The Taoist Body

This elegant and lucid introduction to the traditions of Taoism and the masters who transmit them will reward all those interested in China and in religions.

Equanimity, good health, peace of mind, and long life are the goals of the ancient Taoist tradition known as "internal alchemy," of which Cultivating Stillness is a key text. Written between the second and fifth centuries, the book is attributed to T'ai Shang Lao-chun—the legendary figure more widely known as Lao-Tzu, author of the Tao-te Ching . The accompanying commentary, written in the nineteenth century by Shui-ch'ing Tzu, explains the alchemical symbolism of the text and the methods for cultivating internal stillness of body and mind. A principal part of the Taoist canon for many centuries, Cultivating Stillness is still the first book studied by Taoist initiates today.

A guide to the practice of the Lesser Kan and Li that gives birth to the soul body and the immortal spirit body • Shows how to awaken higher consciousness through practices in total darkness that stimulate the release of DMT by the pineal gland • Shows how to transform sexual energy into life-force energy to feed the soul body The Lesser Enlightenment of Kan and Li practice combines the compassion of the heart energies (yang/fire) with sexual energies originating in the kidneys (yin/water) to form and feed the soul or energy body. Practice of the Chinese formula Siaow Kan Li (yin and yang mixed) uses darkness technology to literally “steam” the sexual energy (jing) into life-force energy (chi) by re-versing the location of yin and yang power. This inversion places the heat of the bodily fire from the heart center beneath the coolness of the bodily water of the sexual energy of the perineum, thereby activating the liberation of transformed sexual energy. Darkness technology has been a key element of Taoist practice--and of all Inner Alchemy traditions--throughout the ages. A total darkness environment stimulates the pineal gland to release DMT into the brain. The darkness actualizes successively higher states of consciousness, correlating with the accumulation of psychedelic chemicals in the brain. In the darkness, mind and soul begin to wander freely in the vast realms of psychic and spiritual experience. Death is no longer to be feared because life beyond the physical body is known through direct experience. The birth of the soul is not a metaphor. It is an actual process of converting energy into a subtle body. Developing the soul body is the preparation for the growth of the immortal spirit body in the practice of the Greater Enlightenment of Kan and Li.

The ancient meditation techniques of Taoism encompass a wide range of practices—with an aim toward cultivating a healthy body as well as an enlightened mind. These selections from classic texts of Taoist meditation represent the entire range of techniques—from sitting meditation practices to internal alchemy. Most of the texts appear here in English for the first time. Selections are taken from the following classics: • Anthology on Cultivation of Realization: A document from 1739 (Ming Dynasty) that emphasizes development of the natural, social, and spiritual elements in human life. • Treatise on Sitting Forgetting: A Tang Dynasty text that sets meditation practice in terms familiar to Confucians and Buddhists. • Sayings of Taoist Master Danyang: Wisdom of the Taoist wizard and representative of the Complete Reality School. • Secret Writings on the Mechanism of Nature: An anthology taken from one hundred sixty-three Taoist sources, including ancient classics and works on meditation and spiritual alchemy, along with admonitions and teachings of the great Taoist luminaries. • Zhang Sanfeng's Taiji Alchemy Secrets: A treatise on the inner mediation practices that are the proper foundation of the martial art Taiji. • Secret Records of Understanding the Way: A rare and remarkable collection of talks by an anonymous Taoist master of the later Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Traditional teachings with a sometimes strikingly modern bent.

In 100 Days to Better Health, Good Sex & Long Life, Eric Yudelove provided the foundation course in Taoist practice. Now he takes you to the next level, referred to as "Beginning Internal Alchemy." Gather the energies from the five major internal organs, harmonize them, and change them from negative to positive. It's a process of refining yourself so you can absorb energy from nature and the cosmos, thus becoming a universe in miniature.

This elegant and lucid introduction to the traditions of Taoism and the masters who transmit them will reward all those interested in China and in religions.