Qigong & Daoist Training Center

 
Just watch out that
Above the concentrated mind
Everything is free and open and coverless,
Beneath the concentrated mind
Everything is wide and spacious and bottomless.
Zuowanglun[1]
 
My own personal journey in meditation began in the early 1970’s. This was a very turbulent and exciting period of time for the entire country: The Vietnam War was coming to an end; the Green Revolution was taking roots, and a large segment of the alternative movement was undergoing a shift in consciousness. One aspect of this shift in consciousness was a turning to the East for its richness of philosophies. The direction I took was towards the philosophies of China and Japan, especially their meditation traditions.
My first encounters in Eastern meditation practices were in the yogic practices of India. . I recited mantras and chanting and was even initiated into …

By Shifu Michael Rinaldini
 
     The American Dragon Gate Lineage (ADGL) officially began at the end of 2007 with the occurrence of two events.  The first event was a signing of a document declaring the public recognition of the ADGL.  The signers were students in Michael Rinaldini’s qigong class in Sebastopol, Ca. on December 15, 2007.  The other event was the filing for a fictitious business name with the Office of The Sonoma County Clerk, State of California on December 19, 2007:  Qigong & Daoist Training Center: American Dragon Gate Lineage, owner, Michael Rinaldini.
     That was the official beginnings of the ADGL.  Previous to those events, Michael Rinaldini was ordained in China on August 25, 2003 as a Longmen Dragon Gate Daoist priest by Priest Ji Zhi Tong, a high priest from the White Cloud Temple in Beijing.  Michael was given the priest name of Li Chang Dao.  Li is the 22nd generation name based on the Longmen lineage poem.  This ordination ceremony took place at Master Wan Sujian’s Bagua Xundao Gong Red Cross Medical Exchange Center in Beijing.  Master Wan was Michael’s sponsor and responsible for all the arrangements of the ordination ceremony.  He continues to be the spiritual counselor or root founder of the ADGL….

One of my favorite qigong forms is Primordial Wuji Qigong. The form I practice is technically mine in origins, but the philosophy behind it belongs to a long tradition of qigong cultivation. I became interested in it during the early 2000’s. At that time, I was studying the writings of a variety of qigong teachers: Roger Jahnke, Jerry Alan Johnson, Michael Winn, Daniel Reid, Solala Towler, and Ken Cohen. Several of them had written extensively or produced videos on the Primordial qigong. They referred to it in a variety of names: Hunyuan Gong, Primordial Qigong, Hundun Qigong, or “Taiji Hunyuan Nei Gong (Undifferentiated Primordial Inner Work).” [1] I was mysteriously drawn to it, even though I did not have any direct experience of its form. From the descriptions I read about it, I deduced that it consisted of a lot of circling and spiraling movements. Roger Jahnke described it as a returning and moving in reverse to the natural pattern of things. I started creating my own form, using some of my favorite rolling and spiraling qigong movements, and deepening my understanding of key principles of the Primordial philosophy.
…

 As I pour myself a second cup of Chinese Pu-erh tea, I ask myself when did it all start, my interests in Daoism?  Of course, I know the answer already, as it is never really that far from my mind.  I check my cup of tea. No, not dark enough. I like my pu-erh dark and earthy.  It was back in 1970 or 1971.  I was attending the University of Oklahoma, and one night, I and a few friends were riding our bicycles on campus.  Weaving in and out of the hedge-lined sidewalks was like flowing through a maze of pathways.  At the time, I was reading a lot of Walden Pond.  So, continuing my following the path, making quick decisions: turn right, turn left, go straight.  It suddenly dawned on me that life was like this.  A lot of interconnected pathways and a lot of choices to make.  And , as long as I was aware of my choices, then everything was okay.  My overwhelming feeling though, focused on how all these pathways and choices were all relative.  Ah, the tea is done.  As I continued riding my bike that night a mantra came into my head:  Everything is Relative, Everything is Relative …
 
But, before I go further, I need to go back to my senior year of high school.  I had read a book which was the …

The following journal entries are from my personal all-night retreats I have started doing in my own home, in my meditation room. Basically, I stay up all night and practice until 6am.  I do a variety of practices: qigong, zuowang meditation, koan practice, drinking pu-erh tea, reading inspirational books, reciting Daoist scriptures, and writing in my journal.  I feel it is important to share this information, as many people ask me, what exactly do you practice?  Or, what do you do on a retreat?  These entries are a doorway into practice.  I hope the readers find them useful.

 March 15, 2008 (excerpts)

12am

I started reading the memoirs of Maura O’Halloran in the book, Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind.  I am almost at the half-way mark, but am already inspired by her short life as a zen monk.  It is because of her inspiration that I am staying up tonight to bring my sitting and cultivation practices to a deeper level. As a matter of fact, I have been feeling kind of lazy and half-hearted in my Daoist practices.  I’ve not been meditating or reciting scriptures regularly, and I’ve been eating too much lately.  My digestion has been out of balance for a month or two, and I feel I need a little kick-in-the–butt to get back on track.  I hope tonight provides the fuel to get restarted.

 Okay, everything is now set. Candles lit, room warmed up. I have a thermos of Pu-erh tea next to me. Reading texts for later, and incense burning. I’m ready to pee, then start my first sitting session.

 2am

I finished the first round of sitting forgetting. One of my practices is the self-enquiry asking, who’s sitting forgetting?  Nothing dramatic in the sitting.  A lot of restful sitting, not much real awareness.  The question, who’s sitting forgetting …

A Solitary Retreat & Journal Records
Michael Rinaldini, January, 2010

1/23/2010  Saturday

Annual Solitary Retreat:  Sonoma Mountain Zen Center, Santa Rosa, California

 I arrived at SMZC at around 4:30pm.  After checking in with the Guest Master, I emptied the car of all my things. After un-packing, I re-arranged the room and sat down to officially start the retreat.  It was slightly after 6pm.

 7:45pm

What is the value of retreat?

Drinking a fresh cup of puerh tea with a homemade chocolate chip cookie.

 1/24/10  Sunday

9:15am

Reciting scriptures.

I’ve had my breakfast, made the bed.  Some things just don’t change.

 Reading Scripture on Clarity and Stillness:

I see the passage, “Although we can call this’realizing the Dao,’ In truth there is nothing to attain.”

This passage is another reference to how the zuowang view appears in Daoist scripture.  There is nothing to attain.  We are already in possession of the Dao.  The Dao is so close we don’t recognize or realize it.

 Yinfu Jing

What is the single source of greed?

 12:12pm

I just returned from the yurt where I practiced circle walking qigong.  I did a lot of stretching before the qigong.  My leg muscles have been very tight lately, and especially my left hamstring muscles are tight and sore.  I saw on YouTube the other day a video comparing dynamic stretches with stationary stretches.  Their point was that static stretching actually produce more harm than good.  I did some of both.

 Sitting in my cabin now, writing, and listening to the rain on the tin roof.  Leafless trees surround the cabin, many of them are covered in a rich green moss.

I sit quietly and listen.  There is a silence beneath the surface of the rain.  I have to stop my writing to hear it.

 I re-read what I wrote earlier – “what is the single source of greed?”

 1pm

I’m having a simple lunch in my cabin.  It …