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 looks like there was some kind of lunch meeting in [...]]]> 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 looks like there was some kind of lunch meeting in the main house and kitchen.  I am having a fresh cup of puerh tea with it.  It feels so good, that warm mellow flavor.

 1:30pm

Taoist Mysteries and Magic, John Blofeld, pg. 122

“Stillness in the heart of movement is the secret of all power.”

 6pm

Faith Mind Sutra

“One clear moment within,

Illumines the emptiness before you.”

 Here is a reference to the sudden breakthrough of seeing clearly the nature of things.  “One clear moment” sounds like the experience of cracking through the illusory surface of things.  Using the word “moment” implies that this is a sudden appearance, an event which happens, and then one is able to directly experience “emptiness.”

 Faith Mind Sutra, again:

“To abide in this world, Just say, Not Two.  Not Two includes everything, excluding nothing.”

 Preceeding this passage the scripture says, “No effort is made.  Furthermore, when the mind makes no effort, thinking can take no root and that is the true Dharma world where there is no self or other.”  This is the zuowang view.  And we abide in this view by saying, Not Two.  So it appears that saying Not Two is identical to the zuowang method.  The method of forgetting – making no preferences, no choices, and so on.

 In other words, through the practice of forgetting one realizes that there are Not Two things in the entire universe.  We forget the distinctions of the ten thousand things.  They are of one essence as the scripture says.

 Saying Not Two opens ourselves to the “moment” beyond “time and space” where nothing exists and yet “enlightened beings everywhere all return to the Source.”

 These reflections came to me as I recited the scriptures on Sunday night.

 What is the value of retreat?

The answer is becoming clearer as my busy thinking mind calms down a little, and it steps aside to allow insights to emerge.  And that is the value of retreat, to allow the insight-mind to come forth.  The Neiye scripture would say, that the heart-mind within the heart-mind can come forth through the quieting practices of retreat.

 1/25/2010  Monday

 Last night I read from, To Live As Long As Heaven And Earth, A translation and study of Ge Hong’s Traditions of Divine Transcendents, by Robert Ford Campany.

 This selection is on Master Guang cheng who was an immortal “in ancient times.”  He was a teacher to the Yellow Thearch (Yellow Emperor).  Master Guang was different from other immortals that Ge Hong collected in his Traditions in that Guangcheng’s main cultivation method was that of quiet sitting meditation.  Below are sections of a poem he wrote for the Yellow Emperor who wanted to follow the way.

 The essence of the ultimate Way

Is dark and obscure.

It involves no seeing, no hearing,

But only embracing your spirit in quietude.

Your body will then correct itself.

Take care of what is within, and close yourself

To what is without.

Know much, and you will suffer decay.

As for myself, I abide where Heaven and Earth,

Yin and yang are one,

So as to settle where they harmonize.

That is why I have reached the age of

One thousand two hundred years.

I will compare my light with that of the sun and moon,

I will last as long as Heaven and Earth.

When humankind has completely perished,

I alone will remain.

 Commentator Campany compares Master Guangcheng’s “quieting, stilling practice” to what is found in the texts of the Neiye (Inward Training).  He says Harold Roth refers to this sort of practice as ‘apophatic.’ [ Original Tao, Harold Roth.  One attends primarily to mind and spirit, limiting sensory stimulation and emotion and knowledge, and having done so, one’s body “corrects itself.” Pg 160 Traditions. ]

Why is this story relevant to us now?  For one, it points to quiet sitting meditation as a Daoist practice since very ancient times.  And secondly, another point, of particular importance when on retreat, is his statement, “Take care of what is within, and close yourself to what is without.”

 I sense one of the things this passage addresses is that when one is on retreat, there are still temptations to distract us.  We can go to a beautiful retreat center, or some kind of cabin, and simply enjoy ourselves to no end by just being in nature.  We can spend all day hiking in the woods, or walking on the beaches, and feel really refreshed and relaxed.  But have we served our purpose of going within?  Of quieting the sense-doors and returning to tranquility which is not influenced by likes, dislikes, beauty or ugliness.  Are we still not stuck in the dualities of heaven and earth?

 Chapter 47 in the Daode jing comes to mind:

Without going out your door,

You can know the whole world.

Without looking out your window,

You can know the Way of Heaven.

Sages therefore know without traveling

Name (understand) without seeing

And succeed without trying.

 One of the commentaries in Red Pine’s DDJ translation says, “Without traveling means to know without depending on previous or external experience.”  Another commentator suggests that the Dao cannot be found through “form.”

 1:10pm

I just finished lunch with some of the residents of the zen center, including the head Roshi.  It was nice to finally have a regular meal, instead of the weekend do-it-yourself leftovers from the refrigerator.  See, here it is again, the mind that makes preferences.

 1:49pm

A little rest, and now it’s time to go for a short walk and then onto the large yurt for qigong.

 3:20pm

Just returned from the yurt where I had a good circle walking qigong.  And I just made a fresh cup of brick puerh tea.  It is a young tea but my tea supplier says the leaves are potent because the trees are very old, and they have a lot of qi.  Hold it a minute, let me taste this cup …………  Ah, very nice puerh.  Just what I needed on this raining afternoon, again.

 My circle walking was very productive.  I walked very slow, very alert and very aware.  I felt every movement throughout my body.  As I recited Not Two as I walked, I was aware of the internal voice – pushing and pushing itself to be heard.  I finally gave up on the Not Two and started asking or saying, Not Self.  This shut it up for awhile, but it was still there.

 I went through all the eight arm postures. Sometimes, the circle was as big as the room, and other times it was only 4-5 feet across.  And on at least one occasion, I just spun around a center point.  There were a few instances of walking when my whole attention was on my hands, and everything else spun into a dizzying blur.

In those moments, there was no self, no chatter, just spinning.

4:30pm

Reading Blofeld’s Taoist Mysteries and Magic.  This book rocks.  How’s that for slang!  I keep finding sections in it that explain exactly what I’m trying to say.  On pg 128, he clarifies what I was writing about earlier on closing the senses, turning off the thinking, roaming mind and instead focus on “inner stillness and keen unwavering awareness.”  I’ll start from the top:

 “The venerable Lao-tzu’s directions for achieving tranquility also emphasize the need to stem the flow of thought, to cultivate keen awareness that is free from an object, for this is what is meant by the knowledge or knowing that does not know.”

 Other points he makes:

“concentrate the vital force, but gently, like a baby, to polish the mirror of the mind and get rid of the ‘stain.’  By ‘stain’ he means, clinging to objects of perception.

 And for the method of arriving at a state of stillness, he says, block the orifices, close the gates, blunt the sharpness, unravel the knots, dim the brightness, and so on.

 “Be like a bright mirror that takes in all , but clings to nothing.”

 Do a retreat!  Walk in the great woods, the beautiful beaches.  But don’t stop there.  Go deeply into Not Two until you see directly all these objects of perception as manifestations of the formless Dao.  Let your awareness be free from any limitations of the small mind so you may perceive the “heart of our being.”  Let the beauty of nature draw you in, but don’t stop prematurely, less you miss the way of Heaven and Earth.

 6pm

Everything that is not Not Two forget !

The above seems like the perfect integration of zuowang and Not Two.

 9:55pm

Again I return to this statement in Mysteries and Magic, pg 122,

“Stillness in the heart of movement is the secret of all power.”  Blofeld is talking about warrior or martial arts power, but it equally applies to qigong power. 

 When I practice qigong in a state of quietness and stillness, it is entirely different than when teaching or times when I may be distracted.  This afternoon as the stillness enwrapped me, I could sense with awareness the interconnectedness of everything going on.  I felt the cold in my hands, the bounce of the yurt floor, the twisting of my body, the strain in my arms, and on and on.  And what I sensed the most was the stillness.  The stillness which is identical to awareness.  You can’t really separate the two. 

 1/26/10  Tuesday

 What is the Way of Tea – Cha Dao ?

 Let the tea cool down so that when you drink it, the lips and mouth don’t have to jerk back from the heat. This way when the tea enters the mouth, it is in harmony with you already.

 10:15am

I am reciting the Neiye this morning.  This text is indeed a jewel for us all to study.  It contains the entire Daoist path.  There are too many points to make right now.  All I can say is study this text.  It covers the range of our practice from eating and excessive thinking to balance and alignment, to stillness and returning to our innate nature.  It mentions the importance of moving qi through the body, and it encourages “solitude” to find inner happiness.

 The text finishes wonderfully, #26:

The numinous qi resides within the heart-mind.

When the heart-mind holds to stillness,

The Dao will naturally come to settle.

 1/27/10  Wednesday

 My retreat was interrupted  today because of a health concern. I felt the need to return home to take care of it.  For the next two days, I stayed home from work, took care of my health issue, and returned to my meditation room as much as possible.

 The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain, translated by Bill Porter has a wonderful introduction by John Blofeld.  In this next section, I will blend my comments with Blofeld’s on the Daoist world view.

 “To those familiar with Taoist teachings, it meant the invisible, formless matrix that gives rise to the endless succession of forms which are no more apart from or different from the matrix than waves are apart from or different from the sea.” Pg 21

 Comment:  Blofeld’s use of the term “matrix” is opposite to how I apply it in describing the invisible, formless Dao and its hiddenness behind the veil of illusion, I call the matrix.  And it doesn’t matter how you call it.  We both refer to the Dao in its ultimate state which is clouded from our eyes. 

 “The use of a term meaning ‘way’ to describe the vast, unfathomable reality of which every form is but a transient manifestation has very subtle implications, pointing to the non-dual nature of reality; for, if reality is in fact no-dual, then the source, the way to the goal, the wayfarer, and the goal are all indivisible from one another.” Pg 21

 Comment:  In meditation, as in life, everything is part of this non-dual reality.  Even when meditating, whatever one experiences is not separate from the Dao.  In the zuowang view and method, it is all non-dual and thus the method of saying, Not Two, creates the experience of undifferentiated unity.  We just need to bring awareness to this experience, otherwise we are lost.

 “What this means in practice is that one seeks to attain to a state of intuitive understanding in which the unity of ‘I’ and ‘other’ is experienced as vividly as the heat of fire or the coldness of ice.”  Pg 22

 Comment:  This is the importance of the awakening experience, sudden or gradual, as long as one’s ego-sense is dissolved into non-dual reality.

 “Thus realization of the identity of one’s true nature and the true nature of the Tao leads to acceptance of health and illness, gain and loss, up and down, life and death as being equally essential to the natural functioning of things, and therefore in no way to be deplored.”  Pg 22

Comment: This is the stumbling block for most people.  Realizing how these highs and lows and other opposite relationships are just part of the process of the Dao manifesting itself in a myriad of ways.  What keeps us isolated in dual experiences?  I say it is our lack of “cracking the illusory matrix.”  Until we experience the unity of our self with the universal Dao self, we’ll forever be tossed by life’s ups and downs.

 Comment:  This is an intuitive experience that would liberate one forever.  That is how Blofeld describes the experience I call, cracking the matrix, or the zen path calls, kensho, awakening experience.

 Comment:  Yes, prior to full realization, the path is difficult.  The path is subject to much disappointment, frustrations and set-backs.  Every cold, flu or anxiety, or misbehavior on our part, along the way makes us doubt whether we are doing the right thing.  We still don’t have the benefit of full realization to see all these things as just the ups and downs of the Way, and not distinct from the Way.

 “You see how enviable is the lot of people who have realized the Tao !  Nothing can upset them.  Youth passes – so does spring.  Old age comes – so do winter’s lovely snowscapes.  I’m bursting with energy, so I’ll jog or climb Mount Hua.  I’m too ill to move, so I’ll enjoy my warm bed and meditate.  My wife loves me; O what joys behind hibiscus curtains!  My wife has left me; how peaceful it is now.”  Pg 30

 Comment:  It sounds so wonderful to be able to experience life on such a deep level.  Yes, this may be our goal, yet,  right now, we might not fully realize it, but we can take solace in what was said earlier “the source, the way to the goal, the wayfarer, and the goal are all indivisible from one another.”

 “Well, as you can see, realization is intoxicating, but to reach a point at which you feel the Tao pulsing in your veins and recognize the Pole Star as no less a part of you than your arms and legs – ha-ha-ha- that is quite difficult.”  Pg 30

 Comment:  Maybe that is why when I go outside at night and look up at the stars, I yearn to return home to my place in the celestial heavens.  I do feel the stars and space more me than I do this limited body/mind.

 “What does all this amount to?  You (the Tao) go to some mountain or forest (the Tao) to follow the path (Tao) that leads to realizing (Tao-ing) the Tao!  It sounds crazy, but it’s wonderful.”  Pg 33

 Comment:  It seems like I can’t do anything but this. It does feel like destiny.

 “ … for the Tao is most easily found when laughter comes spontaneously and one is comfortably realized.  Strain, tension, solemnity will blind you to its lovely radiance.”  Pg 33

 Comment:  yes, yes, and yes …. ha-ha-ha, ho-ho-ho …

 Shifu Michael Rinaldini, (Li Chang Dao) is a Qigong Teacher, a 22^nd generation Longmen Dragon Gate Daoist priest, and founder of American Dragon Gate Lineage.   He is a Level IV Certified Qigong Teacher of the National Qigong Association, and a Certified Bagua Xundao Gong Qigong Teacher by Master Wan Su Jian, Beijing, China.  He offers a Qigong Certification Program for Advanced Trainings, and a Daoist priest training for those seriously committed to the Daoist way.  www.dragongateqigong.com

 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 comes and goes.  Sometimes I hear an inner voice saying, [...]]]> 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 comes and goes.  Sometimes I hear an inner voice saying, “I forgot to forget.”

 Time now for scripture recitation.

 A few minutes later,

 “The Dao arises in the study of the heart.”

This line from the Offering Incense invocation is so very powerful.  I forget that within these basic Daoist invocations exist deep, profound teachings.  Within the heart is the Dao.  This heart is probably a reference to xin, heartmind which is everywhere in the Daoist texts.  The heartmind is me at my most fundamental level. No separation.  Everything about me is a link to my heartmind.  And if that is true, then the Dao is that close as well.  The Dao is as close as my own thoughts, as my own feelings, as my own experiences of the world.  It appears that there is not any separation between who and what I am, and the Dao.  What a nice thing to be thinking about at 2:30am, Sunday morning, one week before Easter.  Today must be Palm Sunday, if I have my memory on right.

 4am

Forgetting the non-awareness of duality.

This thought came to me as I was working on what exactly is it that I forget. How do I describe it?  How is it different from the awareness of non-duality?

 5:55am

My last couple sitting sessions were more wakeful and greater clarity than when I started 6 hours ago.  No great satori, no enlightenment but these last couple hours were very tranquil.  Asking myself, who’s sitting forgetting has become a pleasant way of staying present and a strong reminder of what I’m intending.

 At times, I can anticipate, with a little more concentration in a wuwei spirit and I could fully experience the heart of the zuowang state of abiding in awareness of a nondual reality.

6am now, time to end the retreat.

 April 18, 2009  (excerpts)

 1 am

I just finished making a pot of pu-erh tea gongfu style.  I’m letting it brew for awhile so I have nice strong tea to help me stay awake, alert for the next 5 hours.

 I started tonight’s retreat at 12 midnight.  My wife and I made a pit fire outside and I added a few logs around 11:30pm to keep it going. Around midnight, I practiced some Bagua circle walking. Earlier in the day, I read in The Whirling Circles of Bagua Zhang, by Frank Allen, about some research on the origins of the Bagua circle walking.  It appears that there is a Daoist Longmen history of circle walking where they practiced a simple circle walking as part of their Daoist meditation practices.

 “From its earliest beginnings, the Dragon Gate Sect had a circle walking meditation practice called, “Rotating in Worship of Heaven.”  The monks credited their founder, Qui Chuji, with the creation of the practice…   In this practice, they created a moving yin-yang symbol by walking in a circle and making an S curve through the circle to change directions.  Through this practice, they hoped to achieve stillness in motion.” Pg. 215

 I also found a blog on the internet which has even more history on the Dragon Gate sect and their circle walking.  It says how the Daoists recited mantras while they walked and focused on their goal of uniting humanity, heaven and earth.

 Of course, while I circle walked tonight, I repeated the Daoist koan of ‘Not Two.’  I soon found myself coordinating each step with Not, another step with Two.  I walked through the circles in the S curves, and I have to admit, I felt very ancient and re-connected to my ancient Daoist brethren.  I will definitely follow-up on this and see if I can find even more information.  What a blessing to have come across this.

 Time for that pu-erh.  It’s been waiting for me for about 30 minutes. Should be nice and strong.

 1:30 am

That was the best everyday pu-erh I have had.  I finished off two full Gawain cups like there was no tomorrow.  I downed a few walnuts with it.  What a Daoist feast: pu-erh tea and walnuts.  I don’t know if it gets any better than this-naturally so.

 4:15 am

I was reading in one of John Blofeld’s old books, The Secret and Sublime: Taoist Mysteries and Magic, and I found a passage I seem to come across often in his writings.  It is in his chapter on Daoist Mysticism, and is a summary of what some old Daoist said to him.  It is relevant since it relates to one of our key practices of breaking down the illusory boundaries of self and other. It is a long quote.

 “The Tao is to be found in inner stillness.  It reveals itself as One-timeless, formless, all-pervading.  In it all creatures and objects have their being …  Apart from the totality which is the Tao, they have no being.  The Tao and the myriad objects are not two!  This faculty of being one and many simultaneously is a mystery that can be apprehended but not explained.

(more)

It is not enough for you to suppose that you know these things.  You must perceive them directly.

(more)

You must look within your mind.  Even then you will see nothing clearly, unless you lose awareness of a self that looks.  There is no such person, I assure you-there is a looking, but no looker.  Yet banishing the concept of being one who looks can be difficult.  Therefore prepare yourself by limiting your desires, requiring nothing of the world beyond [the basics].  Meanwhile, practice the art of koan daily.  This will still the restless waves of thought and sharpen your awareness.  Awareness must be acute, but objectless.  No looker, no looked-at, just looking.  Do you understand?”  pg 184

 5:15 am

The last two hours, sleepy.

Meditation, head leaning forward.

No thoughts. No desires,

Not even for sleep.

Not Two comes and goes,

Walking through the circle of yin and yang.

 Post-retreat comment:

Blofeld’s quote by the old Daoist is at the core of Daoist practice.  Especially as I practice with the emphasis on using ‘Not Two’ as the key Daoist koan to breaking the barrier gate to the direct experience of the Dao.  And he gives the appropriate warning, that this is not an easy practice.  Our attachments to our self are so very strong.  Even when we have wonderful experiences and say we understand, we still hold onto to the self concepts of being the “looker” and not just looking.  Everyone just says it is hard to explain, but in their efforts to explain, they clearly give away their own sense of ego or self which is doing the experiencing. Dropping this ego is so very tricky.  A sly fox.  A mischievous monkey. 

 November 1, 2009   Halloween Eve, Oct 31

 11:55 pm   Last minutes of Halloween Eve, Oct 31

At the beginning of this Halloween evening all-night retreat, I take my first drink of blood, oh, I mean fine 15 year old, aged, old growth tree, pu-erh tea.

 That is really good pu-erh tea.  This very first cup is smooth and effortless as the most experienced sage.  I can only imagine where this night’s retreat is going. 

 Onto first session of scripture recitation:  Qingjing jing – clarity and stillness.

 1:15 am

“Internally gazing into the heart-mind,

You see that in actuality there is no heart-mind.

 Externally gazing into form,

You see that in actuality there is no form.

 Externally gazing into things,

You see that in actuality there are no things.

 When you awaken to these three,

Only then do you gain a glimpse into emptiness.”

 After reading these passages and a few more additional ones, I slipped into a deep meditation – silence.

 There is no heart-mind, no form, no things, no need to even make an effort to meditate, to practice zuowang.  Being there, with no effort.  Just staying in the state of emptiness.  And I see that emptiness, at least what I experienced – “You see that emptiness is not empty.”

 There was “clear and constant silence.”

 2:55 am

Returning from outside, under a clear and still, almost full moon sky, I remember my Daoist dreams of flying to the stars as a beam of energy – light.  And back inside, I turn to another scripture, reciting:

 “The sun and moon have calculations …”

And

“The Way is calm and wide,

Not easy, not difficult

But small minds get lost.”

 “The more you think and talk.

The more you lose the Way.

Cut off all thinking.

And pass freely anywhere.”

 Clearly, these past few days I have talked too much, lost much qi, acted foolishly with others.  My decision for tonight’s retreat was inspired by these behaviors.

 “No fault, no 10,000 things.

No arising, no mind.

No world, no one to see it.

No one to see it, no world.”

 “If one diligently practices in fulfillment of these precepts,

Never being lazy or lax about them,

Then one will pursue the Dao with no-mind.”

 3:15 am

I was asked by one of my priest students to comment on the “let-down feeling” one experiences after newly being ordained, and the same feeling of being “let-down” after a retreat.  I have different thoughts on this question and get inspiration from reading Daoist scriptures.  For instance, in the above passages, it ends by saying to “pursue the Dao with no-mind.”  When you think about it, that is how to engage in a retreat, especially the ending – with “no-mind.” That is the core practice during a retreat, to cultivate a mind free of desires, free of attachments, free of thinking, and all the principles of zuowang: no preferences, no choices, no contriving, and so on.  But then, why would someone at the end of the retreat have the experience of being let-down.  Why is it all of a sudden okay to now be filled with expectations and desires for some reward.  I thought that was the purpose of retreat, to let go of expectations and desires.

 I had the same experience when I was doing my 1000 Day Daoist Scripture Retreat.  Early in the retreat I had these subtle thoughts, “will I be different when I complete this 1000 day practice?  Will I be purified and be able to fly off and meet Laozi, like it says in the scriptures?”  As I approached the ending of my retreat, I realized that I was the same person I was at the beginning of the retreat.  Nothing changed.  I hadn’t accomplished anything special. Along the way, it seems like I was able to let go of my desires to gain something from reciting scriptures for 1000 days.  I say “nothing changed” and nothing was gained, except perhaps for being able to let go of expectations.  And that is no small accomplishment.

 I made a note on a piece of paper a few days earlier about this issue of retreat and feeling let down afterwards.  It was a reference to a few brief words in the Daode jing, chapter 46:

 “There is no greater fault

Than desire for success.”

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 real opening for me: The Razor’s Edge, by [...]]]>  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 real opening for me: The Razor’s Edge, by W. Somerset Maugham.   It turned my life upside down.  And, even though the book and subsequent movie versions of it, especially the Bill Murray version, are primarily Buddhist in nature, it didn’t matter.  I was hooked on the path of searching for the truth of the universe and the truth of my soul.  I had turned my back on the materialism of the world, and even though, I was still part of the world, my spirit yearned for the freedom, or should I say, the free and easy wanderings of the Daoist immortals soaring off to distant realms of Celestial Heavens.

These and other experiences I had in the 1970’s shaped the direction I was to follow for the rest of my life. And even though I was not consciously aware that I was a Daoist, it became clearer over the next 30 years that my roots in Daoism stemmed from these early experiences.

 From the 1970’s through the 1990’s, I was to continue my searching and explorations through various world religions.  A significant book along the way was Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki.  Some of his sayings struck me most powerfully:

“So whatever you do, or even though you do not do anything, enlightenment is there, always.” “Buddha nature is our original nature.”

Reading this inspired me to follow the Buddhist path for many years.  And, as a matter of fact, my first significant insight or awakening experience occurred as a direct result of reading it. 

To sum up my experiences during this time, I spent 6 years in and out of Catholic contemplative monasteries in the 70’s, following in the footsteps of the contemporary Catholic monastic, Thomas Merton.  Later in Merton’s life, he spoke highly of the integration of a Catholic and Buddhist spirituality.  I was doing exactly that.  In the 80’s and 90’s, I continued my studies in the Buddhist traditions of Zen, Insight Meditation, and Tibetan Buddhism, including the Dzogchen view.  In the mid-1990’s because of health reasons, I began a transition towards Traditional Chinese Medicine, including training as an acupressure therapist, as well as qigong training with various American qigong teachers.  In a very short time, I realized that this was the path I had been searching for ever since I first read The Razor’s Edge in the late 1960’s.

By the year 2000, I was firmly established in the Chinese health practices of medical qigong, acupressure, and tuina, as well as immersed in the study of Daoist classics and Daoist meditation. But it was only my first China trip that allowed me to fully experience the deeper significance of following a Chinese path of healing and spirituality.

In May of 2000, I traveled to Beijing to study with Master Wan Sujian (b. 1953). Raised in a family of army medical doctors, he had joined the army at age 17 and duly became a Western-trained physician. During the 1976 earthquake, he performed exemplary service and excelled in various outstanding performance over the following years. Master Wan has received numerous awards for excellence from the Chinese government. He is especially known for his outstanding humanitarian work, including his recent help in fighting the SARS epidemic, and for aiding the poor, disadvantaged orphans of China.

In 2000, when I first arrived in Beijing, he was still a military physician, but because of his outstanding performance he had been given permission to open a qigong clinic and training center, combined with a residential school of martial and healing practices for young people. This center, the Bagua Xundao Gong Red Cross Medical Exchange Center, located in the western foothills on the outskirts of the city, also opened its gates to train foreigners in qigong, gongfu, qi healing and other Chinese cultural arts.

During this first trip, followed by a second sojourn in 2001, I studied and practiced Master Wan’s way of qigong (Bagua Xundao Gong Qigong) and learned his method of  qi-healing. His Baqua qigong consists of a set of movements, tonifying the three dantians, purifying the channels, strengthening the Jing Qi, or harmonizing the Yin and Yang energies.  Most of his exercises are performed standing, but some are done lying down, or in sitting cross-legged postures.  A usual practice session lasts about an hour.

His qi-healing is usually undertaken by a group of six to eight practitioners who stand around the seated or lying patient. Using both hands-on massage techniques and a nontouching form of external qi transmission, all send or channel universal energy into the patient together. Master Wan believes that this group effort is more powerful than the work of just one healer or doctor. A treatment of this kind is one of the highlights of the center’s healing services.

In addition, Master Wan also provides training and appreciation of traditional Chinese and Daoist culture. For instance, many of his young students play Chinese instruments and perform them regularly for guests.  The center also houses a Daoist temple.  Dedicated to Lord Lao, who is represented in a fifteen-feet tall statue, it is the location of regular rituals, during which students play traditional Daoist music.  Their opening ceremony for the temple was August 14, 2002, and it is called Tai Shang Lao Jun Hall.  Since 2001, the temple has been supervised by a Daoist priest, Ji Zhi Tong, formerly a resident of  Beijing’s White Cloud Temple and former teacher of its current abbot.   Priest Ji teaches Daoist rituals to the students and frequently invites foreign guests to participate in Daoist blessing ceremonies.

Another Daoist activity in Master Wan’s center is the Daoist tea ceremony. It involves the formal tasting of various kinds of tea while sitting around a large table in a specially designed chamber. I was fortunate enough to participate in it several times, most memorable being those when a Daoist priestess offered us tea in an ornate but simple ceremony.

I live in a small town, one hour north of San Francisco.  I have a day job teaching art, qigong and other things to adults with developmental disabilities.  In addition to my family of wife, son and two daughters, my passion is to teach others the Chinese healing arts of  qigong, meditation, Qi Healing, Daoist scripture study, and even the Daoist way of drinking tea.  One means that I have developed to accomplish this task was the creation of a Qigong Certification Program.   My program presents the basics of qigong, including a foundation in key TCM principles, like Five Element Theory and the Meridian system.  I also concentrate on a beginner’s understanding of Daoism, including Daoist meditation.  From my own observations, I’ve noticed that among the growing numbers of qigong teachers and practitioners, that the influence of Daoism on the development of qigong is little realized.  And, the feedback I get from my students is that they are highly appreciative of having been introduced to Daoism.

As this program grows in popularity, more and more people are asking me how can go beyond being a qigong practitioner, and become a Daoist priest.  This has led me to the contemplation of what do I need to do to be of service to them?  The answer lies in the creation of a training program for Daoist priests.  But, before I go into that story, I need to brew a fresh pot of pu-erh tea.

I can’t tell the story of training priests, until I tell the story of how I became a Daoist priest. 

It begins.

From what I’ve said earlier, it should be clear I had a deep yearning to fully enter the spiritual-religious life.  During the busy years of my training as a qigong practitioner and teacher, I put these aspirations on-hold.  But gradually, as I became more proficient in qigong and started immersing myself more fully into the study of Daoism, my old yearnings surfaced again.   By this time, I had already been to China twice and developed a strong teacher-student relationship with Master Wan Su Jian.  So in the Fall of 2002, I turned to Master Wan for guidance on how I could satisfy my passion to enter the religious life as a Daoist priest, both for my own self-cultivation and to help spread the teachings of Daoism.  I turned to Master Wan because on my second visit to see him, I befriended Priest Ji, who I  mentioned above.   Priest Ji is considered a high priest of the (Longmen) Dragon Gate Daoists at White Cloud Temple.  Master Wan was already aware of my background in qigong studies and Daoist practices.  He responded by saying how glad he was hearing I want to spread Daoism to others in America.  He and Priest Ji would make arrangements for me to receive Daoist Priest Ordination the following year.

           Nine months later, in August of 2003, I was back in China. On the very first morning, still in a jet-lag daze, at 9 a.m., I was being ordained as a Daoist priest at the center’s Daoist temple.  The ceremony began with several assistants dressing me in a new set of Daoist clothes, including a full-length Daoist ceremonial robe, hat, and shoes.  Priest Ji and an assistant priestess recited many texts, burned ceremonial paper, walked in special patterns, and bowed a lot.  One of the special rituals Priest Ji did was opening the spiritual eye of a statue of Lord Lao, which I carried back to my home temple.  He performed a similar ritual on myself, touching the third eye spot on my forehead.   The whole ceremony took about two hours.

During the brief time that I was there, I participated in several Daoist ceremonies, which lasted for hours with lots of incense.   My main role during these ceremonies was to assist in playing simple musical instruments, namely cymbols.

During the next few days, Priest Ji and his assistant priestess spoke to me, through a translator, about the Quanzhen lineage and history.  During one of these sessions, he gave me my 22nd generation lineage name of ” Li.”  Chang was added to it, followed by Dao, to make my complete name , Li Chang Dao.           

In another session, the priestess said to me that to make  progress as a Daoist priest, I needed to study and meditate on certain Daoist scriptures. She recommended that I study the Daode jing and Zhuangzi in combination with a collection of other works important to Dragon Gate (Longmen) Daoists. They include the Qingjing jing (Scripture on Clarity and Stillness), and the Yinfu jing (Scripture on the Hidden Talisman.  And of course, I should learn as much as possible about the Complete Perfection school, founded by Wang Zhe (1123-1170). She also recommended that I learn the Daoist invocations recited at the White Cloud Temple. Equipped with all these materials, I was ready to return home and begin my new Daoist career.

           Shortly after my return, to my great surprise and good fortune, one of the monks I met at White Cloud Temple, Xuan Wen,  sent me all the main texts, chants, and invocations for my daily recitation practice in pinyin transliteration. Now I could practice the sounds, but I  did not understand their meaning. Then—once again meeting the right person at the right time—I encountered Louis Komjathy, then a Ph.D. candidate at Boston University, whose specialty is the early history of Complete Perfection.

          Louis had just completed the translation of texts important to Complete Perfection Daoists,  which naturally included the ones I had been told to study plus some others I found very inspirational. He had also translated the invocations chanted at White Cloud Temple.   I was delighted with this find and continued my practice with great enthusiasm.

          Much later, Louis viewed the videotape of my ordination ceremony. He confirmed that the ritual was an announcement rite, wherein they announced my new identity as a Daoist and entered my name into the Celestial Registers. The ceremony included other rituals, like my investiture as a heavenly official and the burning of a petition that welcomed me into the religious order.

To this day, I am still discovering the mystery of what it means to be a Daoist priest.  I can still see in my mind’s eye the intense stare that I received from Priest Ji as he performed the ritual, looking ever so intensely into my eyes.  I strongly feel that this was the true transmission of  Dao and qi, being passed on into my body and my world.

Earlier, I mentioned the training program for Daoist priests that I was beginning to work on.  This part of my story begins in September of 2006 when I told Master Wan and Priest Ji that more and more American followers of the Dao were coming to me asking if I could ordain them as Daoist priests.  I provided an update about my studies and special Daoist practices, notably the Thousand Day Daoist Scripture Recitation Retreat. This means that every day for 1,000 days I recite a selection from scripture collection, which includes the Daode jing, Qingjing jing, Yinfu jing, Neiye, Nei riyong miaojing, Chongyang shiwu lun, and Zuowang lun.

Reviewing my efforts, they agreed to grant me authorization to ordain others. When Master Wan toured the USA in November, 2006 he visited my qigong center in Sebastopol and presented me with a certificate that grants me the authority to train and ordain others as Daoist priests. Some of the details of the Daoist priest training include the completion of the 1000 Day Daoist Scripture Recitation Retreat, studies in the history of Daoism, emphasizing the story of the Quanzhen-Complete Perfection school.  Beyond that, candidates investigate current studies or trends in Daoism, for example, the work of the British Taoist Association whose journal, The Dragon’s Mouth, contains very enlightening articles on Daoist practices and views on Daoist meditation.  Overall, the training program requires extensive experience in self-cultivation: qigong, meditation, retreats, personal self-enquiry, and studies and reflection on the precepts of both the Buddhist and Daoist traditions.

          A major area of focus is Daoist meditation. My approach to Daoist meditation is very similar to what I have seen described in The Dragon’s Mouth.  Shi Jing, the head of the BTA, says: “The original practice which is really the core of Daoism, regardless of what tradition, is zuowang, which means to sit and forget. Zuowang is a formless meditation” (2005.1). A key issue is how we approach zuowang practice. Shi Jing notes: “The first step is the view. The view is that our dualistic state of being is a distorted reflection of the non-dual mind” (2005.1).

As for my vision for the future of Daoism and Chinese healing arts in the West, I feel that my own situation is representative of current trends. For example, in 2007, I officially inaugurated the American Dragon Gate Lineage, as the umbrella organization for the activities and services of my Qigong & Daoist Training Center.  It is a religious, non-monastic order based on my ordination as a 22^nd generation priest, it receives continued support from Master Wan and Priest Ji.

Core services include ongoing qigong and meditation classes, qigong clinics, qigong certification trainings, affiliate teachers, and affiliate practice centers, plus the priestly training program.  I think Daoism is ready to spread widely in the West. Centers like mine, some much larger and more developed, are being founded and are finding increasing support.  Unlike the Longmen monastics in China, these new groups consist of householders ( not monastics ), with members having families, and membership does not require them to live together as a large, highly structured organization. 

The work of training others will take some time to fully develop.  At present, I have a small group of priests-in-training.  One of them is even tentatively scheduled for ordination in the Fall of 2008. [Update note-as of April,2009 there are three ordained priests of the ADGL, and another ordination ceremony is scheduled for September, 2009.]

 References to scriptures come from the following texts:

 Handbooks For Daoist Practice, Wandering Cloud Press, 2003.  Louis Komjathy
Seven Steps To The Tao, Sima Chengzhen’s Zuowanglun, Monumenta Serica Monograph Series, 1987. (Out of print). Livia Kohn.
Taoist Mystical Philosophy, The Scripture of Western Ascension, State University of New York Press, 1991. Livia Kohn.

 Any comments, please respond by email, michaelrqi@aol.com

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.

At the 2001 National [...]]]>

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.

At the 2001 National Qigong Association conference in Rhinebeck, N.Y., Omega Institute, just after the 9/11 tragedy, I spoke with Roger Jahnke . I had previously met him at other NQA yearly conferences, and so whenever I attended one of these conferences, I usually checked in with him to see how he was doing and shared some news about myself. I believe it was the Saturday afternoon when we ran into each other outside in-between workshops. We talked for about fifteen minutes or longer, and spent a fair amount of time on my interests in learning more about Primordial Qigong. He was supportive, however, in directing me to continue developing my own version of it. As much as I can remember now, seven years later, he seemed to be saying that the external form was not nearly as important as the internal transformation of returning to the One – the undifferentiated unity of all things. This last part was not his, I forget the exact words he used.

A recent article in The Empty Vessel magazine has an in-depth analysis of Primordial Qigong. Ken Cohen, the author of the article explores the philosophy, the history, the benefits, and the practice of “Hunyuan Qigong.”[2] I particularly like Cohen’s discussion on how Primordial Qigong belongs to the Daoist qigong category because it uses concepts and practices from Daoism.

“xing ming shuang xiu ‘body and spirit cultivated in balance,’ shui huo xiang jiao ‘fire and water meet,’ and lian dan ‘cultivating the elixir.’”[3]

These concepts are key ingredients for the understanding of the internal transformation I referred to earlier. When I talked about the importance of the inner work over the external movements, it was concepts like these that I had in mind. Cohen supports my claim: “External movement is always accompanied by internal movement, and for this reason Primordial Qigong may be considered ‘inner work.’”[4] In fact, a couple years ago, I wrote to Ken Cohen, and asked him if he had a video/DVD on Primordial Qigong I could purchase. He wrote back and said he had an old video on it, but it was not an instructional video. It did not explain the internal meditation which is the heart of the form. Needless to say, I didn’t purchase the video.

Before I move onto my explanation of how to practice Primordial Wuji Qigong, I want to highlight another point Cohen made in his article. He says, “One of the most interesting aspects of Primordial Qigong is that it can, according to master Feng’s book, strengthen the prenatal primordial qi.”[5] I agree with Cohen on this point completely. It confirms what I have read from other sources that according to a Daoist perspective, our constitutional nature or qi, which we acquire at birth via our parents, ancestors, and even the environment at the time of our birth, can be altered if we “change our relationship to Heaven and Earth. Primordial Qigong exercises and meditations teach the student to blend the subtle qi of the universe with the denser qi within the body.”[6] This is a major point in discussing the benefits of Primordial Qigong. It explains how an ordinary person can align themselves with universal energies, and become more like the universe. This is the path to immortality, isn’t it? Making the body’s qi as subtle as the qi of the universe. I am reminded of another ancient phrase – To live as long as Heaven and Earth – another reference to immortality. I will discuss the physical benefits of Primordial Qigong later, but I just want to add an important point here to go with my above emphasis on ‘immortality.’ Aligning oneself with the universe may contribute to longevity and spiritual cultivation, but many people want to know if the practice will help them recover from cancer or some other serious condition. I personally feel the answer is ‘yes’ and even Cohen in his article provides a short story of people recovering from cancer who took his workshops on Primordial Qigong. I quote, “has the most dramatic effect on cancer.” And adds, “to correct all sorts of imbalances – from too much yang, autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, or too yin, immune deficiency or depletion.”[7]

Primordial Wuji Qigong: The Philosophy

Primordial Wuji Qigong is based on reversing time and returning to the Source, or Dao. It is based in the tradition of Inner Alchemy of cultivating the Five Elements and transmutation of the Three Treasures: vital essence, jing; vital energy, qi; and spirit, shen.

The form combines a deep qigong meditation while moving the body gently. The circulating of the hands is like gathering in of universal life forces. Moving in reverse with the seasons, starting with spring, there is a turning back of time. Energetically, this reversal of time takes you back towards your prenatal original qi – the primordial qi state of pure health, pure spirit, and undifferentiated unity.

Furthermore, as you perform this form, you are aware that although you may have health problems on one level of your physical self, on a deeper level, the energetic or spirit level, you know you are already healed, whole, and united in harmony with nature or Original Nature. In this heightened state of illumination, you absorb the primordial energies deep into your body and mind. Your qi meridians and dantian qi fields are filled. Gradually, your focus of healing shifts from the physical to the spiritual.

The goal of Primordial Wuji Qigong is to return to the ultimate nature or source of the universe. This may be described as emptiness, or the view that all things are not separate from other things. This ultimate state is beyond intellectual comprehension, and can only be experienced directly. The Buddhists and Daoists describe this state as being already within us, and it is a process of clearing the illusions so we can clearly experience our original nature. The ancient Daoists called this original nature, the Dao. Those who achieve this level of realization are sages or immortals.

The Method: Phase One

Primordial Wuji Qigong begins by standing still and facing East. Next, start opening and closing your hands in front of your Lower Dantian. Think of the Earth Element and the ground beneath your feet. Gather the Earth energy up from the ground and imagine it flowing into your stomach and spleen organs. Cultivate the qualities of nourishing, supporting, and life-giving with the yellow earth energy. Visualize the Yellow Dragon.

Expand the open and closing movements to rolling the ball movements. Feel you are pulling in Earth energies and circulating them throughout your body.

You now transition to the Wood Element and nourish the organs of the liver and gall bladder, still facing East. Cultivate the Spring qualities of new growth, new beginnings, creative energy, and expansion. As you roll the ball, you can turn to your left and feel as if you are gathering the Wood energy from all around you, BUT, especially the East direction. Visualize the Green Dragon.

Turn towards the north direction, and focus on gathering in the energies of the Water Element. Cultivate the Winter and Water qualities of flowing, fluidity, dormancy and storing. Harmonize the kidneys and bladder with the dark blue and black energies of the Black Tortoise.

As you continue to roll the ball, focus on the west direction and the Metal Element. This is the season of the Fall, nourishing the lungs and large intestines with the white metal energy. Cultivate the qualities of substance, strength, structure, harvest, hardening and condensing. Visualize the White Tiger.

Lastly, turning and rolling to the south, focus on gathering the Fire Element to nourish the heart, the small intestine, the pericardium, and the triple warmer meridian. This is the Summer season with healing red energy benefiting these organs. Cultivate the qualities of warmth, light, vitality, energy, luminous and full growth. Visualize the Red Phoenix.

Complete the turning and rolling the ball by coming back to the east and standing still, hands on Lower Dantian. Be mindful of all the energies you just gathered in, and allow them to sink deep inside you.

The Method: Phase Two

Begin this next phase by imagine holding a qi ball in your hands, and moving them up and down in a small circle in front of your waist. The hands move up, close to the body, and away from you, as they descend. Imagine one hand is the yin hand and the other one is the yang hand. They represent all the Five Elements you just gathered, but now, simply as the water and fire energies. Think of the earlier quote by Ken Cohen, “fire and water meet,” and realize that you are now blending your own fire and water qualities. You are mixing these two vital ingredients in the cauldron of the Lower Dantian. The water energy which normally flows downward, you are now raising up, and the fire energy which normally rises, you are sinking downward. By blending them together, you are cultivating the Three Treasures of jing, qi and shen.

Proceeding in this alchemical transformation, you become more and more aware that there is no longer two elements you are blending; they have become one element, one unity. Ideally, you remain in this middle phase until you have a strong sense of unity. You have returned to Primordial Nature. You feel complete.

The Method: Phase Three

The hands come to rest again on the Lower Dantian. Your mind is full of clarity and stillness. In a spontaneous burst of energy, you move into the wuji palms facing heaven qigong movement, turning towards your right. You are now moving in the field of Hundun, the chaos of the universe. Internally, you are in harmony with the universe, and externally, your chaotic, circling movements are in harmony with Chaos. And, as I said earlier in quoting Cohen, Primordial Qigong is blending “the subtle qi of the universe with the denser qi within the body.” There is no effort involved at this point. You are manifesting the true state of Wu Wei, doing nothing, but leaving nothing undone.

The Method: Closing Phase

Slowly return to facing east. Your movements ease back into opening and closing, and then gradually, just resting the hands on the Lower Dantian, again. At this point, there is very little to say about your experience. You have gathered all the energies of the universe. You blended them all into a unity within you. You played in the field of Hundun. You dissolved into the nothingness of Primordial Oneness.

I forget where I found the following description of the dragon and the pearl, but it sums up the whole process of Primordial Qigong.

Primordial Qigong is symbolic of the immortal dragon chasing after the pearl of immortality. Once found, the dragon ingests the pearl and lives forever in the immortal realms of Primordial nature, flowing endlessly toward the Source.

Benefits of Primordial Wuji Qigong

Tonifies the Five Elements and associated organ systems.

Stimulates and increases healing energy in the three dantians.

Creates awareness of and sensitivity to qi.

Improves the ability of the dantians to pump vital energies throughout the body.

Improves qi and blood circulation in the legs and arms.

Opens the Belt meridian which conducts energy around the waist.

Promotes alignment of heaven, earth and humanity, and strengthens our prenatal, primordial qi.

Primordial Wuji Qigong is an important part of Michael’s qigong practice and is included in his DVDs that are included in his Qigong Certification program.

Send any comments to michaelrqi@aol.com

     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 22^nd 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.

     Another very [...]]]> 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 22^nd 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.

     Another very important event involving Master Wan took place during his November, 2006 visit to the USA and Michael’s qigong center in Sebastopol.  At the opening ceremony, Master Wan presented Michael with a certificate stating:  “This is to certify your achievement of perennial research and hard training of Chinese Taoist health preservation and culture, we are award this certificate to you as to prove that you are Chinese Taoists Priest.  This certificate is same time permit that you can ordain your students or disciples as Taoist Priest.  November 17, 2006  Wan Su Jian.”

     During the winter of 2006-2007, Michael worked on the creation of the curriculum for the priest training program.  It took nearly a year and a half to arrive at its finished state, and it is still subject to modification and updates.  And even though the full curriculum was not completed until early 2008, Michael began accepting priest candidates (adepts) into the training shortly after Master Wan’s visit in 2006.  By April, 2008, there were about seven adepts in the program, and one of them was scheduled for ordination in the Fall, of the same year.  April, was actually a turning point for the ADGL, because it meant that the ADGL was actually growing, and students were committed to its path.  One sign of commitment was that Michael and the then present group of adepts created and officially adopted their initial Precepts of the American Dragon Gate Lineage. They are as follows:

Precepts of the American Dragon Gate Lineage

I take refuge in the Great Dao.

I take refuge in the Canon.

I take refuge in the Teacher and Hidden Immortals of the Great Way.

I vow not to create evil or harm to others.

I vow to practice good.

I vow to bring forth good to others.

I vow to Practice

Not misusing sexuality.

Not clouding the mind with drugs or alcohol.

Not being greedy, or angry.

 I vow to Practice

Being compassionate to self and others.

Being mindful and paying attention to things in my daily life.

Cultivating the Three Treasures of Jing, Qi, and Shen.

Developing a spacious view of self and others.

Dedicating the merits of my cultivation to all beings, both the living and the dead.

     On October 25, 2008 the efforts of the ADGL came to fruition when Michael ordained the first three adepts as Daoist priests of the ADGL.  Another group of adepts are scheduled for ordination in the Fall of 2009.

     What are the principles and training practices for members of the ADGL?  The answer to this question is found within the opening statement of the ADGL training program.  Below is a brief, edited version explaining some of the details of the training.

Qigong & Daoist Training Center

American Dragon Gate Lineage

Of Quanzhen Daoism

 The American Dragon Gate Lineage (ADGL) is under the umbrella organization of the Qigong & Daoist Training Center (QDTC).   Historically, the ADGL is linked to the Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) school of the Daoist religion, founded by Wang Zhe (Chongyang, 1113-1170) and his direct disciples.

About The American Dragon Gate Lineage

The American Dragon Gate Lineage is a non-monastic order of Daoist practitioners who have made a conscious commitment to self-cultivation and to the spreading of the Daoist View.  Requirements for membership in the American Dragon Gate Lineage consist of completing the training programs, Priest or Initiate ordination, and maintaining membership status as a Companions in the Dao.

Categories of Companions in the Dao

Priest Companions in the Dao.  Candidates who have completed the Daoist priest training of the QDTC and received ordination as a Daoist Priest.  Daoist Priest Training is for those seriously committed to a Daoist way of life. Training involves completion of a 1000 Day Daoist Scripture Recitation Retreat, studies in Daoism and advanced practice in Zuowang Daoist meditation.  

Initiate Companions In The Dao.  Candidates who have completed the Daoist Initiate training program of the QDTC and received recognition as a follower of the Dao.  Daoist Initiate Training is offered to those who wish to make a simple, but formal commitment to following a Daoist way of life.  Training involves completion of a 100 Day Daoist Scripture Recitation Retreat, studies in Daoism and Zuowang Daoist meditation.

 Priest and Initiate Companions in the Dao will take specific Daoist Precepts of the ADGL upon completion of their training and ordination.

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 the advanced practices of Kriya yoga. This was [...]]]>  

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 the advanced practices of Kriya yoga. This was one of my motivations for going to India, to further explore the extensive riches of Hinduism. But this all changed, as I, by chance, discovered the rich mystical tradition of Catholicism, something I was never exposed to during my youth growing up in a Catholic family. This awakening led me to explore the culture of Catholic monasticism during the last six years of the late 1970’s. The Jesus Prayer was one of the practices I focused on. Its aim was to center on the heart chakra, producing a sense of warmth as the prayer prays itself. This method was historically inspired by the admonitions of St. Paul of the Epistles, who said to pray unceasingly. But, another interesting thing was happening during this same period. I was turning my attention back to my previous explorations of Zen Buddhism which I encountered briefly while still a college student. By 1980, I left Catholicism completely, and turned my attention to the ‘enlightenment’ experiences of Buddhism. For the rest of the 80’s, I focused my efforts on two different Buddhist paths: zen, and insight meditation or mindfulness.

By the early 1990’s, I thought I would continue as a Buddhist practitioner for the rest of my life. I even contemplated what I would need to do to become a Lama in the Tibetan tradition. But being a Buddhist, I realized the truth of impermanence when I saw myself reading more and more books on qigong, Chinese medicine, and Daoism. I was changing, and just like the fundamental Buddhist precept says, everything is impermanent. A new passion was arising in my mind and heart and it was steering me beyond Buddhism towards the mysteries of the Chinese indigenous religion of Daoism.

Another motivating factor was my own health problems, for which I sought help from Traditional Chinese medicine and the study of medical qigong. These areas of study led me further into the Daoist worldview, and even woke up some old memories which were buried deep inside me. These memories confirmed my strong resonations with Daoism. So it was not surprising that by the year 2000, I had completed a 200 hour course in acupressure with a Traditional Chinese medicine concentration. I had a firm foundation in medical qigong, and was even beginning to teach at the National Qigong Association annual conferences. And I had completed my first study trip to China and met a prominent qigong master who would prove to be exceedingly instrumental in my future qigong and Daoist development.

Meditation has been at the core of all my varied explorations of the inner life. I had several important breakthrough experiences that provided the foundation for the motivation to continue pursuing spiritual truths. In a way, you could say, I wasn’t acting on belief any more, but actual experience. And one thing I knew with certainty, there was still a lot more to come.

When I started studying and exploring the Daoist inner cultivation practices, I was naturally interested in learning all about Daoist meditation. I read many books by Livia Kohn, formerly a Professor of Religion and East Asian Studies at Boston University. She wrote and edited numerous books on Daoism and Daoist cultivation. Some of them are Taoist Mystical Philosophy, Taoist Meditation and Longevity Techniques, The Taoist Experience and others.
I wasn’t very drawn to all the esoteric and archaic practices which were so prevalent for the early Daoists. I was looking for the pure Daoist experience of the Dao. For instance, I found the emphasis on cultivating Daoist deities residing in my inner organs distracting. Some texts spoke of developing inner observation of them as necessary for spiritual cultivation. I didn’t relate to these kinds of texts and instead, I looked for forms of meditation closer to my earlier Buddhist practices on emptiness, mindfulness and non-conceptual experiences.

However, as I continued my studies, I realized I was overlooking an important historical fact. Daoism was and is a mix of Buddhism, Confuciusm and an original Daoist source. It was a surprise to me to find many Buddhist elements mixed in with the Daoist cosmology and esoteric terminology. In my searching’s for a purely Daoist form of meditation, I realized that there is no such thing as a unique Daoist form of meditation. After studying many texts on Daoism, I understood that Daoist meditation consisted of a strong Buddhist influence, mainly the Chinese Chan (zen) and the insight meditation vipassana with the Daoist principles of wuwei, clarity (qing), stillness (jing), stability (ding), suchness (ziran), heart-mind (xin), and other principles.[2]

Introduction To My Current Daoist Meditation Practice

Now that I have filled you in on some of my Daoist wanderings, it is time to discuss where my present practice is focused. The overall focus is on zuowang meditation, looking at key principles of its practice, and examining some related Buddhist practices. I also make comments about drinking Chinese tea, as the way of tea is an important Daoist cultivation practice, past and present.

Wuwei and Youwei

This discussion on zuowang, and wuwei and youwei, begins with an article I read several years ago in the British Taoist Association’s magazine, Dragon’s Mouth (Summer 2001). It is an interview with Liu Sichuan, a Dragon Gate priest. First, Liu Sichuan points out the importance of sitting in the cross-legged posture. He says it is very important for meditation to help “align the body so the qi can flow.” It also has a sealing effect to stop leakages, adding, “When the body has the right foundation there is no resistance or struggle in the cultivation.”

Liu Sichuan’s advice on how to meditate is what I really want to share. “To start with join the breath and the mind together…very difficult and takes a long time but it’s very important.” He goes on to talk about the thoughts and so on. He says eventually, “the body starts to dissolve and at this stage you cultivate qi and shen. The shen is not in one place. There is no body focus used in this technique, if you want to call it a technique. Actually the qi and shen is a high level and it seems most simple but really it’s the highest one.” Liu contrasts this method with the usual way of focusing on the lower Dantian. He says that method is for those who “can’t work with the qi and shen.” He adds it is more for “health practices” and good for “nourishing the shen/spirit with the qi.” Liu then discusses visualization and wuwei and youwei. Wuwei is the “natural way, and youwei is using “intention and control.” He says people who are starting out or have difficulty meditating can use youwei, especially if they are not able to “reach stillness to cultivate qi and shen.” He ends this discussion on meditation by saying, “But if you can do wuwei practice at the beginning it’s not necessary to use the other method.”

I read this several years ago and keep returning to it. I share it often in my qigong classes during meditation time. It doesn’t say much about the actual method of joining the breath and mind. It does say it is not a body-focused method, meaning not on the lower Dantian, middle Dantian, or some other energy/spiritual center. It reminds me of the Tibetan Buddhist Dzogchen method of skygazing, looking into the open sky with no focus on the body, just a unifying of one’s whole experience into an open awareness.

Before proceeding, it’s time to further explore the meaning of wuwei. Daoist scholar Livia Kohn says in her book on the Daode Jing, Lao-tzu and the Tao-te-ching: “The Way, in its formlessness and nonaction, sustains and completes the ten thousand things. Therefore, those who follow the Way take nonaction as their master[ or, dwell in nonaction]…Then, things will obtain their true nature and become one with Tao.” In the pursuit of the Dao, there is daily “decrease” or loss until the state of nonaction is reached, and “nothing is left undone.” This means there is a return to emptiness and nonbeing. What is decreased, lost? The Daoist response is that desires and any false sense of self is decreased until “one reaches the tranquil depth of emptiness and nonbeing.” Thus the sage finds fulfillment by embodying nonaction as his/her own natural state. Living so, the sage harmonizes with nature-the natural way, “the ten thousand things assume their proper place or station, as if the Way had done nothing for them.” Contrasting to wuwei is youwei. This is the way of “taking action, the common way to govern a country, control people, pursuing goals, and the seeking of satisfying desires.” This is the goal directing behavior which supports the ego driven actions which keep one in the cycle of “aggression, greed, and violence.”[4] In my own words, I would say that youwei is the behavior of trying to accomplish something, however, noble, but with too much effort, too much energy. And all this doing requires a lot of energy, and keeps us looking in a direction other than the truth. This last part was mine. Doesn’t that make sense! We use a lot of energy going after things that have no sense of truth to them. But if you turn all this around and stop the doing then we stop losing our energy, and start finding the truth deep within the stillness of our being.

Zuowang is wuwei

This next section will explore what contemporary American Daoist teacher Liu Ming has said about zuowang. I first came across Liu Ming, who currently lives in the SF Bay Area, when he went by the name of Charles Belyea in his book, Dragon’s Play. More recently, he has been a regular contributor to the British Taoist Association’s Dragon Mouth magazine. In the Autumn, 2002 issue, he wrote “The view of Daoism is that we are already a part of a complete whole, a Oneness – Dao.” And how do we get to this realization, especially since it is something we cannot gain or attain. Ming says, “We don’t get there through effort or strength; we are simply ‘there’ by nature. The complete or constant experience of this is found in weakness – wuwei.” Ming expounds on this view in a CD recording I obtained from him. Some of his key points are: Zuowang is non-conceptual meditation. The View is the expression of our Original Nature. The practice is just sitting still, doing nothing. No preferences. Effort is not appropriate – wuwei. Final traces of effort yield to non-effort. Wuwei is relaxing the need to hold on to or sort out our thoughts

The Chinese and British Perspective

In this next section, I will present what three separate Daoist priests have said about zuowang. The material came out of the Dragon’s Mouth magazine, and they are all present day practitioners. ( Liu Xingdi has since died.) Liu Xingdi is a Daoist priest with many years of experience in Daoist cultivation practices. Eva Wong has written many books on Daoism and has been a Daoist most of her life. Shi Jing is the head of the British Taoist Association.

In the 2005, Issue 3 of the Dragon’s Mouth, Liu Xingdi when asked in an interview about the importance of zuowang meditation in Daoist cultivation, replied: “Zuowang is an ancient Daoist practice handed down within the Daoist traditions. Zuowang, or sitting and forgetting, is allowing everything to slip from the mind, not dwelling on thoughts, allowing them to come and go, simply being at rest.” Liu stresses a good body posture which helps to quiet the mind. Otherwise, he says “qi disperses, attention wanders, and the natural process is disturbed. Just remain empty and there is no separation from the Dao. Then wisdom will arise and bring forth light, which is the clear qi of a person.” Lastly, he adds “Don’t think too much about the theory … you are sure to disturb the heart-mind. Just trust in the inherent natural process.”

In the 2007 Issue 1 of the Dragon’s Mouth Eva Wong answered a question about zuowang in an interview: “So yes, in some sense the practice is about dissolving self. Dissolving self is dissolving the conceptual mind. When we drop conceptions, what we have is the natural emergence of the natural self, the natural celestial mind, which has been with us all the time. It is only because of our conceptions that we can’t experience it. So when we practice zuowang, we’re simply saying that here’s a method where we can begin to drop conceptions.”

And lastly, we have the comments of Shi Jing. He is one of the founders of the British Taoist Association and was ordained a Daoist priest in China in 1995. Shi Jing writes extensively about zuowang and leads retreats on it in England. Speaking at length about zuowang, he says “Zuowang is a formless meditation-it has no techniques or methods in it, but if I was to ask you to sit here and say there is nothing you need to do, then your mind would slip into the habitual pattern of thought and wander all over the place. There are ways of introducing this practice to you. There are techniques, but we must realize they are not zuowang; they are ways to help you discover zuowang. Really zuowang is resting in a choiceless awareness which is not dependent on self reference. This is a natural state, not some transcendental experience. Thoughts arise from emptiness and dissolve back into emptiness. Thoughts become self-liberating if we can recognize that their nature is emptiness. Thoughts are arising, but we are not doing it, they are appearing of themselves. They are not our enemy. It’s a natural process that is happening.When thoughts dissolve into emptiness, it means they have returned to the source, which is non-being. By becoming familiar with this experience, gradually our activities become an expression of non-being.” (Dragon’s Mouth, 2006, Issue 1)

In an earlier issue of Dragon’s Mouth, Shi Jing states very strongly about the place of zuowang in the Daoist tradition and then goes on to share important insights on the zuowang view: Shi Jing is asked what he feels is the main practice of Daoism that people can follow. His answer follows: “The original practice which is really the core of Daoism, regardless of what tradition, is zuowang, which means to sit and forget. When you sit you are actually freeing yourself up from the “baggage” that you carry. You forget about your persona, who you think you are. Things are gradually dissolved. Zuowang is the formless meditation, if you like. True zuowang has no form. It’s resting in the non-dual awareness, your original nature. There is actually no method or teaching or technique in this at all.” And then he talks about the view: “So how do we approach zuowang? The first step is the view. The view is that our dualistic state of being is a distorted reflection of the non-dual mind. We hold this view lightly in practice because in the beginning we apply it from a dualistic perspective. The view and the method [ eventually become one ] until they dissolve into emptiness and are forgotten. So zuowang is no more than resting in the non-dual awareness.” (Dragon’s Mouth, 2005, Issue 1)

Pu-erh Tea and Zuowang

Make a cup of pu-erh tea, and as you mindfully drink it, sit in meditation, and assume a comfortable posture, back straight, eyes open or slightly open, and gently gazing. Briefly recite or think of the view. And then just rest in open awareness. From this point forward, whatever arises is just it. You don’t need to count breaths, make mental notes of the kinds of thoughts/perceptions you are having. No self-judging of how you are doing. Basically, whatever happens you bring open awareness to it. This is actually the easiest of all meditations because no matter what you experience, as long as you are aware of it, is part of the experience. I know, easier said than done! The Zuowanglun is your scripture text to study to nourish this practice. You can also go back to the early Daoist classic, the Zhuangzi and find in Chapter six, the story of Yen Hui and Confucius, talking about making progress and Yen Hui says, “I just sit and forget.” “I am not attached to the body and I give up any idea of knowing. By freeing myself from the body and mind, I become one with the infinite. This is what I mean by sitting and forgetting.” Shi Jing refers to this passage as the original teaching on zuowang: “The essence of Daoism.” (Dragon’s Mouth, 2005, Issue 1)

Conclusion to Zuowang

A very inspirational book I’ve recently read was Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind. It was written by a young Irish woman, Maura O’Halloran. It is her memoirs of living for three years in a traditional Zen monastery in Japan in the 1970’s. Recognized as a Zen Master just before her tragic death, she tells the story of balancing effort and no effort. Her insight ties in very well with our discussion of wuwei and Zuowang:

“There’s nothing really to achieve, but until I really realize that, I must go on trying to achieve, though really realizing that there is nothing to achieve.”[5]

So, there we are again, back to our original discussion on wuwei. Yes, to fully grasp the meaning of zuowang, we have to live by the principles of wuwei. To be true Daoist cultivators, our actions must remain with our Original Nature. Liu Xingdi, in the Dragon’s Mouth interview I quoted much earlier, said it all so clearly:

“Our cultivation is to remain with our original nature, then whatever arises is a natural activity of Dao. Every action is wuwei. In meditation you stay quiet and allow the mind to empty. So wuwei means to remain empty and be totally present with whatever you are doing.”[6]

This is my practice now: cultivating the present awareness of whatever arises in the moment, and maintaining the view of Original Nature. I make use of different disciplines in my sitting practice, like sitting in formless, open awareness, making no preferences, asking “who’s sitting forgetting,” and occasionally sitting throughout the night in meditation. I am aware of the way [Dao = Way] that lies before me, yet firmly keep my feet planted deeply in the wuwei of the earth. I am aware of the gradual process of the dissolving ego-identity; the ego that tries with all its strength to encourage me to give up these spiritual endeavors. And I am aware of the possibility that at any moment, a flash, a nuclear-explosion of sudden awakening can transform my being and I can say the same words as Maura O’Halloran.

“Ten ni mo chi ni mo tada ware hitori.

In heaven and earth, there is but I, myself.

Everything is perfect. Everything is enlightening,

just as it is by virtue of being.”[7]

I have said a lot – an extreme amount in my opinion on the subject of Daoist meditation. It is now time to put an ending to all this speculation, have another cup of pu-erh tea (and some French toast I am presently eating) and get on to the real business – of just sitting in oblivion.