Empty Vessel
Journal of Taoist Philosophy & Practice
Summer 2021
$6.95 U.S. $7.95 CAD
DISPLAY UNTIL 10-31-2021
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Summer 2021 Volume 28 Number 2
Features YIN-YANG AND THE TEN THOUSAND THINGS, PAGE 7 THE MYTH OF EMPEROR YU: THE GREAT DAO FLOODS OVER, PAGES 8-9 THE TAO OF DICE AND SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION, PAGES 12-15 EMPTINESS AND COHEReNCE PART 1, PAGES 16-25 Yang Pond Meditation, PAGES 26-27 Historical periods and sources of Daoist meditation, PAGES 28-31 COMMENTARY OF CHAPTER 4 OF THE DAO DE CHING, PAGES 34-35
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departments poetry corner, PAGE 32 TAOisM IN THE SEASONS, PAGES 10-11 BOOK REVIEWs, PAGES 36-37
Like us on Facebook: @ EmptyVesselMagazine • Instagram: @EmptyVesselMag
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Classifieds, PAGES 38-39
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Publisher's corner Happy Summer! We’ve had quite a few changes at the Empty Vessel over the past quarter. Heather Hernandez has accepted a well-deserved promotion at our local newspaper, which is her full-time job. Heather has been instrumental the past two years in helping me design and manage the magazine and customer service databases, and we are very thankful for her help. We are also happy to see her hard work paying off with her full-time job. She has done an outstanding job on her Taoism in the Seasons page, as usual! We hope she will be able to continue her feature page in the future and that she brings the philosophy of Wu Wei with her where ever she goes. Shipping orders continues to be a challenge, and we have received several packages up to two months
after sending them out to our writers or customers. We still are getting feedback that some subscribers missed one or more issues that were shipped directly from the printer in 2020. If that happened to you, please email us at daodogpress@gmail.com and we will send out replacements. Based on those experiences, starting with this quarter, we are changing our shipping options to Priority Mail only, even for book orders, for anything that ships directly from our location. We’ve tested it out recently and the packages sent via Priority Mail are reaching their destinations. Look for that change on our website’s cart, and if you have not received a package you have ordered
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from us, please follow up and we will resend your order. Another change this quarter is that Amazon dropped the digital version of our magazine as of June. Perhaps we will be welcomed back in the future, but for now the only way to access our magazine is either on the newsstand or by subscription. We’re looking into a way to possibly host a digital version on our website. If you have expertise in this area, please contact us! I also want to take a moment to thank all our single-copy readers, domestic and international subscribers, contributors, advertisers, our printer, and distribution chain for their support and help sharing the beauty of Taoism. Our loyal readers are what keep us motivated despite the challenges of printing a niche magazine. With gratitude,
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Poetry Contributors
Christina Northrop Inner Strength - page 6 James Gredell Traditions School - page 31 Kay MacDonald Michael Robbins - page 36 Ying Yu Jade - page 15 Solala Towler - pages 4 & 33 Jane English - page 40 Publishers Dr. Nicole Noles Collins Christopher Collins
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Feature Contributors Michael Robbins is a psychotherapist, Taoist internal energy arts teacher, artist and poet who lives and works in Somerville, Massachusetts. He is also a student of the Diamond Approach of A.H. Almaas and the Austrian mystic Thomas Hubl. For more information about Michael, please visit michaelrobbinstherapy.com.
Dusty Bodeen, LAc is a 5 Element Acupuncturist, Eastern Medicine teacher, Gene Keys guide and musician. He composes music for guided meditations, educational experiences, and hip hop. He has a Master’s in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, is also a student of the world-renowned wilderness guide and 5 Element Acupuncturist, Dr. David Ford, DOM. You can contact him at dustybodeen@gmail.com.
Louis Komjathy, Ph.D., CSO is a Daoist contemplative, scholarpractitioner, and ordained priest. He serves as founding Co-director and senior teacher of the Daoist Foundation. He has published on Daoism, including Taming the Wild Horse: An Annotated Translation and Study of the Daoist Horse Taming Pictures. He lives in Chicago, Illinios.
Jane English grew up in New England, did undergraduate work at Mount Holyoke College, and began photographing while completing a Ph.D. in physics at the University of Wisconsin. Her black and white photographs illustrate six books, including a best-selling translation of the Tao Te Ching, published in 1972 by Random House. She founded her own publishing business, Earth Heart, in 1985.
Master Zhongxian Wu has written numerous articles and 15 books (5 in Chinese) on China’s ancient life sciences. In addition, he currently offers online Qigong and Yijing courses, private consultations, and remote healing sessions for Qi-friends all over the world. For more information, please visit his website at www.chinesewisdomtraditions. com.
Lonny Jarrett, has been practicing Chinese Medicine in Stockbridge, Massachusetts since 1986. He is a founding board member of the Acupuncture Society Of Massachusetts and a Fellow of the National Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Lonny is author of Nourishing Destiny: The Inner Tradition of Chinese Medicine, The Clinical Practice of Chinese Medicine, and Deepening Perspectives on Chinese Medicine. He holds a master’s degree in neurobiology.
C.L. Babcook is an aspiring Daoist who especially enjoys reading the Dao De Jing. She became interested in Daoism when she and her husband visited China in the late 1980s. Back in U.S., she took some university courses concerning ancient China which led to her writing commentaries and retelling Asian wisdom stories.
Empty Vessel: A Journal of Contemporary Taoism is published quarterly by DaoDog Press, 3440 Conway Blvd. Unit 1D, Port Charlotte FL 33952. ©2021 DaoDog Press, all rights reserved. Empty Vessel is not responsible for opinions or statements expressed by authors or for advertisers’ claims. Subscriptions are $27 per year (U.S. funds). International subscriptions are $33 per year (U.S. funds).
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Yin-Yang and The Ten Thousand Things Jane English Expanding on that traditional symbol and rather than The traditional yin-yang (feminine/dark-masculine/ light) symbol below shows a bit of yin in yang and of seeing yin and yang as opposites, we can realize a co-creative balance of masculine yang and feminine yin in our yang in yin. lives, so that their children, the rainbow of our creativity, the ten-thousand things, can be born. Tao may be found not only in the undivided ground of being, nor solely in the polarity of yin and yang, dark and light, dynamic and receptive, but also everywhere in A phrase that appears often in Tao Te Ching is “the the full rainbow spectrum of the ten-thousand things: all ten-thousand things,” as in this excerpt from that book: the myriad ways the un-nameable whole is divided into discrete beings. Tao begot one —from page 16 in the Jane’s book A Rainbow of Tao One begot two Two begot three And three begot the ten-thousand things. The ten-thousand things carry yin and embrace yang They achieve harmony by combining these forces — Tao Te Ching, Chapter 42
The image below, Yin, Yang and the Ten-Thousand Things, came to me in meditation around 1988. It shows yin-yang opening up and bringing forth their rainbow children, all of creation, the “ten-thousand things.”
On the facing page in that book I placed this photo that seemed like the traditional yin/yang symbol made manifest in the world of nature. _________________ With her late husband, Gia-fu Feng, Jane English created a best-selling edition of Tao Te Ching in 1972, followed by over thirty years of annual Tao Calendars. See eheart.com for art-quality prints of the image Yin, Yang and the Ten-Thousand Things, as well as other works by Jane English Summer 2021 — Page 7
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THE MYTH OF EMPEROR YU:
THE GREAT DAO FLOODS OVER By Lonny S. Jarrett, MAc
“Though flood waters pile up high to the sky, he [the sage] will not drown.” — Zhuangzi In past writings, I’ve discussed the Chinese creation myth of Emperor Yu quelling the floods in relationship to the function of GV-20 and as a metaphor for the orientation of the inner tradition of medicine toward healing. Here, we’ll take a psychoanalytic view of this myth in the style of Erich Neumann, endeavoring to understand how it metaphorically embodies the imagery of the rise of individuating consciousness, the founding of China, and the function of acupuncture point GV-20.
Whenever he comes to a famous mountain or a big swamp, Yu would summon its spirit and asks about the deep structure of the mountains and rivers, and about the kinds of precious stones, birds, beasts, and reptiles found there. He queries the spirits about the customs of the people in all eight directions and the boundaries, soil quality, and size of the various states. He then writes all this down and calls it the Shan Hai Jing (“The Scripture of the Mountains and Seas”), a seminal text of Chinese history.
With his mission fulfilled, Yu ascends Mount Mao in order to receive in audience the hundred spirits from the four directions and to inspect the feudal lords. All of Yu’s loyal subjects arrived on time except for one named Fang Feng, “Oppose-the-Wind” (防風), who attempts to disrupt the meeting and prevents Yu from ascending the throne. Yu beheads his enemy, in some myths depicted In the myth, the flooding waters of chaos threaten as a nine-headed snake, and displays his head to the to overwhelm civilization. Gun, the great-grandson multitudes in order to make clear that all under heaven of Huangdi, is appointed to control the flooding and belonged to him. He then holds held a great assembly to restore order. To do so he steals magic earth from decide how to rule the state. Having fulfilled his conHuangdi to build dams to oppose the rising waters tract with heaven by quelling the floods and ascending of chaos. But the dams repeatedly collapse under the the throne, Yu then changes the name of Mount Mao weight of the flood despite his efforts. For failing in to the Mountain of the Assembly of Accounts. After his mission, Gun is executed and condemned to the taming the floods, Yu founds the mythic Xia dynasty bottom of an abyss as a tortoise, sentenced to hold the (2205–1766 B.C.E.), becoming China’s first emperor world up and out of chaos. through the designation of nine provinces. Following Gun’s failure, his son Note that in some versions of the myth, Yu is then enlisted to comYu is a grandson of Huang Di, the Yellow plete the task. (see infobox). Yu Analysis Emperor. This recalls acupuncture works devotedly for thirteen point Sp-4 (gongsun, 公孫, the family years, cutting ditches and tun“If chaos is eternal, the order name of the Yellow Emperor, also neling through mountains to introduced into chaos of the meaning “grandfather-grandson”), the provide a way (dao) for the wauniverse has an end, as it has luo point on the spleen channel ter from the rivers to be chana beginning. This is because, ascribed the function of “draining damp.” neled to the sea. During his slowly, names given cease to — See Jarrett (2003), page 662. journey, he passes his doorway fit; political systems inventthree times but never enters ed in simpler times cease to his home. While Yu is busy channeling the waters, he function; old irrigation ditches get choked up with becomes intimately familiar with the people, places, new vegetation; the waters of chaos begin to mount.” animals, and plants he encounters on his journey. — John Lagerwey Empty Vessel — Page 8
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The legend of Emperor Yu can be understood as a metaphor for the rise of rationality out of the unconscious. Looking through the psychoanalytic perspective of Neumann, the Dao represents the archetype of the Great Mother, the infinite ocean of the unconscious, domain of the undifferentiated pleroma and uroboros. The flooding waters of chaos symbolize the overwhelming of the nascent ego by the unconscious as it rises to undermine the urge toward self-awareness, individuality, and the development of culture.
the polestar (the heart of heaven), Yu became China’s first emperor, the Son of Heaven on earth. The acupuncture point in the center of the skull’s apex is GV-20, “baihui, one hundred meetings,” recalling Yu’s convocation. Slaying the beast Fang Feng, thus draining chaotic wind from the ceremony, is embodied in the function of GV-20 in draining wind and restoring order to the self. The location of GV-20 at the seventh chakra signifies it as the embodiment of the North Star and the portal between duality and the non-dual. As the North Star is the center of Heaven, GV-20 is the center of the head, Yu the Great is the center of the nation, and the nation The dams built by Gun to hold back the floods are embodied as the diaphragm that we may understand as (中國) the center of the earth. Having completed the the internalization of “wall” as a mechanism of repres- hero’s journey, Yu gained his identity as an individual sion. Despite our best efforts to repress the contents of and China gained its identity as a nation. the unconscious, they will force their way into awareInteresting etymologies to consider are the relationship ness as symbolic images in dreams and as symptoms. between the characters for the emperor’s name Yu (禹), yu (遇), meaning “to meet”; yu (寓), meaning “to jourThe death of Gun, Yu’s father, replaces the father with ney”; and yu (愚), denoting “monkey mind” as in a mind the son in a fashion typical of Sigmund Freud’s Oediunsettled by wind. The character zhi（治）is used to pal conflict. With the father out of the way, the son is free to have a relationship with the mother (the flood). denote Yu’s quelling of the floods. Zhi means to “govHowever he will not repress the will of the Great Moth- ern” or “set in order,” but also means to “treat or heal an illness.” The character 兪, pronounced yu, was used by the er by building walls but, instead, will channel her will, emperor to affirm, “Yes!, agreed, approved.” Pronounced thus civilizing her overwhelming nature. Yu’s ascension of Mount Mao is a metaphor for the ascent up the shu, it denotes the back shu “transport” points on the bladder (water) channel. The character 兪 depicts a canoe spine and the vertical trajectory of consciousness on the hero’s journey. In fact, some legends refer to Yu as a and means, “to cross a river.” Placing this character over the heart radical (心) yields the character yu (愈), meandragon, again pairing him with the ascension of yang. ing “to heal.” This recalls the plea of the Boddhisattva vow to be “A leader for those who journey, a boat, a bridge, a Through the application of will he does not return home passage for those desiring the further shore.” until his destiny (ming) is fulfilled. Convening the “hundred demons,” Yu simultaneously consolidates and civilizes the lower impulses within his own self and culture to unite Bibiliography the warring tribes. The Great Yu becomes the first individual as China becomes the zhong gwo (中國), or “Middle • Birrell, A. (1999) The Classic of mountains and seas, Penguin Books Nation.” The name “Middle Nation” can be taken as a • Jarrett, L (1992). Myth and Meaning in Chinese Medicine, metaphor for the centrifugal and synthesizing nature of the Traditional Acupuncture Society Journal, England, No. 11, April 1992, Pages 45-48 ego that sees itself as the center of the universe assimilat• Jarrett, L, (1998). Nourishing Destiny, The Inner Tradition of ing all experience into it. Slaying the forces that resist such Chinese Medicine, Spirit Path Press unification in the form of the nine-headed serpent Fang • Jarrett, L, (2003), The Clinical Practice of Chinese Medicine, Feng, is a metaphor for the ego successfully transcending Spirit Path Press. the lower animal nature of the Typhon. Nine is the number • Lagerwey, J. (1987). Taoist Ritual in Chinese Society and History. Macmillan of completion in the Chinese qualitative use of numbers. • Lemming, D. (2005). The Oxford Companion to World Mythology. The killing of the nine-headed snake, commensurate with the designation of nine provinces, symbolizes the transition Oxford University Press. • Mathews, R.H. (1931). Mathews’ Chinese-English Dictionary. from the archaic, through the mythic, into the establishHarvard University Press. ment of mythic rationality and Confucian culture. • Neumann, E. (1955). The Great Mother. Princeton University Press. Ascending Mount Mao (the head), to align himself with
• Neumann, E. (1989). The Origins and History of Consciousness. Karnac
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The next phases ares split up as
Summer and Late Summer, both bringing different sounds, emotions, growth and tastes
Taoism in the
Summer is the strongest Yang season in the fire element Late summer, which lasts about a month around the end of Summer and into early Autmn is aligned with the Earth element
The scent of Summer and Late Sumer
is burnt and fragrant,
with bitter and sweet tastes.
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n the Seasons Pay special attention to your
The color of the Summer is red from the heat this season brings.
heart, small intestine, spleen and stomach
Late Summer honors the color yellow
this time of year.
Laughter and joy are the sounds we hear in Summer. Worry and singing are related to Late Summer.
Summer leads us to the South, the time of day is Midday, while Late summer brings us to the center of direction and is associated with transition times
SOURCES: EARTHSKY.ORG • TAOUNIVERSE.COM • WUWEIWISDOM.COM • ENERGYARTS.COM • WIKIPEDIA.ORG •
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Who Cares About 21?
The Dao of Dice and Spiritual Transformation By Master Zhongxian Wu BuGuanSanQiErShiYi 不管三七二十一 Who cares about 3 x 7 = 21 (Just do it!) — Chinese proverb I welcomed my first (Zoom) Qigong class of 2021 with this Chinese proverb, as part of my New Year’s wish for everyone to have a healthy and prosperous 2021. It is my wish that we are all able to appreciate what we have, even if just for some moments each day, and leave some of our worries behind us. Growing up in China, we used this saying on an almost daily basis, and in several contexts. One of the most common meanings of this catchphrase is akin to casting caution to the wind, with an added implication that we must also take direct action in order to achieve the mission, whatever the mission may be. I believe that this meaning of BuGuanSanQiErShiYi originates from traditional Chinese gambling dice. When I was a little child, I learned from my neighbor, our village’s expert gambler, that the moment we roll the dice, we must leave fear and worry behind and concentrate our full attention on winning. I learned to use this power of strong intention to win MaJiang 麻將 (Mah Jong) and other games. I also practiced this strength of spirit
as a way to stoke my inner confidence anytime I needed to take an important action. In the west, this principle is common among world’s elite athletes and top entrepreneurs in their pursuit towards great success. LaoZi speaks of it in chapter 7 of the DaoDeJing, and it is one of the foundations of Daoist spiritual transformation practices. WaiQiShenErShenCun 外其身而身存 Let go of your worry and you will be fulfilled — LaoZi Dice are used in many different games as a way of bringing joy and levity into our lives. Other meanings of the proverb include “it doesn’t matter, have fun,” “go with the flow” and “do not let obstacles get in your way.” Why might this be so? The numerological meaning of six, the number of numbers on dice, is flow, peace, and TOUZI 骰子 – CHINESE DICE safety. In China, it is customary for people to say LiuLiuDaShun 六六大順 (which literally means “six six great flow”) as a way to wish each other a smooth and obstacle free journey or endeavor. It is also very common for people to decorate their cars with dice, which act as talismans for protection and safety. So why am I talking about dice when the proverb literally translates as 3 X 7 = 21? This is because traditional Chinese dice are specifically designed around three
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pairs of seven dots. Let’s take a look the structure of Chinese dice: Chinese dice are six sided cubes with each side representing one of the six numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 (each face with the corresponding number of dots). The three pairs of opposite faces make up three pairings
Prenatal Order
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
of seven: 1 and 6, 2 and 5, 3 and 4. The six-numbered arrangement of the dice is rooted in the Yijing 易經 (I Ching) numerology prediction system. As I discussed in my book Seeking the Spirit of the Book of Change (London: Singing Dragon, 2009), the modern binary number system was inspired by the Yijing. It dates from at least the early Zhou 周 Dynasty (1046
Lines Converting
Base 10 Result
Dice side
Family Member
Qian 乾 Heaven
1 1x2=2 1x2x2=4
1+2+4 = 7
No side
Father
Dui Lake
0 1x2=2 1x2x2=4
0+2+4 = 6
Younger daughter
Li 離 Fire
1 0 1x2x2=4
1+0+4 = 5
Middle daughter
Zhen 震 Thunder
0 0 1x2x2=4
0+0+4 = 4
Older son
Xun 巽 Wind
1 1x2=2 0
1+2+0 = 3
Older daughter
Kan 坎 Water
0 1x2=2 0
0+2+0 = 2
Middle son
Gen 艮 Mountain
1 0 0
1+0+0 = 1
Younger son
Kun 坤 Earth
0 0 0
0+0+0 = 0
Trigram Name
Symbol
No side
Mother
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BCE – 256 BCE). The binary notation in the Yijing is typically used to interpret its divination technique and ancient Chinese cosmology. The Yijing binary system is based on the Daoist (Taoist) dualism of the Yin and Yang philosophy.
game is also a fun way to understand the Dao of Heaven (Father) and Earth (Mother). Also notice that the arrangement of the numbers on the dice follows the principle of XianTianBaGua 先天八卦, the Eight Trigram Prenatal Arrangement. Let’s take a look the XianTianBaGua diagram:
In order to understand the Yijing numerological background of the three pairs of number seven in dice, we must convert the BaGua 八卦 (Eight Trigrams of the Yijing) to their binary numbers and their associated base 10 number. In the Yijing binary number system, the dashed Yin line is 0 and solid Yang line is 1. A trigram has three lines. We convert the three lines of a trigram into a base 10 number using the following principles:
In the above diagram, the numbers in the inner ring, in black, are the Eight Trigram Prenatal Order Numbers, and the numbers in the outer layer, in red and next to the Chinese names, are the numbers of the related trigrams. In this diagram, if you add the two numbers of each pair of trigram opposites, you get four sevens. The parents’ pair Qian/Heaven (7) and Kun/ Mother (0) are located on the central line and represent the universal way this is why their numbers, 7 and 0, are not put on a dice.
6
7
5
3
4
2
1
• Regardless of the position, if the line is Yin, it is 0 • If the top line is Yang, it is 1 • If the middle line is Yang, it is 1 X2=2 • A Yang line on the bottom is 1 X 2X2=4 • Next, add the three numbers of the trigram you just converted together — the result is the associated base 10 trigram number.
Eight Trigrams Prenatal Arrangement Diagram
0
As you can see from the table, after converting these eight trigrams to base 10 numbers, we have this result: Qian/Heaven, the Father is number 7; Dui/Lake, the Younger daughter is 6; Li/Fire, the Middle daughter is 5; Zhen/Thunder, the Older son is 4; Xun/Wind, the Older daughter is 3; Kan/Water, the Middle daughter is 2; Gen/Mountain, the Younger Son is 1; and Kun/Earth, the Mother is 0. The three sons and three daughters of the Eight Trigram family are associated with the six faces of dice — the parents are not. This is a hint that any traditional dice
The other three opposite pairs are: The Younger son Gen/Mountain number 1 and the Younger daughter Dui/Lake number 6; the Middle son Kan/Water 2 and the Middle daughter Li/Fire 5; the Older daughter Xun/Wind 3 and the Older son Zhen/ Thunder 4. The ordering of the 1 dot and 6 dots are on opposite sides of the dice, 2 dots and 5 dots are on opposite sides; 3 dots and 4 dots are on opposite sides — all designed according to the Prenatal Eight Trigram Arrangement. Traditionally, playing dice was about joyful connection, honesty and grace. Friends and family would gather
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together to play and have fun, and the “winner” would celebrate by taking everyone to a banquet! The basic rule of dice games was virtue, of following the Way of the Dao. Sadly, in modern days, this has been perverted to something that can be addictive, destructive, ruthless, and dishonest. Dice games were once a common way to teach children morals. In my hometown, it is still common to say “You are on the dice!” as praise to a teenager or a young adult, meaning they are on the right path. Conversely, “Why aren’t you on the dice?” is an expression used when someone has disgraced themselves. When we play a game, practice spiritual cultivation, and go about our daily lives, we will have no worries if we are “on the dice.” Careful observation of traditional Chinese dice reveals that the number 1 dot and the number 4 dots are painted red color while the other dots are painted with a dark color. This is another clue of Daoist internal cultivation principles being represented in the dice. According to the Daoist internal alchemy traditions, the dark color represents the physical body and the red color stands for the spiritual body. In order to fully achieve the benefits from your Qigong practice and experience deep spiritual transformation, we must learn to make ourselves stable physically and mentally; we also need to learn how to ignite our inner fire with our confidence, faith, and great compassion for ourselves and others.
About Master Wu Master Zhongxian Wu was born in a traditional fishing village on China’s eastern shore, where the sunlight first touches the Chinese mainland. At an early age he committed himself to the pursuit of the ancient arts of internal cultivation: Qigong, Taiji, internal martial arts, Chinese medicine, Yijing science, FengShui, Chinese astrology and cosmology, Chinese calligraphy and traditional Chinese music. Since 1988, he has instructed tens of thousands of students throughout China, North America and Europe. He synthesizes wisdom and experience for beginning and advanced practitioners, as well as for patients seeking healing, in his unique and professionally designed courses and training programs. Master Wu has authored numerous articles and 15 books (5 in Chinese) on China’s ancient life sciences. In addition, he currently offers online Qigong and Yijing courses, private consultations, and remote healing sessions for Qi-friends all over the world. For more information, please visit his website at www.chinesewisdomtraditions.com.
You can remember from the Eight Trigram number conversion table that the number 1 (red) dot is connected with the trigram Gen/Mountain, which is the symbol of stability, trust, faith, honesty, meditation, and is also a Qigong technique. The number 4 (red) dots embody the trigram Zhen/Thunder, which stands for new life, compassion, and LeiLongHuo 雷龍火, the Thunder Dragon Fire that holds the secret of the internal alchemical Inner Fire transformation method. In my tradition, we must master the trigrams Gen and Zhen methods in order to achieve spiritual transformation. At first, achieving spiritual transformation may seem like a challenging goal. Who cares about 21? BuGuanSanQiErShiYi! Set your goal and your strong intention, and you can achieve anything. For those of you who would like to read more about the cultivation methods of trigrams Gen and Zhen mentioned in this article, please stay tuned for next time. Summer 2021 — Page 15
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Emptiness and
Coherence
part 1
HALIBUT POINT BY MARK BAILEY
Integrating Emptiness with the Three Treasures of Love, Wisdom and Vitality
We join the spokes together in a wheel But it is the center hole that makes the wagon move.
By Michael Robbins, M.A., L.M.H.C.
We shape the clay into a pot, But it is the emptiness inside That holds whatever we want.
Scientifically we might correlate it with the Big Bang. As soon as there is movement, there is duality. There is something that is moving and a space that it is moving through. As soon as there are two, the dynamism that gives birth to all things begins. In Taoism, this is the birth of Yin and Yang.
Emptiness emerges when the mud in our consciousness has finally settled We hammer wood for a house, In every act of creation, we recapituBut it is the inner space late the movement from emptiness to and all that is left is clarity. It is a great that makes it livable. form. Creation is not something that stillness. There are no words that can happened in the past, it is something express it. This space of absolute abWe work with being, that is happening continually. The sence becomes apparent when we But non-being is what we deeper our capacity to be truly presdissolve the conditional mind and use. ent in the here and now, the more totally relax the armor and tension in our awareness flows from emptiness our bodies. It is unmoving, content— Tao Te Ching, Chapter 11 to form and back to emptiness in less, timeless. It has no qualities and an unbroken circle. In this state, we yet it contains all qualities in potential. It is the mysterious silence out of which emerged overcome the illusion of our separateness and resolve the fundamental duality of subject and object. For this the first sound. reason, the Tao is often represented as a circle. As our This first sound to emerge out of silence, or the first move- awareness embodies this circle, we hold the wholeness ment to emerge from stillness, is a profound mystery. of the movement from emptiness to form and back to Empty Vessel — Page 16
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emptiness from a place of the eternal witness. This is a openness is our true nature. From this infinite openstate of deep coherence, integration and a realization of ness and radical availability, we approach the content our full potential as a human being. of our lives with profound acceptance and compassion. Although we continue to live an ordinary life, internalWhen movement emerges from emptiness and touches ly, we have a sense of great freedom. We understand a human being, it manifests as different levels of energy. experientially that all of our experiences are bracketed There are many ways of categorizing and working with by emptiness and our spirit flies free on the wings of this energy. In Yoga they talk about the chakras. In other non-attachment. This is not a spiritual bypass of our insystems they talk about the elements of nature. In Taoist volvement with life. It is a deeply engaged care and love practice, there are also many ways to explore the energy for all beings from a place of freedom and unconditionthat emerges out of emptiness. In this essay, I am going to al acceptance for what is. When we realize emptiness, explore one central way that Taoist practice understands we recognize that the narratives of our lives are always and cultivates this energy. These are the three treasures of written on a blank page, and suddenly we become aware vitality, love and wisdom (Peng, 2010). of the page itself. The unconditioned source of life takes up an abode in our being and its qualities shine forth In Taoist practice the center of vitality is our belly Dan like a luminous diamond. Tien, the center of love is the middle Dan Tien of the chest, and the center of wisdom is the upper Dan Tien of This essay is born out of practice. It is a reflection of the head. Emptiness moves into manifestation in a dif- what I have been able to integrate experientially over ferent way in each of these locations. In Taoist practice, the past 45 years. I am keenly aware that there are many cultivating and balancing the energies of these three levels beyond what I have been able to touch, so I offer centers, knitting them together through the central these reflections with great humility. I am deeply inchannel, and realizing their root in emptiness, is seen as debted to all of my teachers who have so generously essential to becoming a complete human being. gifted me with their teachings and the transmission of the states of realization that they have been able to The belly, the chest and the head centers are gateways to stabilize through their own practice. different levels of consciousness. Each is a particular seat of awareness that gives access to a different layer of ex- Mostly this essay is rooted in Taoist practice*, but in adperience. During practice, we examine and dissolve the dition to being a Taoist practitioner, I studied with the fixations and obscurations in each center that cloud the late Sufi Master Pir Vilayat Khan for more than a decade flow of chi. Through each of these energy gates, empti- and currently I am a student in the Ridwhan school of ness moves into a different octave in the symphony of A.H. Almaas, and also a student of the Austrian mystic manifestation. To use another metaphor, it is as if a great Thomas Hubl. Because these reflections are based in my light is shining through different stain glass windows at own experience, in much of this essay I will use the first each level of our being. We can understand this light as a person. I am also a psychotherapist and worked for 20 continuation of the explosion of energy that began with years as an energy healer and body-worker. Without the the Big Bang. This creative expansion is still happening. direct transmission of my teachers, the wisdom I have gained from the practice of their teachings, and the apStabilizing the awareness of emptiness and clarifying plication of these teachings in my professional life, these the flow of energy through the three centers, is some- words would be merely academic. thing that I will be working on for the rest of my life. Taoist teachings, as well as the mystical principles of A note of caution. Without practice, these ideas can many traditions, tell us that when awareness can hold only have limited value. The direct transmission from emptiness in the middle of life, our relationship to outer a competent master or teacher that has integrated these conditions changes in a profound way. When we can do states is essential. This type of ‘nervous system to nerthis, rather than experiencing an identification with suf- vous system’ transmission opens up possibilities that fering, we have a direct inner experience of an infinite, are difficult to discover on your own. May many teachformless, openness that holds all of the forms of life. ers, healers and masters manifest in your life to give you We understand in a deeply transformative way that this skillful and specific guidance! Summer 2021 — Page 17
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* My most important Taoist teachers have been Robert Morningstar, Mantak Chia, Michael Winn, Peter Wayne, Bill Ryan, and Bruce Frantzis.
of my life to my life emerging inside of emptiness is profound. In the words of Thomas Hubl, “meditation is not something that occurs inside of my life, my life is something that occurs inside of meditation” (Hubl, 2020).
Coherence: Integrating Emptiness with the Three Centers
When this shift in the seat of consciousness is established, energy flows from its root in formless emptiness directly into transformational acts of creativity and When awareness flows in an unbroken stream from compassion. This coherent expression of energy from the subtlety of heaven to the density of earth through emptiness into form is of great service to the world. It is the emptiness of my central channel, knitting together a natural expression of the Tao. and harmonizing my awareness of the three centers, I experience a deep sense of wholeness. My mind is quiet, Of course, this attunement is a process that comes and I am at peace in my emotional world, and my body is goes, depending on how identified I am with my grasprelaxed and filled with vitality. I am able to listen to the ing, reactive mind. I cannot claim to have attained a current of creation with an acute sensitivity and clari- constant, unbroken awareness of non-reactive, centy. When these energies lose coherence, my experience tered, emptiness. I still get stuck and become an anxious is disjointed. I am reactive in body and mind and my mess under enough stress! Just ask my wife! relations are full of noise and distortion. Can you coax your mind from its wandering In a coherent state, life is filled with musical resonance. And keep to the original oneness? As many Tai Chi, Qi Gong and Nei Gung teachers have Can you let your body become said, during practice “when one thing moves, every- as supple as a newborn child’s? thing moves.” My inner and outer world are integrated. Can you cleanse your inner vision Life is a symphony of vibrations, colors, textures and until you see nothing but the light? dynamic movement. Everything is alive. My insides Can you love people and lead them speak to my outsides and my outsides speak to my in- without imposing your will? sides. There is a sense of order and harmony between Can you deal with the most vital matters my inner and outer world that I perceive directly. In the by letting events take their course? deepest reaches of this experience, my inner and out- Can you step back from your own mind er world become unified. In this state of flow, the sense and thus understand all things? of duality, subject and object, dissolves and awareness holds the movement from emptiness to form and back — Tao Te Ching, Chapter 10 to emptiness in an unbroken circle. As my practice has deepened over the years, I have The miracle of all of this is that it is “simply happening”. come to understand that the flow of creative energy that I am not “making it happen”. The current of life itself is emerges out of emptiness has an innate order. Without simply moving and I am along for the ride. It is the most creating a metaphysics or a theology out of this, this natural thing in the world. No big deal. In this state, I rec- simply seems experientially true. If I am deeply quiet, ognize that the majority of my inner work is to dissolve this wisdom and natural order reveals itself in a sense of the blockages to this natural movement so that it can inner guidance that I perceive directly through my intuhappen without obstruction. When I do this well, I feel ition. This inner guidance can be applied to all dimennatural, relaxed, and in harmony with the rhythms of life. sions of life. Over years of practice, my conclusion is I recognize, in an experiential way, that “I” am occurring that inner guidance is always present. The only question inside of emptiness and I allow creation to manifest as is whether I am listening! If I listen with attunement, “me”. I let go of the deep layers of fear and control that right action unfolds naturally, and my interactions have normally motivate my actions and “go with the flow”. a certain balance and harmony. What gets in the way of my listening are all of my reactive structures, my graspThis shift in perspective from emptiness emerging inside ing, controlling mind, and my undigested traumas. Empty Vessel — Page 18
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The Master allows things to happen. She shapes events as they come. She steps out of the way And lets the Tao speak for itself. — Tao Te Ching Chapter 45 Getting to this state of stillness and quiet listening involves confronting deep energetic, emotional and psychological blockages. These blockages are a result of the impressions and traumas that shape my individual life as well as the familial and cultural lineage that I was born into.
Taoist alchemical practitioners have many specific and subtle ways of achieving this transformation. Taoist alchemy is a profound subject that I will not have space to explore in this essay. However, the principals of alchemy will inform these reflections. When the “chi” or energy of each center is balanced and in harmony with the other centers, my body/mind is like a well-tuned instrument capable of expressing a creative symphony of sound, color, emotion, sensation and thought. When this balance is present, I feel settled, in “my seat”, a part of the great orchestra of humanityas-a-whole. In this state of balance, I am fully capable of contributing my unique voice to humanity’s evolution. I am coherent with my own being and also with the greater flow of energy that is flowing through the “one body” of humanity. Like a healthy cell in this body, I naturally contribute to the survival, development and transformation of humanity with a deep awareness of humanity’s place in nature and the universe.
In my experience, these impediments to flow live in each of the three centers in different ways. Unwinding these obstructions needs precise and subtle attention. Truly transforming these blockages is a process that is multifaceted. Many methods and tools are necessary on the path to freedom. Along with the many methods available in the Taoist cannon I also advocate that contemporary seekers avail themselves of mindfulness inMan follows the Earth. formed, body-centered, psychotherapies. Earth follows the universe. As a teacher of Taoist practice as well as a psychother- The universe follows the Tao. apist and energy worker, I have the opportunity to ob- The Tao follows only itself. serve how these blockages and energy fixations manifest in many people. My experience is that each imbalance — Tao Te Ching, Chapter 25 has practical consequences and result in different kinds of distortions and “unskillful” life decisions. These disThe Belly Dan Tien tortions are unique and need subtle skill and attunement to address. I will examine a couple of case examples of In Taoist training, one begins by developing and stabiimbalances in the centers later in this essay. lizing the Dan Tien in the belly. This is the foundation of physical vitality. Without a coherent flow of energy in The Taoists call each center a “Dan Tien”, which loosely this area, our physical vitality is imbalanced. translates as an ‘elixir field’ or a ‘cauldron of energy’. As such, the development of each center is intimately My experience is that my belly center is the root of my joy related to the practice of Taoist alchemy. Taoist al- and pleasure in being a physical being. It is deeply connectchemy is the study of the transformation of chi or ed to my experience of sexuality and the sensual pleasure energy from one state to another. In Taoist alchemi- of being alive. When my belly center is open, I feel an eleccal practice, in each cauldron we do a different piece tricity and eros that connects me to all of life. This energy of alchemical work, a different kind of ‘cooking’. The naturally erupts in dancing, painting and writing poetry. classical formula is that the student cultivates the vi- Particularly when I was younger, it also expressed itself in tality in the belly into the compassion in the chest, a rich and juicy sex life. As I have gotten older, my sexual the compassion in the chest into the wisdom in the current is not as insistent or strong, but I still have a great head, the wisdom in the head into emptiness, and appreciation for the rich variety of life’s sensual pleasures. then shatters her attachment to emptiness to return to the Tao. (Liang and Wu, 1997, p. 92) The Tao is the My belly center also feels directly connected to my cacomplete circle from emptiness to form and back to pacity to be present with presence, here and now, in the emptiness. practical realities of life. When my belly center is open, Summer 2021 — Page 19
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I am present in the circumstances of each moment. In a very practical way, I am coordinated physically and know where my body is in space. I am athletic and have access to physical strength. I also have a good sense of where other people’s bodies are in space and an intuitive sense of their movements. When I am dancing, or doing the Tai Chi practice of push hands, I am attuned to my partner’s body and can anticipate their movements. I also have a good “gut sense” about people and know in a kinesthetic, direct way whether a situation is safe or threatening. In my experience, paying attention to the energies of the belly is also a doorway to developing my sense of personal power and authority. When my belly center is open, I can have a commanding presence. I feel worldly, grounded and have a strong, practical capacity to deal with the challenges of life. If my belly is open and really settled, sometimes I even have a sense of “gravitas” and can settle the energies in a room simply by my presence. Of course, this isn’t always true! The inverse also happens — when I am anxious, irritated, or upset, the energies radiating from my belly can be quite unsettling and dysregulating for the people around me! We intuitively trust someone with a balanced and integrated belly center because they are living in harmony with their instinctual energies. They project a kind of warmth and vital joy that is nourishing and re-assuring to our animal nature. Their mastery of their libidinal drives allows us to feel safe with our own instinctual impulses. The fact that they are settled at this level allows our own animal nature to settle. When this center is balanced, we feel a magnetism and libidinal warmth that awakens a sense of peaceful, contentment and harmony. We seek out people like this because it is a delight to be in their presence! In my experience, this center can become imbalanced in two directions, it can be overcharged or undercharged. When the belly center is overcharged, we tend to over express our instinctual appetites. We might ‘fly off the handle’ easily in anger. We could even be cruel and sadistic. Or we might be promiscuous and unbounded in the expression of our sexual appetites. We could have a proclivity to abuse drugs or alcohol. It is also possible that we will be afflicted with anxiety and a difficulty keeping our energy settled and grounded. Our energies might ‘pop’ quickly like a Mexican jumping bean and we might have a poor capacity to contain our frustration.
When the belly center is undercharged, we are lacking in physical vitality. Our connection with our physical appetites for food, sex and sensual pleasure will be low. We might feel like our feet barely touch the ground. If our head center is over charged, we might live in an abstract intellectual world of ideas or fantasies. When we lack chi in our belly, we have problems accomplishing things in the world and following through with projects.
An Example of an Overcharged Belly center, a Charged Chest Center and an Undercharged Head Center An example of someone with an overcharged belly center is a client of mine who I will call Jimmy. Jimmy used to be an all-state football player in high school. He has a big presence and a hearty laugh. He walks into a room with a challenging, ‘don’t mess with me’ attitude. He likes to drink and party, and if things got rowdy, he is the kind of guy you definitely want to have on your side in a fight. He likes sex and has a big appetite for it. He is practical and cares more if something ‘works’ than if it sounds good. He shoots from the hip and trusts no-nonsense advice. He likes it when I go toe to toe with him about some of his self-destructive tendencies and respects me for challenging him. He is also not afraid to tell me that I am wrong or that I am not understanding him accurately if that’s what he thinks. Although he comes off as a big tough guy, he has panic attacks and can fly into a rage over “stupid things”. He frequently gets into screaming matches with his wife, and she has threatened to leave him if he doesn’t learn how to control his temper. All of this is worse when he is drinking, which he does often and to excess. He feels ashamed of his inability to control his frustration and angry outbursts and wishes that he had a better capacity to contain himself. In therapy we are working to help him stay ‘in’ himself and to keep his energies settled in his belly and rooted in the earth. Although he has tons of vitality, it is undisciplined, and he can be emotionally violent and cruel. When this happens, he goes into a fit of self-hatred over the consequences of his lack of self-control. Although he does have energy in his chest center, it too is unstable and lacks steadiness. He comes in and out of his capacity for compassion, empathy and love. His head center is his least developed center. He lacks mental discipline and has trouble focusing for long periods of time. As a child he was diagnosed with ADHD.
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The energetic practices of focusing on his breath, settling experience”, and “I respect and accept you exactly the way his attention into his belly, and connecting his belly to the you are”. It feels like this message is for both the person or earth, are extremely valuable for him. (See Part 2 of this people that I am talking to, and also for myself. article for practices that balance the belly center.) In this Dan Tien, I sense a depth and kindness which transcends time and space. When I have made a connecThe Chest Center tion with someone from my heart center, the connection is not dependent on physical proximity. Inside of this The chest center is the seat of our emotions and our cadepth, there is a sense of great stability and steadiness, as pacity to love and be loved. When the chest center is balif we are sitting inside of the embrace of a great mother, anced, our emotional life feels balanced and stable. We like Kuan Yin or Mother Mary. My experience is that the naturally feel a sense of empathic connection, compas- main contribution that I can make to allowing this energy sion and attunement with people, animals and nature. to emerge is to dissolve the emotional reactivity, fear and We have a deep sense of love and compassion. A good grasping that are the sequelae of my emotional history. image of a balanced chest center is the Buddha’s smile. When these emotional positions dissolve, the energy of the heart arises naturally. When this area of my body is open, I recognize the divine beloved in all beings. In a practical way, I am able This energy is balanced, open and spacious. It doesn’t to tune into someone’s emotional reality with precision lean forward with intrusive overconcern for others, and warmth. From the seat of this Dan Tien, I feel con- or back with aloofness and withdrawal. It is naturally nected to a source of compassion and kindness which engaged in activities that alleviate suffering without transcends my personal capacity. I call this the “universal over-extending or exhausting itself. An awakened chest heart” because the energies at this level feel much more center understands the limits of its’ resources, inside of profound than my personal emotional perspective. I the particularities of each life, and uses them wisely. experience this energy communicating the message; “I see you”, “I am interested in really understanding your In my personal life, the energies of this center have helped Summer 2021 — Page 21
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me to integrate the paradox that I am at once inextricably interconnected with all of life and also existentially alone and fully responsible for the consequences of my actions. This has helped me to develop good emotional boundaries and a balance between interactively regulating my nervous system in relationships and self-regulating through activities like meditation and creative work. When this center is open and balanced, I can be alone without becoming anxious and yet also deeply enjoy my contact with others. I feel an evenness to my emotional presence which enables me not to take my life so “personally”. I understand that my emotional responses are not “just mine” — they are also a voice for humanity as a whole as we all work to emotionally master whatever life has presented us. I recognize that there are more similarities than differences between me and my fellow human beings. Even the human beings that I disagree with! As with the belly center, the chest center can be either over charged or undercharged. When the chest center is overcharged, a person may be subject to frequent emotional storms. They might be a ‘love addict’ and seek out relationships with people that are destructive for them. They can merge easily with others and have great emotional empathy but not a lot of common sense about the friends and lovers they hang out with. Particularly if their head center is also undeveloped, they may make bad choices in love. When someone is really out of balance in this area, they might take everything personally and feel like one big, exposed emotional nerve. They might feel like everything is about them. If their friend is ten minutes late for a lunch date, it is because they don’t care about them and think that they are not worth their time. If something goes wrong at work, it is because their boss is out to get them. If their sports team loses in the playoffs they get depressed for a week and can hardly communicate with their spouse or friends. On the other hand, when this center is undercharged, a person is aloof and untouchable. They live in a kind of icy, protected world with very little connection. They cannot touch their vulnerability and have contempt for other people’s vulnerability. Their energy field might feel prickly, like a cactus, or cold like an ice sculpture. When someone tries to approach them with emotional warmth they could run into sarcasm, arrogance or even cruelty. For this person, their first priority is to protect themselves from emotional harm.
An example of an Overcharged Chest Center, a Charged Belly Center and an Undeveloped Head Center An example of the major imbalance being in the chest center is a client that I will call Lisa. Lisa oozes emotional empathy. I often feel bathed in rosy loving presence as soon as she enters the room. Her smile lights up the space with an invitation that makes me want to crawl into her lap. The difficulty for Lisa is that she keeps on falling in love with men who are really not good for her but to whom she feels very loyal. Her last boyfriend was an alcoholic who kept getting fired from jobs and never seemed to be able to “land” professionally. Lisa believed fervently in his possibilities, supported him financially through her job as a nurse, and was constantly giving him “one more chance”. During drunken binges, he would often be emotionally abusive and occasionally physically threatening as well. Through her therapy, she was finally able to end this relationship. However, she still wanted to be his friend. Because her boundaries are poor and there was still a strong erotic attraction, she would still have sex with him occasionally even when she was trying to develop another relationship. Lisa has a lot of friends who “have issues”. She often spends long hours on the phone with them trying to resolve their problems. She is very dependent on her social network and often feels anxious or depressed if she spends too much time alone. Lisa has poor self-regulation skills. Energetically, she is disconnected from her vertical relationship to emptiness through her central channel and very dependent on her horizontal connections with others to regulate her nervous system. Her weakest center is her head center and we have been working with practices to open and develop this Dan Tien. We have also been working with practices that open her connection to her central channel and the energies above her head. This can be a doorway into emptiness for many people and help to stabilize an energy system that is overly reliant on relationships with others for its coherence. We are also working with the other end of her central channel through her perineum to strengthen her connection to the ground. Although her belly center is open and she has a strong libidinal charge, she is actually not very grounded in the earth’s energy. Because her
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capacity to self-regulate is poor, it is difficult for her to clarity, I understand the full impact of my actions, as the meditate and find a sense of inner quiet. Native Americans say, for seven generations.
The Head Center
Like the other centers, the head center can be over charged or undercharged.
A balanced head center is the seat of wisdom and a clear, quiet mind. When our head center is open and balanced, our attention is undistracted. We are able to quiet our inner dialogue and settle into a space of deep, immovable, inner silence. We are aware of the spaces between our thoughts and from this deep inner stillness we can have perspective about the narratives and patterns of our life. We may be visionary and have access to ideas that present innovative solutions to life’s problems. We are able to think outside the box because we are not stuck in our positions or agendas.
When the head center is overcharged, someone “lives in their heads”. They may have a great capacity for abstract, intellectual explorations, but often lose their connection with their emotional intelligence and the moment-to-moment stream of sensations in their bodies. We have difficulty “feeling” them. Sometimes their thinking jumps from one stream to another with tremendous rapidity, like a monkey jumping from branch to branch. This is the famous “monkey mind”. They might talk very fast and seem a little manic. This kind of person might have a very hard time slowing down enough to When my head center is open, I am not stuck in redun- actually feel their emotions or sensations. When the dant, obsessive thinking. I am able to question my be- head center is undercharged, a person cannot think liefs and assumptions and shift my positions easily from clearly and lacks intellectual rigor. They may express one point of view to another. My mind is open to the themselves in ways that feel “foggy”, redundant, or indeeper stream of consciousness that is flowing through comprehensible. They might seem “spaced out” or cogme from the collective wisdom of humanity. I am aware nitively disoriented. that my brain and nervous system is one neuron in the collective nervous system of humanity, and I am perAn Example of an meable to the river of humanity’s collective intelligence Overcharged Head Center and as it moves from emptiness into form through me. As I access this deep current of collective intelligence, I can Undeveloped Chest and Belly Center access ideas that are creative, innovative and even visionary. I can catch the whispers of human evolution An example of this pattern is a client of mine that I will as it is beginning to emerge into its next unfoldment call Johnny. Johnny graduated from a prestigious uniand can respond with intellectual and creative resources versity. For the past three years he has been living with his parents, working on a book. He often talks about that contribute to this unfoldment. applying to graduate school in literature, but somehow, When my head center is open and balanced, there is he always misses the deadlines. The book he is worka quality of spaciousness about me. I am able to listen ing on goes through endless revisions and the chapters well and receive the thoughts of others without reac- never get finalized. He often spends days playing video tivity. I am not distracted by defending my position or games and gets lost in a virtual world of fantastic, virtual getting my point of view heard and can build on the characters. He reads voraciously, two or three books a ideas of others. I understand many points of view and I week, and has an avid interest in history. He has bright, am more loyal to the truth than to my personal perspec- curious eyes, gets excited about his projects easily, is extive on the matter at hand. I speak clearly and express tremely likable, and talks very fast. He often takes me my thoughts succinctly. My mind is disciplined, and I on wild rides through abstract, intellectual worlds and can focus on my projects and think them through with loves to explain the intricacies of the various computer common sense. When this capacity is linked with the games that he is involved with. When he gets a new idea gifts of the heart center, I make wise choices in my per- about something, his face lights up with an infectious sonal relationships. Through a developed head center, I glow that is filled with the joy of his ‘aha’ moment. Unhave “discriminating wisdom” and evaluate the words fortunately, however, very few of these ‘brilliant ideas’ and ideas of others with objectivity. In the depth of this ever get carried through to completion. During sessions, Summer 2021 — Page 23
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I often have the impulse to say – “Earth to Johnny, earth to Johnny, come in please.” His chest center is undeveloped, and it is hard for him to even know what he is feeling, let alone communicate his emotional life effectively. When he is off on an abstract ride through the stratosphere, I sometimes get bored and sleepy.
mately connected through a vast bioluminescent neural network…When the Na’vi connect with one another or with their animals, they can feel the other from within. They no longer need speech or gestures to communicate with one to whom they are linked. When such a link has been made, it is customary for the Na’vi to say, “I see you” …“The more present, clear and attuned we are, the more like the Na’vi our capacities for conscious connection becomes.” (Hubl, 2020, P.120)
Johnny has never had a romantic relationship that lasted more than a couple of weeks. The women he gets involved with all become “friends” that are more interested in an intellectual connection with him than a physical one. He Thomas often advises his students to see each other as is an awkward lover and frequently freezes in a sexual sit- if there were “eyes all over their body”. This exercise uation. His belly center is quite weak and undercharged. enables us to more accurately create an inner picture of someone else’s experience. Modern neurobiology supHis healing work has been to land in his body and to be ports the idea that this capacity to “see” the intentional able to feel himself from the inside. As his therapist, I world of another through our nervous system is hardam consistently inviting him to stay in his body and his wired into our bodies through our “mirror neurons” emotions, in the room with me, and out of the intoxi- (Siegel, 2012). cating world of his video games and abstract intellectual questions. He has great difficulty tolerating the emptiness Using our inner senses to perceive the state of coherthat happens when his mind is not captivated by an in- ence or incoherence of someone’s nervous system and tellectual problem. There is also a deep emotional fear in the three centers, is an art that may take years to master. his chest center connected with early painful experiences The essential method that most teachers recommend is that are difficult for him to integrate. Because his belly to develop our own coherence and inner stillness. When center is very undercharged, his body as a whole is very our body and mind are deeply coherent and quiet, they thin. His legs are weak and disconnected from the earth. become like a reflection pool that accurately picks up the information in our environment. Like the still water of a lake that perfectly reflects the moon above, we acDeveloping Our Capacity curately see the energies in the people around us. When to Feel the Three Centers we are turbulent and distressed, it is the opposite. We are a reactive mess and discharge or project our distress In his beautiful book, Healing Collective Trauma, easily on the people we love and on ourselves. In this Thomas Hubl compares our nervous system to that of state you can only see the world and yourself through the Na’vi, a fictional race of beings that live on the planet a dense filter of reactive beliefs and unhealed trauma. Pandora in the movie Avatar. Imagine that you can listen to yourself, your friends, or “On Pandora, the Na’vi people, the souls of all of their if you are in a helping profession, your clients, with coancestors, and the boundless flora and fauna are inti- herence, inner quiet and attunement. Practice letting go Empty Vessel — Page 24
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of the words and content of someone’s communication training is necessary before a practitioner can truly be efand see what you perceive directly when you pay attention fective at this energetic level and I encourage all healing directly to their energetic, non-verbal communication. practitioners to develop a spiritual practice as an essential part of their professional development.
Conclusion
I hope that these thoughts and reflections have been The Tao is an unbroken circle that flows from the depths useful for you and that they inspire you to deeper pracof absolute emptiness into the infinite richness of creation tice and experiential integration of the circle that flows and back to emptiness. As emptiness flows into manifes- from emptiness to form and back to emptiness. tation as a human being, it creates three octaves of energy that we experience as vitality, love and wisdom. According The Tao gives birth to all beings, to the Taoists, the seat of vitality is in our bellies, love is in nourishes them, maintains them, our chests, and wisdom resides in the head. Learning how cares for them, comforts them, protects them, to balance, integrate and dissolve blockages in the energies takes them back into itself, creating without possessing, of these three centers is a major goal of Taoist practice. acting without expecting, In this essay I have explored the energetic qualities of guiding without interfering. the three centers of in the context of emptiness. I have That is why love of the Tao presented my understanding of the functioning and is the very nature of things. state of consciousness that each center allows us to access and looked at what happens when they are balanced and when they are imbalanced. I have looked at case examples of a couple of major patterns of imbalance that I have seen clinically. (For some other examples, see Robert Peng’s (2010) book, p. 137 -153.) In Part 2 to this essay I will also present some simple practices that can be used to balance each center. My thesis is that if spiritual practitioners can create a balanced flow of energy and information between the three centers and stabilize their awareness of emptiness, it will contribute to a more balanced spiritual development as well as to a balanced and effective life in the world. For professionals in the healing arts, the capacity to maintain a stable and coherent flow of energy through their three centers and the capacity to observe imbalances in their clients and correct them can make an enormous contribution to their effectiveness. Much inner work and
— The Tao Te Ching, Chapter 51
Endnotes • Hubl, Thomas (2020), Healing Collective Trauma, Sounds True, Boulder, Colorado • Hubl, Thomas, (2020) Class notes, Conscious Healing — an online class. • Liang and Wu, (1997), Qi Gong Empowerment, A Guide to Medical, Taoist, Buddhist, Wushu Energy Cultivation, The way of the Dragon Publishing, Providence, Rhode Island • Mitchell, Stephen, (1988), Tao Te Ching, a new English Version, Harper Perennial, Modern Classics, New York • Peng, Robert, (2010), Qi Gong Master, My Life and Secret Teachings, Rainbow Tree Publishing, New York • Siegel, Dan (2012), Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology, W.W. Norton and Company, NY and London Summer 2021 — Page 25
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Yang Pond Meditation By Dusty Bodeen, LAc MAcOM The Triple Burner is the most external, most Yang of all the Fire Officials in Chinese Medicine. It governs the most social aspects of our Fire Element. Who do you let past the gates of your castle wall? Who gets to have audience with your Heart? It’s the Triple Burner that picks up subtle cues in any environment and connects us to our virtue of intuition. Physically, the Triple Burner is the
official of circulation and regulation of fluids in the body. Our Triple Burner seeks temperature harmony throughout the body. The Chinese divide the trunk of the body into three sections called the three burners or jiaos. The upper jiao has a connection to Qi and consists of the Lungs, Heart and Pericardium. The middle jiao transforms substances via the Spleen, Stomach, Liver and Gall Bladder. The lower jiao separates the pure from the impure and expels the unnecessary via the Large Intestine, Small Intestine, Kidney and Bladder. It is the Triple Burner that acts as a passageway between the three jiaos bringing harmony and balance to our outer castle wall.
Yang Pond Location: On the wrist crease in a depression on the ulnar (pinky) side of the extensor digitorum communis tendon. Here is a guided meditation to read aloud or in your mind, applying self-acupressure on the point Triple Burner 4, Yang Pond.
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As I contact Yang Pond — the source point of my external fire I feel myself receiving exactly what I need. It fills me with joy and vigor for connection. Bringing harmony and balance to my entire system
At Yang Pond, I feel the glow of my internal becoming external Swimming in the fullness of contact with the outer world I am present in my body and ready for encounters. Letting the essential bloom
I am in a pool of sunshine and celebration.
Sitting in this light I find the resources for right communication. Understanding how to regulate my warmth with each interaction As I gently press Yang Pond I feel my passageways open And Qi start to flow to all the places that it’s needed.
As I take a deep breath, Qi flows through my three jiaos. Creating a passageway of nourishment and warmth Connecting me with the essence of universal love
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Historical Periods and Sources of Daoist Meditation By Louis Komjathy 康思奇, Ph.D. Transcript prepared and edited by Aranyelixír Kiadó This is Part 2 of the transcription of a lecture given to the Contemplative Studies Initiative at Brown University (Providence, Rhode Island) in 2011. The transcript was prepared and edited by Aranyelixír Kiadó (Budapest, Hungary), revised, supplemented and approved by Louis Komjathy in September 2014. Although each major type of Daoist meditation survives into the modern world, especially in integrated training regimens, each has a corresponding historical source-point and associated seminal texts. Considered chronologically, here are the periods corresponding to the five types: First, apophatic meditation is the earliest type of Daoist meditation. It was practiced by members of the early inner cultivation lineages of classical Daoism (From the Warring States (480–222 BCE) period to Early Han (206 BCE–9 CE)) from the 4th to the 2nd century BCE. Associated texts include the Laozi 老子 (which I translate as the “Book of Venerable Masters” and not “Book of Master Lao”), the Zhuangzi 莊子 (Book of Master Zhuang), and selections from the Guanzi 管子 (Book of Master Guan), Huainanzi 淮南子 (Book of the Huainan Masters), and Lüshi chunqiu (Spring and Autumn Annals of Master Lü). The inner cultivation lineages were a diverse group of master-disciple lineages. They placed primary emphasis on attaining mystical union with the Dao. Professor Roth is one of the foremost authorities on this period of Daoist history. Second, visualization is first documented in early and early medieval Daoism (from the Later Han (25–220 CE) period to the Period of Disunion (220–581)) from the 2nd to the 6th century CE. Key early and seminal texts include the 2nd century Laozi zhongjing
老子中經 (Central Scripture of Laozi; DZ 1168), the 3rd century Huangting jing 黃庭經 (Scripture on the Yellow Court; DZ 331; DZ 332) and the 4th century Dadong zhenjing 大洞真經 (Perfect Scripture of Great Profundity; DZ 6). Visualization was first practiced by members of the Taiping 太平 (Great Peace), Taiqing 太清 (Great Clarity), and Shangqing 上清 (Highest Clarity) movements, although it was fully systematized by Shangqing. Shangqing was a mediumistic Daoist movement; it focused on a serious of revelations given to the spirit medium Yang Xi (330–386). Shangqing adherents emphasize cosmic integration and self divinization, that is, making oneself into a god. This is so much the case that some Shangqing texts verge on being protoneidan 內丹 or internal alchemy. The research of the late Isabelle Robinet is especially important here. Third, ingestion is also first documented in early and early medieval Daoism (Same time period as visualization, although many of the influential texts date from the next period of Daoist history.) Representative texts include Taiqing fuqi koujue 太清服氣口訣 (Oral Instructions on Ingesting Qi from Taiqing; DZ 822) and the Fuqi jingyi lun 服氣精義論 (Discourse on Essentials of Ingesting Qi; DZ 830). Ingestion was also a central practice in the early Shangqing system. Fourth, inner observation appears during the beginning of late medieval Daoism (late medieval Daoism begins with the Tang dynasty (618–907))4 specifically during the Tang dynasty, which lasted form 618 to 907. It developed under the influence of Buddhist vipassanā, mindfulness or insight meditation. Key early texts include the Neiguan jing 内觀經 (Scripture on Inner Observation; DZ 641) and Dingguan jing 定觀經 (Scripture on Concentration and Observation; DZ 400). Inner observation was especially prominent in late medieval Daoist monasticism. Late medieval Daoist monasticism was a fully integrated system in which Shangqing was the highest ordination rank. The research of Livia Kohn is especially important on this particular topic.
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Finally, internal alchemy was first systematized in the context of late medieval Daoism, specifically during the later Tang and the early Song-Jin periods, the 10th to 12th centuries (late medieval and late imperial Daoism: from the Tang to the Qing (1644–1911) dynasties). Key early representative and seminal texts include the 10th century Chuandao ji 傳道集 (Anthology on Transmitting the Dao; DZ 263, j. 14-16; DZ 1309), the 11th century Wuzhen pian 悟真篇 (Chapters on Awakening to Perfection; DZ 263, j. 26-30), and the 13th century Dadan zhizhi 大丹直指 (Direct Pointers to the Great Elixir; DZ 244). Early internal alchemy was practiced by members of the Zhong-Lü 鐘呂, the Nanzong 南宗 (Southern School) and the Quanzhen 全真 (Complete Perfection) movements. Internal alchemy incorporates earlier practices into integrated systems. It uses Chinese medical views, Yijing 易 經 hexagram and trigram symbology, earlier external alchemy terminology, and so forth. In concert with ritual, internal alchemy became the primary form of Daoist religious practice from the late medieval to the contemporary period. Its study is only beginning, but some important information appears in the works of Joseph Needham, Farzeen Baldrian-Hussein, Catherine Despeux, and Fabrizio Pregadio. I have also published a recent study of the Quanzhen system. That gives you a little bit of background on the types and the history.
Apophatic Meditation So, the first is apophatic meditation. Daoist apophatic meditation, also referred to as quietistic meditation, is the earliest form of Daoist contemplative practice. In terms of historical origins, it is associated with the inner cultivation lineages of classical Daoism. Apophatic meditation focuses on emptiness and stillness. It is contentless, non-conceptual, and non-dualistic. One simply empties the heart-mind of all emotional and intellectual content. Disengaged from conventional perceptual and cognitive processes, the “culmination” of apophatic meditation resembles the state that Robert K.C. Forman of the Forge Institute and his collegues have described as the Pure Consciousness Events (PCE). Although textual descriptions date back to the Warring States period (480–222 BCE), such practice, specifically
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in the form of “quiet sitting” (jingzuo 靜坐), remains central in contemporary Daoism. So, contemporary Daoists still practice a form of this. The classic allocations for instructional approximations of apophatic meditation are contained in the Daodejing and the Zhuangzi, although recent work by Professor Roth has brought attention another texts, specifically the so called Xinshu 心術, the Techniques of the Heart-mind, chapters of the Guanzi. According to the Neiye 內業 (Inward Training), the aspiring Daost adept engages in the contemplative process involving fourfold alignment: 1. Aligning the body (zhengxing 正形) 2. Aligning the four limbs (zheng siti 正四體): “Four limbs firm and fixed” 3. Aligning the qi (zhengqi 正氣) 4. Aligning the heart-mind (zhengxin 正心) (Roth, Original Tao, 109). Although the Neiye emphasizes aligning the body and the four limbs, it does not indicate whether this is a seated posture. It is possible that the corresponding posture involved lying down, as was the case in some slightly later forms of Daoist meditation. However, supplementing the technical instructions from the Neiye with other classical Daoist texts, one finds that sitting, or zuo, is emphasized. We do not know the specific body configuration, but my preliminary research suggests they probably involved sitting on the heels in the fashion that parallels the Japanese seiza 正坐 position. Consulting other materials, such as murals and statuary, we find such a posture was fairly standard. This research is, however, preliminary and problematic. (I’m talking about myself.) The materials come from the Eastern or Later Han dynasty (25–220 CE), about 300 years after the classical Daoist texts. Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate any Warring States or Early Han materials. After the introduction of Buddhism during the 1st and 2nd century CE, and after Buddhism became increasingly influential during the 4th century, Daoists began adopting its meditative postures. So, in the organized Daoist tradition, the full-lotus and so-called modified Burmese posture became standard. That is, Daoists were not sitting on their heels for the most part. Within classical Daoist texts the practice of apophatic Summer 2021 — Page 29
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meditation is referred to as shouyi 守一 (“guarding the One”), baoyi 保 一 (“protecting the One”), baopu 抱 朴 (“embracing simplicity”), xinzhai 心 齋 (“fasting the heart-mind”), zuowang 坐 忘 (“sitting in Daoist Meditation: Theory, Method, Application forgetfulness”), and so forth. In the later Daoist tradition shouyi, or “guarding the One,” becomes both a general name for Daoist meditation as well as a reference to specific nonapophatic types of Daoist meditation. So when looking at indigenous technical terms, we have to be thinking about the context and the context-specific meaning of the terminology.
I alone appear hidden and obscure. Like an ocean in its tranquility; Like a high wind in its endless movement. Each person has his reasons; I alone am insolent, as though unconcerned. I alone am different from other people; I revere being fed by the mother.
Daoist apophatic meditation involves emptying and stilling the heart-mind, the seat of emotional and intellectual activity from a traditional Chinese perspective. The heart-mind (xin 心) is both the physical heart and mind in a more abstract sense. This is a psychosomatic view of personhood. In addition, in certain early Daoist systems, paralleling classical Chinese medicine, the heart is the storehouse of shen 神 or spirit, associated with consciousness and various numinous abilities, which some people talk about as divine capacities.
While the Daode jing is a multi-vocal and polysemic anthology, and while different Daoists have read it differently throughout Chinese history, I would suggest that chapter 20 is pivotal for understanding apophatic meditation. It depicts the Daoist adept in meditative seclusion. As the repetition of the phrase “alone” or “in isolation” (du 獨) indicates, such practitioners remove themselves from ordinary human concerns, both psychically and psychologically.
There are, in turn, a variety of passages in the Daode jing that describe apophatic meditation, though they tend to be de-emphasized in conventional and popular readings of the text that ignore its religious dimensions. Some of the chapters are technical descriptions (chapters 10 and 16), while others require more attentive reading. According to chapter 20, for example, Renounce learning and be free from sorrow. Positive and negative, what’s the difference? Beneficial and harmful, where’s the distinction? What humans fear cannot but be feared. Because they are uncultivated, fear has not yet ended. Most people are busy as though attending the Tailao 太牢 feast, * As though ascending a tower in spring; I alone am unmoving, showing no sign. I resemble an infant who has not yet become a child; Lazy and idle, as though there is no place to return. Everyone has more than enough; I alone appear as though abandoned. I have the heart-mind of a fool— Chaotic and unpredictable. Ordinary people are bright and clear; I alone appear dim and indistinct. Ordinary people are inquiring and discerning; Empty Vessel — Page 30
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* The Tailao ritual was one of the most elaborate ancient sacrifices, wherein three kinds of animals were killed as ritual offerings. The animals included an ox, sheep, and pig.
Supplementing the description with other sources, the adept sits in silence. Here she disengages the senses and allows the “turbidity to become clear,” which is a reference to chapter 15 (“the dust to settle”). By applying wuwei 無 為, non-action, effortless activity and non-interference as a contemplative principle, the adept’s heart-mind returns to its original state of open presence. This is a state of emptiness and stillness in which one is aligned with the numinous presence of the Dao. The ultimate goal of mystical union with the Dao is emphasized in phrases like “dimmed and indistinct” and “hidden and obscure,” both descriptions of the Dao in classical Daoism. In addition, the final line, “being fed by the Mother,” also refers to mystical union. Throughout the texts of classical Daoism the Dao is described as “mother,” “origin,” “source,” “root,” “ancestor,” and so forth. “Being fed by the mother” is thus a technical and esoteric reference to meditative praxis, cosmological attunement, and mystical union. More explicit descriptions of Daoist apophatic meditation appear in the 4th century BCE Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi (Book of Master Zhuang), where it is presented as “fasting of the heart-mind” (xinzhai 心齋) and “sitting-in-forgetfulness” (zuowang 坐忘). The relevant passages appear in chapters 4 and 6, respectively:
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“You must fast! I will tell you what that means. Do you think that it is easy to do anything while you have a heart-mind? If you do, the luminous cosmos will not support you…Make your aspirations one! Don’t listen with your ears; listen with your heartmind. No, don’t listen with your heart-mind; listen with qi. * Listening stops with the ears, the heartmind stops with joining, but qi is empty and waits on all things. The Dao gathers in emptiness alone. Emptiness is the fasting of the heart-mind.”
mind of intellectual and emotional content. Finally, one enters the state of cosmological integration, wherein qi, subtle breath or one’s vital force, is the primary layer of being that one listens to.
* Note that Burton Watson, in his highly influential and generally reliable rendering of the text, has mistranslated qi as “spirit.” In the texts of classical Daoism, it is clear that qi is central, although the contextual meaning of the term, whether subtle breath or physical respiration, is open to interpretation. Following Watson, most nonspecialists misinterpret the passage.
Interestingly these passages remain central in contemporary Daoist meditation practice, specifically in certain instructions on “quiet sitting” (jingzuo 靜坐). As I will discuss later, a number of Daoists describe the foundational practice by citing and commenting on the xinzhai and zuowang passages.
And the second important passage: “I’m improving…I can sit and forget…I smash up my limbs and body, drive out perception and intellect, cast off form, do away with understanding, and make myself identical with Great Pervasion. This is what I mean by sitting-in-forgetfulness.” As is the case with other related passages in the Zhuangzi, for example Woman Crookback’s instructions on Daoist practice in chapter 6, here we seem to have a stage-based process of meditative discipline. First, one withdraws from sensory engagement with the phenomenal world. Then one empties the heart-
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This condition is described as “unity” (yi 一), “emptiness” (kong 空or xu 虚), and “identification” (tong 同/通). As the Dao is Stillness from the Daoist prospective, by entering one’s own interior silence one returns to one’s innate nature, which is the Dao.
According to this approach one begins by listening to the center of the head, so one brings one’s listening into the center of the head. Then one rests one’s gaze on the tip of the nose. The gaze, one’s awareness and intent, sinks down the front center-line of the body to rest in the lower elixir field, the dantian 丹田, which is the lower abdominal region. This is the primary storehouse of qi in the body. (Although dantian is a later Daoist technical term, it is noteworthy that classical Daoist texts frequently emphasize focusing on “the belly” (fu 腹), which may also be understood as the lower abdomen.) One practices forgetting until even forgetting is forgotten. To be continued in Fall 2021 edition
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Poetry Corner
Send in your poetry submissions and art to daodogpress@gmail.com.
At the Lake
Rebirth
Gathering Qi
Ripple of cirrus cloud across deep skies geese wade in the reflection.
A single Beautiful Tall Lotus so Pure Standing so very still so Beautiful Pink and Red Yellow Golden Hue Flower Essence Vibe Colors Pointing up to the Sky Essence its Pure Essence Radiant Light Glowing Toward the Western Pure Land Blessed Blissful Sky Hence Rooted Radiant Essence in Water in Mud at The Lilly Pond Floor Its Beauty Essence Beaming inward and Beaming Outward Soon in Due Time the Beautiful Lotus Petals Starts to Wither decay and fall back into the Lilly Pond Mud Base Floor Hence Now its seeds now planted for Another Beautiful Lotus Rebirth in a Lilly Pond of Essence.
By Christina Northrop
Three Summer Thoughts By Christina Northrop
Cherries in the neighbor’s yard over the chain link fence I go. Drowsy steps toward mile marker hidden in the tall grasses. Rose petals moist and red sky grey-gold streams across the field.
By James Gredell
By Kay MacDonald Overcast sky Snow falling Breathing in Hands Expand Breathing out Hands Contract Slowly Quietly Tingly Breathing in Touch Heaven Breathing out Touch Earth Emptying Balancing Expanding Breathing in Cloud hands Breathing out Cloud hands Relaxed Flowing At peace Sun shining Snow melting
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Commentary on Chapter 4 of the Dao De Jing By C.L. Babcook
“Dao is continually flowing; its effectiveness is inexhaustible. It is unfathomable, the ancestor of all things. It softens the sharp, makes clear what was confused, blends with light, and intermingles with the everyday world. It is mysterious in its functioning. I do not know how it came to be; it is what precedes the Creator. In this chapter we are given a general description of the concepts of Dao. However, we must keep in mind the first line of Chapter 1: “The Dao that can be described is not the eternal Dao.” Thus, we can only speak of Dao in a suggestive manner, not in any definitional way. The Dao is simply beyond words and precise definition. With this in mind, let us recall that in Chapter 1 we learned that the Dao is no thing, no object; rather the Dao is like the image of flowing water. To study Dao has sometimes been referred to as studying the watercourse way. The image is of something fluid and in constant movement, like blood constantly flowing throughout the body.
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This fluidity of Dao is characterized as “inexhaustible” in its effectiveness and the Dao is referred to as “the ancestor of all things.” It does seem that although Dao is indescribable, it does have a realm of activity that can be descrived. For example, we note that Dao has a softening effect and that it promotes consciousness in people. We read:
Dao is the image of a person silently meditating. She is sitting in full lotus position, very still. But if we were to enter her body we would see the movement in stillness of her body. The blood and other fluids are constantly in movement circulating throughout her body, which, from a different perspective appears to be still not moving.
“It softens the sharp, makes clear the confused.”
Science too has informed us that movement and stillness make up reality simultaneously. Atoms, which make up all objects, are in constant motion even though from our perspective, the object may appear stationary. From this we begin to sense that Dao is beyond and yet inherent in all dualisms. How can we understand this? Let us review some of the adjectives usesd in Chapter 4 to describe Dao. These include:
The Dao in some mysterious fashion helps humankind overcome its limited awareness. The Dao not only is a kind of universal awareness, it also supports a person to become aware. Thus one of the functions of the Dao is to help people become one with Dao. We learned in Chapter 3 that for the Daoist, a person is seen as a microcosmic aspect of the macrocosm. The Dao promotes people to become aware that they are, in potential form, the Dao itself. The sage is the Dao’s best representative because the sage, like the Dao, “blends with Light,” that is, the sage blends with awareness, heightened consciousness while at the same time, like the Dao, “intermingles with the everyday world.” Although intermingling with the everyday world, the Dao is deeply mysterious and it is beyond description because it is the foundation of change of movement. All things, people, and ideas - everything is subject to change. This suggests that all things are in constant movement and because of the constant transformative function of change, there can be no description of “what precedes the Creator,” i.e., what comes before creation and thus before change. Even for the sage, the Dao is beyond a fixed definition. How can a force that is “mysterious” and in constant change ever be described? Although Dao cannot be effectively described because it is constantly flowing, it can be experienced by transcending what constitutes change - and this is time itself. In time all things change. Outside of time is a kind of constancy. Dao precedes creation and at the same time is in all creation. The only thing that does not change is change itself and the Dao is continually flowing, continually changing. This suggests that there is a quality of stillness in change or movement. The great poet, T.S. Elliot referenced this in his line, “the still point of the turning world.” Perhaps one of the besst explanations of Dao is: it is stillness in movement while at the same time it is movement in stillness. With this statement we begin to appreciate the deep mystery that is Dao. A more helpful image depicting the stillness/movement that is
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fluidity constant movement mysterious intermingles with the everyday world preceded the Creator is effective When we reflect upon these adjectives one word that can embrace all these descriptions is energy. Energy can be a wave or a particle, it can be invisible and visible and it is inherent in all things. It may exisit in “potential” from before something is created and it is in all material objects. The Dao is more than energy because of its “effectiveness.” To be effective suggests something happens. Dao thus is not only energy, but is also the lawful manner in which energy moves to create objects, ideas, cultural horizons — all that is, was, and ever will be. Because of this, we acknowledge that the lawful way energy moves in one time period may not be the same for a later time period. The laws of energy movement may be subject to change. Lawful energy movement could explain why the worldview of the ancient world with its excessive gods, its belief in the importance of blood sacrifice, its emphasis on astrology, etc., seem so strange to the contemporary mind. The laws of cosmic energy movement may have been somewhat different in the ancient world, and thus, affected ancient man’s worldview and his reality in a different manner than that of contemporary man. A shift in consciousness may occur as the cosmic forces move and shift. Perhaps because of this, Lao Zi ends Chapter 4 with the following line: “I do not know how it came to be; it is what precedesSummer the Creator. ” — Page 35 2021
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Book Review “Yes! Poems and Paintings by Michael Robbins” By Thomas Hubl, author, Healing Collective Trauma This book is a transmission of a consciousness that seamlessly holds both the deep stillness of luminous emptiness and the fully embodied vitality of a unique and colorful life. In words and images, Michael takes us from the arms of the Divine Beloved to the
finite joys and difficulties of loving real people and places. A compelling celebration of the journey of Being and Becoming filled with wisdom, compassion and presence. PUBLISHER: Art Book Bindery PRICE: $40 ISBN: 978-0-9963818-0-2
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Book Review The Divine Feminine Tao Invites Us to Act By Rosemarie Anderson The Lao-Tzu’s Tao Te Ching portrays the Tao as “mother,” “virgin,” and “womb.” She is the “immortal void” who endlessly “returns to source” to renew life again and again. Quoting from my own translation of Poem 6, the Tao is The immortal void Called the dark womb, the dark womb’s gate From her Creation takes root An unbroken gossamer That prevails without effort. From her “dark womb,” all life flows. To align with the Tao as mother, virgin, and womb is to discover her path to peace and wellbeing with ourselves, each other, the earth, and the natural world. At a time in history when human greed and aggression are out of control and threatening life as we know it, her message to us is also a warning. The great message of the Tao Te Ching is the ordinariness of peace and wellbeing that arises from spontaneous action that seeks no gain for the self. This is to enact the path of wei wu wei, meaning to act without acting or do without doing. Wei wu wei does not mean doing nothing, not thinking, not traveling, not initiating projects, not cooking dinner, not planting a garden in the spring, and so on. To the contrary, in leaving self-gain aside, our actions arise naturally and spontaneously to meet concrete situations and events without plotting or maneuvering in advance or expecting to be liked, appreciated, or rewarded for what we do. Aligning with the Tao is to seek what is lowest and most needy, like a mother might act naturally and spontaneously on behalf of a child in danger.
Quoting from my translation of Poem 8: The highest good is like water Bringing goodness to all things without struggle In seeking low places spurned by others The Tao resembles water. In so doing, we attend to what matters most—not tomorrow but right now. Per the situation, our actions may be swift or slow, but they will in time resolve obstacles at their source in the same way that water carves out canyons and moves mountains. What matters most will vary for each of us. This is wei wu wei in action. Over time, enacting this feminine path to peace will impact all our relations with others, including animals and other species, each other, our families and communities, the conduct of governments, relationships between nations and peoples, and with planet Earth. The wisdoms of the Divine Feminine Tao may be applied to our personal initiatives and our response to personal and modern crises, including meeting the challenges of the current coronavirus pandemic. Wei wu wei invites us to act spontaneously and naturally like water, determining its own course and leaving selfgain aside. Rosemarie Anderson, Ph.D. is an author, artist, Professor Emerita of Psychology, and an Episcopal priest. Contact her at https://rosemarieanderson.com. PUBLISHER: Inner Traditions / Bear & Company PRICE: $16.99 ISBN: 978-1644112465 TO PURCHASE: bookshop.org/shop/DaoDog
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Directory & Classifieds AUDIO 5 Element by Dusty Bubbles. Songs inspired by the spirit of acupuncture points and 5 Element theory. Available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon. Also streaming on Spotify and all other music platforms.
Taoist Podcast: What’s This Tao All About?
A lighthearted look at Taoism & life covering Daoist topics, listener questions and the Tao Te Ching. Guided meditations are available. With Dr. Carl Totton & journalist Tod Perry. Listen on iTunes or at www. whasthistao.com.
Qigong Meditations CD (with music). Three
guided meditations – Three Level Relaxation, Organ Balancing Meditation, Expansion Breathing Meditation — by Solala Towler. $10 plus $3 shipping. Abode of the Eternal Tao, 1991 Garfield St. Eugene, OR 97404. www. abodetao.com.
Kirtan Qigong CD. Three slow, relaxing bhajans
(Sanskrit chanting) with Solala Towler and friends. Perfect for slow movement. $10 plus $3 shipping. Abode of the Eternal Tao, 1991 Garfield St. Eugene, OR 97404. www.abodetao.com.
Low-cost audio courses with Solala Towler. Taoist Principles to Live a Healthy and Prosperous Life; Qigong For Troubled Times; Practicing the Tao Te Ching; Sacred Union: Spiritual Relationship. To download, go to: www.abodetao.com.
ACUPUNCTURE SCHOOLS 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.
Daoist Traditions College of Chinese Medical Arts in Asheville, North Carolina. Accredited Masters program in Oriental medicine; steeped in the spirit of Daoism and teachings by Jeffrey Yuen, a world-renowned leader in Classical Chinese Medicine. Prepares students to enter the profession as skilled acupuncture clinicians. www. daoisttraditions.edu.admissions@daoisttraditions.edu. For more information, call 828-225-3993.
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.
RETREATS AND TRAINING CENTERS 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. Celebrating 23 years of service.
Taoist Institute offers classes in Qigong, Tai Chi
Chuan and Shaolin & Taoist kung fu. Services offered in Healing with Qi, Reiki, couseling & psychotherapy. Taoist ceremonies (weddings, funerals) are also available. Dr. Carl Totton, Director, 10630 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601. 818-760-4219, website: www.taoistinstitute.com, psychological services: www.drcarltotton.com.
Qigong & Daoist Training Center: American Dragon Gate Lineage. 200-Hour Qigong certification course for beginner to advanced. Local-Distance learning options. Daoist priest 3-year training and ordination for serious followers of the Dao. Annual Qigong and Daoist meditation retreats in northern California. Shifu Michael Rinaldini (Lichangdao), 22nd generation Longmen Priest. Qigongdragon.com
White Cloud Institute. Classes open to everyone.
Taoist Studies, Energy Medicine, Chi Nei Tsang, Pelvic Health. Qigong and Meditation. Retreats. NCBTMB approved. 505-670-3538. www.whitecloudinstitute.com.
Taoist Arts Center. Tai Chi, Chi Kung, Taoist
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.
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Directory & Classifieds Chi Wellness, The Center of Qigong. 3-year
Medical Qigong Practitioner and Qigong Instructor certification training curricula. Retreats and weekly transformational Qigong Lifestyle and Qigong Movement classes for all health objectives and self care. Medical qigong treatment, and Qigong Lifestyle and Chi Nutrition coaching appointments. Consulting and training for enhanced productivity and balance customized for organizations. Founder/Director: Debra Lin Allen. 4155 East Jewell Ave., Suite 105, Denver, CO 80222. 720-427-0406. DebraLin.ChiWellness@gmail.com. www.ChiWellness.net.
INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLERS Self-published Books by author and practitioner Jia Senghe.
• Restoring Original Body Templates with Medicine Buddha • Twenty Asian Tonic Herbs That Promote Health and Longevity
• Primal Light Shamanic Qigong • Internal Alchemy: Taoist Practices of Immortality Available at Etsy.com Shop: ZenShamanicArts Member International Shakuhachi Society: www. komuso.com/people/people.pl?person=18 www.utaguchi.com
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SERVICES ACUPUNCTURE FLORIDA Vitalichi Acupuncture. Nicole Noles Collins, AP. 3440 Conway Blvd. Unit 1D, Port Charlotte FL 33952. vitalichiacupuncture.com. 941-979-9793.
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The Ten-Thousand Things 50 years of creativity from Jane English and Gia-fu Feng
Chuang Tsu - book Tao Calendar
Tao Te Ching - book
2014 edition
2011 edition
Yarrow Stalks
for use with I Ching oracle
A Rainbow of Tao - book
Stillpoint
Yin-Yang and the Ten-Thousand Things watercolor by Jane English 1988 art prints available
Fingers Pointing to the Moon - book
biography of Gia-fu Feng by Carol Wilson
details & order at
eheart.com Blog: eheart.com/blog Catalog: eheart.com/pdf/EHcatalog.pdf Facebook: facebook.com/janebenglish
Art Prints
Empty Vessel Page 40 images by — Jane English
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The Ceremony Cards
an oracle - indigenous wisdom from Greenland
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