE ETHEREAL SOUL (HUN)
The Hun enters the body 3 days after birth and is
imparted by the father. Ethereal in nature, after death it
survives the body and flows back to “Heaven” (Tian).
The fact that the Hun is imparted by the father after
birth is as significant as it is symbolic of the social,
relational nature of the Hun (as opposed to the Po). The
Hun is responsible for relationships and our relating to
the other people in the family and society. The ceremony
during which the father imparted the Hun and the name
to the baby three days after birth is therefore symbolic
of the fact that, through this ceremony, the baby was assigned
his or her place in the family and society. The Hun
corresponds to our individuality, but an individuality
within the family and society.
The Hun can be described as that part of the Soul (as
opposed to Corporeal Soul) which at death leaves the
body, carrying with it an appearance of physical form.
From this point of view therefore, the soul has an independent
existence just like in the ancient Greek- Roman
civilization and during the Middle Ages. The combination
of the two characters for “cloud” and “ghost” in the
character for Hun conveys the idea of its nature: it is like
a spirit/ghost but it is Yang and ethereal in nature.
There are three types of Hun:
1. A vegetative one called Shuang Ling “Clear Ling”)
common to plants, animals and human beings
2. An animal one called Tai Guang (“Brilliant Light”)
common to animals and human beings
3. A human one called You Jing (“Dark Jing”) found
only in human beings.
When describing the Hun, the theme of “movement”,
“swirling”, “wandering”, etc. is ever present. The
old form of the Chinese radical within the word hun depicts
the swirling movement of the soul of a dead person
in the realm of spirit. The Hun provides movement to the
psyche in many ways: movement of the soul out of the
body as in dreaming, movement out of one’s everyday
life as in life dreams and ideas, movement towards the
others in human relationships, movement in terms of
plans, projects. Excessive movement of the psyche out
of itself may result in mental illness.
1 ) SLEEP AND DREAMING
The Hun influences sleep and dreaming. If the Hun is
well rooted in the Liver (Liver-Blood or Liver-Yin), sleep
is normal and sound and without too many dreams. If
Liver-Yin or Liver-Blood is deficient, the Hun is deprived
30 Summer 2012

of its residence and wanders off at night, causing a restless
sleep with many tiring dreams. If Liver-Yin is severely
depleted, the Ethereal Soul may even leave the body
temporarily at night during or just before sleep.
Tang Zong Hai says: “At night during sleep the Hun
returns to the Liver; if the Hun is not peaceful there are a lot
of dreams.”
In case of the Hun wandering at night and causing
too much dreaming it is necessary to nourish Liver-Blood
and Liver-Yin with sour and astringent herbs such as Mu
Li Concha Ostreae, Long Chi Dens Draconis, Suan Zao Ren
Semen Ziziphi spinosae or Bai Shao Radix Paeoniae.
There is an interesting correlation between the astringent
and absorbing quality of such herbs on a physical
level and their use in calming the Shen and “absorbing”
the Hun to draw it back into the Liver.
The “Treatise of the Golden Flower” in chapter 2
says: “In the daytime the Hun is in the eyes and at night in
the Liver. When it is in the eyes we can see. When it is in the
Liver we dream”.
And also: “Dreams constitute the wandering of the Hun
in the 9 Heavens and 9 Earths. When one wakes up one feels
obscure and confused [because] one is constrained by the Po”.
The Hun influences dreaming at night and “lifedreams”
in our awake state. Thus when the Hun is in
the eyes we have external visualization; when it is in the
Liver we have internal visualization as in dreams to the
borders of consciousness (which the Chinese described
as the “9 Heavens and 9 Earths").
The Hun Soul is rooted in the Liver and in particular
Liver- Yin (which includes Liver-Blood). If Liver-Yin is depleted,
the Ethereal Soul is deprived of its residence and
becomes rootless. This can result in insomnia, fear and a
lack of a sense of direction in life. The Hun, deprived of
its residence, wanders without aim.
The Hun may even leave the body: some Chinese
idiomatic expressions confirm this. For example, fan hun
(literally “Hun returning”) means “to come back to life”,
as after being in a trance during which the soul leaves
the body. Hun fei po san (literally “hun flying, po scattered”)
means “to be scared out of one’s wits” or also “to
be struck dumb”, e.g. by love.
2) ASSISTS THE SHEN IN MENTAL ACTIVITIES
The Hun assists the Mind in its mental activities.
The “Five-Channel Righteousness” (Tang dynasty), says:
“Knowledge is dependent on the sharpness of the Hun”. The
Hun provides the Mind, which is responsible for rational
thinking, with intuition and inspiration. It also gives the
Mind “movement” in the sense that it allows the Mind
the capacity of insight and introspection as well as the
ability to project outwards and relate to other people.
This capacity for movement and outward projection
is closely related to the Liver-Qi quality of quick and free
movement. The words ‘movement”, “coming and going”,
“swimming“, “wandering” are often used in connection
with the Hun. The free flow of Liver-Qi is the physical
equivalent of the Hun’s capacity for smooth movement
and “coming and going”.
The Hun is always described as the “coming and go-
The Empty Vessel 31

ing of the Shen” (sui shen wang lai wei zhi hun) or, to put
it differently, “what follows the Shen in its coming and
going is the Hun”.
On a psychic level, this means that the Hun provides
the Shen (Mind) with “movement” in the sense of intuition,
inspiration, movement towards others, relationships,
creativity, dreaming (in the sense of life dreams),
planning, imagination, projects, symbols, archetypes.
The Hun gives the Shen the necessary psychic tension
of Wood. The Shen without the Hun would be like a
powerful computer without a software.
3) BALANCE OF EMOTIONS
The Hun maintains a normal balance between excitation
and restraint of the emotional life, under the leadership
of the Heart and the Mind. The Hun prevents the
emotions from becoming excessive and therefore turning
into causes of disease. This regulatory function of the Hun
is closely related to the balance between Liver-Blood (the
Yin part of the Liver) and Liver-Qi (the Yang part of the
Liver). Liver-Blood and Liver-Qi need to be harmonized
and Liver-Blood must root Liver-Qi to prevent it from
becoming stagnant or rebelling upwards. On a mentalemotional
level, Liver-Blood needs to root the Hun thus
allowing a balanced emotional life.
This balance on a mental-emotional level corresponds
to the Liver function of being a “regulating and harmonizing”
organ. Chapter 9 of the “Simple Questions” says:
“The Liver has a regulating function, it houses the Hun...” If
Liver-Blood is deficient there will be fear and anxiety; if
Liver-Yang is in excess there will be anger. The “Spiritual
Axis” in chapter 8 says: “If the Liver is deficient there will
be fear; if it is in excess there will be anger”.
Hun “going too much”, emotional, anger, agitation.
tions, stagnation.
4 ) EYES AND SIGHT
The Hun is in relation with the eyes and sight. Tang
Zong Hai says: “When the Hun wanders to the eyes, they
can see”. The “Treatise of the Golden Flower” in chapter
2 says: “In the daytime the Hun is in the eyes and at night
in the Liver. When it is in the eyes we can see. When it is in
the Liver we dream”. This connection with the eyes can be
easily related to the rooting of the Hun in Liver-Blood as
Liver-Blood nourishes the eyes.
On a mental level, the Hun gives us “vision” and
insight.
5) COURAGE
The Hun is related to courage or cowardice and for
this reason the Liver is sometimes called the “resolute
organ”. Tang Zong Hai says: “When the Hun is not strong,
the person is timid”. The “strength” of the Ethereal Soul in
this connection derives from Liver-Blood. If Liver-Blood
is abundant, the person is fearless and is able to face up to
life’s difficulties. If Liver-Blood is deficient and the Hun is
32 Summer 2012

dithering, the person lacks courage, cannot face up to difficulties
or making decisions, and is easily discouraged.
6) PLANNING
The Hun Soul influences our capacity for planning
our life and giving it a sense of direction. A lack of direction
in life and a sense of spiritual confusion may be
compared to the wandering of the Hun alone in space
and time. If the Liver is flourishing the Hun Soul is firmly
rooted and can help us to plan our life with vision, wisdom
and creativity.
If Liver-Blood (or Liver-Yin) is deficient, the Hun
Soul is not rooted and we lack a sense of direction and
vision in life. If Liver-Blood and Liver-Qi are deficient the
Hun lacks movement and there is also a lack of a sense
of direction in life.
7) RELATIONSHIP WITH SHEN
The Hun and the Mind are closely connected and
both partake in our mental-emotional life. The Hun is
the “coming and going” of the Mind. This means that,
through the Hun, the Mind can project outwards to the
external world and to other people and can also turn inwards
to receive the intuition, inspiration, ideas, symbols,
imagination, archetypes, dreams and images deriving
from the unconscious.
The Hun’s world is a subterranean world, an undifferentiated
sea, it is the world also of gui. The Hun is
the gui of the Mind’s emotional-spiritual life. Thus if
Liver-Blood is abundant and the Hun firm, there will
be a healthy flow from it to the Mind providing it with
inspiration, creativity, vision. If the Hun’s “movement”
is lacking it lacks inspiration, vision, creativity, etc. and
the person may be depressed, without aim or dreams,
inspiration, vision.
The Mind “gathers” the Hun. Thus, on the one hand,
the Hun brings movement to the Mind, and on the other
hand, the Mind provides some control and integration.
If the Mind is strong and the Hun properly “gathered”,
there will be harmony between the two and the person
has calm vision, insight and wisdom.
If the Mind is weak and fails to restrain the Hun (or
if the Hun is overactive), this may be too restless and
only bring confusion and chaos to the Mind, making the
person scattered and unsettled. This can be observed in
some people who are always full of ideas, dreams and
projects none of which ever comes to fruition because of
the chaotic state of the Mind which is therefore unable
to restrain the Hun.
On the other hand, if the Mind overcontrols (or if
the Hun’s movement is lacking), the person lacks vision,
imagination, creativity and will be depressed.
According to Jung the unconscious is compensatory
to consciousness. He said: “The psyche is a self-regulating
system that maintains itself in equilibrium...Every process that
goes too far immediately and inevitably calls forth a compensatory
activity.” This compensatory relationship between the
unconscious and consciousness resembles the balancing
relationship between the Hun and the Mind. The Mind
discriminates and differentiates, whereas the Hun is
like an undifferentiated sea which flows around, under
and above the Mind, eroding certain parts and depositing
fresh ones. The psyche as a whole, i.e. the sum total
of Mind, Hun, Po, Yi and Zhi, contains all possibilities,
whereas the Mind can only work with one possibility
at a time. It is no wonder that in myths and fairy tales
the unconscious is often symbolized by the sea (see also
Christian baptism and the parting of the waters by God).
The Hun is an underwater world and a total immersion
of the Mind in it means insanity.
The Hun is like an ocean that is the source of archetypes,
symbols, ideas, images: the Mind draws from this
sea through the intermediary of the Hun. The material
coming forth is controlled and integrated by the Mind,
one at a time.
6. THINGS THAT SHOW THE
ACTIVITYOF THE HUN
1. ART
Artistic inspiration derives from the Hun, not the
Mind. The Hun is the source from which spring forth
creativity and inspiration.
2. CHILDREN
From the age of about 2 to about 7, children live in the
world of the Hun, a world of wild imagination and fantasy
where inanimate objects come to life. Behaviours that
are normal in children would be mental illness in adults.
3. DREAMS
Why do dreams speak to us in such a symbolic
way Why can't our unconscious simply speak to us in
a rational way, in the language of the Mind Because the
psychic material of dreams comes from the Hun, not the
Mind and such is the language of the Hun.
4. GUIDED DAYDREAMS
There is a technique used in psychotherapy whereby
the therapist sets a certain scene for the client who is
asked to imagine himself or herself in that scene and to
proceed as if in a dream. The aim of this exercise is to
bypass the critical analysis of the Shen and bring forth
psychological material from the Hun (unconscious) as it
happens in dreams.
Jung described this technique: “We learn to sit and
simply observe a fragment of a dream without any attempt to
guide, control or interfere with it. The aim is to allow the image
to come to life of its own autonomous psychic energy [Hun],
our ego [Shen] letting go of all expectations, presuppositions,
or interpretations. After a certain period of practice and initial
coaching by the therapist, this inner image will start to move
in some way and our observing ego [Shen] learns to participate
in the story very much like a dream”.
5. COMA
In coma, the Mind is completely devoid of residence
and it therefore cannot function at all, and yet the person
is not dead. This means that there are other mental aspects
The Empty Vessel 33

34 Summer 2012

at play, and these are the Hun and the Po. Thus, for death
to occur, not only must the Mind die, but the Hun must
leave the body and the Po return to Earth.
6. SLEEPWALKING
In sleepwalking, Mind is inactive but the Hun is active:
the Hun wanders at night and leads to sleepwalking.
In fact, the point BL-47 Hunmen (the Door of the Hun)
was used for sleepwalking.
THE CORPOREAL SOUL (PO)
The Po resides in the Lungs and is the physical counterpart
of the Hun. The bai (white) within the character
is related to the light of the waxing moon and is also
phonetic. The association with the waxing moon is in
keeping with the association of the Po with the dark forces
of gui. The connection between the Po and the moon is
also related to the Po coming into being on the 3rd day
after conception, analogous to the thin crescent of rising
moon on the 3rd day.
Hence the connection between the Po and the embryonic
lunar light (Yin) as opposed to the hot (Yang)
sun light of the Hun. In fact, in the old times, the Po
was also called “Moon-Po”. One can therefore build a
correspondence between West (where the waxing moon
is)-white-Metal-Po-Lungs.
WEST-WHITE-METAL-PO-LUNGS
The Po is in relation with gui. Confucius said: “Qi
is the fullness of the Shen; the Po is the fullness of gui”. He
Shang Gong said: “The turbid and humid 5 flavours from
bones, flesh, blood, vessels and the 6 passions...this gui is called
Po. This is Yin in character and enters and exits through the
mouth and communicates with Earth”.
THE CORPOREAL SOUL (PO)
The Po can be defined as “that part of the Soul [as
opposed to the Hun] which is indissolubly attached to the
body and goes down to Earth with it at death.” It is closely
linked to the body and could be described as the somatic
expression of the Soul, or, conversely, the organizational
principle of the body. The Po is active from conception
and it shapes the body. It could be also described as the
organization of the organism and the coordinating force
of all physiological processes. Zhang Jie Bin says: “In the
beginning of an individual’s life the body is formed; the spirit
of the body is the Po. When the Po is in the Interior there is
[enough] Yang Qi”. As for movement, the Po gives the
body the capacity of movement, agility, balance and
coordination of movements (the Hun gives psychic
“movement”). The Po dies with the body at death but it is
thought to adhere to the corpse for some time, especially
the bones, before returning to Earth.
1 ) CORPOREAL SOUL AND ESSENCE
The Po is closely linked to the Essence and is described
in the “Spiritual Axis” Chapter 8 as the “exiting
The Empty Vessel 35

and entering of Essence.” It derives from the mother and
arises soon after the Pre-natal Essence of a new being is
formed. Thus the Po, closely linked to Essence, is the first
to come into being after conception. Both Essence and Po
represent the organizational principles of life which shape
the body from conception (the extraordinary vessels are
the channels through which this happens).
During gestation, the foetus is “all Po and Essence”
and communicates with the Po of the mother. The connection
between Po and foetal life is very ancient: Granet
calls the Po the “soul of blood”. The foetus depends on
the mother’s Corporeal Soul, Blood and Essence which
guide and nourish it.
By giving rise to the human form during gestation,
the Po is centripetal, separating, materializing, aggregating;
as it separates, it aggregates, materializes into
a separate existence in the foetus. As this separation is
expressed by the skin (which separates the being from
the world), there is a further connection between the
Corporeal Soul-skin-Lungs. This separating power allies
itself with the centripetal forces of gui, constantly opposing
and fragmenting and is, eventually, the germ of
death. With regard to fragmenting, there is a resonance
between gui and kuai (gui with “earth” in front) which
means “pieces”. The Corporeal Soul is therefore linked
to a “thirst for existence”, centripetal, materializing life
force, aggregating into a separate existence.
The Po is related to the Essence, hence the “Spiritual
Axis” (chapter 8) statement that “That which enters and
exits with the Essence is the Po”. “Entering and exiting”
implies an Interior and Exterior, i.e. a separation of the
individual from the environment. It also implies a vertical
movement as ru (to enter) evokes “roots” and chu (to
exit) evokes “branches”. Thus the centripetal, separating,
materializing of the Po also depends on the vertical exiting
and entering of the Essence.
The Po is the manifestation of the Essence in the
sphere of sensations and feelings. Just as the Hun provides
movement to the Mind (“coming and going of the
Mind’), the Po provides movement to the Essence, i.e. it
brings the Essence into play in all physiological processes
of the body.
Without the Po the Essence would be an inert, albeit
precious, vital substance. The Po is the closest to the Essence
and is the intermediary between it and the other
vital substances of the body. In fact Zhang Jie Bin in the
“Classic of Categories” says: “If the Essence is exhausted
the Corporeal Soul declines; if Qi is scattered the Ethereal Soul
swims without a residence”.
The Po represents life and the life force itself. Xu Da
Chun said that if the Heart-Mind is cut off, the person is in
a coma...it is only when the Po is cut off that death occurs.
2) INFANCY
The Po, being the closest to the Essence, is responsible
for the first physiological processes after birth. Zhang Jie
Bin says: “In the beginning of life ears, eyes and Heart perceive,
hands and feet move and breathing starts: all this is due to the
sharpness of the Po”. This confirms the idea that the “first
month of life in a baby is all Po”.
3) PO and SENSES
Po gives us the capacity of sensation, feeling, hearing
and sight. When the Po is flourishing ears and eyes are
keen and can register. The decline of hearing and sight
in old people is due to a weakening of the Po (hence not
only Kidneys and Liver).
Zhang Jie Bin says: “The Po can move and do things
and [when it is active] pain and itching can be felt”. Po is
responsible for sensations and itching and is therefore
closely related to the skin through which such sensations
are experienced. This explains the somatic expression on
the skin of emotional tensions which affect the Po via the
Mind and the connection between Po, Lungs and skin.
In fact, the Po, being closely related to the body, is the
first to be affected when needles are inserted: the almost
immediate feeling of relaxation following the insertion
of needles is due to the unwinding of the Po. Through it,
the Mind, Hun, Yi and Zhi are all affected.
4. EMOTIONS
The Po is related to weeping and crying. Just as the
Po makes us feel pain on a physical level, it also makes
us cry and weep when subject to grief and sadness. Especially
unexpressed grief constricts the Po and gives rise
to accumulations. Lung-Qi stagnation affects the breasts
and may give rise to the formation of lumps. As the Po is
the corporeal Soul, it is affected by all emotions.
5) PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES
Some modern doctors consider the Po the “basic
regulatory activity of all physiological functions of the body”.
In this sense it is the manifestation of the Lung function
of regulating all physiological activities.
Chapter 8 of the “Simple Questions” says: “The Heart
is like the Emperor, in charge of the Spirit (Shen Ming). The
Lungs are like a Prime Minister in charge of regulation”. After
saying that the Lungs are like a Prime Minister, the
“Simple Questions” says that the Lungs are in charge of
“regulation”. This means that, just as the Prime Minister
regulates all administrative functions, the Lungs help to
regulate all physiological activities in every organ and
every part of the body, just as the Prime Minister’s office
controls and directs the administrative functions of all
government departments.
6) BREATHING
Residing in the Lungs, the Po is closely linked to
breathing. Breathing can be seen as the pulsating of the
Po. Meditation makes use of the link between breathing
and the Po. By concentrating on the breathing, someone
who is meditating quiets the Po, the Mind becomes still
and empty, and through this the Hun becomes open and
gets in touch with the Universal Mind (or unconscious).
7) CORPOREAL SOUL AND INDIVIDUAL LIFE
36 Summer 2012

COMPARISON BETWEEN ETHEREAL AND CORPOREAL SOULS
HUN
Is the "coming and going
of the Mind"
Pertains to the Mind
PO
the "entering and exiting of
the Essence"
Pertains to the body
Disharmony causes
problems with sleep at
night
Disharmony causes lack
of direction and
inspiration, confusion
Disharmony causes problems
in daytime
Disharmony causes lack of
vigour and vitality
Is the Qi of the Mind
Follows the changes of
Qi
Is the Gui of the body
Follows the changes of the
body
It is the link with the
universal Mind
Corresponds to full moon
It is purely individual
Corresponds to new moon
Is Yang and moves
Is Yin and is quiescent
Creates action with
movement
Related to the Mind:
when Qi gathers, the Hun
gathers
At birth the Hun joins
with the Po
At death it swims away
and returns to Heaven
Is bright and it lights the
Po
Is like a fire: the more
things you add, the more
it burns
Represents the movement
of the Mind outwardly
Is rooted in Blood and
Yin
Disharmony causes
problems with sleep at
night
Creates action without
movement
Related to the Essence: when
this gathers, the Po gathers
At birth the Po restrains the
Hun
At death it dissolves and
returns to Earth
Is dark and it roots the Hun
Is like a mirror: it shines, but
holds only a reflection (of the
Hun)
Represents the movement of
the Essence inwardly
Is connected to Qi and Yang
Disharmony causes problems
in daytime
The Po is related to our life as individuals while the
Hun is responsible for our relations with other people.
Just as the Lung’s Defensive-Qi protects the body from
external pathogenic factors on a physical level, on a
mental level the Corporeal Soul protects the individual
from external psychic influences. Some people are very
easily affected by negative influences: this is due to a
weakness of the Po.
8) ANUS
Because of the relationship between Po and Lungs
and that between the Lungs and the Large Intestine, the
anus is sometimes called po men, the “door of the Po”
as in chapter 11 of the “Simple Questions”: “The door of
the Po [i. e. anus] is the messengerfor the five viscera and it
drains off water and food without storing them for too long”.
In fact, the point BL-42 Pohu (the “Window of the Po”)
was indicated for incontinence of both urine and faeces
from fright.
PO AND DEATH-LIFE
In ancient China, the dead were temporarily buried
in the corner of the house where seeds were kept. This
allowed the substance of the dead to penetrate the Earth
in the house. The body of the dead decomposed in the
corner where seeds were kept to symbolize the sprouting
of new life from the seeds. In the same place was the
marital bed where new lives are conceived. This allowed
people to imagine that a new life sprouted from the Earth
in the house and from the dead ancestors as if the baby
had taken the substance of the ancestors.
The bodiless Gui were hovering around the marital
bed waiting for a new incarnation. This continuity between
dead and living allowed people to believe in an
Disharmony causes lack Disharmony causes lack of
of direction and vigour and vitality
The
inspiration,
Empty Vessel
confusion
37

unbroken family lineage, in an eternal family substance
like the Earth. A death did not diminish this family substance
and a birth did not increase it. The family was
formed of two parallel communities: the living (with their
individualities in the Po) and the dead.
COMPARISON BETWEEN ETHEREAL AND
CORPOREAL SOULS
THE HUN AND PO
The Hun is involved in problems
occurring at night (although
not exclusively), and the Po in
problems occurring in daytime. The
“Discussion of Blood Diseases”
(1884) by Tang long Hai says:
“Restlessness at night with excessive
dreaming is due to an unsettled Hun; this is Yang and if at
night it has no resting place the person is restless and dreams
a lot. Restlessness in the daytime and a clouded Mind are due
to an unsettled Po; this is Yin and if Yin is deficient in daytime,
restlessness and mental confusion result”.
Huai Nan Zi says: “The Hun derives from Heavenly Qi,
the Po from Earthly Qi”. The Wu Xing Da Yi says: “The Po
is like the envelope, the Hun is the source of Life’s Qi”. These
statements highlight the nature of the Po as the centripetal,
materializing, separating force which produces Form and
the body, hence it is like an “envelope” separating the body
from the world (Lungs-skin-Po). Hence the Corporeal Soul is
constraining.
The Hun is the source of Life’s Qi, it is centrifugal, it has an
outward movement and goes towards life. The Hun is called the
“Essence of Life’s Qi” and the Po the “Abode of Death’s Qi”.
The connection of the Po with death is due to the fact that it is
separating, constraining, materializing and it dies with the body.
The Wu Xing Da Yi says: “The Qi of the Hun is the
fullness [perfection] of Shen, the Qi of the Po is the fullness
[perfection] of Gui. Human life includes death. At death, one
returns to Earth, that is called GUI”. Zhi Xi said: “Qi belongs
to the Hun and the body is governed by the Po. The Hun is the
spirit of Yang and the Po is the spirit of Yin...When a person is
about to die the warm Qi leaves him and rises. This is called
the Hun rising. The lower part of the body gradually becomes
cold. This is called the Po falling”.
THE HUN AND PO
“Horizontality” means that the Hun is constantly exploring
the bounds of consciousness into the world of ideas, creativity,
art, exploration, dreams, etc. “Verticality” means that the Po is
constantly materializing into the body in the spheres of senses,
feelings, etc.
It is also said that “the Qi of the Hun is the fullness of the
Mind, the Qi of the Po is the fullness of gui”.
PO and GUI
Thus GUI is like a dark force of the psyche that is closely
bound to the Po. To put it differently, some say that “The Hun
During the Shang dynasty (1751-1112
BC) and earlier, the influence of spirits
dominated life and medicine.
is the gui of the 5 natures, while the Po is the gui of the 6 passions”.
In fact, the five natures (xing) of the five Yin organs
are like the “Hun’s aspects of each of the five mental-spiritual
aspects of the organs”. Confucius said that “Qi is the fullness
[perfection] of Shen; Po is the fullness [perfection] of GUI”.
Thus, there is a close connection between Corporeal Soul and
gui.
The Po is the subtle, centripetal mechanism of Shen, it is
its “demon” in the true Greek sense of daimon, i.e. an internal
force which shapes the bodily form during gestation.
He Shang Gong says: “The
5 turbid and humid flavours form
bones, muscles, blood, vessels and
the 6 passions...these gui are called
Po”.
The Hun is the gui of the 5
Natures and it is Yang; the Po is
the gui of the 6 Emotions and
it is Yin. The 5 Natures associated with the 5 Zang are
the “hun aspects” of Shen; the 6 Emotions are the “po
aspects” of Shen.
OUTER BLADDER POINTS
BL-52, Zhishi, Room of Will-Power: strengthens will
power, memory, drive, initiative, determination (Jing Xue
Jie: nocturnal emissions with dreams)
BL-49, 4 Yishe, Intellect’s Shelter: For Spleen’s pensiveness,
brooding, obsessive thoughts
BL-47, Hunmen, Door of Hun: strengthens Hun’s
planning, intuition, inspiration, ideas, life’s dreams, sense
of direction, projects, vision (Jing Xue Jie: it stores the 5
Zang but they can be seen from the outside, Hun goes in and
out [through this point], lung diseases)
BL-44, Shentang, Hall of Shen: strengthens Shen,
nourishes Heart, clear thinking, joy of life
BL-42, Pohu, Window of Po: strengthens Po, introspection,
being comfortable with oneself, also sadness,
grief.
GUI
The concept of gui in Chinese philosophy and culture
has important implications in Chinese medicine. Gui is
an important complement to Shen, Hun, Po, Yi and Zhi
in the Chinese view of the psyche. The old pictogram
for gui depicts the bodyless head of a dead person in its
swirling movement in the world of spirit. It therefore
indicates the spirit of a dead person. Initially, there was
no evil connotation to this term, i.e. the spirits of dead
people were neither benevolent nor malevolent. After
the introduction of Buddhism into China, the word was
used to indicate demons or pretas.
During the Shang dynasty (1751-1112 BC) and earlier,
the influence of spirits dominated life and medicine. In
medicine, the main cause of disease was attack by evil
spirits. The vocabulary of acupuncture is a testimony
of this.
With the Zhou dynasty (1112-476 BC) and especially
later during the Warring States Period there is the begin-
38 Summer 2012

ning of humanism which reached its apex during the Han
and, later on, during the Song-Yuan and Ming dynasties.
During the Shang dynasty the influence of gui spirits on
mankind had been almost total, for no important things
could be done without first seeking their approval. During
the Zhou dynasty, the gui were taken into account
but they did not dominate life. The Book of Rites says:
“The people of Shang honour spiritual beings, serve them and
put them ahead of ceremonies...the people of Zhou honour
ceremonies...they serve the spiritual beings gui but keep them
at a distance. They remain near to mankind and loyal to him.”
GUI AND ACUPUNCTURE
Demonic medicine, i.e. the belief that illnesses were
due to negative influences from spirits whom we have
displeased and that treatment depended on exorcisms
and incantations to rid the body of such spirits, is indeed
probably the origin of acupuncture. Exorcists and shamans
used to run through the streets gesturing and filling
the air with spears and arrows to rid the inhabitants of
evil spirits. It is quite conceivable that the step between
filling the air with the spear and piercing the body to rid
it of spirits is a very short one.
Spirits and ghosts used to reside in holes or caves;
the Chinese word for acupuncture point is xue which
actually means “hole” or “cave”. This is another possible
link between demonic medicine and acupuncture,
i.e. the acupuncture points are the holes where the spirits
resided causing illness and requiring piercing of the skin
to be eliminated.
Some of the acupuncture terminology also would
support the connection with demonic medicine. For
example, the term xie qi (usually translated as “pathogenic
factor”) literally means “evil Qi” and it evolved
from the term xie gui, i.e. “evil
spirit”. With the transition from
demonic to natural medicine
that occurred during the Warring
States Period, diseases
were not caused by “evil spirits”
any longer but by “evil Qi”.
The term Zhong Feng (meaning
Wind-stroke) also suggests a demonic influence as zhong
suggests an arrow hitting the target: given the sudden
collapse of a person suffering a stroke, it would have been
easy to attribute that to being hit by the “arrow” of an evil
spirit. The term Ji for “illness” also bears testimony of
the demonic thinking in medicine. This character is composed
of the radicals for “bed” and “arrow”: its original
meaning was that of a “person who is bedridden because
of injury by third parties with an arrow.” “Arrow” here
is a symbol of being “hit” by an evil spirit.
In subsequent centuries, demonic medicine began to
be integrated seamlessly with natural medicine. For example,
some doctors maintained that, even when illnesses
was caused by a demonic influence, this attack itself was
made possible by a pre-existing organic imbalance. Xu
Chun Fu (1570) said a pre-existing weakness in the person’s
Qi made an attack by an evil spirit possible and he
advocated combining herbal therapy with incantation in
a very interesting passage:
“If these two methods of treatment are combined [herbal
therapy and incantation], inner and outer are forged into a
whole producing a prompt cure of the illness. Anyone who
engages an exorcist and avoids the application of drugs will
be unable to eliminate his illness, for a principle is lacking that
could bring about a cure. He who takes only drugs and does
not call upon an exorcist to drive out existing doubts, will be
cured, but relief will be achieved slowly. Consequently the
inner and outer must be treated together; only in this way is
rapid success possible.”
The classification of “inner” and “outer” methods of
treatment (herbal drugs and exorcisms respectively) is
interesting and his advocating a combination of these two
methods is significant: it is tempting to substitute “psychotherapist”
for “exorcist” and infer that Xu Chung Fu
advocated combining a physical therapy such as herbal
medicines with psychotherapy. It is also interesting to
note the difference in outcome when each therapy is
used: if one confers only with an exorcist he or she “will
be unable to eliminate the illness”, whereas it one confers
to a herbalist, he or she “will be cured”.
THE NEEDLING METHOD IN CASE OF
EXTERNAL INVASION OF GUI DUE TO THE
LOSS OF SHEN FROM NORMAL LOCATION
OF THE 12 ORGANS
Zhang Jie Bin carried the integration of demonic with
natural medicine a step further in the Nei Jing. Huang
Di asks: “When the body is weak Shen escapes and loses it
normal location, it allows the
external invasion of gui leading
In subsequent centuries, demonic
to early death. How can we keep
medicine became to be integrated the body intact I would like
seamlessly with natural medicine. to know the needling methods
for such a condition.” To keep
the body intact and keep the
Shen intact. When Shen is
intact, xie cannot invade the body. The combination of
weak body and invasion of xie may cause early death.
When the coordination of the Shen of the 12 organs is
lost, to prevent invasions of external factors (xie), needle
the Yuan point of relevant channel. Insert needle, retain
for 3 breaths, then insert another fen and retain for one
breath, withdraw needle slowly. Except for the Pericardium
in which case use Laogong P-8.
Zhang Jie Bin carried the integration of demonic
with natural medicine a step further in the Lei Jing, 1624.
He says that demons do exist but they are creations of
the human mind due to an inner imbalance. He even
correlated the colour in which the demon appears to the
patient with a 5-Element imbalance, i.e. if the Earth element
is, weak the patient will see green demons (because
green is the colour of Wood which overacts on Earth). If
The Empty Vessel 39

Liver is deficient, the Ethereal Soul has no residence and
it escapes, “swims” away and the body is invaded by
white gui. First use G.B.-40 and then Shu point of Liver
(Ganshu) at the same time as saying an incantation. If the
Heart is deficient, the Emperor and Minister Fire do not
perform normal functions, body is invaded by black gui.
Use Yuan point of TB, TB-4 and BL-15 Xinshu.
SP Xu, green gui, use ST-42 and BL-20 Pishu.
LU Xu, red gui, use LI-4
and BL-13 Feishu.
KI Xu, yellow gui, use
BL-64 and BL-23 Shenshu.
The phonetic similarity
between the word gui meaning
“spirit” and gui meaning
“to return” is not casual. The
ghost - gui - is a dead person who returns as a ghost.
“Returning” has also the meaning of to “converge, to
come together,” indicating the centripetal, contracting
movement of a gui. The Wu Xing Da Yi says: “Gui are
those that return. Ancient people called dead persons ‘those
who return’”. Wang Chong (27-100 AD) said: “When a
person dies, his spirit ascends to Heaven and his flesh and bones
return to Earth. To be an earthly gui means to return, to be a
heavenly shen means to expand. When the expansion reaches
its limit, it ends and begins again. A person is born of gui and
at death returns to them. Yin and Yang are called gui-shen.
After people die, they are also called gui-shen”.
The coming into being of a separate existence, of a
living body, takes place with the forces of separation in
nature, i.e. the gui are centripetal powers hungry for life:
these powers look for the fragmentation into “pieces” of
separate existence. The phonetic connection between gui
(ghosts) and gui (pieces) is not coincidental. The dark
powers of gui are inherent with Shen and they constantly
oppose it at every turn to regain their freedom of action.
The gui strive towards fragmentation, “pieces”, centripetal,
the shen strive towards expansion, wholeness.
However, this tension, this opposition is relative and is
a source of dynamism. It generates opposition, desires,
conflicts, but it is also the motive force of transformation
and metamorphosis of the Spirit.
Wang Chong said: “Qi produces a person just as water
becomes ice. As water freezes into ice, so Qi coagulates to form
a person. When ice melts, it becomes water. When a person dies,
he becomes a gui spirit again. He is called gui just as melted
ice changes its name to water. As people see that its name has
changed, they say it has consciousness, can assume physical
form, and can hurt people. But they have no basis for saying so”.
Zhu Xi (1113-1200) said: “Is expansion shen and contraction
gui The teacher drew a circle on the desk with his
hand and pointed to its centre and said: Principle [Li] is like
a circle. Within it there is differentiation like this. All cases of
material force [Qi] which is coming forth belong to Yang and
are shen. All cases of material force which is returning to its
origin belong to Yin and are gui.
In the day, forenoon is shen, afternoon is gui. In the month,
from the 3rd day onward is shen; after the 16th day it is gui.
It is important to see gui, Hun and Po as a
continuum of psychic forces: as the Chinese
characters clearly show, Hun and Po pertain
The sun is shen and the moon is gui. Plants growing are shen,
plants decaying are gui. A person from childhood to maturity
is shen, while a person in his declining years and old age is gui.
In breathing, breath going out is shen, breath coming in is gui.”
This passage clearly shows the important view according
to which gui is synonymous with a centripetal,
contractive movement and shen with a centrifugal, expansive
movement. This has important implications in
psychology.
Gui is often presented
as the counter-pole
of shen. Shen pertains to
Heaven and is the Heavenly
spirit; gui pertains to
Earth and is the Earthly
spirit. In other words, they
are the two polarities of utmost Yang and utmost Yin in
the world of spirit and in our psyche.
This polarity was always considered relative in Chinese
thinking. It basically signifies the tension, conflicts
and contradictions between the subtle, dark, centripetal,
contracting psychic forces of gui and the subtle, bright,
centrifugal, expansive psychic forces of shen. This polarity
is made up of the two poles of Yin and Yang in the
human psyche and their interplay animates our psyche.
Hence gui is an integral part of the human psyche: it represents
the centripetal, separating, desire force seeking to
separate itself and which must be nourished (like one feeds
hungry pretas). In essence, gui can be seen as the Shadow
within our psyche.
Zhang Cai said: “Gui and shen are the spontaneous
activity of Yin and Yang...the reality of gui and shen does not
go beyond these two fundamental elements...if Yin and Yang
do not exist, the One cannot be revealed. Reality and unreality,
motion and rest, integration and disintegration are two
different substances. In the final analysis, however, they are
one.” Also: “When a thing first comes into existence, material
force [Qi] comes gradually into it to enrich its vitality. As it
reaches its maturity, Qi gradually reverts to where it came from,
wanders off and disperses. Its coming means shen because it is
expanding; its reversion means gui because it is returning”.
It is important to see gui, Hun and Po as a continuum
of psychic forces: as the Chinese characters clearly show,
Hun and Po pertain to the world of gui, of spirits. In fact,
the character for Hun is made of the radical “gui” with
“clouds” (yun) on the left: the character for “cloud” gives
the Hun its Yang, ethereal nature. The character for Po is
made of the radical “gui” with “white” (bai) on the left:
this character stands for the rising moon and it gives this
word and the Po its Yin, corporeal nature. Therefore, as it
is clear from the Chinese characters for Hun and Po, gui
is an integral part of the Ethereal and Corporeal Souls.
The gui (as well as the Hun) needs to be integrated in
the psyche to prevent disassociation, splitting of contents
of the psyche. Neurosis, psychosis, mania, etc. consist in
disassociation of dark contents of the psyche. When this
happens, the gui are perceived as external agents, evil
spirits possessing the psyche while they are actually a
40 Summer 2012

product of the psyche itself. As Jung says: “If tendencies
towards dis-association were not inherent in the human psyche,
parts would have never split off: in other words, neither spirits
nor gods would ever have come to exist.”
Thus we should learn to recognize the psychic forces
symbolized by gui and not wait until our moods make
clear to us in the most painful way that we (i.e. the Mind)
are not the only master of our house. (Gui=Shadow).
Traditionally, ghosts needed food offerings daily to be
appeased: this is symbolical of the need to come to terms
with and integrate the dark side of the psyche.
Shen > heavenly, bright, ethereal, expanding, going,
centrifugal, life.
Gui > earthly, dark, corporeal, contracting, returning,
centripetal, death.
Giovanni Maciocia.
Giovanni Maciocia is one of the most highly respected practitioners
of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine in
Europe. Originally from a medical family in Italy, he trained
in England at the International College of Oriental medicine
graduating in acupuncture in 1974 after a three-year course.
He has been in practice since then. Giovanni Maciocia is the
author of "Tongue Diagnosis in Chinese Medicine", "The
Foundations of Chinese Medicine", "The Practice of Chinese
Medicine", "Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Chinese Medicine"
"Diagnosis in Chinese Medicine" and "The Channels
of Acupuncture" which have become textbooks for all major
acupuncture colleges in the world. See his website at www.
giovanni-maciocia.com for more information.
Karl Ardo.
In 1967 I went to the Maryland Institute College of Art for
my undergraduate degree in fine arts/sculpture and then to
The University of New Mexico for my graduate studies in
sculpture. In 1974, while in graduate school I was introduced
to QiGong. My life took a major shift that day. I’m currently
certified as a Five Element Teacher of Qigong- NQA Certified
Qigong Clinical Therapist & Level III Advanced Instructor-
Certified Zero Balancer. I have studied, practiced, and taught
several types of Asian disciplines including Medical QiGong,
meditation and Taiji. In addition to my classes I provide
private sessions using Qigong healing techniques (hands
off the body healing techniques) as well as Zero Balancing
techniques. I bring into the Maryland area 3 guest teachers
a year. For more information please visit my website: http://
www.movinginstillness.com/.
On a recent trip north to Niagara Falls my wife Joyce and
I decided to break the driving trip into two legs. We chose
Watkins Glen in upper state New York on one of the finger
lakes to spend the night. I was not prepared for the experience
we/I were about to have. As we were walking towards the
entrance there was a very active narrow river coming towards
us. The entrance to the canyon was through a tunnel that was
carved through a mountain. The tunnel was about 40 feet long
and you could see the other end, which was quite large. This
entrance set the stage for a profound and spiritually moving
experience. The canyon had an east-west orientation and we
were walking west into the setting sun. The time of day (the
light), the recent rains and not expecting this profound beauty
were the inspiration for my photos.
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The Empty Vessel 41

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The Empty Vessel 43

Dimensional Learning Perspectives
Michael Vasquez
The Taoists of ancient China knew that the greatest
teachings came from nature and our life experiences.
Thankfully, due to the foresight and dedication of past
teachers and lineage-traditions, thousands of years later
we are still applying and learning from this wisdom in
our modern lives. Life itself is ever-waiting for us to
make room for natural and relational learning, suggesting
strongly that when we become distracted we miss
the purpose of existence itself and the efforts it took to be
incarnated, culturally understood as “cyclical existence”.
How do we stay connected to our purpose while we are
here, living our lives Indirect avenues of learning are
primary aspects of life-experience, and return balance to
our lives, and include: listening, watching, feeling, tasting,
smelling, paying attention, awareness, following, patience
(waiting), receptivity and openness, just as beginning points
of reference. Within us is the essence of life, outside of us
is the essence of life. The largest things are made up of
the smallest things and everything is alive on some level.
Are not all things connected If only we could slow down
enough to notice.
Dimensional perspectives begin with the fearless allowance
to be open to the signs and clues that are always
trying to communicate to us in every way. Learning to
“sense the subtleties” is really just a way of not being
preoccupied or distracted, understanding that we need
to feel how all things are connected. Clearing past traumas
that interfere with present perceptions allows the
heart/mind to “center and sort” our perceptions, and
make clearer choices. When we are less concerned with
what others think, and how we may look at any given
point, true learning returns to us through our life experiences.
We can begin to see through the dimensions and
the relationships of both the seen and unseen worlds we
live in. Could it be that the way we are taught, the norms
we accept, and the “civilized state” that we are guided
towards, is the problem, and the blockage to our true
learning It would seem clear that we need to free our
heart (senses) and brain (processing center) to re-gain
insight, and to truly learn from reflection. Realignment
of heart/mind allows perspective and perceptions to
unify, from the very smallest to the grand ultimate. A
44 Summer 2012

little known fact that “new-science” has now proven, is
that all information that comes in through our senses, is
first received by the heart, then percolates up to the brain.
This information is contributed with the most practical
intention. It is available to be practiced by all. Its
not mystical, special, or reserved for a select elite. It is
the opportunity that life itself offers us all, simple but
infinitely profound. The connections that link the unseen
world to the seen world, and the commonalities that are
shared by all. The opportunity is the invitation. Sincerity,
ongoing openness and perseverance are true measures
of our interest in learning. It is well documented in
Chinese history that many have drunk from the well of
knowledge, but few have made a complete passage to the
wisdom stage. This is not for me to say one way or the
other, only a footnote to remind us of the effort involved
in a structure that says “less is more”, “the long road is
the short path,” and “there is no beginning and no end.”
Below are foundations introducing practical biodimensional
perspectives developed through Chinese
history and lineage, which I believe share the same
theoretical roots as quantum physics. It is here we note
that the “Chinese cultural sciences” run parallel and even
predate Western concepts in quantum physics, as long
ago the relationships between change, balance and motion,
the micro/macro, and dimensional existence were
established. When we understand that just a perception
of something changes it, and that all things are alive
and related to each other, we can begin to know that the
tangible world is connected to our primary senses, in
both tangible, and less tangible ways.
The micro/macro structure of dimensional perspective
form the core of both method and principle, in Internal
Arts, Taoist life-sciences, Chinese Medicine, and other
related arts. I have attempted only a basic introduction
to assist in the understanding of these infinite teachings.
However, with a serious and ongoing approach to “learning
how to learn”, each subject is capable of opening great
depth, and can become a window into many insights.
Some things to Consider:
Basic dimensional perceptions can be seen and felt
through new learning experiences, mishaps and challenges,
ordinary daily life, and unusual circumstances. They
seem to stick out in some places, but exist in all of life.
Study yourself, recapitulate feelings, thoughts, actions,
words. Practice regularly, learn to measure and
build momentum, and develop insight and reflection,
Learn to teach yourself. Adjust, adapt, experiment with
the information.
If we are told everything, we never learn to discover.
Learn to be content with not knowing and let it come to
you.
If we do not learn how to change challenges into opportunities,
we do not learn to grow, maintain or develop.
If we cannot build and maintain momentum in learning
by paying attention, remembering, allowing changes,
and openness, we struggle in our growth.
Learn to pace yourself, do not be too hard or too easy
on your self, continue observing and regard no absolutes.
Zhong Ding (One Self): Openness as it relates to
internal balance, centeredness and equilibrium.
This stage contains three beginning perspectives:
1. Inclusion/Willingness. The continuous state of
openness of heart/mind/body/spirit.
2. Neutrality/Flexibility. Restructuring the alignment
of how we learn and how we perceive.
3. Structural Sensitivity. Our bodily alignment and
ability to feel the whole self uninterrupted.
The common ability to sense ourselves in whole
ways requires openness and the ability to measure balance
in our experiences. Sensory perceptions can be
all-encompassing and evoke emotional reactions that
color our experiences. We can simply cultivate a sense of
detachment or “non-reaction,” coupled with the knowing
that all things will change, and equilibrium is a state we
can return to from within. In this way, we correct the past
injuries that crop up to interfere with our present time
(recovery from the past), and replace old patterns/habits
with flexible options, basic to the open state of change.
Zhong Ding is synonymous with openness and
whole body experiences, understanding that all thoughts
and feelings communicate directly to all the cells as we
think and feel them. The heart (center of all sensory
input), the brain (command center that cross references,
deduces, deciphers meaning, and problem solves), and
the central nervous system (channels and relays all information),
work together. Any type of blockage/imbalance
in this chain of command effects the order and conduct
of actions, thoughts and spoken words. The cells are a
type of “united nation” within us, and can be in divided
or united states, given our past and health imbalances
or lack of openness and inability to center ourselves. As
we begin to open up and heal the past, we can refine our
emotional/mental reactions to a more centered state of
sensory perception and response. Response as a choice
maintains openness, reaction causes contraction, hyperstimulation
and often, shutting down. In the beginning,
we may experience “sensory over-load,” and fluctuations
or spasms of opening and closing (patterns and habits
that are the past), but as the senses mature, experiences
are not all consuming or “emotion-centered,” and we
learn how to allow openness to stay, see choices in the
moment, and find the resilience to maintain them. This
is a very heightened state that is flexible, infinite and
The Empty Vessel 45

deepens the core of internal balance. In fact, the
Chinese believe in a principle called Gan Ying;
how internal equilibrium and connectedness
directly relate to the outside world. It is the
knowledge that there is no separation between
conscious beings and the rest of the universe,
that outcomes are dependent on our perspectives
and the “heart felt way we do things.”
Understanding the connectedness of what comes
from above, what comes from below, and what
feelings we have in between, is a crucial element
of everyday life.
As we deepen this context, balance can be
seen as an inner state, centeredness as a position,
and equilibrium, which contains both, is our
experience of inner/outer extension in flux. So,
it is possible to extend our sensing to both inner
parts of ourselves that need attention, and outside
ourselves in interaction and motion. This is
a natural response to harmonizing with change,
and the use of insight and reflection, flexing
and adapting as needed. It can be experienced
in what is the same and what is opposite, and in
any changing condition, which happens to be all
conditions. Balance is also a part of sensing inner
direction, slight changes that return stability,
adapting and adjusting in a timely fashion so as
not to lose both center, and openness.
Centeredness or the act of working with the
state of balance reveals the feeling of a central
axis, and the feelings of opening that expand
from it, also the feeling of returning or inward
motion that comes to the center. The fluxing
state of balance/openness, changes the centered
feeling (off center, returning to center), and strengthens
and stabilizes it. Disruption or stabilization is about the
choices and interpretations we make, and how the past
has affected us. Equilibrium is the condition of flux that
maintains a balanced and centered state as we move
around, adapt, and live our lives. We are ever maintaining
this as we “manage” openness (what comes in/what
goes out). Discovering center (good position) in the
many areas of our lives, the ability to maintain a flexible
relationship with center inside ourselves moment
to moment, and developing inner equilibrium through
changing situations that are short, medium & long range
(movements), give us some measure of working with
Zhong Ding. In Tai Chi practice, the positioning exercise
for two people is push hands, and when one is moved into
a less than advantageous position, little effort is needed
to “take the center.” This is a small-frame metaphor for
life and the many experiences that we find ourselves in
that need our centered attention, and deeply suggesting
the return to our adaptive nature. Lifestyle change
arts reflect the principle base of Tai Chi in self practice,
extension to others, and the infinite applications in our
lives. Translating it from practice and form (material/
tangible manifestations), to experience and extension (immaterial/
less tangible interactions), is the development
and applications of common sensing, and the lifestyle
change arts.
Yin Yang (Two Sides): Aspects of one thing
When life is created, a central DNA strand is the
beginning, a building-block axis that mirrors itself or
provides a structure for cells that form into two similar
sides. This process happens over and over again forming
duplicating bi-lateral agreements. A DNA strand is a
spiraling helix that has a central balance point from which
life-force particles collect in agreement, and manifests
into molecular matter that grows in cycles, creating a
life-form. All ”parts” of the form created share an “axis
or axes”, like an arm has a bone structure and muscle
forms around it. The process of mirroring is part of the
foundation, allowing for differentiation in body parts
(hands, forearms, upper arms etc), and expresses unique
and practical ranges of motion passed through genetic
coding. Proportional changes allow for weight and loadbearing
to be equalized for the purposes of efficiency in
body mechanics. Energy that comes from the earth mixes
with gravitational energy and becomes a practical part
of the “shape equation.” This all happens before birth,
46 Summer 2012

allowing for the great variety of shapes
and sizes that can change as we live and
are changed by our post-birth experiences:
the evolving changes/growth/
evolution within a life span. The point
here is that a central axis (reference to
Zhong Ding) and the mirroring of DNA
building-blocks (aspects of one thing)
is the core basis of our creation, known
to us as pre-birth energies, manifesting
into a material state, and beginning at
the molecular level. This is the essence
of a basic principle of agreement, based
on sincerity, and an open commitment
of molecular life forms that begin with
trust, as a base quality for life formation.
The unity of many molecular life forms,
joined together, become the aspects of
one thing, built on the mirroring principles
of the life duplication process.
This is recognized as pre-birth intelligence,
and cellular memory contains
the “creation equation” or ability to
adapt to needed change, which is built
into the DNA code. When we are at
odds with ourselves, the cells cannot
cooperate and shift, or make changes as
we need to. This type of direct energetic
interference created by cellular opposition,
weakens and creates vulnerability
in the body's natural defenses. In traditional
Chinese Medicine, this is referred
to as a break-down in the “Wei Qi.” We
can see this as inner/outer separation,
a kind of internal stand-off. Outer influences
can invade when resistance/
opposition has interfered with the essence of life force
adaptation. To adapt in any given situation, we must
freely be able to work with balance, motion and changing.
Openness/Balance is a “series of agreements” that is experience-momentum
coupled with sincere trust. It builds
on a very deep orientation to “two sides/aspects of one
thing,” or mirror images. Cells can feel and weigh with
a comparative sensory measure, allowing for “reflectionadjusting,”
and very precise adaptations, that flow with
timely changes. The Vitruvian Man image (Leonardo da
Vinci circa 1487), gives us a visual/conceptual feeling of
balance and centeredness on spatial planes, and because
the sphere is circular; a sense of measure forming bilateral
measure (top/bottom, left/right, front/back etc),
as an aspect of one being.
One of the most basic aspects of the Yin/Yang principle
is the relationship of opposites, as expressed in the
union of “aspects of one being.” The definition and theory
that encompasses Yin and Yang has greater scope which
is a much longer conversation. We can briefly touch on
the five major aspects as follows:
there is opposition of Yin and Yang
there is interdependence of Yin and Yang
there is inter-consuming and supporting relation
ship of Yin and Yang
there is inter-transforming relationship of Yin and
Yang
there is infinite divisibility of Yin and Yang
These relationships have many expressions, but for
the purpose of this article, we will keep it more basic.
Physically, how our feet connect into the ground can
be measured and compared to the balance & centerdness
through the top of the head, and in relation to our left/
right sides of the body, also the front/back relationship,
and the inside/outside perceptions. Peng (pronounced
Pung), or “rising energy,” is energy that emanates up
from the living Earth in a dynamic relationship with
gravity, which pushes down. Peng is a generative force
that all living creatures use to assist in running and circulating
the bodily systems. What comes down creates
what moves upward and this is also related to balance
and the aspects of one being principle. It is here that the
The Empty Vessel 47

ase principle of Qigong is known as “the mixing of fire
and water.” These are just brief examples of an endless
list that can be learned from in our lives as we entertain
this view in our daily routines, interactions and personal
practices. The circle is the two dimensional suggestion of
the spiral, or 3rd dimensional framework, the basis for the
next principle; San Tsai, the 3 portions stage of becoming.
Life itself brings about the need to make changes
while staying in balance, and always in motion; the living
equation of Qi or life force, our primal original source of
life. This is a constant interaction of fluctuating states of
inside and outside relationships. Opposing factors (opposite
ends of any linear spectrum) are seen as related
to each other and contain sameness, while cycles and
rhythms teach us when things change. The two sides are
both opposite and related on a line of measure, therefore,
they belong to each other.
San Tsai (Three Portions):
Stages of Becoming
Proportional awareness is considered 3-D or holographic
in nature, and so it starts with the recognition of
defined space. Figuratively, perceiving from one point to
another, is a type of perspective that has a proportional
measure, and is more linear (noting the space in between).
External examples might be the height of something,
as in the bottom to the top (2 points), or a proportional
measure of depth, as in from “here to there,” or the
width of an object, such as from this side to that side.
This development of linear measure, is in three portions,
and happens on simultaneous planes giving a 3-D image
ability. Simply, multiple starting/ending points of origin/
distance recognized on multiple planes, and the space
between them, is a 3-D reference-perceived to variations
in height, width and depth in short/medium/long distance
perception. Relational interpretation is not always
easy as it requires creative picture building in the minds
eye, and becomes more challenging to reconstruct from
written 2-D instruction. We all know the challenges of
building “simple furniture,” from written instructions,
this is the same thing.
Continuing the example related to learning might be,
when we learn something new, it is common to start from
our point of reference, and enthusiastically venture to the
farthest point of our possibility-definition, an exuberant
extension that results all to often in ‘doing too much,’
as it gives us a reference of expression or parameters
to measure within. As humans, we tend to follow our
tendencies in learning, often expressed in two basic measures;
doing too much, or not quite doing enough. When
“over-doing,” there is also a corresponding larger feeling
that is sensed in extension, and is a type of sensorymeasurement,
recognized as “different” than where we
began, and the returning measure is “portioned out.”
When there is hesitation of “failing or doing it wrong,”
the amount of measure is less, and we are left with too
little information, so more “bravery in experimenting”
is needed just to find learning parameters.
We now have a defined area to explore and become
familiar with. It is common to interpret this as the goal
or destination, or become pleased with the recognition
that we have made a change. Our venture into a new area
is an expression to understand what we are wanting to
learn, and can lose the element of a centered perspective,
only returned through the experience of time and
repetition. As we refine our learning we end up more in
the middle somewhere, not where we started, and not
where we ventured to initially. This begins to define the
Three Portions Stages of Becoming, a succession of events
that leads to refinement in learning, the developmental
process that is infinite and moves with change.
The process of natural experiential learning, what is
also known as life learning, refines one’s ability to begin in
one place, visit the corresponding opposite position, and
developing an expertise through sharpening both sides
to a precision “point.” It is this process that exemplifies
the developmental stages of San Tsai, the awareness of
the 3 portions in refinement. In learning, there is always
a beginning, ‘the journey to get there,’ and the arrival,
that sets the stage for this to begin over again, referencing
the infinite learning process. If we understand the refinement
process, we begin with openness and a centered,
balanced perspective. If not, we must find this first,
ready and prepare for extended development. As we
begin the journey, we may be overly focused, or perhaps
confused/distracted, or in some way briefly limited, and
lose some of our openness and center. Before we may
continue learning, we must regain this or our efforts are
squandered to some degree and we waste energy. When
we have an experience of “squandering,” we can reflect
on it and recapture our clarity, center ourselves, and begin
again. It is here that the understanding of preparation is
tied to the stage of Three Portions Stages of Becoming.
Insight on how to begin involves preparation, awareness
of possible outcomes along the way, and adaptive measure
to support readiness. Failed attempts are lessened/
thwarted by being prepared, and conserving and proper
usage of our efforts, is a product of good preparation.
When preparation is complete in our understanding, it
becomes us, and forethought and insight are tempered
as intent becomes action. We can know most of the
possible outcomes before anything is undertaken, even
leaving room for unknown variables and making clean
transitions, regardless of what is unknown. We become a
state of clear and present readiness, we shift with change
in a timely fashion as we know what is possible in most
circumstances, and what we do not know, we are open,
centered and prepared for.
So, at this stage of dimensional perception, we can
see the positions on a line of direction, be it a destination,
process of learning, situation or circumstance, or human
interaction with unknown parameters, we have a way to
perceive it. The three portions/positions, give us a way
to measure, adjust, define and maintain our openness
48 Summer 2012

and centeredness, while shifting in consideration of how
changes affects our balance. All stages of San Tsai begin
with awareness of the three positions and extended attention,
spending time recapping and clarifying possible
options through hindsight, reflection, and introspection.
As we become more proficient, we start recovering
ourselves and making “course corrections” that include
thinking/feeling on our feet, and in the moment, and
the re-balancing ability as a natural response. Later our
progression becomes filled with “fore-knowing and longsight,”
as we begin to maintain awareness of San Tsai.
This state continues to evolve into multiple dimensions of
the expression of San Tsai where we experience this inner
wisdom in all aspects of our lives. It is a larger framework
of inner/outer perception that carries infinite applications
and continues to unfold, always in relationship to the
first two principles of Zhong Ding and Yin Yang. We are
now prepared to open up and introduce the fourth stage,
and begin again to recognize the starting over phase of
growing and the gift of beginner’s mind.
San Xiang (Four Directions):
Directional Orientation-
San Xiang is, in the first place, as it relates to the body,
about proprioception. The definition of proprioceptor is:
A sensory receptor, found chiefly in muscles, tendons,
joints, and the inner ear, that detects the motion or position
of the body or a limb by responding to stimuli arising
within the organism.
As it relates to body position, it contains a sense of
centeredness, it contains a sensing of the body in relation
to objects, and a sensing measure of distance or proximity.
There is also a spatial orientation that San Xiang brings to
this awareness, not only of the body’s distance to objects
in its immediate space, but also the distance between
those objects, height, depth and width of perceived
objects, and the relationship of them in four directions
spatially; on all planes in four directions. This is loosely
defined as the relative measure of the space on planes of
awareness, the empty spaces and the objects that inhabit
them. So for example, when standing in one position in
a room, there could be a table or tables on different horizontal
planes, and there could be chairs that contain both
vertical and horizontal surfaces. There could also be walls
with paintings on them that are framed (slightly different
planes than the walls), hanging lights, various sculptures
and art with uneven surfaces, a fireplace mantle, couches
and other odds and ends etc. The ability to sense all of
these from one position and then negotiate movement
through them is a partial example of the awareness of
San Xiang. So, a simple and practiced movement such
as walking (that we take for granted) is a skill that when
moving through time and space, and is unimpeded, is
found to be “normal.” If injury has occurred to a part of
the body, let’s say the hip, the ability to negotiate the path
through a space that contains many objects can become
more challenging. Similarly, an internal rhythmic malfunction
such as a stroke, can impair multiple sensory
abilities, motor skills, and depth perception, creating
a compound condition that is even more difficult and
limits mobility and perception. What was once simple,
is now a time-consuming nightmare of “obstacle traps.”
This may seem like an extreme example, but hundreds of
thousands of people, both injured and in varying states
of aging and limitations, suffer from these type of compound
conditions; a loss of directional orientation from
within. Re-capturing this ability is a specialty of Tai Chi
and Qigong, as it regenerates the breaks, blockages and
stagnations associated with the loss of these connections
of the mind/body/spirit. Diseases that drastically affect
motor skills, sensory abilities and alter perception can
only truly be remedied through Internal Arts and the
connection of Mind/Body/Spirit.
In a healthy body, we can begin to see that there is
also a maturation process and developing skill set that
goes with this awareness and presence of space. If we
find ourselves to be somewhat “clumsy,” this may mean
that there is some interference with this physical grace
or coordination of the limbs, or an alignment problem
with thoughts and actions, thoughts and spoken words,
or in some way an inner injury from the past, blocking
and undermining our motor-sensory skills. This could
result in hesitations or lack of belief, when movement is
engaged. These conditions are all very changeable,and are
the specialty realm of internal transformation practices;
those that simultaneously engage the M/B/S.
When we enter into the space of a room, we orient to
the objects and the spaces in between them, and to some
degree, feel a comfort with the objects as “markers in that
space.” When there are too many markers, we can feel
claustrophobic, hemmed in and crowded. When there
are no markers, we may also orient to the walls as those
markers, often an open space brings about an underlying
feeling of vulnerability, but certainly not always and quite
The Empty Vessel 49

illusionary. If open space feels very comfortable, it is safe
to say that this is healthy and we are comfortable in our
skin and with our lack of surroundings. One of the more
true tests of this is when we are outside in nature or an
unfamiliar area, and more deeply, in the dark of night, out
in the open. It is a type of sensory measure that tells us we
are whole, feel capable and can negotiate life’s unknowns
with relative confidence using natural intelligence.
When astronomers map space, or astronauts travel
in space, there are fewer “markers.” Stars and planets
are farther apart, so there is a vast amount of empty
space between them. Inside our bodies, there are relative
distances on the micro level that we relate to as vast
space, and we measure those distances by feeling on
the inside. We can extend our sensory capacity, much
like astronauts travel and map vast territories, that exist
inside us. This level of familiarity serves us in knowing
ourselves, as well as healing and correcting imbalances
and limitations associated with past traumas. We are in
fact, taking the time in knowing ourselves, in greater
depth, and learning to “map points of feeling,” through
relational sensory perceptions. The Taoists derived very
intricate methods of reading their natural surroundings
that correlated with natural phenomena and natural
laws and inner relationships (not really a big secret). The
secret aspect you might say is how, which is as simple as
it is complex. An old Taoist saying is, “Through paying
attention, all is known.” Very simple but not many of
us actually take the time to observe and learn from life
itself, figuring that the more educated ways have greater
value, of course nothing could be further from the truth.
Learning from the present moment always usurps the
past, or at the very least, is verified by it.
Seasonal relationships were noticed through time,
and their affects on the M/B/S. Dietary patterns were
observed in relation to the changing seasons. Organ
clocks were developed through subtle shifts that were
experienced as time passed in a day and the changes
were felt. Elemental relationships were noticed in nature,
astrological changes, and the manifestations that were
similar/affected in a person’s body and life. Internal
practices for health and wellness were a direct response
to nature and examples in animal observations. Stillness
was imitated (as in nature) and calm restored so that the
deeper understanding of rhythms and cycles became
known. There is an infinite number of examples of the
benefits of cultivated attention and awareness that one
can experience for themselves that absolutely parallel the
teachings we have all read about; all that is needed is to engage
in life’s teachings and the desire to participate, fearlessly!
We can also discern areas of tension, holding and
blockage, stagnations, and begin to remedy them with
our inner capacities as our bodies have vast resources that
in many cases go untapped because we do not take the
time to engage in “sensory mapping.” Humans contain
an amazing inner/outer radar system, a type of antenna,
that gives us the ability to feel and relate to all these areas
at any given moment, and with an immeasurably deep
capacity of precision. This becomes a deep experience
of the Taoist saying and Tai Chi teaching: “Inside and
outside become the same.”
Relating to San Xiang is a maturation process that is
an extension of our communication abilities with life and
all things. We can feel and relate to four directions and
the spaces in between them, all levels of uneven surfaces,
relative planes, and beyond that, with precision that no
machine or device can come close to. This is the realm
of San Xiang that contains the above three principles of
Zhong Ding, Yin/Yang, and San Tsai, in a ever evolving
dimensional learning context that is infinite and everchanging.
In summary, I write these principles that were given
to me by my teacher Zhou Rong Qin Tsai, as I know him,
one of the few true lineage holders of the original teachings
of Internal Arts. His vast expressions and knowledge-base
are an example of an intact understanding of
human potential, internal practices, and relationships that
exist between all forms of life. This part of the teachings is
referred to as a brief introduction of the knowledge-base
of the Lifestyle Change Arts. His mastery of the Internal
Arts, Lifestyle Change Arts, dietary knowledge, Herbal
medicines, TCM and acupuncture skills, meditation, Feng
Shui, martial arts and the art of positioning, is likened to
things I only heard/read about. Words do not cover the
vastness of his capacities as I can only touch on some of
them here. For my own measure, I am but a shadow of
his abilities, but ever grateful for his open approach and
willingness to work with me.
He has taken great time and effort to elucidate some
of these things to me even when it must have seemed like
he was wasting his time and efforts. I am very grateful
to this “ Tulku” Spirit-Human and recognize his dedication
to instruction while facing the greatest of challenges,
teaching me and others without interference. I recognize
that there is no end to my own personal learning and
will continue to practice, study, teach and share, as I am
inspired by his efforts, beyond the spoken word, and
beyond time and space. This article is a feeble effort and
an attempt to introduce something that can only be experienced.
My hope is that it acts as inspiration for any
and all who may feel it. If you can feel any inspiration
from this, my simple advice is this: practice Internal arts
as a life study, and not a moment of your time will have
been wasted...The world needs the return of The Life
Style Change Arts.
Author Michael Vasquez is a Health and Wellness Corporate
Consultant, Tai Chi and QiGong Instructor and Director of
Transformation Arts. He resides in Eugene Oregon and is
working at the Community/State/Regional levels of teacher
training, program development, and education in Health and
Wellness Reformation. For more information on in-service
trainings, presentations, seminars, classes and Health education
curriculum restructuring, please visit www.transformationarts.org
50 Summer 2012

Special Sale on Back Issues
Many of our back issues have already sold out. If you would like to order
back issues we still have a few sets of 43 issues available for $215 plus $25
p&h! (U.S. postage only) For overseas orders please contact us at solala@
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Internationally recognized doctor and teacher
• Founder, International College of Medical Qigong
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• Shifu (Master Instructor) of Baguazhang and
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Please visit www.MedicalQigong,org or call 800-848-0649 for more information
The Empty Vessel 51

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52 Summer 2012

(Nurturing Life)
Join us for the
Wuji Qigong On-Line Course with Solala Towler
at Discover the Fire
www.discoverthefire.com/wuji-gong-solala/.
Wuji (Primordial) Qigong is a 600-year-old Daoist cosmological form,
created by the famous Wudang master Zhang San Feng.
Low cost video classes, supplemented with written material.
Only $19.95!
Discover the Fire is a quickly growing online community of students from all over the world who are
interested in mind-body meditative arts such as Taiji, Qigong, and various forms of meditation. Currently
a new lesson is offered each month with a focus on learning a specific form or principle to enhance understanding
and foster growth.
Think of Discover the Fire as an online university that caters specifically to students of the ancient
healing arts. Lessons are presented through video, audio, written guidelines, forum discussions with the
teacher and fellow students, and live interactions such as web conferences, instant messaging,and streaming
group meditation sessions.
The Empty Vessel 53

Directory
Oregon College of Oriental Medicine. Three year academic
and clinical program. We offer classes in Oriental
medicine, acupuncture, and Chinese herbology. Master’s
degree is accredited. Financial aid and China internships
are available. Preparatory to national certification and
state licensing examinations. (503) 253-3443 for information,
literature.
Genesee Valley Daoist Hermitage. Qigong, sustainable
gardening, meditation for self cultivation. Chinese herbs,
daoist healing to harmonize chronic disorders. PO Box
9224, Moscow, Idaho 83843-1724. (208) 285-0123.
Tidewater Tai Chi Center has been offering classes and
workshops in tai chi, chi kung, meditation, self cultivation
practices and other Taoist arts in Norfolk and Virginia
Beach since 1974. For information call 757.533.9092. Send
email to dondavis@verizon.net or visit www.tidewatertaichi.com.
The Alaska College of Oriental Medicine, Acupuncture
& Massage Therapy. 2636 Spenard Rd., Anchorage, AK
99503. Offering course work in a full spectrum of Asian
Studies including Taiji, Qigong, Meditation, Medical
QiGong, Taoist Herbology, Massage Therapy, with advanced
study in Thai Yoga Massage and Tui Na Acupressure
Massage and a three year Masters program of study
in Acupuncture. We offer year round full or part-time
schedules of study. We feature biannual Spring and Fall
Health and Wellness Festivals where participants can
study cutting edge information with our expert staff
and visiting masters from around the globe. Traveling to
Alaska Check out our website and make sure our classes
and workshops are in your plans. www.touchoftao.com.
(907) 279-0135
White Cloud Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico offers
learning opportunities to people of all ages. Certification
programs in Taoist Studies, Energy Medicine and Chi Nei
Tsang: External Qi Healing. Weekly Tai Chi and Qigong
classes. Qigong Research and Retreats. Continuing Education
for Massage, Nursing and Acupuncture. Ask about
retreats. (505) 471-9330, www.whitecloudinstitute.com.
Qigong & Daoist Training Center, Shifu Michael Rinaldini
Qigong Certifications, local/distance: 100 hours,
foundation in qigong studies and Daoist practices.
200 or 350 hour certifications, includes above 100
hour program, plus more, and an intensive retreat
in California. Instructor: NQA Level 4 Certified
Teacher, and founder: American Dragon Gate
Lineage. Details: www.dragongateqigong.com.
The Taoist Institute offers studies and services in Chinese
qigong, tai chi chuan, Daoist weddings, shamanic energy
& Reiki healing. Director: Dr. Carl Totton. 10630 Burbank
Blvd., North Hollywood, CA, 91601 (818) 760-4219. www.
taoistinstitute.com.
Embrace The Moon School for Taijiquan and Qigong is
located in Seattle, Washington. Embrace The Moon offers
classes in the full Chen Taijiquan & Luohan Gong Qigong
curriculums to all ages and fitness levels as well as offers
extensive teacher training and advanced development
programs in these systems. Founder & Chief Instructor
Kimberly Ivy has 35 years of experience in the Martial
Arts (Judo, Aikido, Taijiquan), Qigong & Yoga. She holds
black belts in Judo & Aikido, and is ranked 6th Duan Wei
by the International Wu Shu Association. Ms. Ivy is a 20th
Generation Disciple of Grandmaster Chen Xiao Wang and
among the senior international Luohan Gong students of
Grandmaster Gaspar Garcia. More information on the
school can be found at www.embracethemoon.com. Ms.
Ivy is available for seminars on the topic of your choosing.
Contact her to schedule at kim@embracethemoon.
com or by calling (206) 789-0993.
Taoist Arts Center. Wu Style Tai Chi, Chi Kung, Meditation.
Traditional Taoist arts offered in a friendly and
cooperative environment. Classes, Workshops, Private
Instruction. Director: Susan Rabinowitz, 342 East 9th
Street, NYC 10003. (212) 477-7055. www.taoist-arts.com.
Learn Qigong! Healing Tao Basics Intensive & Associate
Instructor Training Senior Instructors: Marie
Favorito & Sharon Smith September 14-16, 2012 Angels’
Rest in Leyden, Massachusetts Reserve by August 20th
617-501-9118 mcftao@verizon.net.
Directory/Classified $25 for first 30
words, $1.00 per word thereafter,
15 word minimum.
For no extra charge you will receive
a directory listing on our website,
CommunityAwake.com, along
with a photo or logo.
54 Summer 2012

Tools for Living the Dao
Books
Daoism
Workbook for Spiritual Development of All People
by Hua Ching Ni
Summarizes thousands of years of traditional teachings and littleknown
practices for spiritual development. There are sections on ancient
invocations, postures for energy channeling, stories and sections
on emotional independence and a balanced life and Taoist spiritual
practices. A good primer for beginning Taoists.
Softcover, 240 pages. $14.95
The Complete Works of Lao Tzu by Hua-Ching Ni
Lao Tzu's timeless wisdom provides a bridge the subtle spiritual truth
and practical guidlines for harmonious and peaceful living. Mater Ni
has included one of the only English translations of the Hua Hu Ching,
a later work of Lao Tzu which has been lost to the general public for
a thousand years.
Softcover, 212 pages. $13.95
The Taoist Inner View of the Universe by Hua-Ching Ni
This presentation of Taoist metaphysics provides guidance for one's own
personal life transformation. It offers a glimpse of the inner world and
immortal realm known to achieved Taoists and makes it understandable
for students aspiring to a more complete life.
Softcover, 218 pages. $16.95
Tao, the Subtle Universal Law by Hua-Ching Ni
Most people are unaware that their thoughts and behavior evoke responses
from the invisible net of universal energy. The real meaning of
Taoist self-discipline is to harmonize with universal law. To lead a good
stable life is to be aware of the actual conjoining of the universal subtle
law with every moment of our lives. This book presents the wisdom
and practical methods that the ancient Chinese have sucessfully used
for centuries to accomplish this.
Softcover, 165 pages. $12.95
The Esoteric Tao Teh Ching by Hua-Ching Ni
Offers instruction for studying the Tao Teh Ching and reveals the
spiritual practices "hidden" in Lao Tzu's classic. These include in-depth
techniques for advanced spiritual benefit. This version gives the esoteric
meaning of the Tao Teh Ching as revealed to the virtuous leader of the
Han Dynasy, Emperor Wen by an unusual old man called "The Old
Gentleman on the River."
Softcover, 192 pages. $13.95
Mysticism: Empowering the Spirit Within by Hua-Ching Ni
"Fourteen Details for Immortal Medicine" is a chapter on meditation for
women and men. Four others are devoted to the study of 68 mystical
diagrams, including the ones on Lao Tzu's tower.
Softcover, 200 pages. $13.95
Nurture Your Spirits by Hua-Ching Ni
Spirits are the foundation of our being. Hua-Ching Ni reveals the truth
about "spirits" based on his personal cultivation and experience so
that you can nurture your own spirits, which are the truthful internal
foundation of your life being.
Softcover, 176 pages. $12.95
The Tao of Philosophy by Alan Watts
This collection of essays compiled from lectures and seminars presents
the words of Alan Watts, as he spoke them, on issues of great significance
in the spirit of Taoist thought. They reveal the author's appreciation for
the wisdom inherent in the course and current of nature.
Hardcover, 96 pages. $16.95
Tao Te Ching translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English
One of our favorite translations of this timeless and sublime work!
The text captures the true poetry of Lao Tzu's work and Jane English's
wonderful nature photographs illustrate perfectly the philosophy of
the sage.
Oversize softcover, 174 pages. $18
Chronicles of Tao by Deng Ming-Dao
This volume combines the trilogy of The Wandering Taoist, Seven Bamboo
Tablets of the Cloudy Satchel, and Gateway to A Vast World under one
cover. A wonderful way to receive Taoist instruction through a story
form. This is the tale of Kwan Saihung's training from boyhood, in an
ancient Taoist temple high in the Huashan mountains, to adulthood in
America. Full of rich characters, Taoist practices and philosophy, and
kung fu adventure!
Softcover, 476 pages. $19
365 Tao by Deng Ming-Dao
This volume of daily meditations is the perfect thing for bathroom
reading or for daily reflection. Deng Ming-Dao's years of training in
self-cultivation shine through in these short yet deeply felt passages.
Softcover, 380 pages. $16
Scholar Warrior by Deng Ming-Dao
Subtitled An Introduction to the Tao in Everyday Life , this book contains
sections on medicine, chi gong, herbs, meditation, finding one's
purpose in life, diet, sexuality, death and transcendence. Softcover,
351 pages. $23
Daoist Mystical Philosophy by Livia Kohn
A central text of medieval Daoist mysticism. Written by an unknown
author, probably of the Northern Celestial Masters at Lougan, in the
late 15th century C.E. it closely resembles the Daode Jing in structure
and contents. Edited and commented on several times until the twelfth
century, the text played an important rôle in the Tang religious thought.
With an excellent in-depth introduction by Livia Kohn, one of the leading
experts on medieval Daoist thought and practice.
Softcover, 285 pages. $24.95
Women in Daoism by Catherine Despeux & Livia Kohn
Outlines the status and roles of women in the Daoist tradition from its
inception to the present day. It describes the historical development and
role of Daoist women in Chinese society; focusing on the different ideals
women stood for as much as on the religious practices they cultivated.
Softcover, 296 pages, $25
Daoist Body Cultivation edited by Livia Kohn
a comprehensive volume by a dedicated group of scholars and practitioners
that coves the key preaches of medical healing, breathing, diets,
exercises, sexual practices, Qigong and Tai quan. Ultimately aiming to
energetically transform the person into a spiritual and transcendent being,
Daoist cultivation techniques have proven beneficial for health time
and again and can make in important contribution to the world today.
Softcover, 243 pages, $24.95
Everyday Tao by Deng Ming-Dao
This companion volume to 365 Tao offers clear, specific directions on
bringing the Taoist spirit into our work, our relationships, and other
aspects of our everyday lives.
Softcover, 256 pages. $15
The Empty Vessel 55

Harmonizing Yin and Yang: The Dragon-Tiger Classic
by Eva Wong
A translation of a concise Taoist alchemical manual along with its two
most important commentaries. Covers external alchemy, sexual alchemy
and internal alchemy.
Softcover, 146 pages. $14.95
Entering the Tao by Hua Ching Ni
A valuable anthology of Master Ni's work, culled from prolific writings;
it provides a good overview of his work. There is advice and inspiration
on many aspects of life, from the physical to the spiritual. A good
introduction to this contemporary Taoist master's work.
Softcover, 158 pages. $13
Taoism: The Road to Immortality by John Blofeld
In this comprehensive study, John Blofeld explains the fundamental
concepts of Taoism, tells many stories of ancient masters, and provids
incisive reflections on Taoist verse. Taoist yoga, a little known aspect of
Taoist practice, is also discussed in detail. He also writes in a colorful
and unique way about his visits to Taoist hermitages in China and his
interchanges with contemporary masters.
Softcover, 195 pages. $16
Cultivating Stillness:
A Taoist Manual for Transforming Body and Mind
translated by Eva Wong
Written between the second and fifth centuries, this book is attributed
to T'ai Shang Lao-chun, the legendary figure widely known as Lao-tzu.
It was a principle part of the Taoist canon for many centuries. Accompanying
commentary, written in the nineteenth century by Shui ching
Tzu, explains the alchemical symbolism of the text.
Softcover, 136 pages. $15
Tales From the Tao by Solala Towler
Teaching stories from Chuang Tzu and Lieh Tzu along with passages
from the Tao Te Ching as well as original stories by Solala. Lavishly
illusrated with photographs from China, Nepal and Tibet printed in
black and silver on glossy paper.
Oversize softcover, 250 pages. $22.95
Small hardcover, 192 pages, $14.95 (also available in Spanish)
Chuang Tzu: The Inner Chapters by Solala Towler
A new interpretation of this ancient and timeless classic, with commentary.
Profusely illustrated with photos from China, printed in black
and silver on glossy paper. The principles of spontaneity, flexibility, not
going against the natural flow of the Tao, grace under pressure, facing
death fearlessly, and going beyond the obvious and commonplace to
find our own true nature, thereby transcending the world’s problems
and vaulting us into the world of spiritual immortality, are all contained
in this work.
Oversize softcover, 170 pages, $22.95
Small hardcover, 155, pages, $14.95
Qigong/Chi Kung
Internal Alchemy by Hua Ching Ni
" Ancient spiritually achieved ones used alchemical terminology metaphorically
for human internal energy transformation. Internal alchemy
intends for an individual to transform one's emotions and lower energy
to be higher energy and to find the unity of life in order to reach the
divine immortality." Another valuable book from this contemporary
Taoist master.
Softcover, 288 pages. $15.95
Cosmic Fusion by Mantak Chia
Cosmic Fusion exercises establish the spiritual body firmly in the lower
abdomen, where chi energy is gathered and distributed to all parts of
the body--and into all creation. The fully illustrated exercises in this
book also show how to collect and channel the greater energies of the
stars and planets. By “fusing” all these different energies together,
a harmonious whole is created, a unity of what is above and below.
Softcover 272 pages, 208 color and b/w illustrations, $18.95.
The Way of Qigong by Kenneth S. Cohen
An introduction to the ancient Taoist exercise system of Tao Yin. Tao Yin
focuses on cr12eating balance between internal and external energies and
revitalizing the body, mind, and spirit with a combination of strength,
flexibility, and internal energy exercises. Its ultimate goal is for the
practitioner to become pure, responsive, and full of energy, like a child.
Softcover, 224 pages, $18.
Fusion of the Eight Physchic Channels by Mantak Chia
Shows how to open the Great Bridge Channel and the Great Regulator
Channel--the last of the eight psychic channels that connect the
twelve organ meridians and enable energy to flow from one meridian
to another. By opening these psychic channels in conjunction with
the Microcosmic Orbit, practitioners can balance and regulate the
energy flow throughout the body to protect all the body’s centers.
Softcover, 128 pages, $14.95
The Root of Chinese Chi Kung by Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming
A valuable work by a well known chi kung master, this volume covers
history, basic concepts, categories , chi kung theories as well as keys
to chi kung training.
Softcover, 272 pages. $27.95
The Eight Treasures by Maoshing Ni
Eight sets of exercises that combine toning and strengthening movements,
stretching, and specific breathing techniques for the purpose of
maintaining health and preventing disease. An ancient system of energy
enhancing movements based on the natural motion of the heavenly
bodies. (See accompanying video). Softcover, 196 pages, $17.95
Chinese Soaring Crane Qigong by Zhao, Jin Xiang
A workbook of the immensely popular form of chi gong. This easy to
learn, half hour form is practiced by millions of people in China and
is extremely powerful.
(See video section for accompanying video)
Softcover, spiral bound, 102 pages. $30
Mastering Chi by Hua Ching Ni
A great introduction to anyone just beginning qigong practice. Includes:
Choosing the Exercise Right For You; sections on Children, Young
People, Older People, Men and Women; and descriptions of various
types of taiji and qigong exercises.
Softcover, 220 pages. $17.95
Attune Your Body With Dao-In by Hua Ching Ni
A step-by-step instructional book on this ancient Taoist exercise. Much
like a Taoist yoga workout, Dao-In is gentle and easy to do. Illustrated.
(See video section for accompanying video).
Softcover, 135 pages. $16.95
The Healer Within by Roger Jahnke
Details the scientific healing and personal cultivation aspects of qigong
for Western readers and practitioners. Offers tools and methods for treating
and maintaining a personal qigong and meditation practice—from
gentle movement through self-applied massage, breathing practices
and deep relaxation and meditation practices.
Softcover,264 pages $14
Complete Guide to Chi-Kung by Daniel Reid
The author is able to achieve an impressive balance between modern
scientific knowledge and the ancient wisdom of the Taoist sages. Good
for anyone who plans to begin practicing qigong or for anyone wishing
to go a little deeper in their own practice and written by a well-known
author on Chinese medicine and qigong. One of the best books we've
seen on this subject.
Softcover, 336 pages. $19.95
56 Summer 2012

Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body by B.K. Frantzis
As well as including a comprehensive guide to chi kung theory, this
book also gives you a complete, systematic lesson plan, with 98 functional
illustrations and built-in safeguards to ensure that the exercises
are practiced correctly. The author explains not only how they are
done, but why. Going beyond mere body movement, he teaches from
the inside out, linking the biomechanics and anatomy of the physical
body with the subtleties of the energetic (chi) body.
Softcover, 200 pages. $16.95
Taoist Ways to Transform Stress into Vitality
The Inner Smile, Six Healing Sounds by Mantak China
An introduction to the ancient Taoist exercise system of Tao Yin. Tao Yin
focuses on cr12eating balance between internal and external energies and
revitalizing the body, mind, and spirit with a combination of strength,
flexibility, and internal energy exercises. Its ultimate goal is for the
practitioner to become pure, responsive, and full of energy, like a child.
Softcover, 224 pages, $18.
Fusion of the Eight Physchic Channels by Mantak Chia
Shows how to open the Great Bridge Channel and the Great Regulator
Channel--the last of the eight psychic channels that connect the
twelve organ meridians and enable energy to flow from one meridian
to another. By opening these psychic channels in conjunction with
the Microcosmic Orbit, practitioners can balance and regulate the
energy flow throughout the body to protect all the body’s centers.
Softcover, 128 pages, $14.95
The Eight Treasures by Maoshing Ni
Eight sets of exercises that combine toning and strengthening movements,
stretching, and specific breathing techniques for the purpose of
maintaining health and preventing disease. An ancient system of energy
enhancing movements based on the natural motion of the heavenly
bodies. (See accompanying video).
Softcover, 196 pages, $17.95
The Healing Promise of Qi by Roger Jahnke
One of the best resources for using both qigong and taiji for creating a
healthy and fulfilling life. Filled with exercises, stories, illustrations and
wonderful insights by someone who has spent many years practicing
and these these ancient arts.
Hardcover, 316 pages, $24.95
Health and Long Life The Chinese Way by Livia Kohn
This book, written by theauthor of a number ob books on Daoist philosophy
and practice, is a good overall view of Chinese health practices,
which cover a wide variety of subjects. Besides chapters on diagnosis,
acupuncture, massage and herbal treatments, the book contains chapters
on fengshui, food cures, qigong, meditation, inner alchemy and
sexual practices.
Softcover, 235 pages, $24.95
The Chi Revolution by Bruce Frantzis
Challenges you to free ourself from negative actions and the incessant
chatter of our monkey mind, and optimize you health and well-being.
The unique energetic exercises that comprise the Chi Rev Workout
will teach you how to activate and strengthen your chi so you can start
relaxing into your life today.
Softcover, 223 pages, $19.95.
Jade Woman Qigong by Master Liu He
Master Liu's signature form of qigong is desinged to help all women
achieve wholeness by activating the innate healing power within their
own minds and bodies. The result is a greater awareness of all aspects
of a women's spiritual, mental, emotional and physical life.Softcover,
236 pages. $27.95
Sexual Cultivation
Taoist Secrets of Love: Cultivating Male Sexual Energy
by Mantak Chia & Michael Winn
A unique volume of Taoist Sexual Yoga, especially attuned to the male.
These practices enable men to conserve and transform sexual energy
through its circulation in the Microcosmic Orbit, invigorating and
rejuvenating the body's vital functions. Hidden for centuries, these
esoteric techniques and principles make the process of linking sexual
energy and transcendent states of consciousness accessible to the reader.
Soft cover, 250 pages. $16.95
Healing Love Through the Tao:
Cultivating Female Sexual Energy
by Mantak and Maneewan Chia
This book outlines the methods for cultivating female sexual energy,
introducing for the first time in the West the different techniques for
transforming and circulating female sexual energy.
Softcover, 328 pages. $14.95
The Tao of Love and Sex by Jolan Chang
Longevity and the sexual response: the prolongation of virility into
extreme old age; the art of lovemaking regarded as a basic therapy in
the Taoist medical canon—these subjects, which are burning topics for
us in the West, are discussed with insight in this first detailed study
of the lovecraft of the Taoist medical schools. Illustrated with classical
erotic paintings.
Softcover, 136 pages. $15
Sexual Secrets: The Alchemy of Ecstasy
by Nik Douglas & Penny Slinger
A definitive and all-encompassing guide to sex and mysticism. Profusely
illustrated throughout, it covers sacred sexuality from the traditions of
India, Nepal, Tibet, China and Japan. Reveals the wisdom of the sages
whose teachings on sexuality have stood the test of twenty centuries
and, even today, show how physical love can become the pathway to
liberation.
Softcover, 383 pages. $25
The Tao of Sex by Howard S. Levy & Akira Ishihara
Consists of a highly readable translation of the sexological sections
found in the Japanese medical encyclopedia "The Essence of Medical
Prescriptions" (Ishimpo) which has been celebrated as the most important
bible of sex for East Asia. Softcover, 241 pages. $15.95
The Sexual Teachings of the White Tigress:
Secrets of the Female Taoist Masters by Hsi Lai
Translation of a 3,000-year-old White Tigress sexual manual explaining
techniques for absorbing male sexual energy, intensifying organs,
restoring beauty, re-creating youthful sexual energy and enliven the
sexual organs. Softcover, 264 pages, $19.95
The Sexual Teachings of the Jade Dragon:
Taoist Methods for Male Sexual Revitalization by Hsi Lai
Reveals how Taoist sexual practices can help men achieve "immortality"
through the enhancement of their sexual prowess through a 3,000-yearold
system. The goal of the Jade Dragon is health, longevity and immortally
though external and internal regimens for the enhancement
and accumulation of the Three treasures of Taoism—jing (sexual and
physical energy), qi (breath and vital energy), and shen (spiritual and
mental energy).
Softcover, 242 pages, 16.95
DVDs
Attune Your Body with Dao-In by Hua-Ching Ni
Dao-In is a Taoist exercise consisting of a series of gentle, rhythmic
The Empty Vessel 57

movements to adjust and attune, and at the same time generate,
strengthen or invigorate personal energy. Presented by contemporary
Taoist master, Hua-Ching Ni, himself in his eighties, who demonstrates
the movements and is himself an example of the healing properties of
this ancient yet simple practice.
50 minutes $39.95
Self-Healing Qigong For the Five Organ Systems
by Dr. Maoshing Ni
An excellent course in self-healing qigong, this video offers a comprehensive
course as taught by Dr. Maoshing Ni of Yo San University.
Covers specific techniques for healing and strengthening the five major
organ systems (liver, kidney/bladder, respiratory/immune, cardiovascular
and digestive). Each organ system is explained in detail in both
medical and energetic terms and then the specific exercise is taught.
Two hours, $39.95
Qigong:Awakening and Mastering the Medicine Within
by Roger Jahnke
Includes the Enhance Vitality Method, a practice of stretches and warmups
to enhance the movement of blood, lymph, qi and oxygen throughout
the body; the Seven Precious Practices, movements to gather and
release qi; the Tendon Changing Practice, concerned with optimizing
coordinating and balancing the connective tissues of the body; Marrow
Washing Practice, combines accumulated qi from the elements to store
it in the marrow, enhancing blood and immune factors. Roger Jahnke
brings a gentle yet authoritative voice to this field.
60 minutes, $29.95
Eight Simple Exercises for Health: Eight Pieces of Brocade
by Yang Jwing-Ming
Companion video to the book of the same name. $29.95
The Eight Treasures by Maoshing Ni
Companion video to the book of the same name. Never before presented
in its entire 32 movement form, this system of Eight Treasure's is unique
in its ability to work the body from head to toe while unblocking obstructions
in the energy channels. $39.95
Jade Woman Qigong by Maser Liu He
Master Liu's signature form of qigong is desinged to help all women
achieve wholeness by activating the innate healing power within their
own minds and bodies. The result is a greater awareness of all aspects
of a women's spiritual, mental, emotional and physical life.
35 minutes, $35
Chi Kung Fundamentals: Five Animals
Six Healing Sounds + Inner Smile by Michael Winn
China's oldest shamanic chi kung + Ocean Breathing. Fuses color,
sound, breath, virtue and movement into One fun, powerful method.
Audio (4.5 hrs) + Video (1.5 hrs) $59 Video only $24.95
Open Micro-Cosmic Orbit by Michael Winn
10 top methods. Advanced jing-chi-shen theory, guided meditation to
mix chi & blood. Five unique Heaven & Earth chi kung movements
easily open and balance yin-yang chi flow.
Video (2 hrs) $45
Healing Love/Tao of Sex by Michael Winn
Heal male, female sexual problems (impotence to PMS). Sexual chi
kung creates Original Force suction. Supercharge your orgasm, boost
creativity, grasp sexual relationship dynamics. No partner need, for
single or dual cultivators.
Audio (9 hrs) + Video (2 hrs) $135. Audio only: $109
Primordial (Wuji) Chi Kung by Michael Winn
A magical ceremony mixes tai chi, feng shui, alchemy & chi kung. Gathers
chi of directions, collect power of Heaven & Earth, opens inner heart
to Supreme Unknown. Easy to learn, delivers chi fast.
Video (1.5 hrs) $45
Deep Healing Chi Kung by Michael Winn
Used in Chinese chi kung hospitals for chronic & terminal illness. I
added alchemical elements, now spiritually powerful, useful to anyone
seeking deep change. Video (1.5 hrs): $29
Self-Massage and One Thousand Hands Buddha by Liu He
Self Massage can be practiced any time of the day to bring quiet to
the mind and awaken the body with renewed energy. One Thousand
Hands Buddha is a spiritual healing qigong method inspired by the
symbolic positioning of Buddha's fingers, referred to as "mudras." It is
an approach producing calmness, which inhibits the heart from "galloping
away", thus leading the practitioner into a state of silence and
peace a little at a time.
64 minutes. $35
Kung Fu for Kids by Nicholas Yang and Ben Warner
An instructional program that teaches children the basics of traditional
Kung Fu in a fun and exciting way. The discipline and focus learned in
Kung Fu can help kids in many other activities, including academics,
sports, music, and literature.
75 minutes. $19.95
CDs
Taoism: Essential Teachings of the Way and Its Power
by Ken Cohen
In easy-to-follow language, Ken Cohen reveals Lao Tzu's vast spiritual
legacy, including Taoism's mystical roots in China's ancient shamanistic
tradition. This complete introduction to Taoism covers: origins, philosophy,
and religion; keys to ethical living, inner silence and simplicity;
Taoist meditation for awareness and healing; Taoist prayers, rituals,
and iconography; teachings on diet, poetry, feng shui, dream yoga, and
much more. 3 cassette set: $24.95
Bowls of Compassion CD by Karma Moffett
The haunting music of Tibetan bowls, made of secret alloys of five,
seven and sometimes nine metals, including meteorite. Ringing pairs
and groups of bowls create overtones that interpenetrate each other
and the body of the listener, allowing one not only to hear the music
but also internally experience the vibration of the tones. Perfect for
meditation or gentle movement. $15.95
Ocean Bowls CD by Karma Moffett
The ocean's natural rhythms and bowls' harmonic tones penetrate the
subtle energy body. Stagnant parts of energy immobilized from injury,
trauma or stress are gently vibrated into movement. With repetition
energy is released and circulated at increasingly profound levels. Perfect
for movement or meditation!
60 minutes, $15.95
Mountain Gate by Solala Towler
A soothing blend of nature sounds, Tibetan Singing Bowls, bamboo
flute, Native flute. Designed specifically for taiji, qigong, meditation,
yoga or massage. Two 30-minute sessions—Sun Rises over the Sea &
Viewing Moonlight Through the Pines.
60 minutes, $15.95
Sacred Soundings by Solala Towler
Combining throat singing, harmonic overtone singing, chant and
Tibetan bowls, dungchen (7-foot Tibetan horn), ad six different Native
American and Chinese Flutes. Takes the listen on a journey to the sacred
mountains and then deep into the mysterious mediation caves where
one can listen to the transcendent sounds of the breathing, singing
earth, then back down the mountain to enter the world again, renewed,
refreshed and rejuvenated. 60 minutes, $15.95
58 Summer 2012

Windhorse: Spirit of Tibet by Solala Towler
A mystic blend of recordings made in the sacred city of Lhasa and the
Tibet inspired music of Solala. The haunting sounds of the monks and
nuns of the Jokang Temple are joined with flute, overtone singing,
throat singing, tabla and other instruments and with vocal chant by
Solala and friends.
64 minutes, $15.95
Boundless by Solala Towler
A mystic bland of ocean waves and riversong, Tibetan singing bowls,
native and bamboo flute, chant and harmonic overtone singings.
60 minutes, $15.95.
Taoist Sexual Secrets by Michael Winn
Yin-Yang as cosmic sexual theory...sexual, energetic & spiritual orgasm...
Tao secrets: sexual energy cultivation...male and female Tao practices...
medical sexology for sex dysfunctions...sexual vitality qigong (guided)
7 CDs (9 hours) $109
Qinxin by Zhongsian Wu.
Beautiful music played on the guqin, and ancient Chinese intrument,
long treasured by scholars and Daoist masters. Music specially designed
for use in qigong, taiji and meditation. $15.95
Tao of Healing by Dean Evenson
Beautiful qin music with haunting flute. $15.95
Tao of Peace by Dean Evenson
Lyrical flute and qin. $15.95
Ocean Dreams by Dean Evenson
Beautiful sounds of ocean waves, whales, flute and vocals. A favorite
here at the abode! $15.95
Internal Chi Breathing by Michael Winn
Use each breath to build a powerful Energy Body anywhere, anytime!
Rare empty force method opens Original Chi in dan tien (belly), detoxifies
& creates warm current.
Audio (4.5 hrs) $49.50
Taoist Dream Practice by Michael Winn
Work spiritually & effortlessly while you sleep. Go beyond lucid dreaming
power napping, lucid waking, dream commands, shortcuts to dimensional
travel. Fast way to improve health, manifest what you need.
Audio (9 hrs) $99
For a more complete list of
our books, videos and cds
see our website at
www.abodetao.com.
Traditions of Tao
Herbal Food Supplements
Health Pack (700 High Performance, 180 Five Elements,
Ancient Treasures Tea, Regenerating Cream) $145
Five Elements: concentrated formula (180 caps) $50
High Performance (700 tabs) $50
High Performance (powder) $55
Ancient Treasures Tea $10
Internal Cleanse Tea $10
Spring Tea $10
Summer Tea $10
Fall Tea $10
Winter Tea $10
Elixirs
Calming/Sleeping $15.95
Dura-Bone $15.95
Cold & Flu $15.95
Feminie Desire (libido enhancement) $15.95
Dragon Male (performance enhancement) $15.95
Superclarity (Heart and Brain Tonic) $15.95
Abundant Energy (digestion) $15.95
Perpetual Shield (immune enhancing) $15.95
Enduring Youth (kidney/adrenals) $15.95
Internal Cleanse (liver/toxin clearing) $15.95
Shipping & Handling for Health Pack $6.50 All others
$5.00 for first item and $2 for each additional item.
For more information on these formulas see
our website at www.abodetao.com
The Empty Vessel 59

Special Sale on Back Issues
Many of our back issues have already sold out. If you would like to order back
issues we still have a few sets of 43issues available for $215 plus $25 p&h!
(U.S. postage only) For overseas orders please contact us at solala@abodetao.com.
Fall 1993
Premier Issue
Teacher of Natural Spiritual Truth:
an interview with Hua-Ching Ni
The Value of Worthlessness
Fall 1994
Cultivating the Physical Body
The Risks of Cultivating Internal Power
Zhuangzi Speaks Comics
A Taoist Abroad
Winter 1995
"Nothing Special":
an interview with Kenneth Cohen
The School of Auto-Idiocy
Sitting Still: Meditation
Spring 1995
"Cultivating the Garden":
an interview with Maoshing Ni
Winter 1996
Myth of Myself by Alan Watts
Achieving Harmony in a World of Conflict
Jing Hwa: The Golden Flower of Tao Mentoring
Spring 1996
Surfing the Wu Wei
Taoism for Children and Teenagers
Summer 1996
Stillness in Motion: Joi Eden and Betty Sun
Guidelines for Practicing Movement
Fall 1996
Curing Cancers Naturally
12 Steps of AAA Adapted for Use with Taoism
Winter 1997
Eight Immortal Days with Kwan Sai-Hung
Refining the Mind
Exploring the Terrain of Taoist China
Spring 1997
Qigong Cautions
Invoking the Heart of Compassion
Interview with T.K. Shih
Winter 1998
Tao and the Great Mother
Qigong Mysteries and Practices
Tao Yin: Meditation in Movement
Summer 1998
Working Out, Working Within
Taoist Psychotherapy
The Power of Internal Martial Arts with B.K. Frantzis
Summer 1999
Special Taoist Medicine Issue
Eight Branches of the Healing Arts Before TCM
Reiki and Qigong
Spring 2000
The Eight Immortals of Taoism
Five Elements and Taoist Feng Shui
Health, Illness and Healing in the Inner Tradition
Summer 2000
Trusting Your True Nature
Understanding Chinese Medicine
Fall 2000
Qigong and Unconditional Love
The Valley Spirit (Living Taoism)
The Taoist Antidote to Stress and Illness
Winter 2001
Lao Zi's Instructions for Spiritual Pracrice
Creating a Field of Healing Qi
Summer 2002
Longevity and the Eight Brocades
Daoist Sitting Meditation
Interview with Zhongxian Wu
Summer 2003
The Feminine and the Dao:
an interview with Ursula K. LeGuin
Daoism and the Classical Chinese Arts
The Daoist Roots of Zen Buddhism
Spring 2005
The Inner Smile
2 1st Century Strategies for New Daoism
Summer 2005
Teachings From the Dao
Wandering on the Wind:
Two Chapters from Zhuangzi
Spring 2006
The Death of Chuang Tzu
The Dao of Consciousness
The Yin Convergence Classic
Winter 2006
A Daoist Tea Ceremony
Dao and Qi
Wandering on the Wind:
Two Chapters from the Zuangzi
Spring 2006
The Death of Chuang Tzu
The Dao of Consciousness
Qigong Prison Ministery
Summer 2006
Transforming the Energy of Negativity
Spiritual/Mental Qualities of the Organs
EV Tour to China & Tibet
Spring 2007
Gardening with Qi
A Taoist View of Enlightenment
Interview with Eva Wong
Summer 2007
Discovering the I Ching
Shen: The Celestial Storehouse
Lu Yu Meets a True Tea Master
Fall 2007
Daoist Lower Dan-tien Psychotherapy
Medical Qigong
Qigong Master Wan Su-jian
Winter 2008
Looking for Daoists in China,
Mortal and Immortal
Huanyang Qigong: Tracing Life to Its Roots
Qigong Fever
Spring 2008
Special I Ching Issue
The I Ching:
The Motherlode of the Chi Revolution
Introduction to the Guidance of the Sixty-Four
Hexagrams
Flying with the I Ching
Methods of Divination
Symbolism and Prediction with the Yijing
60 Summer 2012

Summer 2008
The Secret Training of Daoist Magical Incantations
The Making of an Immortal
The Crocodile and the Crane
Fall 2008
Return to Wuyi Mountain with
Chungliang Al Huang
The Chinese way of the Sword
Sexual Qigong
Chicken Soup for Daoist Alchemy
Winter 2009
Returning to Essence Through Shamanic Qigong and Sacred Sound Healing
The Spirit of Tea
Dao at the Beach: Searching for Dao in Daily Life
Fall 2009
Qigong and the Dreamtime
The Natural Process of Internal Alchemy
Zhuangzi: The Inner Chapters
Winter 2010
A Daoist Master's Search for his Chinese Ancestry
Daoism in the Korean Mountains
The Daoist System of Lao Zi: Part One
Spring 2010
The Liezi: Forgotten Daoist Text
Spirit of the Dancing Warrior
Bagua and Tai Chi: Sophisticated Health Exercises
A Taoist Master's Search for His Chinese Ancestry Pt. 1 by Chungliang Al Huang
Summer 2010
Bagua: Why Practice This Old and Obscure Art
Mystical Wudang Mountain
Guidelines for Setting Up a Daoist Altar
A Taoist Master's Search for His Chinese Ancestry Pt. 2
Fall 2010
Chuang Tzu: The Way of Nourishing Life
Nudan Practice and Modern Women
Taoists, Doctors and Shamans
A Taoist Master's Search for His Chinese Ancestry Pt. 3
Winter 2011
Chinese Astrology and Inner Cultivation
Yi: Intention, Practice and the Incubation of the Sage
Wu Wei: The Daoist Art of Happiness
A Taoist Master's Search for His Chinese Ancestry Pt. 4
Spring 2011
Daoism in America: A Conversation with Xuan Yun (Mysterious Cloud)
Return to Stillnes is the Motion of Tao
Pu the HEART Back Into LOVE
Speical Section on BiGu (Avoiding Food and Eating Qi)
Summer 2011
The Ox Herding Chart of Chan Buddhism
Global Warming: A Meta-Physical Perspective
The Master of the Mountain: A Conversation with Master Zhong Yunlong
Fall 2011
Qi Cultivation and the Dao
Taiji and Spiritual Cultivation
Cracking the Matrix
Winter 2012
The World of Chinese Medicine
Qi Medicine and the Purpose of Cultivation
Immortality and the 14 Words of Laozi
Spring 2012
Free and Easy Wandering: A Western Daoist Manifesto
The Tai Chi Sword and Spiriutal Swordsmanship
Introduction to Classical Feng Shui
Back issues are $7.50 postpaid. (Add $2 per issue outside U.S.)
Send check or money order (in U.S. funds) to
The Abode of the Eternal Dao 1991 Garfield St. Eugene, OR 97405
or call 541-345-8854
The Empty Vessel 61

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62 Summer 2012