Li Qingyun was reported to be 250 years old at the time, and his visit to Wanxian was big news. In 1970, Yang Sen compiled a book of his and other's accounts of Li Qingyun, titled "An Authentic and True Record of a 250-Year-Old Man, " which Stuart Alve Olson started translating into English in 1982. Besides the notion of someone living to 250 years of age, this book goes well beyond the biography of Li Qingyun's life. It has great historical value, especially for Westerners who are unfamiliar with much of Chinese history towards the end of the Qing dynasty. It also explains incredible health therapies and provides information on what is now called Medical Qigong. Much is explained about Daoism on meditation, breathing, qigong exercise, food, sex, and philosophy for Daoist living. Another true gem of this book is the philosophical teachings, as much of this material has never been presented in English. The depth of information provided in this book surpasses any previously published work on Daoist health practices and philosophy. It is rare to come across a text with such abundance of insights and written with such clarity as this material provides. Although"Qigong Teachings of a Taoist Immortal: The Eight Essential Exercises of Master Li Ching-yun" was published in 2002, which includes translations from Yang Sen's book, the entire translation is now finally available.This book belongs in everyone's library who studies or has an interest in Chinese philosophy, qigong regimes, and biographies.

    It can and should be used as a living reference for the highest moral and ethical standards for any individual in virtually any given circumstance.After writing The Complete I Ching, Taoist Master Alfred Huang, encouraged by friends and family to further expound on the subtleties of the sacred text, decided to take a fresh approach. Considering the tremendous differences between life today and life three thousand years ago, the author began to discover new ways to present the ancient wisdom to modern readers. Now, in Understanding the I Ching, he offers a detailed commentary of the sixty-four hexagrams and their characters, including a detailed examination of the nature and principles of the first two gua—heaven and earth—as well as interpretations of the first hexagram and the guiding principles represented by its four characters.With an in-depth analysis and study of the two different schools of interpretation, the construction of the hexagrams, and the placement and significance of the hexagram’s host, this scholarly yet easy-to-understand book provides exceptional insight for those who have studied the I Ching and seek a deeper understanding of its subtleties and profundity.

    Revealing humility as the purest expression of this receptivity, Jason Gregory integrates classic teachings of Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Hermeticism with principles from quantum physics to explain the science of humility as practiced by the ancient masters. The author shows how, driven by fear, the human mind creates the ego. In its greedy and arrogant quest to protect the self and its desires, the ego forges the illusion of separation, weaving complex patterns of reality that shield us from our unity with all beings and result in attitudes of aggression, selfishness, and competition. He reveals how the iconic clash between this complex, aggressive “path of the warrior” and the simple “path of the sage” is reflected in the polarized state of the modern world. Yet this state also reflects the accelerating wave of conscious evolution we are now experiencing. The key to catching this evolutionary wave is humility: the reversal of complexity into simplicity, the ancient science of mental alchemy that represents the Great Work of Eternity.

    Short enough to read in an afternoon, subtle enough to study for a lifetime, the Tao Te Ching distills into razor - sharp poetry centuries of spiritual inquiry into the Tao - the ''''Way'''' of the natural world around us that reveals the ultimate organizing principle of the universe.Derek Lin's insightful commentary, along with his new translation from the original Chinese - a translation that sets a whole new standard for accuracy - will inspire your spiritual journey and enrich your everyday life. It highlights the Tao Te Ching's insights on simplicity, balance, and learning from the paradoxical truths you can see all around you: finding strength through flexibility (because bamboo bends, it is tough to break); achieving goals by transcending obstacles (water simply flows around rocks on its way to the sea); believing that small changes bring powerful results (a sapling, in time, grows into a towering tree).Now you can experience the wisdom and power of Lao Tzu's words even if you have no previous knowledge of the Tao Te Ching. SkyLight Illuminations provides insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that describes helpful historical background, explains the Tao Te Ching's poetic imagery, and elucidates the ancient Taoist wisdom that will speak to your life today and energize your spiritual quest.

    Dragon and Tiger medical qigong is based on Chinese medicine's acupuncture wellness model. The practice consists of seven movements which regulate and strengthen all of the acupuncture meridians of the body. Grounded in the ancient spiritual traditions of Taoism and Buddhism, Dragon and Tiger medical qigong is known for its powerful ability to prevent and heal cancer and reduce the side effects of radiation and chemotherapy. Dragon and Tiger Medical Qigong: Volume 1 taught students the physical movements. Volume 2 teaches students how to take their practice to the next level and more effectively reap the health benefits for which this qigong practice is renowned:• Releases stagnant chi that cannot move freely due to physical, emotional, or psychic blockages of energy. • Increases the speed, strength, and evenness of the circulation of chi, blood, and other fluids, balancing the body's energy. • Quickly raises the energy levels of the body to boost its natural healing capacities. Dragon and Tiger Medical Qigong: Volume 2 teaches how to cultivate and direct the flow of qi in the body and make the feeling of qi tangible. Qi, or "internal life-force energy," is the foundation of acupuncture and all Chinese medicine. The stronger the qi moves, the greater the health benefits of qigong will be. Once the feeling of directing qi becomes tangible, the principles can be applied to other internal martial arts such as tai chi and other qigong practices such as sexual qigong. Practitioners of healing arts will find this book valuable as a means for becoming sensitive to qi energy in themselves and others. Healers will also learn how to get rid of stagnant qi buildup and thereby avoid burnout when working with other people's energy. Partial Table of Contents: Chapter 1: Maintaining Awareness Chapter 2: Exercises for Loosening Shoulder Blades, Arms, and Feet Chapter 3: Developing Hyper-Coordination in Dragon and Tiger's Movements Chapter 4: Basic Energetic Principles Chapter 5: Basic Energetic Exercises Chapter 6: Feeling the Energy Pathways in Dragon and Tiger's Movements Chapter 7: Intermediate Energetic Principles

     The two volumes now submitted to the reader are a fulfilment of the promise made so long ago. They contain versions of the Three Works which were specified, and, in addition, as Appendixes, four other shorter Treatises of Tâoism; Analyses of several of the Books of Kwang-ȝze by Lin Hsî-kung; a list of the stories which form so important a part of those Books; two Essays by two of the greatest Scholars of China, written the one in ad 586 and illustrating the Tâoistic beliefs of that age, and the other in ad 1078 and dealing with the four Books of Kwang-ȝze, whose genuineness is frequently called in question. The concluding Index is confined very much to Proper Names. For Subjects the reader is referred to the Tables of Contents, the Introduction to the Books of Kwang-ȝze (vol. xxxix, pp. 127-163), and the Introductory Notes to the various Appendixes. The Treatise of Actions and their Retributions exhibits to us the Tâoism of the eleventh century in its moral or ethical aspects; in the two earlier Works we see it rather as a philosophical speculation than as a religion in the ordinary sense of that term. It was not till after the introduction of Buddhism into China in our first century that Tâoism began to organise itself as a Religion, having its monasteries and nunneries, its images and rituals. While it did so, it maintained the superstitions peculiar to itself:—some, like the cultivation of the Tâo as a rule of life favourable to longevity, come down from the earliest times, and others which grew up during the decay of the Kâu dynasty, and subsequently blossomed;—now in Mystical Speculation; now in the pursuits of Alchemy; now in the search for the pills of Immortality and the Elixir vitae; now in Astrological fancies; now in visions of Spirits and in Magical arts to control them; and finally in the terrors of its Purgatory and everlasting Hell. Its phases have been continually changing, and at present it attracts our notice more as a degraded adjunct of Buddhism than as a development of the speculations of Lâo-ȝze and Kwang-ȝze. Up to its contact with Buddhism, it subsisted as an opposition to the Confucian system, which, while admitting the existence and rule of the Supreme Being, bases its teachings on the study of man’s nature and the enforcement of the duties binding on all men from the moral and social principles of their constitution. It is only during the present century that the Texts of Tâoism have begun to receive the attention which they deserve. Christianity was introduced into China by Nestorian missionaries in the seventh century; and from the Hsî-an monument, which was erected by their successors in 781, nearly 150 years after their first entrance, we perceive that they were as familiar with the books of Lâo-ȝze and Kwang-ȝze as with the Confucian literature of the empire, but that monument is the only memorial of them that remains. In the thirteenth century the Roman Catholic Church sent its earliest missionaries to China, but we hardly know anything of their literary labours.