EMPTY VESSEL: Journal of Taoist Philosophy and Practice WINTER 2021

Empty Vessel Journal of Taoist Philosophy & Practice

WINTER 2021 Volume 28 Number 4

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The Empty Vessel — Page 2

FEATURES Feng Shui for the Lunar New Year, PAGE 6 Your fortune in the Water Tiger year, PAGE 8 Ba Zi Summary for the lunar new year, PAGE 12 Embracing doing and being, PAGE 14 Part 4: Historical Periods and Sources of Daoist Meditation, PAGE 16 three kinds of tao in the tao te ching, PAGE 22 commentary on chapter 5, PAGE 24 Lessons from water, PAGE 30

departments poetry corner, PAGES 26-27 Taoism in the seasons, PAGES 28-29 book reviews, PAGES 34-36

Winter 2021 — Page 3

Publisher's corner

Happy Winter!

Happy Year of the Tiger! I hope the coming year brings you blessings of health, wealth, happiness and harmony. There are several articles in this edition to help you adjust to the new year, as well as several new advertisers, who I hope you will support. Please check out our new digital issues and subscriptions, which are now available on www.issuu.com or our website, www.emptyvessel.net. Also consider visiting our page on Amazon and writing a review so more people can find us.

Thank you to all our readers, subscribers, writers, and advertisers who continue to support us and share in our collective journey of Taoism.

In gratitude, Nicole and Chris

JUST RELEASED

Perfect for new or experienced readers

Working with a collection of eleven different translations from eight different publishers, this book provides – for each of the 81 verses of the Tao Te Ching – three different translations and some comments.

The format allows the reader to view all three translations and the comments for each verse at one time with the book opened flat.

The comments are written in a conversational nonacademic manner, designed to provide a variety of helpful tidbits. Taken together, then, the book is a valuable resource for all readers as they begin or continue their own spiritual journeys along “The Way”.

The Empty Vessel — Page 4

The Parallel Tao Te Ching

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Winter Advertisers Larry N. Campbell - page 4 Ying Yu Jade - page 4 Inner Strength - page 11 Lonny Jarrett - page 22 Sanctuary of Tao - page 23 Solala Towler - page 25 Jane English - page 40

Poetry Contributors Christopher Collins James Gredell Mankh / Walter E. Harris III Ray Vespe

Feature Contributors 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 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.

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.

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.

Susan Levitt is a professional astrologer and feng shui consultant in San Francsco, CA. She is the author of five books published in several languages including Taoist Astrology and Taoist Feng Shui. More information is on her website www.susanlevitt.com where you can sign up for her lunar astrology blog.

Heather Hernandez has been a part of Empty Vessel since 2018.

Currently she is Copy Desk Chief for the Daily Sun in Charlotte Harbor, Florida.

Lori Erickson is one of America’s top travel writers specializing in spiritual journeys.

She’s the author of The Soul of the Family Tree, Near the Exit and Holy Rover. Her website www.spiritualtravels.info features holy sites around the world.

Gary Shugar has been practicing tai chi for 22 years and became interested in Taoist philosophy about the same time. He added qigong to his practice 8 years ago while visiting China with a Taoist group. The trip included visits to Taoist sites and three nights at Taoist monasteries on Mount Hua.

Acupuncturist Dr. Nate Mohler has taught at East-West College of Natural Medicine in Florida and is the current Academic Dean at Southwest Acupuncture College in Colorado. He is also in private practice at Sandhill Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine. Dr. Mohler wrote a field guide for medicinal plants in Colorado and has a Chinese and North American medicinal plant farm in Lafayette.

Winter 2021 — Page 5

Feng Shui for the Lunar New Year

By Susan Levitt https://susanlevitt.com The year 2022 can be time for sweeping change during this year of the passionate Water Tiger. This is your year to follow your instincts and pounce on new opportunities! But if you did not complete projects or clear clutter in the previous Ox year 2021, then clean up and clear out now before we get too far into Tiger year. Make your home and workplace organized now since the Tiger year will be the time for fast action.

The Element Water This year, 2022, is a Water year. Tiger personality traits are bold, strong, and brave. Therefore, this Tiger year is the time to take risks. And with the element Water, people act on their gut instincts and feelings, not cautious planning. In feng shui, the element Water is yin, quiet, cooling, and soothing. Yin rooms of the home are the bathroom, bedroom, and dining room. Yang rooms are the living room and kitchen that are exciting, dynamic rooms for family interactions and entertainment.

The element Water correlates to the bathroom. This year is time to make your bathroom your personal, healing sanctuary. Create your own peaceful and relaxing home spa to come home to after an exciting and hectic day in Tiger year. Tigers love Water and are excellent The Empty Vessel — Page 6

swimmers, so make your bathroom a cozy haven.

Colors Of The Five Elements Boost energy and start a new cycle by painting a room or two in your home during Tiger year. The energy of the entire house, or any room, can be transformed by adding a coat of fresh paint.

What color for exterior paint? Walk around the block and look at the colors of the neighboring buildings.

Paint the color that looks the best with the others.

That improves everyone’s property.

On the inside, look at the overall color scheme. If all rooms of your home have white or ivory walls, all white is too much of the element Metal that can lead to arguing. So paint one room with color, or trim a room with color. Don’t know which room to paint? Paint the room most in need of being refreshed.

Each room of your home correlates to the five Taoist elements of Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood and can be harmonized with the correct choice of colors:

Fire - Heart - Living Room In Chinese medicine, the element Fire is represented by the heart. The living room is the heart of the home.

Your living room is best with accents of the bright and lively Fire colors red, purple, orange, and all shades of red. Bright accents stimulate conversation and activity.

Strong Fire brings passion, energy, and creativity. Fire is hot and expanding energy.

Earth - Stomach - Dining Room In Chinese medicine, the element earth is the stomach.

The dining room is where we eat and digest food. The dining room is best in earthen tones of gold, terra cotta, or other soft yin colors. Red walls (Fire) in a dining area are too stimulating and people eat too fast. Strong Earth brings stability, balance, and patience. Earth energy is grounding.

Metal - Lungs Bedroom

Wood element into this Wood room. Strong Wood brings enthusiasm and spirituality. Wood energy brings growth.

Create Luck Start at your front door. Clean your entry to welcome all the good luck that will come into your home and place of business. Wash, sweep, or vacuum the front steps, porch, entry hall, lobby — whatever the entry is where you live. Make sure this area is clean, well lit, and inviting. Check the entry’s lighting fixtures, make sure the doorbell works, and paint touch-ups on scuff marks. Add a welcome mat if needed. Wash or replace an old mat if it has worn out its welcome.

BOOKS BY SUSAN LEVITT TAOIST FENG SHUI: The Ancient Roots of the Chinese Art of Placement

Do the same for a business. Make sure that your entry is clean and inviting, and that there is good signage with clear address numbers. A business must be attractive to enter and easy to find.

One third of business success is good feng shui at the entrance. If your business is online, then your home page is your entrance.

In Chinese medicine, the element metal is the lungs. The TEEN FENG SHUI: bedroom is where we sleep and Design Your Space, Design Your Life breathe deeply while resting.

Best bedroom colors are white, TAOIST ASTROLOGY: A Handbook cream, and soft pastels. Avoid of the Authentic Chinese Tradition In this Water year, do not be bright big prints on bedding indulgent. Instead, stop clutter and drapery, especially in before it builds by maintaining children’s bedrooms. Colorful prints are too yang the habit of tidying up before you leave your home or and not restful. Strong Metal brings logic, clarity, and office. Then a peaceful environment awaits when you intelligence. Note that Metal energy can be unyielding. return. Especially at your place of work, it’s not favorable to leave a mess over the weekend. If still working from home due to Covid, clean up your work space at Water - Kidneys - Bathroom the end of each work day.

In Chinese medicine, the element water is the kidneys. In the bathroom, paint this room in a soft, quiet, First Thing Seen and calm color for peaceful elimination of waste and for soothing bathing or showering. Light blue is fine.

What is the first thing seen when you enter your home?

Strong Water brings wisdom, peace, and serenity.

And when you enter each room? Your eye goes someWater is cold and free flowing energy. where, so direct the eye by organizing each room so that the first thing seen sets a pleasant tone that makes the room inviting to enter. Ideally, the first thing seen in each Wood - Liver - Kitchen room is clean, inspiring, and makes sense with the home design. You do not want the first thing seen to be a pile In Chinese medicine, the element wood is the liver.

Wood is used in a kitchen to feed the cooking fire. The of paperwork or any type of clutter. Stay tidy, especially during this element Water year when people follow their kitchen must be kept very clean because this is where feelings, and very few will feel like cleaning up with so food is prepared, so white walls are best. But green accents or a plant are recommended to introduce the much excitement going on during a Tiger year.

Winter 2021 — Page 7

Your Fortune in the Water Tiger Year

By Susan Levitt https://susanlevitt.com

Rat

Birth years of the Rat: 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020. Next year of the Rat is 2032.

Tiger and Rat are very different astrology signs with very different temperaments. Tiger makes life decisions based on impulse, whereas you Rat prefer to plan and analyze. So do not get swept up in Tiger year excitement. Instead, be pragmatic and thorough.

Avoid confrontations, especially lawsuits, because protocols might not be observed in a Tiger year. Rat likes rules because you can figure out a way around them. But in Tiger year, no one follows any rules.

Tiger’s explosive energy can bring inspiration, yet Tiger’s changeable energy could bring instability for the usually cautious Rat. This is not your year to get rich quick. Plan that for Dragon year 2024. Dragon is your powerful ally. If others see you as calculating this year, know that Rat logic differs from Tiger instinct.

Your best months are April, August, and December, and winter is your best season. The element Water empowers Water Rat born in 1972, and Wood Rat born in 1984.

Ox (Buffalo)

Birth years of the Ox: 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021. Next year of the Ox is 2033.

Have some fun in Tiger year! You’ve been working hard! But stay true to your Ox nature of being reliable and strong. Others can take wild risks or enjoy caprices in a Tiger year, but it’s not The Empty Vessel — Page 8

in your best interest to do so. Instead, build on the respect received and solid gains made in your Ox year 2021. Tiger energy can bring unexpected problems, so stay the course and be diligent and conscientious in your work. Oxen born during Tiger month (February), on Tiger day, or during Tiger hours (3 a.m. – 5 a.m.) have an easier time adapting to abrupt changes in plans and the lack of structure during a Tiger year. Your best months are May and September, and your best season is winter. The element Water empowers Water Ox born in 1973, and Wood Ox born in 1985.

Tiger

Birth years of the Tiger: 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010. Next year of the Tiger is 2022.

Go for it, Tiger! Freespirited, powerful, and adventurous Tiger gets many lucky breaks this year.

So follow your hunches and instincts. This is your year to experience good fortune, recognition, protection, and benevolence.

Say yes to every opportunity. Love is found if single, or if in a partnership love deepens and is celebrated.

Plan for big parties in spring and summer. Just refrain from overspending or being overly generous with gifts.

Tigers are empowered by the energy of their own year.

February, June, and October are your best months, and autumn is your best season. Luck is strongest for Water Tiger born in 1962, and Wood Tiger born in 1974.

Rabbit (Hare)

Birth years of the Rabbit: 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011. Next year of the Rabbit is 2023.

The impulsive, explosive energy of Tiger year is entertaining. But it can, at times, be excessive for Rabbit’s peaceful, gentle nature. Unplanned changes

and too much excitement can even effect your health.

If scattered or overwhelmed, stay calm, conserve your energy, and be the peacemaker. Find solace in Water in this Water year with baths, saunas, and going to lakes, rivers, or the ocean. Transform your bathroom into a luxurious home spa. You start a new life cycle next year in Rabbit year 2023 so for many Rabbits this is the year to tie up loose ends and complete cycles. March, July, and November are your best months, and spring is your best season. The element Water empowers Water Rabbit born in 1963, and Wood Rabbit born in 1975.

Dragon

Birth years of the Dragon: 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012. Next year of the Dragon is 2024.

The two power animals of the Chinese zodiac are Dragon and Tiger. You, Dragon, can look forward to and enjoy Tiger year’s wild activities, sudden changes in plans, and changing relationship dynamics.

You can experience success, celebrations, and good opportunities. But you can also be challenged this year if your plans are blocked by others, or if others won’t follow your Dragon lead. By year end, it is clear that Dragon is stronger than Tiger.

Still, avoid power struggles or lawsuits because Tiger has a temper, and you can lose battles even if you win the war. Your lucky cycle is Dragon year 2024 so keep focus. April, August, and December are your best months. Spring is your best season. The element Water empowers Water Dragon born in 1952 and Wood Dragon born in 1964.

Snake

Birth years of the Snake: 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013. Next year of the Snake is 2025.

Brash Tiger energy is very different from Snake’s refined sensibilities. The bold activities of others could result in difficulties or calamities, so refrain from overreacting or being

codependent. Use your Serpent wisdom to cool down Tiger-year hot heads. Introspection and meditation bring rewards. A good use of vital Tiger year energy is to pursue your interest in the arts. In your career, build on what you accomplished in Ox year 2021. Your best months are May and September, and your best season is spring. The element Water empowers Water Snake born in 1953, and Wood Snake born in 1965.

Horse

Birth years of the Horse: 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014. Next year of the Horse is 2026.

Happy times for the Horse! Horse is Tiger’s best friend, along with Dog. This Tiger year is your lucky chance to race off to greener pastures, and gallop after new opportunities. For some Horses, this is a chance to really run free after the constricting previous Ox and Rat years. But for all Horses, it is fortunate to start new endeavors of all kinds from opening a business, buying a home, getting married, or having a baby. Anticipate lucky change and fortunate travel opportunities. Tiger year brings fun, frolic, and enjoyment of friends and family. Entertainment may be expensive, but this is the time for Horse to live well. February, June, and October are your best months, and your best season is summer. The element Water empowers Water Horse born in 2002 or 1942, and Wood Horse born in 1954 or 2014.

Sheep (Goat, Ram)

Birth years of the Sheep: 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015. Next year of the Sheep is 2027.

Anticipate fun and exciting times for us Sheep. Sheep will be more social, and travel is fortunate. But don’t become depleted by Tiger year distractions. Tiger has endless energy, but not Sheep. So maintain your energy and practice self Winter 2021 — Page 9

care. Think before you indulge, overspend, or make a commitment. March, July, and November are your best months. Summer is the luckiest season; winter is not.

An even luckier year for Sheep will be Rabbit 2023 so don’t be melancholic during the winter of this Water year. The element Water empowers Water Sheep born in 2003 or 1943, and Wood Sheep born in 2015 or 1955.

Monkey

Birth years of the Monkey: 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016. Next year of the Monkey is 2028.

Tiger and Monkey are opposites. So the spotlight is not on Monkey this year, and you do not like to be ignored. You’re a natural leader, but no one is a follower in a Tiger year.

Your usual support systems that you rely on might not be there. So don’t rely on others. Be more independent and resourceful. To avoid challenges, it’s best to build on your current foundation and not engage in too many new projects. Your best months are April, August, and December, and your best season is summer. The element Water empowers Water Monkey born in 1992, and Wood Monkey born in 2004 or 1944.

Phoenix (Rooster, Chicken)

Birth years of the Phoenix: 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017. Next year of the Phoenix is 2029.

Ox year 2021 was a good year for you. So build on your successes by continuing the Ox energy of being patient and methodical.

Tiger year brings enthusiastic energy and exciting changes for you Phoenix.

And you see opportunities for rebirth. But events can occur so quickly in a Tiger year that you could lose control. So keep a critical eye, strong boundaries, and not get swept up in Tiger year passions. Maintain balance amid your new Tiger year activities. Your best The Empty Vessel — Page 10

months are May and September. Autumn is your best season. The element Water empowers Water Phoenix born in 1993 or 1933, and Wood Phoenix born in 2005 and 1945.

Dog

Birth years of the Dog: 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018. Next year of the Dog is 2030.

This is your lucky year!

Dog and Tiger are extremely compatible, along with Horse. Good fortune and strong energy are with you to know love and happiness. Dog experiences all kinds of windfalls and favors including financial good luck. Time for a pay raise, promotion at work, or new more beneficial career. You appreciate Tiger year’s directness and quick problem solving that helps you cover much ground. Enjoy an excellent year as the consciousness of Tiger year inspires you to change the world. February, June, and October are your best month, and autumn is your best season. The element Water empowers Water Dog born in 1982, and Wood Dog born in 1994 or 1934.

Pig (Boar)

Birth years of the Pig: 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019. Next year of the Pig is 2031.

Exciting times! Your dreams can be fulfilled because Tiger and Pig are close allies. Luck is with you in all endeavors including romance. Finally, you have opportunities for adventure, advancement, and travel — especially after staid Ox year 2021.

Tiger year 2022 and Rabbit year 2023 create a very good fortunate two-year cycle for all Pigs. March, July, and November are your best months. Autumn and winter are your best seasons. The element Water empowers Water Pig born in 1983, and Wood Pig born in 1995 or 1935.

Winter 2021 — Page 11

By Dr. Nate Mohler www.sandhillacu.com January 31, 2022 at 4:01pm (Mountain Time) marked the ending of the Yin Metal Ox year and the beginning of the Yang Water Tiger year in the Chinese 60 year cycle. The approaching year according to the Chinese Lunar Calendar is 4720.

For each Lunar New Year there are three aspects that influence; the Heaven Stem, Earth Branch, and a Yin/ Yang polarity. The Stem is given to us in the form of one of the five elements, while the Branch is given in the form of the zodiac animal. One other aspect of the year should be mentioned before discussing further. That is the polarity designation of each year. Each year is designated by a polarity which is governed by the Heaven Stem Element.

These three aspects make up the general description of each year. For example, the year that is just ending is designated as a Yin Metal (White) Ox year. Each of these aspects tells part of the story of what one might expect in such a year. In retrospect, the Yin Metal Ox year was one of work and toil. Ox has an association with the Earth phase/element and is also a work animal.

The Metal influence indicates an association with finances and physical health. The fact that it was a Yin year, indicates that the focus should be inward consolidation rather than outward expansion. Following the general map that is laid out by this, indicates how one should behave, generally, during such a year. Ignoring these things could lead to disharmonies that are a result of not expressing spontaneity within the natural The Empty Vessel — Page 12

flow of the year. If last year was a struggle, perhaps it was a result of seeking to grow when one should have been seeking to maintain.

The year that we are entering is that of the Yang Water (Black) Tiger year. The Heaven Stem is that of Water and the Earth Branch is that of the Tiger (which is associated with the Wood phase/element). The year is also a Yang year, deriving from the Heaven Stem. So, the question is, what does this all mean? A read of the year starts with a broad reading of these individual attributes.

Tiger Earth Branch The Tiger zodiac is an ambitious and active sign that invokes courage and self-confident behavior. The Zodiac is, along with the Horse and Dog in the Triangle of Ambition; and along with the Rabbit is in the House of Development. The Tiger is an idealistic sign and potent. It is associated with the Wood phase/ element and a Yang polarity. The image that is invoked is that of a tree growing sturdy and indomitable.

There is also an element of Fire associated with the Tiger, which is derived from the sun. During the Tiger month, the sun is beginning to recover its strength.

The Tiger also has a native magnetism. Tiger personalities are rarely unnoticed, and they quite often crave attention. The Wood phase is associated with leadership and the Fire phase is associated with governance.

Because of these associations, Tigers easily take command in groups and regularly assume that everyone else is simply there to follow orders. If this brand of assertiveness is played up too much, it may be

BA ZI SUMMARY FOR THE LUNAR NEW YEAR

BY DR. NATE MOHLER recognized as aggression. This can lead to discord.

Therefore, though the Tiger’s strength is in leadership, one should remember that temperance in such leadership is more often met with agreement than overt commands. A quote from Laozi is pertinent here: “How does the ocean become king of all rivers and streams?” The given answer is that the ocean remembers to lower itself by the virtue of humility. Of course, the ocean sits physically lower than the rivers and streams.

Water Heaven Stem The next aspect to discuss is the Heaven Stem. This year belongs to the Water Stem. In this case it is Yang Water and is therefore connected to running bodies of water of all types; especially rivers and waterfalls.

Water has, historically, been associated as a medium of transport and communication. This indicates that the year will be a good year for open communication.

Water tempers the aggressive tendencies of the Tiger and reminds us that the Wood embodied by the Tiger should be nourished by Water, which is embodied by the Heaven Stem, and not the hidden Fire within the Tiger – a reminder, so-to-speak, to not overextend oneself.

Yang Years This year is a Yang natured year in contrast with the internally directed Yin year of the Ox. The Tiger year should be outwardly directed. A year of expansion.

This follows the Tiger’s impulse to make bold and assertive moves in a variety of realms: but especially in personal, social, and financial endeavors.

Summary Because the Tiger is courageous, ambitious, and magnetic, this year will be a good year to make bold moves.

Tigers are typically solitary animals, coming together only to mate. This may indicate that such bold moves should be taken in a solitary fashion or that if one is struggling to make things happen in this solitary manner, a partnership should be explored.

This is a year to put to work all of the preparation and toil that was done in the previous Yin Metal (White) Ox year.

This year is associated with the Water phase/element, which labels the Tiger as the Black Tiger. The Black Tiger is associated with the god of wealth, Zhao Gongming. This deity of wealth’s birthday falls on the fifth day of the first lunar month. He was known to have tamed the black tiger. Zhao Gongming is attended by several lesser deities of wealth and prosperity. For those interested in making financial transactions in the coming year, because the Black Tiger is associated with this deity, this year bodes exceptionally well in financial prospects.

Remember that this is a general reading and not specific to all cases. Each zodiac has a more specific reading with regard to the lunar new year. Whether or not your Ba Zi zodiac shares a good outlook or not depends on the specifics of the Stems and Branches of your year, month, day and hour in your birth chart.

Winter 2021 — Page 13

Exploring “Doing” and “Being”

By Jane English www.eheart.com This morning I realize that one of the ways I have limited myself was to buy into the belief that I needed to “earn money.” I realize that the most successful things financially in my life have been things I did “for fun” and ended up by serendipity being financially successful.

I can even start with my doing a PhD in physics — that started with my liking to tinker with things, like taking apart a flashlight over and over as a child, fascinated with how it worked. Then choosing to major in physics in college because I had so much fun doing the lab experiments and being invited to help teach the lab sessions while I was still an undergraduate. And we physics majors had to take a shop class — learning to use hand and power tools — how many girls got to do that back in the early 1960’s!!! More fun.

wandering around making photos of whatever caught my eye — no particular “reason” for making those images.

Photographing kept me out in nature during grad school, and student art sales gave me an outlet for my creations.

And how is it that I found my Native American friends? By being drawn to their spiritual ceremonies that happened out in nature rather than in churches — sweat lodges, sunrise ceremonies and long silent walks.

These took me to a more expanded state of being than what I had found while photographing nature.

There is more history I will write — but at this moment I want to look at “now.”

I have a hard time with “work,” with “labor” — is that due in part from my “native” culture? With how I was born with no labor? I hesitate to speak of this, not wanting to be seen as lazy, not wanting to feel guilty for not being purposeful. But this difference comes to mind over and over. I am tired Cover of the original 1972 edition of trying to fit into a culture that is of Tao Te Ching — the 2011 edition not my own, that of assuming work is virtuous. is still in print

Then I went to grad school and worked on bubble chamber experiments at big particle accelerators because of how much fun I had back in college when a professor took some of us physics majors to visit an accelerator and help with an experiment he was working on. The money for grad school came from stipends I got as a teaching assistant and then a research assistant. I enjoyed teaching the lab sessions for the undergraduate physics course, as I had done while my undergraduate years.

I much prefer the smile that comes to me when I let myself just “be,” when I sit back and take in this world I find myself in — for instance, how did there get to be chickadees in my world — ones I see close-up on the shelf feeder outside the window behind my living room couch? And then there’s that deep blue in the sky — so luscious!

Then there is photography — I was given a simple brownie box camera when I was about 13. I made my first photo in 1955 with that brownie box camera — no controls other than shutter buttton!

And I have noticed that often when I am in this state of just “being,” paradoxically, I find myself moved to “do” something — action that just emerges naturally, that is not forced.

Then I was given a good 35mm film camera when I was in college. A boyfriend in grad school got me started making black-and-white prints in a darkroom. I enjoyed

Enough words for now — enjoy feeling whatever it is that these musings of mine “tickle” within your own being.

The Empty Vessel — Page 14

Chapter Thirty-Seven Tao Abides In Non-Action, Yet Nothing Is Left Undone.

If Kings And Lords Observed This, The Ten Thousand Things Would Develop Naturally.

If They Still Desired To Act, They Would Return To The Simplicity Of Formless Substance.

Without Form There Is No Desire.

Without Desire There Is Tranquility.

And In This Way All Things Would Be At Peace Tao Te Ching translated by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English Vintage Books 1972 and 2011

Winter 2021 — Page 15

Part 4: Historical Periods and Sources of Daoist Meditation the twelfth century anthology Yuyi jielin tu 鬱儀結璘圖 (Diagram of the Sun and Moon; DZ 435, 5ab. Yuyi and Transcript prepared and edited Jielin are esoteric names of the sun and moon, respectively)

by Aranyelixír Kiadó a basic practice involves standing facing the sun in the early morning. One allows the warm solar radiance to enter and infuse one’s entire body. One “makes the light of Ingestion the sun embrace one’s entire body extending as far as the The 3rd major form of Daoist meditation is ingestion, also edges of the stomach, and infusing one with the feeling of being completely illuminated both internally and externally.” referred to as absorption. In terms of historical origins, it Whoever regularly practices such exercises will acquire was also systematized by the early Shangqing or Highest “radiant complexion” and one’s “whole body will become Clarity movement of early medieval Daoism. Ingestion involves the absorption of seasonal and locality influences luminous.” The same text also describes a more complex method wherein the sun and moon are associated with as well as astral effulgences. That is, it involves gathering specific deities. terrestrial and celestial energies and then incorporating them into one’s own body as an energetic system.

In all of these exercises, one exchanges qualities with the Some of the most well-known methods involve ingesting sun and moon, specifically as pure yang (heaven and fire) and pure yin (earth and water) energies of the cosmos. the energies of the five directions and the energies of Thus primordial ethers and cosmic energies are taken the sun, moon and stars. Like visualization, Daoist into and circulated throughout the Daoist adept’s body. ingestion methods usually utilize traditional Chinese The body becomes the universe, and the universe is one’s cosmology, specifically the various Five Phase associbody. From this Daoist perspective, one literally shifts onations. They also tend to be time-specific. So there are tological conditions, becomes a different kind of being in specific times during the day and during the seasons which subtle presences circulate and manifest in the body. when you practice them.

By Louis Komjathy 康思奇, Ph.D.

For example, in a standard Daoist method, when ingesting the qi of the five directions, often referred to as the “five sprouts” (wuya 五芽) or the “five energies” (wuqi 五 氣). One stands (or sits) facing east around sunrise. One brings the qi of the east and spring into the liver as vibrant green light. Each of these elements corresponds to the Wood phase. One then goes through this for each of the other Five Phases. The energies are in turn stored in the lower elixir field, and in later internal alchemy the methods are referred to as the “Five Qi return to source” (wuqi guigen 五氣歸根). In this type of ingestion practice, one can see cosmological and seasonal dimensions, especially with respect to solar influences and cosmic energies.

Another common and popular method involves ingesting solar effulgences. (Ingesting Solar Effulgences Source: Yuyi jielin tu 鬱儀結璘奔圖, DZ 435, 5ab). According to The Empty Vessel — Page 16

In the contemporary world, these types of practices tend to utilize standing postures and movement and to be categorized as Yangshang 養生 (“nourishing life”) or Qigong 氣功 (Qi Exercises). Some of them are employed in a specifically Daoist framework, while others are reconceptualized, especially as part of alternative healthcare, the American health and fitness movement, and/or spiritual capitalism. Also noteworthy is the fact that contemporary Daoists have different views on the necessity and the relative importance of ingestion, though health and longevity tend to remain a strong emphasis in the Daoist tradition.

Inner Observation The fourth major form of Daoist meditation is inner observation. In terms of historical origins, inner

observation was first expressed in late medieval Daoist monasticism, a fully integrated system in which Shangqing was the highest ordination rank. Inner observation developed during the Tang dynasty (618– 907) under the influence of Buddhist insight or mindfulness meditation. On the most basic level, Daoist inner observation involves contemplating the body and purifying consciousness.

However, in contrast to its Buddhist counterpart, Daoist inner observation does not primarily involve non-discriminating awareness of phenomenon or confirmation of Buddhist doctrine through meditation practice. Rather, it focuses on the human body as a manifestation of the Dao (rather than a samsaric emanation) and on the body as microcosm. In this way, inner observation incorporates some Buddhist psychological and soteriological insights with earlier Daoist views of the body as landscape and universe.

The anonymous 8th century Neiguan jing 內觀經 (Scripture on Inner Observation; DZ 641) and Dingguan jing 定觀經 (Scripture on Concentration and Observation; DZ 400) both emphasize a foundational practice that parallels classical Daoist apophatic meditation, albeit with a Buddhist slant on the purification of consciousness (e.g., the removal of “defilements” and “vexations”). However a more distinctive element focuses on the body as microcosm. For example, the Neiguan jing begins by describing the “Daoist body” as comprised of the three hun 魂 (“ethereal souls”) and the seven po 魄 (“corporeal souls”), the spirits with the five main organs associated with the Five Phases, the six yang organs associated with the six nodes, and so forth. The Daoist practitioner not only understands this theoretically, as an informing worldview, but also gains experiential confirmation through inner observation, that is, through practice.

Daoist Inner Landscape Map Source: Nanjing zuantu jujie 難經纂圖句解, DZ 1024 In one of the more distinctive phases of inner observation, the aspiring adept focuses on the five spiritual presences associated with the five yin-organs (liver, heart, spleen, lungs and kidneys). Here one notes a continuation of earlier Daoist visualizationingestion practices.

According to the Neiguan jing, in the five yin-organs, the following spirit manifestations reside: the ethereal soul in the liver; corporeal soul in the lungs; vital essence in the kidneys; intention in the spleen; and spirit in the heart.

Their appellations vary according to their respective positions. For example, the heart belongs to the Fire phase. Fire is the essence of the south and of greater yang. Above, it is governed by the planet Mars; below, it corresponds to the heart. Its color is red and it consists of three valves that resemble a lotus flower.

(DZ 641, 2ab) The text then goes on to describe various other psychosomatic dimensions of personhood. Through inner observation practice, one transforms negative dimension of the self into their positive counterparts.

One also investigates and realizes the body as the manifestation of the Dao, as a microcosm interpenetrating with the larger universe.

Internal Alchemy The final type of Daoist meditation, internal alchemy, first became systematized during the late Tang dynasty and during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127). Taken as a whole, internal alchemy often incorporates the other four forms of Daoist meditation, though it should not be taken as superior or primary because of that fact. Internal alchemy emphasizes complex physiological methods to transform one’s psychosomatic experience. More often than not, it is a stage-based process of energetic transformation. From the Song dynasty onward, internal alchemy became the dominant form of Daoist meditation, though some Daoists also preferred other approaches.

There are diverse forms of internal alchemy, with the technical specifics differing among practitioners, movements and lineages. More often than not, internal alchemy has an esoteric dimension, tends to be lineagespecific, and requires guidance under a master.

As expressed in the early texts of the Zhong-Lü 鍾呂, the so-called Nanzong 南宗 (Southern School) and the Quanzhen 全真 (Complete Perfection) movements, the practice is extremely complex, through which the practitioner aims to unite the composite dimensions of Winter 2021 — Page 17

the self into a unified being. The latter is often referred to as the “yang-spirit” (yangshen 陽神) or “bodybeyond-the-body” (shenwai shen 身 外 身 ). That is, from a traditional neidan perspective, immortality and transcendence are created, not given. One does not have an eternal soul; rather, one is a composite self destined to disappear into the cosmos after death, unless one practices internal alchemy.

landscape emphasizing the abdominal region as the “lower elixir field” (xia dantian), as the place where qi is stored, and the body as a system of “meridians,” or intersecting energetic pathways. Aspiring adepts are first instructed to seal themselves off from every source of dissipation, including sensory engagement, excessive emotional and intellectual activity, and sexual stimulation.

This allows one to conserve and fortify qi and spirit.

As one moves into the late imperial modern periods, Daoist internal alchemy becomes popularized and simplified in new lineages. The process of simplification and popularization was expressed in explicit descriptions and illustrated manuals. This process culminated in certain forms of contemporary Qigong. In any case, one relatively accessible late imperial expression, which remains popular in the temporary neidan circles, is the Wu-Liu 伍柳 system. This lineage is technically a sub-lineage of Longmen 龍門 (Dragon Gate), the most prominent lineage of Quanzhen, the contemporary monastic order. It is named after the Longmen Daoist monk Wu Shouyang 伍守陽 and the Chan Buddhist monk Liu Huayang 柳華陽.

Then one must activate the Waterwheel or Microcosmic Orbit, that is, connect the Governing Vessel along the centerline on the back with the Conception Vessel along the centerline of the torso. This is done by circulating qi up the back and down the front of the body, so that the body becomes an integrated whole, so that one activates the Dao a subtle body. Through this process, in concert with the cultivation of stillness, one becomes a spiritually integrated and transformed being.

I have selected the Huiming jing 慧命經 (Scripture on Wisdom and Life-Destiny; ZW 131), one of Liu Huayang’s most influential texts, because it is relatively accessible and representative of basic internal alchemy practice. The title of the text refers to spiritual illumination, associated with spirit, and vitality, associated with the body and physical health.

The Huiming jing is a late 18th century text on Daoist internal alchemy combined with Chan meditation and soteriology. In terms of contemplative practice, the Huiming jing describes an eight-stage process of alchemical transformation according to the following diagrams and corresponding instructions: 1. Diagram of Dissipation 2. Diagram of the Six Phases 3. Diagram of the Governing and Conception Channels 4. Diagram of the Embryo of the Dao 5. Diagram of the Emergence of the Embryo 6. Diagram of the Transformation Body 7. Diagram of Wall Gazing 8. Diagram of Disappearance into the Empty Void The text begins with the now-standardized corporeal The Empty Vessel — Page 18

Liu discusses the culmination of Wu-Liu training in both Daoist and Chan Buddhist terms. One completes the immortal embryo, attains the Buddha form, returns to the Source, and disappears into the Void.

One becomes an immortal and a buddha simultaneously. From Liu Huayang‘s perspective, this seems to mean the end of separate personhood and the attainment of mystical union.

Conclusions Considered from a more comprehensive historical perspective Daoist meditation consists of diverse methods and goals. As we have seen, there are five major types of Daoist meditation, namely, apophatic meditation, visualization, ingestion, inner observation, and internal alchemy.

Although I have primarily focused on specific methods, Daoist meditation cannot be removed from its larger religious and soteriological system. These systems include aesthetics, dietetics, ethics, health and longevity practice, ritual, scripture study, and so forth. In addition, Daoists tend to emphasize the importance of community and place. Utilizing comparative typologies and categories of contemplative practice, Daoist meditation includes both apophatic or unitive, and kataphatic or dualistic types. That is, there are some forms of Daoist meditation that are non-

conceptual, non-dualistic, contentless and monistic, and there are other forms that are devotional and theistic. Although the primarily Daoist approach involves solitary meditation, there are communal types of Daoist meditation as well. The latter tend to be monastic and follow Chan Buddhist models. Finally, there are strong theological dimensions to Daoist contemplative practice. This includes somatic theology in which one locates or discovers gods in one’s own body.

The study of Daoist meditation has larger implications for and applications to the emerging interdisciplinary field of Contemplative Studies. It reveals that there is diversity not only between, but also within religious traditions.

It draws our attention to the specific types of contemplative practice and expressions of specific religious and soteriological systems. It expands our understanding of religious diversity, including the challenges of taking religious traditions seriously on their own terms.

As mentioned at the beginning, I would also emphasize the importance of adopting an inclusive and pluralistic approach, of not privileging one type of meditation as normative. The inclusion of Daoist meditation in the comparative study of contemplative practice encourages us to consider the diversity and complexity of other traditions as well. Although research on meditation has tended to privilege Buddhist meditation, especially vipassanā, Japanese zazen and now Tibetan Buddhist forms, every major religious tradition has its contemplative and mystical elements.

Finally, we may develop more sophisticated and nuance cartographies of contemplative practice. In this respect we might utilize at least the following typologies: alchemical, apophatic, attentional, communal, concentrative, devotional, dualistic, ecstatic, enstatic, ergotropic, kataphatic, kinesthetic, mantic, mantric, mediumistic, mystical, quietistic, respiratory, secular, solitary, therapeutic, trophotropic, unitive, and visualizational.

Questions and Answers Translator’s Note: As some of the questions and comments could not be heard perfectly on the recording, they have been somewhat truncated and interpreted.

Question: “You mentioned the importance of place in Daoism when you were talking about the constellation

practice. Did that happen indoors, visualizing the constellations or did people sit outside and look at them?”

Komjathy: It seems that probably it was both.

There were some practices that involved actually sitting inside, sometimes it’s called a pure chamber, a meditation room, and then visualizing it, and there are a lot of practices where you were literally outside connecting with the particular energies of a given constellation. And that is still the case today.

Question: “Are there any issues then with light pollution and industrial pollution?”

Komjathy: Yes, absolutely. But not just light pollution, but the quality of qi where you live. So the first layer is the qi of your surrounding environment, where you live, how nourishing that is and your spiritual wellbeing.

So forget about the Big Dipper. Can you see the Big Dipper? If you can’t see the Big Dipper, you have bigger issues from a Daoist perspective.

Question: “You mentioned the definition of qi. What would you suggest for translation?”

Komjathy: I would not translate it. So in general I think dao, yin-yang, qi are best left untranslated and we just explain them. The etymology of qi is helpful if you know Chinese. Steam over rice has this idea of the transformation from something more material to something more subtle. I tend to translate it as “subtle breath,” but it can also be physical respiration. So it can have many meanings, as there are so many types of qi, but this is one of those technical terms I prefer to be left untranslated. Other religious traditions get away with a lot in terms of untranslated terms, I think we can have four: Dao, Yin, Yang, Qi. But a lot of people translate it as “energy.” And there is a kind of parallel conception, but there is a history behind what energy is. I think that is what I’m hinting at.

Question: “Would you say more on the development and content of female alchemy?”

Komjathy: So one of the pivotal figures of female alchemy is Sun Buer 孫不二. Sun Buer was the only female member of Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) in the 12th century. She was the only senior disciple under the founder Wang Chongyang. And we have Winter 2021 — Page 19

a series of poems that are attributed to her and more than likely that she wrote. You have evidence of the beginning of a nüdan 女丹 (female alchemy) tradition there. But it is not until the Ming, so much later, like the 17th century, where you have fully developed female alchemy emerging, and unfortunately not a lot of research has been done on this. There are a couple of younger female scholars, as you might expect, who work on this. One thing that you find is that a lot of nüdan female alchemy systems tend to be exactly the same as the male versions, except women tend to focus on breast health first and also given attention to menstrual period. So there are specific practices that you do to help kind of fortify your foundational health. That is different from men obviously, because there is a monthly period in the case of women.

Question: “Are there any differences in concentration practices? (Still in regard to female alchemy.)”

Komjathy: Unfortunately, we don’t have maps of female alchemy at this point, the way we can map out internal alchemy, so we don’t know all the different expressions of it, so I can’t really answer that question.

What you do tend to get though in nüdan, in female internal alchemy, is that there is a much stronger concentration on the heart. So in internal alchemy practice men are generally focusing on the lower elixir field, the abdominal region, and women are focusing more on the heart. There are a number of reasons from a traditional Chinese perspective. Spirit is also connected to blood. It’s a really fascinating question about, does spirit from a traditional Chinese perspective have a root in actual blood. So there is a kind of a material component and connection, and that is something a few people are starting to think about, but it’s not very well researched.

Joseph Needham has published on this is his something-like 25 volumes called Science and Civilisation in China, and they go through a lot of those questions.

There definitely were intersection points between so-called scientific traditions and so-called religious or spiritual traditions in China.

And did they remain? (i.e., the intersection points between so-called scientific traditions and so-called religious or spiritual traditions.) I would tend to say not so much, no; also I think that there are some strange attempts to try to conceptualize Daoism and science to get more cultural capital in modern China.

So it’s a kind of a political issue as well, and a lot of it.

If you look at contemporary Daoism it lost lots of its cultural capital in contemporary China. So they are doing everything they can to try to convince people that Daoism really deserves to be respected. So Daoism being the most ecological tradition—there is a political dimension to that. Daoism being a really scientific tradition—there is a political dimension to that. So there are a lot of layers to these things.

Question: “What did you mean by spiritual capitalism?”

Komjathy: What I mean by spiritual capitalism was the idea that we use these traditions to make money.

That’s what I mean. In my own way of thinking about contemplative practice in the contemporary world, we are developing a vocabulary, try to analyze it appropriately, and so for instance Professor Roth has put forward the idea of spiritual imperialism or cognitive imperialism. I’m trying to think through those categories as well. What is the intent behind religiously-committed contemplative practice, it’s definitely not to make money. If you read the Daoist materials carefully, it’s definitely not to be more unique in terms of your identity, it’s not to be more famous in I also wonder about the possible conjunction of science terms of your life. So you start filling in those details and spirituality, in India there wasn’t a separation like from the contemporary American situation, and there that, the spiritual interest in prana that came from is a lot of deviation from those values, and that is not the planets fueled these scientific investigations. Did necessarily good or bad, but I think from a Daoist something like that happen in China? There is overlap, perspective it’s a deviation. definitely. I think it depends on how you think of the development of science and what science can reasonably That’s what I’m trying to get to. If these practices become be said to be before the modern period. In the context a means to make a lot of money and become famous, it of the development of something like internal alchemy seems to contradict the foundational worldview of what and external alchemy, there is a lot of connection with they’re using. So there is a way to use the tradition to the development of chemistry in China for instance. think through some of the appropriations of it.

The Empty Vessel — Page 20

Question: “Revision of Daoism, relation between Chinese medicine and Daoism.”

meditation. So I think it’s a really interesting question, but not much research has been made on it.

Komjathy: This is another area that needs a lot more research. Basically Paul Unschuld is the main person who is trying to investigate this. His work is really important, especially on the level of history of Chinese medicine, but I think it’s problematic in terms of understanding Daoism because he is focusing on a particular aspect of Daoism. Mainly I would say demonological and exorcistic medicine, and that’s what he categorizes as Daoist. But there are a lot of other kinds of Daoist medicine. Then you have specific Daoists who are famous physicians. So we don’t really know how much intersection there was. We can see parallels, but when you are looking for specific examples of the connections, especially in that earlier period like in Mawangdui in the 2nd century BCE, there is a lot of what looks like overlap, but then you look at something like the Zhuangzi, it has a strong critique of daoyin practice for instance (though it’s a special part of the Zhuangzi). So something that might be more therapeutic or medical, it’s a lower form of practice, and apophatic meditation is a higher form of practice.

Question: “I’m wondering why people were swallowing saliva as part of their practice?”

So there is some kind of debate going on obviously. It’s not like they [classical Daoists] are going ‘let me just make this up,’ but there are a bunch of daoyin people making headway and they’re not listening to us [classical Daoists] on the importance of apophatic

Komjathy: One key idea, one distinctive aspect of Daoist practice, is the idea that when you are doing serious Daoist practice you are generating clear fluids.

Actually this [saliva] is not spit and this is a kind of common misunderstanding. It’s not like ordinary spittle in your mouth. It’s actually clear fluids that are generated in practice, and they’re accumulating in your mouth so you swallow them. On the most basic level, it’s this idea of conservation, what you have in Daoism is a consent emphasis on conservation. Conservation of jing, so the fluids are connected with jing, they’re connected with your kind of foundational vitality, the conservation of qi, the conservation of spirit, all of these kinds of things, so you want to seal yourself in and guard all those things. When you really get into fluid physiology (which I don’t know a lot about, but fortunately my wife knows a lot about, and I get to have discussions with her about internal alchemical practice from a Chinese medical perspective), there is a whole sophisticated Chinese medical understanding of how fluids are generated and what fluids do in the body, and then by swallowing that you are feeding it back into that system. And then there are other elements as well.

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Three Kinds of Tao in the Tao Te Ching

By Gary Shugar

success and happiness. This is unlike some religions that insist you must behave in a certain manner or you will be punished by a vengeful god.

What is the Tao? This is a question that has been asked for centuries. The word Tao, of course, means “way,” and that word is also ambiguous with many different meanings. The Tao Te Ching is a foundational text of Taoism, so how is the word Tao used in this text?

The Nature Tao is the “way of nature.” It refers to nature and nature’s laws. The Tao that can be named is the mother of all things. This is nature. One can consider this both as nature itself and as the way in which nature operates. The Tao Te Ching obviously venerates nature.

In the Tao Te Ching, it is sometimes difficult to separate the way of humans from the way of nature. This is because so much of the way of humans is based on observations of the way of nature. Man should strive to be like nature; be like water, soft and yielding; bend with the wind like the grass; live in accordance with the universe; allow yourself to unfold naturally. To act in accordance with nature is to act in accordance with the Tao.

I think there are three kinds of Tao in the Tao Te Ching, the Human Tao, the Nature Tao, and the Mystery Tao. The Human Tao is the “way that humans should live their life.” The majority of the Tao Te Ching consists of suggestions for how to live one’s life. The Tao Te Ching discusses individual actions such as decreasing desires; being kind, truthful and just; giving without seeking reward; treating the good and the bad with goodness; practicing love, moderation and humility; teaching by example; acting without forcing; and understanding duality, just to name a few examples. It also instructs how to be a good leader and a good warrior. Notice that these are suggestions. The Tao Te Ching suggests to the reader that living in this way will result in more

The Mystery Tao is the “way of mystery.” This is the most difficult to understand. It is one against which our minds rebel. We want mysteries to be solved.

We want answers we can understand. As a result, many people have come up with many different and

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imaginative explanations. Despite these we just do not know. If we did understand it, it would not be the Tao! The hard part is accepting this.

Some view the Mystery Tao as simply an extension of a concept. We have the “way of humans.” Higher than this is the “way of nature.” Extending further, we have the “ultimate way,” supreme and unknowable. As man is a product of nature, so nature is presumed to be the product of the Mystery Tao. In this way the Mystery Tao is a mystical concept that simply means, I do not know.

Some think the Mystery Tao may be the mysterious answers to the “great metaphysical questions.” What is the ultimate meaning of life? Why does the universe exist? Since there are no answers to these questions, they are a mystery like the Mystery Tao, but the Mystery Tao is more than that.

There are some who view the Mystery Tao as a mystical or spiritual experience. The experience is one of mystery, mysticism, and awe. Just as you cannot adequately describe or explain awe to another person, so the Mystery Tao cannot be explained or described.

They are experiencing nothingness, emptiness, or non-existence, similar to the experience of meditation

when the mind is finally cleared of all thoughts and is empty. Like the Mystery Tao, the feeling is not describable. Perhaps it is close to contentment, but even that does not describe it. Feelings such as awe or contentment may be experienced when contemplating the Mystery Tao, but they are not the Mystery Tao. The Mystery Tao represents the limits of our knowledge.

It reminds us that there are things that cannot be known. It is nothingness and yet there is the feeling that it is something more than that. What that is, is a mystery. Those that speak about it do not know. Paradoxes and confusing statements that hint about its nature only add more confusion to the mystery. Yet there is something about a mystery and the unknown that is fascinating and satisfying at the same time.

Even the existence of the Mystery Tao is a mystery.

What if the Mystery Tao does not exist? What if it is only a product of fertile human imagination? If this is true, the Tao Te Ching would still be valuable as a guide for how to live your life.

Translations used: Most of this article is based on the translation by Jonathan Star. Translations by James Legge and Raymond Blakney were also consulted.

Winter 2021 — Page 23

Commentary on Chapter 5 of the Dao De Jing

By C.L. Babcook Heaven and Earth have no favorites; they treat all beings with dispassion.

The sages have no preferences; they treat all people with dispassion.

The space between Heaven and Earth is like a hollow bamboo.

Although empty, when moving more and more is created from it.

The many words attempting to describe this soon bring about exhaustion and misunderstanding.

Better to remain centered and in a quiet state than to try to understand the many words.

We all like to feel we are special, but according to the Dao De Jing, the forces of Heaven and Earth favor no one. Likewise the sages have no preference or favorites.

The sage is the Dao’s representative who cares for all people equally, and the sage’s caring is concerned with the evolution of a person’s spiritual being and their union with Dao. Because of this, sages are very careful not to feed an individual’s personality in such a way that egoic tendencies will develop. The sage treats all people equally in his hopes for them to have union with Dao, to be free from all attachments.

At times the sage may affect preference as a teaching technique, but ultimately that seeming preference is a tool to reduce attachment on the part of the student.

As such, the sage treats all people with dispassion; no one is ever particularly special in the sage’s heart.

All people are special to the sage; all special but none preferred.

From our reading of Chapter 2 we noted how having preference of one thing over another leads us to an unbalanced awareness. Like the scales Lady Justice holds, we must be balanced in body, mind and spirit.

We strive to be dispassionate like Heaven and Earth.

Passions are thieves that rob a person of his quiet, balanced nature. If our minds are filled with passions and ideas, we block the intuitive aspect of ourselves and then we are not open to the Dao. There is a space between Heaven and Earth; it is empty like the hollowness of a bamboo flute. Although it is empty, when breath is applied, movement begins and more and more sounds are created. This is an image of the creative process. From the emptiness of the hollow bamboo flute emerges melodies simply by having air move. So too from potential energy is born the various vibrations that create the forms, which make up life and the universe. This is the breath of Dao. Instead of contemplating and intellectually analyzing the process of creation, Lao Zi urges us to be quiet and centered in our being. Lao Zi is recommending that we give up using the intellect as a way of knowing and that we embrace meditation and intuition as a means of knowing. For the Daoists, much of reality is revealed from inside one’s body; one simply needs to fully engage in one’s meditative practice.

By means of becoming empty, one may become united with Dao and various meditative practices are tools to help us become empty.

Sources All quotes from the Dao De Jing are from the Richard Wilhelm editions.

The Empty Vessel — Page 24

New Audio Courses From Solala Towler!

Qigong For Troubled Times

Our world is going through a massive pandemic that affects us all. It may be that we or someone close to us is sick or we have lost our job and livelihood due to the national shutdown of businesses. We may be feeling isolated and fearful. This course is designed to boost your immune system and teach you ways to soften the emotional and physical blow of these stressful times. It is in times like this when we are especially challenged, that practices like qigong and meditation are most helpful. Qigong works on three levels, affecting our physical, mental, and even spiritual health. This course contains a range of physical practices and emotional techniques to help you ground in your body and regulate your nervous system, promoting both a joyful and easeful existence.

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Taoist Principles to Live a Healthy and Prosperous Life

Taoism (Daoism) is a 5,000-year-old spiritual path from China. This course will cover the nine main principles of Taoism and how we can apply them to our own lives in the 21st century. Taoism teaches us how we can use the intrinsic and powerful energy of our bodies—our qi—in order to enhance and further ourselves as spiritual beings. Discover how Taoist principles can enhance your emotional and psychological wellbeing, achieve a state of wholeness, live a vibrant and purposeful life, and ultimately connect to source — the Divine or Tao. Ten chapters $36

Sacred Union: The Promise Of Spiritual Relationship

For anyone seeking to build greater connections, intimacy, and deeper levels of communication in their relationship, Sacred Union is an essential guide to a natural and joyous way of love. Filled with timeless practices and guidance for both individuals and couples, this course will explore: The art of clear, respectful, and authentic communication.

How to use the principles of yin/yang to create harmony within your relationship as well as within yourself.

Qigong exercises, tai chi principles, and meditations to balance your subtle energies and align your spirit with that of your partner, and more.

Ten chapters $36

Practicing the Tao Te Ching: 81 Steps On The Way

Each chapter of this course consists of three verses of the Tao Te Ching, (except for a few longer chapters), along with commentary explaining the inner meaning of each verse. The Tao Te Ching, written some 2,500 years ago, has long been seen as a book on philosophy or statecraft. But in the Taoist tradition, it is seen as a manual for self-cultivation or spiritual work. In my version of this ancient classic, I have brought out the Taoist aspects, by not only providing the verses, but also a commentary explaining what they mean. We will also explore many actual practices that either come directly from the text itself or are inspired by the text, such as simple qigong, meditation, or lifestyle choices. In this way, we can explore this fascinating book in a way that will make it very real, clear, and even life-changing.

Please join me on a journey of healing, self-discovery, and deep inner exploration!

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To instantly download these courses go to www.abodetao.com Winter 2021 — Page 25

Light of Day

The Natural Man

By Gary Shugar

By Ray Vespe

Before the rising of the sun, I sit cross-legged upon the floor And seek to make contact with the Soul of the Universe.

I desperately fight off the Thoughts that intrude upon my mind, And seek the emptiness that brings Enlightenment.

It slowly occurs to me that Enlightenment may not come like Fireworks, suddenly lighting the Black darkness of the night sky, But like the dawn, Gradual, almost imperceptible, So that one can never pinpoint its Beginning, or perceive the gradual Change from the black darkness of the Night sky to the brilliant Light of day.

The Natural Man Did slowly unfold A supernatural plan He first listened to A religious preacher and heard the “Word” Along with the herd He next learned from A spiritual teacher To feel the “Real” And spin Soul’s wheel He next journeyed with A shamanic healer to “Die” and to “Fly” And eclipse Ego’s lie He next smoked with A medicine man To birth all of worth And honor Mother Earth He next in silence And next in stillness Awakened to “Spirit” To clear and be near it And next he met A wise Taoist Sage Whose Way seemed true And made the many, few And then he sat with An old Zen Master Whose practice was faster Uniting Ancient and New Transmitting One, Not Two Negating any “me” and “you” And then “sitting” Zazen lastly and simply became...

Everything he would do

The Empty Vessel — Page 26

Poetry Corner The Spirit of Tea

By Christopher Collins The kettle steams The pot awaits the tea’s dancing It awakens the tongue Calms the body Soothes the mind This is the Way.

Fireworks and Feathers

by Mankh / Walter E. Harris III after new year’s fireworks the pure sounds of a flock of geese

Essence of Others As Simple As It Gets

By James Gredell Looking at the bright sides the good sides of others of people A warm glow a beautiful natural smile A twinkle An awe An upside A mountain of hope A sprinkle of happiness A waterfall of good thoughts and Cheer to praise others Even when the darkest of clouds are Above to bring out the best in others people and friends No limits No boundaries Boundless floating sailing swimming flying Toward the brighest good vibes of others.

Send poetry submissions to daodogpress@gmail.com.

Winter 2021 — Page 27

Taoism in the Seasons

By Heather Hernandez

The dominant element is water, which can be calm when still, allowing for reflection & contemplation.

Fear &

groaning, are related to Winter with the color

being blue.

The Empty Vessel — Page 28

The time associated with this season is

Midnight & the direction is North.

Winter is the most yin season, with our bodies storing energy to help our qi.

Kidneys & the bladder both need to be taken care of in the winter to avoid illness.

Going to bed early & awakening later (if possible) helps your body store much needed energy in the bitter cold.

Eat warm foods, avoid cold ones, to keep your body temperature up.

Root vegetables, ginger & nuts are some good items to eat this season.

SOURCES: ENERGYARTS.COM • WUWEIWISDOM.COM • WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Winter 2021 — Page 29

Lessons from Water

By Lori Erickson www.spiritualtravels.info My husband Bob and I have a mixed marriage, though with some effort we’ve made it work. I’m a water person, while Bob’s a mountain person who gets bored after a half hour sitting on a beach. As I’m sitting there entranced by the rhythmic waves, he’s giving longsuffering sighs about the heat and strategizing about where we can find a place to hike.

A silver lining of the travel restrictions caused by the pandemic is that it gave me an excuse to drag Bob to waterways across the Midwest (including to Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, as the photo shows).

Instead of heading to the mountains we’ve explored lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams in our region of the country. I’m happy to report that I can now get Bob to sit still for awhile next to water, though it certainly helps if he has a beer in hand.

All those hours on and next to water have been good for my soul (which is one of the clues that I’m a water person, I guess). It’s also gotten me thinking about what water can teach us.

These musings have brought me back to a spiritual The Empty Vessel — Page 30

classic I hadn’t read in many years. The Tao Te Ching (also known as Dao De Jing) is a 2,500-year-old text attributed to a Chinese sage named Lao Tzu. It’s a manual of how to live in harmony with the Tao, which is sometimes translated as the Way or the Path. The Tao is formless, silent, and ever-present, an energy that pervades the universe. It can’t really be described in words, as the famous first lines of the Tao Te Ching admit: “The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.”

The Tao Te Ching uses water as its central metaphor to describe the Tao. Consider these lines from chapter 78: Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water.

Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it.

The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid.

Everyone knows this is true, but few can put it into practice.

So the Tao is the softest of things, ever fluid, always in motion, but in its softness is strength. Exhibit A: the Grand Canyon.

Those who try to live in harmony with the Tao seek a way of life that is humble and grounded in integrity and goodness. They seek balance rather than success and self-awareness rather than external recognition.

Though Taoists place a great deal of emphasis on meditation and solitude, they’re capable of decisive action when the time is right.

taught, of course, which is that the key to success is to work harder and longer. If you encounter an obstacle, put your head down and plow through it. A Taoist, in contrast, would begin a task by sitting and observing, maybe for a long time, and when he finally stands up to do the work, the task is effortless because he has put himself in harmony with it.

A central concept in Taoist thought is wu wei, which means something like “effortless action” or “the action of non-action” (yes, Taoism is full of paradoxes). Wu wei has similarities to flow, the term used to describe the state of mind that occurs when we lose all sense of time and are fully caught up in whatever we’re doing.

In that state, we don’t need to think because effort comes naturally.

It all sounds a bit too good to be true, doesn’t it? I’m not sure I could ever be a true Taoist because I’m way too impatient. But living through this tumultuous time has made me want to ponder the Tao and wu wei as I sit by the side of those bodies of water I love so much. It makes me feel like I’m aligning myself with something larger and deeper and helps me loosen the grip I have, just a little, on all the things that are beyond my control.

Philosopher Alan Watts uses the example of someone trying to cross a body of water to illustrate the concept of wu wei. You can use a rowboat, which is slow and hard. Or you can put up a sail and catch the wind so that you glide across the water with little effort.

That is the essence of wu wei: aligning our efforts with the Tao so that life flows smoothly.

All of this goes against what most of us have been

So you can see that I’ve found that water can be a wise teacher. And even if you’re a mountain person, or a woods person, or not an outdoor person at all, I hope you too can find a body of water to teach you about the Tao. As Lao Tzu asks: “Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?”

Winter 2021 — Page 31

Directory & Classifieds AUDIO 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

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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. 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.

RETREATS AND TRAINING CENTERS Genesee Valley Daoist Hermitage. Qigong, sustainable gardening, meditation for self cultivation.

Chinese herbs, daoist healing to harmonize chronic

The Empty Vessel — Page 32

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. LocalDistance 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.

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

Empty Vessel back issue sale! Fifty issues for

$3 each, free priority shipping. Send Check to DaoDog Press, 3440 Conway Blvd. Unit 1D, Port Charlotte FL 33952 or PayPal $150 to daodogpress@gmail.com with contact info, mailing address and specific issue requests (as available).

Directory & Classifieds SERVICES ACUPUNCTURE

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Directory listings: $1 per word, 30 word minimum. Includes free website listing. Add a color logo for $10. Deadline for Spring 2021 is March 15. Pay via PayPal at daodogpress.com. Or send check to Empty Vessel, 3440 Conway Blvd. Unit 1D, Port Charlotte FL 33952. Email text and jpeg logo to daodogpress@gmail.com.

Tao Heart Mind

Above: Blue Joy; Right: Country Road prices upon request

Above: Light Upon a Light; Below: Yes! Poems and Paintings Email author to order art & books

Michael Robbins M.A., L.M.H.C.

Artist - Author - Therapist Where head, heart and art converge with the Tao Visual and Verbal healing Qi Gong Classes

www.michaelrobbinstherapy.com Winter 2021 — Page 33

Book Review Climbing the Steps to Qingcheng Mountain Mount Qingcheng, one of China’s mystical mountains, has been the birth place of discovery, realization and preservation of the recipes that stimulate the deep potential of the human body for generations. This is the book of a Daoist master and spiritual guide Wang Yun as a young seeker and tells the tales of his inner journey which now guides the reader on a path of healing, rejuvenation and actualization of the body’s innate potential.

Climbing the Steps to Qingcheng Mountain brings Wang Yun’s knowledge and wisdom to the West for the first time. It serves as a guide to health and spiritual practices including meditation and qigong exercises and

is based on centuries of Daoist knowledge and wisdom. · Through tales ranging from Daoist immortals to sleep-deprived salesmen, this book offers guidance to support physical and mental wellbeing in this modern, stressful world.

Climbing the Steps to Qingcheng Mountain Author: Wang Yun Publisher: Singing Dragon Pages: 242 pages Price: $26.95 ISBN: 1787750760 Website: https://bookshop.org/ shop/DaoDog

The Tao of the Polyvagal Theory Classical Asian Five Element theory originated within a world very different to what humanity is experiencing at this present moment, as such a shift in perspective must be considered while we are evolving physiologically, as well as a global society, within the structure of modern life.

The Tao of the Polyvagal Theory’ makes a case for the potential for a new level of understanding ancient theory through applied observations of our modern physiology, and the study of how the body internalizes trauma, and manifests disfunction, affecting the way energy moves through the physical tissue systems of the body.

manipulation orientation, to a lifting and supporting concept of intervention, assisting with the movement and healing of energy through the whole body system.

Two new tools of practice are introduced that shift traditional treatment philosophy from a control and

Published in August, The Tao of The Polyvagal Theory: A Five Element Perspective for a Future of Healing the

The Empty Vessel — Page 34

Book Review Clouds Over Qingcheng Mountain Immersing the mind with the concepts of the Daoist path of health and immortality, Clouds over Qingcheng Mountain invokes the sacred birthplace of one of China’s mystical mountains that has stimulated both mind and body for generations.

The first volume, Climbing the Steps to Qingcheng Mountain, covered the history of China and Daoism, Clouds over Qingcheng Mountain is more focused in the book’s purpose. Wang Yun places special focus on relaxation and the breath through five sets of foundational yet all-encompassing practices, such as posting, to deepen both themes.

He offers tales from his life and journey, along with accessible tools to strengthen both body and qi.

Spirit and Balancing the Autonomic Nervous System,

by Nicole Rachelle Keane, MS LMT, explores the relationship between the Five Elements of Asian medical theory, and the role that trauma plays within the Autonomic Nervous System, through exploration of Dr. Stephen Porges’ groundbreaking, Polyvagal Theory.

Within this book the path of an ancient Taoist concept of the Spirit is set into a landscape illustrated with modern views of how the nervous system responds to distress.

Several new concepts are presented on this journey that assist in the evolution of the Five Element practice, and establish new paradigms for how to address emotional and physiological healing of the internal environment. The Tan Cycle and the Yu Angles are presented and described in detail within the chapters, and emphasis is placed on the integrity of yin and yang energies to support, and lift, each other throughout the transformational process of inner balance.

Bridging the gap between practical experience and philosophical background, Clouds over Qingcheng Mountain simplifies the complex practices of Daoism handed down by generations of accomplished Masters, and gifts the reader with its most valuable aspects for a modern world.

Clouds Over Qingcheng Mountain: A Practice Guide to Daoist Health Cultivation Author: Wang Yun Publisher: Singing Dragon Pages: 224 pages Price: $26.95 ISBN: 1787755207 Website: https://bookshop.org/ shop/DaoDog

“Within the Tan Cycle the traditional placement of the Spirit affiliations is holographically shifted through the elements, to imbue a resonance of support within a system where trauma may have fractured the Spirit soul. I have felt this resonance when working hands on with the body in my healing practice for some time, and was guided to illustrate this framework within the context of a book over the past year,” said author Nicole Keane.

Keane suggests that the Tan Cycle is not intended as a replacement for the Sheng Cycle, the K’o Cycle, or any other tradtionaly recognized theory. Rather, it is an addition to those traditions, providing a reference tool that addresses specifically, the Spirit, and how energy is evolving within the collective over time. The introduction of the Yu Angles is brought forth as a particularly effective method of treating energy imbalance in • • • CONTINUED ON PAGE 36 Winter 2021 — Page 35

Book Review

Returning from Qingcheng Mountain Functioning as both a dense manual, a detailed roadmap, and an edifying tale of spiritual maturity, this third installment in Wang Yun’s best-selling series brings you rare and authentic Daoism, straight from the culture that gave birth to it. With clear instruction and dozens of illustrated and filmed exercises, you can begin or strengthen your spiritual practice, boost your immune system, and find deep peace of mind, all right from the comfort of your home.

Lofty Daoist philosophy and its practical applications are made easy to grasp and apply through Wang Yun’s effort to translate the old teachings on how to apply the mindset and skills of Daoist meditation, alchemy and qigong to all affairs of life. To this end, Returning from Qingcheng Mountain spins a blend of rare tales from Daoist lore, straightforward explanations of ways to shape the body and mind, and inspiring stories • • • FROM PAGE 35 situations where there has been a complex, or chronic, trauma history, as treatment with the Yu Angles offers a “back door” to working with the nervous system, offering a gentler, and more efficient, Way to initiate transformation and the flow of qi within the body and mind.

The Tao of the Polyvagal Theory has the potential to open the door to a deeper understanding of the Polyvagal Theory, and its wide ranging potential for clinical applications in the areas of Asian medical theory, bridging the gap between Eastern and Western medical traditions. For more information and The Empty Vessel — Page 36

from Wang Yun’s own practice path.

To ‘remain natural in all things’ is the tenet that pervades every page, an eternal invitation toward being at ease, no matter the circumstances. By doing so, one returns to the world out there and handles mundane matters with poise and efficiency, transforming all the challenges and joys and relationships of daily life into a practice, a meditation, and a chance to grow and develop one’s spirit, and by token, the body.

Returning from Qingcheng Mountain: Melding Daoist Practices into Daily Life Author: Wang Yun Publisher: Singing Dragon Pages: 366 Price: $37.95 ISBN: 1787758966 Website: https://bookshop.org/ shop/DaoDog

to purchase the eBook or print book, please visit: www.gratitudehealingarts.com/publications.

The Tao of the Polyvagal Theory: A Five Element Perspective for a Future of Healing the Spirit and Balancing the Autonomic Nervous System Author: Nicole Rachelle Keane, MS LMT Publisher: Gratitude Healing Arts Pages: Print Price: $39.99 (includes free E-book) E-Book Price: $19.99 on sale $14.99 ISBN: n/a Website: www.gratitudehealingarts.com/publications

Back issues $6.95 each (unless noted) or 4 issues for $22 plus shipping. See website for complete list.

Fall 2021: Who is Dao? by Jane English, Experiencing the Heart of Character

by Mankh, Historical Sources of Daosit Meditation Part 3 by Louis Komjathy, Emptiness and Coherence Part 2 by Michael Robbins, A Few Words on Death And Grief by Stuart Alve Olson, Holy Cow! Mother of Dao by Master Zhongxian Wu, Commentary on Chapter 81of the Dao De JIng by C.L. Babcook, Stoicism And Daoism by Robert Seesions

Extraordinary Vessels Part 1, Daoist Magical Healing Tradition

Summer 2021: Yin Yang And The Ten Thousand Things, The Myth of Emperor Yu, The Tao Of Dice And Spiritual Transformation, Emptiness and Coherence Part 1, Yang Pond Meditation, Historical Periods and Sources Of Daoist Meditation Part 2, Commentary on Chapter 4 Dao De Ching

Summer 2019: American Dragon Gate Lineage, The Qi of Paper and Ink, The Dao of Congee, Tao Of Walloo, Poetry Corner debut

Spring 2021: SOLD OUT! Me and Master Ni by Solala Towler, 50 years of Living with by Jane English, Taming Anger with Forgiveness by Dan G. Reid, Spirit of the Point Meditation by Dusty Bodeen, Commentary on Chapter 3 of the Dao De JIng by C.L. Babcook, Daoist Meditation by Louis Komjathy, Inner Peace is in Your Hands by Jim Birt.

Available for digital purchase only at the Digital Archive page at www.

EmptyVessel.net.

Winter 2020: Year of the Metal Ox, Commentary on Chapter 2 Dao De Ching, Cultivate Qi with Benebell Wen, Eating for Longevity, Uncarving the Block.

Fall 2020: Primordial Chaos Standing Meditation, On Waking Up, Training the Horse Mind, Commentary on Chapter One of the Do De Ching, Fend Shui to Reduce Anxiety Summer 2020: The Eight Extraordinary Vessels Part 2, Feng Shui For Harmonious Living, The Tao of Music: Shakuhachi, Past the Temple Walls Spring 2020 Special Issue: The Tao of Health: Clear Marrow, Daoist Bigu and the Science of Fasting, The Eight

Winter 2019: Chinese New Year of the Rat, Cha Dao: The Way of Tea, Grasping the Dao of Chinese Bodywork (Tuina), Reflections on Emptiness and Form Fall 2019: Manuals for Lively Inspiration, Qigong: A journey, What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been

Winter 2018 / Spring 2019: I Ching and the 8 Immortals, A Curious Opportunity, An Introduction to NSEV lineage, Balance With a Brush, Chinese New Year of the Earth Pig, Microcosmic Core Circulation,Empty Vessel China Tour 2018 recap Fall 2018: History and Origins of American Dragon Gate Lineage, On the Shoulders of Giants, Harmony of Herbs: Bidens Alba, Working Consciously and Living Spiritually Summer 2018: Lessons of the Dao, The Spirit of Intention, Like Flower Unfolding Spring 2018: Thoughts For Spring, Spiritual Individualism in China, Qigong Mysteries, The Tao of Now Winter 2018: Winter Cultivation, Earth Dog Year, Jiaye the Taoist Caveman, Quantum Qi, A Journey to China and Tibet Fall 2017: Entering the Tao: Some Important Benefits from Consistent Practice of T’ai-Chi Chuan, Qigong, & Meditation; Sharing Taiji Qigong with Recovering Addicts; A Teacher of Natural Spiritual Truth: Empty Vessel Interview with Hua-Ching Ni; Internal Elixir Meditation: Basic Breathing Methods; Value of Worthlessness and The Wisdom of Foolishness

Summer 2017: SOLD OUT! Spring 2017: Immortal Sisters Conference, Healing Chronic Pain with Tai Chi, Attaining Spiritual Fortitude Winter 2017: 2017 Fire Phoenix Year, Illness as a Form of Communication, Origin of Daoist Religion, The Heshang Gong Commentary on Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, The Shaman and the Taoist Fall 2016: Supporting the Kidneys: Treasure House of Jing, Chi Nei Tsang: Cosmology and the Wheel of Life, Secrets of the Tao Te Ching, Reinventing the Wheel: A Top Down Perspective on the Five Elements Summer 2016: Chuang Tzu: The Inner Chapters The Way of Essential Virtue, Interview with Daoist Priest Wu Dang Chen, Dao Yin: The Mystery of Health Spring 2016: SOLD OUT! Winter 2016: 2016 Fire Monkey Year, Shape Your Destiny, Interview with Lonny Jarrett, The Five Shen Fall 2015: Internal Elixir Cultivation, The Watercourse Way, The Mind Inside Tai Chi, Rediscovering the Roots of Chinese Thought Summer 2015: Five Fold Essence of Tea, The Story of the Tao Te Ching, Functions of Essence, Breath and Spirit, Interview with Master Yang Hai Spring 2015: Being Daoist, The Way of Wu Wei, Riding the Phoenix to Peng Lai, Daoism in the West, A Conversation Between a Taoist and A Buddhist Winter 2015: SOLD OUT! Fall 2014: Broadening Our Views of Reality, Refining Breath to Transmute It Into Spirit, SPECIAL TEA ISSUE: Alchemy of Awareness in tea, The Last Cup: The Ten Lost Tea-Brewing Pictures, The Way of Tea.

Winter 2021 — Page 37

Back issues $6.95 each (unless noted) or 4 issues for $22 plus shipping. See website for complete list.

Summer 2014: The Poetry of Passion, The Daoist Arts of Wudang Mountain, Zhuangzi’s Perfect Happiness in the Light of Contemporary Western Psychology Spring 2014: Ren Tian Zhi Dao: The Way of Man and Nature, Interview with Dr. Bernard Shannon, True Spiritual Help Winter 2014: Year of the Wood Horse, Nei Dan Sitting Meditation, Dance of the Five Moving Forces Fall 2013: The Watercourse Way, Tea Time With Old Po, Women’s Powers in Popular Daoism Summer 2013: SOLD OUT! Spring 2013: Food Cures and Diets, The Spiritual Warrior, Daoist Nature Meditation Winter 2013: Year of the Water Snake, Art and Practice of Tai Chi, Lao Zi – The Hidden Dragon, Taoist Sexual Meditation Fall 2012: Big Dipper Meditation, The Dragon Turtle, Eliminating Pitfalls in Qigong Practice, Feng Shui Guidelines to Energy Flow Analysis, Embracing the One: Daoist Meditation Summer 2012: The Three Treasures and the Golden Embryo; Shen, Hun and Po in Chinese Medicine, Dimensional learning Perspective Spring 2012: Free and Easy Wandering: A Western Daoist Manifesto, The Tai Chi Sword and Spiritual Swordsmanship, Stress, Illness & the Daoist Antidote, Introduction To classical Feng Shui Winter 2012: Year of the Water Dragon, Immortality and the 14 words of Lao Zi, The Tao of Joy Every Day, The World of Chinese Medicine, Qi Medicine and the Purpose of Cultivation – an interview with Master Zhongxian Wu

The Empty Vessel — Page 38

Fall 2011: SOLD OUT! Summer 2011: SOLD OUT! The Ox Herding Chart of Chan Buddhism, Global Warming a Meta-Physical Perspective, Cloud Wanderers The Empty Vessel China Tour, The Master on the Mountain A Conversation With Master Zhang Yunlong. Available for digital purchase only at the Digital Archive page at www.EmptyVessel.net.

Spring 2011: Daoism in America: A Conversation with Xuan Yun (Mysterious Cloud), Return to Stillness is the Motion of Tao, Put the Heart Back Into Love, SPECIAL SECTION: BiGu – Avoiding Food and Eating Qi, Lao Tzu’s Journey Winter 2011: Chinese Astrology and Inner Cultivation; Wu Wei: The Daoist Art of Happiness; Taoists, Doctors and Shamans – Part 2; Yi: Practice and Incubation of the Sage; A Taoist Master’s Search for His Chinese Ancestry – Part 4 Fall 2010: Chuang Tzu: The Way of Nourishing Life; Nudan Practice and the Modern Woman; Taoists, Doctors and Shamans – Part 1; Nourishing Woman; A Taoist Master’s Search For His Chinese Ancestry Part 3 Summer 2010: Bagua: Why Practice This Old and Obscure Art?, Mystical Wudang Mountains, Guidelines for Setting Up A Daoist Altar, A Taoist Master’s Search for His Chinese Ancestry Part 1 Spring 2010: SOLD OUT! Winter 2010: A Taoist Master’s Search For His Chinese Ancestry Part 2, Daosim in the Korean Mountains, The Daoist System of Laozi Fall 2009: SOLD OUT! Summer 2009: SOLD OUT! Spring 2009: SOLD OUT! Winter 2009: Dao at the Beach, Searching For Dao in Daily Life, Returning to

the Essence through Shamanic Qi Gong and Sacred Sound Healing, The Spirit of Tea, Reclaiming Your Power Through New Beginnings Fall 2008: SOLD OUT! Return to Wu Yi Mountain with Chung Liang Ai Huang, the Chinese Way of the Sword, Experiential Primal Wilderness Daoism, Chicken Soup for Daoist Alchemy, Sexual Qigong Summer 2008: Preparing for Summer, the Secret Training of Daoist Magical Incantations, the Spirit of Renewal Winter 2008: Year of the Rat by Susan Levitt, Qigong Fever — Body, Science and Utopia in China, The Natural State, Hunyang Qigong, The Man Who Knew Too Much Summer 2007: Coming Home to the Self, Lu Yu Meets a True Tea Master, Discovering the I Ching, Shen, The Celestial Storehouse, The Spirit of YiJing Spring 2007: The Crossing - Faith and Compassion by Sat Chuen Hon, Gardening with Qi by Sue Blochwitz, A Daoist View of Enlightenment by Michael Winn, The Power of Cultivation and the Elemental Force of Wood by Gilles Marin, Keeper of Tradition and Interview with Eva Wong, Quietly in Stillness by Debra Katz, Why I am a Daoist by Solala Towler Summer 2006: Teaching Myself a Balanced Way by Raven Cohen, Summer Season by Mark Johnson, Breath Qigong Transforming the Energy of Negativity

by Dennis Lewis, Chasing Healing by Caryn Diel, Taoist Mind by Larry Johnson, Breath and Qi by Bruce Frantzis, Journey To the West - Travels in Sacred China and Tibet by Solala Towler Spring 2006: Spring Season by Mark Johnson, Wudang Daoist Summit, Honey!

The Feng Shui Consultant is here! by Christopher Cole, Qigong Prison Ministry

by Jud Tretheway, The Death of Chuang Tzu by You-Sheng Li, The Dao of

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Consciousness by Daniel R. Hawkins, Energy Circulation Through the Tai Chi Ch’uan / Taijiquan Form by Shifu Keith Ewers, Tea and the Dao by Wu Zhongxian Winter 2007: Sitting by the Pond By Bob Anderson, The Year of the Dog 2006 by Susan Levitt, The Function of Dao Translated by Master Zhongxian Wu, Dao and Qi by Livia Kohn, The Natural World by Debra Katz, Wandering on the Wind - Two Chapters From Zhuangzi by Solala Towler, A Daoist Tea Ceremony by Robert Santee The Second Annual Taoist Gathering Photo Essay Winter 2007: The Year of the Pig, The 100 Character Tablet of Lu Dong Bin, Air: The Breath Of Life, Alan Watts on Swimming Headless, The Yijing (I Ching) Dao of Tea Fall 2006: Birth and Death, Coming and Going, Emptiness and Fullness; Healing Hands; Healing My Heart With Loving Chi Kung; Walking With Qi: The Nine Jewels of Qigong Walking; Travels to Tibet Summer 2005: Tracking the Dao by Kurt Levins, Spiritual Directors, Sages

and Other Charismatic Types by Candice Babcock, The Yin Convergence Classic

by Stuart Alvin Olsen, Teaching From the Tao by Solala Towler, Breaking the Illusion - Teachings of the Dao by Yun Xiang Tseng, 21st Century Strategies for New Daosim by Professor Hu Fuchen Spring 2005: Esoteric Daoist Magic The Ancient Daoist Magic Mirror by Jerry Alan Johnson, Yoga and Taoist Alchemy by Larry Johnson, Burning Water, Flowing Fire - Chi Nei Tsang and Emotional Healing During Menopause

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by Gilles Marin, Introduction to Fu The Energetic Symbol by Wu Zhongxian, Flux - Poems by John David Brich, It’s Wu Wei or the Highway by Paul Hayman Fall 2004: The Dao - The Cyclic Flow of Life by Raven Cohen, Qigong As a Portal to Presence - Cultivating the Inner Energy Body by Gunther M. Weil PhD, Daoist Alchemy by James Miller, Daoism and the Origins of Qigong by Livia Kohn, Another Way - Poems by David B. Axelrod, Martial Arts Qigong

and She (Spiritual) Cultivation by Wu Zhongxian Spring 2004: Year of the Monkey by Susan Levitt, Daoism and the Principle of Balance by James Eggert, Yangsheng - The Art of Nourishing Life by Solala Towler, A Meditative Zen Taoist Poem

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by Brenda Peterson, Immortality by Maoshing Ni, Daoism and Classical Chinese Arts by Dave Cook, The Alchemy of Central Equilibrium by Larry Johnson, Quiet Sitting with Mater Yinshi by Livia Kohn, Chang - Embracing Ordinary by Robert Santee, The Daoist Roots of Zen Buddhism by Solala Towler Fall 1993 PREMIER ISSUE: Teacher of Natural Spiritual Truth: An Interview with Hua Ching-Ni, The New Global Direction, The Value of Worthlessness, The Essence of Qi-Gong: An Interview with Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming, Soaring Cran Qi Gong, Drawing Power From Nature, Book Reviews. $18.88

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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

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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

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