Causes of Illness

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that the vitality of spirit is influenced by 7 emotions - joy, anger, pensiveness, worry, sorrow, shock, and fear. Since emotions are closely related to the energetics and functions of the organs, any prolonged excessive emotional state can cause disease in the organ systems. It is stated in the Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic that "excessive anger damages the liver, excessive joy damages the heart, excessive pensiveness damages the spleen, excessive sorrow damages the lungs, and excessive fear damages the kidneys." Also, "excessive anger causes qi to rise, excessive joy causes qi to retard, excessive sorrow causes qi to diminish, excessive fear causes qi to fall, excessive shack causes qi to scatter, and excessive pensiveness causes qi to stagnate." In TCM, the emphasis is placed more on the various physiological functions of an organ, rather than on its anatomical structure, because one of the main causes of disease is that of emotional trauma, which results in a malfunctioning of the internal organs.

Emotional trauma is considered an internal cause of disease. It falls under on of the three categories of the causes of disease: the exogenous (external), the endogenous (internal), and those that are neither exogenous nor endogenous. The exogenous causes of disease refer mainly to excessive atmospheric influences; namely the wind, cold, summer heat, dampness, dryness, and fire. That is, if our body can't effectively adapt to the changing seasons, our body's energy flow will be unbalanced and illness can result. The endogenous causes of disease refer mainly to excessive emotional trauma; namely the excesses of joy, anger, pensiveness, worry, sorrow, fear, and shock. The third cause of disease refers to diseases that are form neither external nor internal influences, such as overworking, excessive drinking, overeating, and unregulated sexual activities. Excesses of any of the pathogens can influence the circulation of qi and blood to the internal organs and can cause disease.

The Roots of Illness - Jing, Qi, and Shen

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) uses the terms jing (essence-of-life), qi (energy), and shen (spirit) to theorize and explain the human physiological system. It is believed that these three treasures (jing, qi, and shen) are the fundamentals for all facets of life and its many variations. Deficiency in any of the three will influence the other and can result in illness if not replenished or corrected.

Jing or essence-of-life is the fundamental material that makes up the human body, the material foundation of life. It is further classified under two categories, innate-jing and acquired-jing. Innate-jing is that which we inherit from our parents. Acquired-jing is from food and water converted by the stomach and spleen, with the excess stored in the kidneys along with innate-jing. Therefore, what you eat can significantly affect the jing in your body which in turn affects your qi and vitality. Innate-jing and acquired-jing are not separate parts stored in the kidneys. They mutually utilize and promote each other. When we are born, innate-jing already exists, providing the foundation for acquired-jing. After birth, acquired-jing is continually nurtured by the innate-jing to maintain and develop its functions.

Innate-jing includes reproductive essence or semen, the original substance needed for the construction of the human body. The jing stored in the kidneys is also closely related to reproduction and sexual function. Acquired-jing from food and water, is the essential substance needed for all human bodily activities and metabolism. Jing is continually being used and is also continually being replenished with food and water. Under normal condition the surplus of jing is stored in the kidneys. When jing is abundant, then your vitality will be strong and your adaptability to environmental changes will be adequate, to prevent illness. When jing is deficient, then your vitality will be weak and immunity to illness will be impaired.

Qi, generally speaking, is the intrinsic substance that makes up the cosmos, and produces all things through its movements and variations. The physiological definition of qi in TCM is the intrinsic substance that flows in the human body and is the impelling force for all activities. Qi includes the energy derived from the air, food, and water, as well as, the innate energy source we inherit from our parents. The existence of qi is felt indirectly and manifested as a result of the body's interactions within its integral parts and with its surroundings.

Qi in the human body is classified according to the source of the qi. Innate-qi comes from our parents. It is the energy source that we inherit from our parents when we are born. It is converted from innate-jing. Acquired-qi is converted from food, water, and air. The combination of innate-qi with acquired-qi is further classified as genuine-qi, serving as the dynamic force of all vital human functions. Because qi distributes in different parts of the body, it is further classified into different categories to explain the function of qi in different areas of the body.

The general term for these different types of qi, whether it is from innate-qi and/or acquired-qi sources, is called vital-qi. It is the cumulative term describing the human ability to defend against pathogenic influences that cause dis-ease. That is, the ability of the human body to ward off diseases depends on the abundance of lack of vital-qi in the body. The basic premise of qigong training is to remove stagnation and balance qi, and to build and strengthen vital-qi.

Qi is not visible to the untrained eye. Many gifted individuals and qigong practitioners are able to see a manifestation of qi as an aura. Even though most people are unable to see the qi, everyone can feel the qi. Qi can be felt as warmth, coolness, tingling and magnetic repulsion sensations.

Shen, loosely translates as spirit, is explained in TCM as mental faculties; and the expression of one's vitality of spirit. It is closely related to the function of the heart. It is the individual's expression of consciousness and living activities. Shen is derived form innate-jing, and relies on acquired-jing and qi for nourishment to maintain its function. It is the most important component of the human system. When shen is abundant, then the body will be strong, and the all the human systems will function harmoniously. When shen is scattered, then all the human functions will be debilitated. Shen is the cumulative term for the expression of one's vitality, as well as, the reflection or manifestation of the functions within the human body.

The condition of one's vitality of spirit, is also an expression of one's emotional state. Emotional disturbances can in turn cause energetic changes in the human body. One's vitality of spirit is an important factor that can influence one's health, recovery from disease, or can impede body functions. A stable emotional state and positive state of mind can maintain health and speed recovery. Whereas a low vitality of spirit and a constant bombardment of emotional disturbances will cause a scattering or stagnation of energy. Constant prolonged emotional disturbances manifest itself as physical dis-eases.

TAO TE CHING - True Words

81. True Words

True words are not beautiful.
Beautiful words are not truthful.
The good do not argue.
Those who argue are not good.
Those who know are not scholarly.
The scholarly do not know.

The wise do not hoard.
The more they give to others, the more they have.
The Way of heaven sharpens but does no harm.
The Way of the wise accomplishes without striving.

TAO TE CHING - Home is Comfortable

80. Home is Comfortable

In a small country with few people
machines that can work ten or a hundred times faster
are not needed.
People who care about death do not travel far.
Even if there are ships and carriages, no one takes them.
Even if there are armor and weapons, no one displays them.
People return to knotted rope for records.
Food is tasty; clothes are beautiful;
home is comfortable; customs are delightful.
Though neighboring communities see each other
and hear each other's cocks crowing and dogs barking,
they may grow old and die without going there.

TAO TE CHING - Stay with the Good

79. Stay with the Good

Compromising with great hatred surely leaves some hatred.
How can this be considered good?
Therefore the wise keep their part of an agreement
and do not blame the other party.
The good fulfill their obligations;
the bad exact obligations from others.
The Way of heaven is impartial.
It always stays with the good

TAO TE CHING - The Soft and Weak

78. The Soft and Weak

Nothing in the world is softer and weaker than water.
Yet nothing is better at attacking the hard and strong.
There is no substitute for it.
The weak overcomes the strong; the soft overcomes the hard.
Everyone knows this, but no one puts it into practice.

Therefore the wise say,
"Those who bear the humiliation of the people
are able to minister to them.
Those who take upon themselves the sins of the society
are able to lead the world."
Words of truth seem paradoxical.

TAO TE CHING - Taking and Giving

77. Taking and Giving

The Way of heaven is like bending a bow.
The high is lowered; the low is raised.
The excessive is reduced; the deficient is increased.
The Way of heaven takes from those who have too much
and gives to those who do not have enough.

The human way is different.
It takes from those who do not have enough
and gives to those who have too much.

Who has more than enough to give to the world?
Only the person of the Way.
Therefore the wise act but do not rely on their own ability.
They accomplish the task but claim no credit.
They have no desire to seem superior.

TAO TE CHING - Life Is Tender

76. Life Is Tender

When people are born, they are tender and supple.
At death they are stiff and hard.
All things, like plants and trees,
are tender and pliant while alive.
At death they are dried and withered.
Therefore the stiff and hard are companions of death.
The tender and supple are companions of life.
Thus strong arms do not win.
A stiff tree will break.
The hard and strong will fall.
The tender and supple will rise.

TAO TE CHING - Valuing Life

75. Valuing Life

People are hungry,
because rulers eat too much tax-grain.
That is why people are starving.

People are hard to govern,
because rulers interfere too much.
That is why they are hard to govern.

People do not care about death,
because rulers demand too much of life.
That is why they do not care about death.
Only those who do not interfere with living
are best at valuing life.

TAO TE CHING - Death

74. Death

People are not afraid to die.
So why threaten them with death?
If people were afraid of death,
and lawbreakers could be caught and put to death,
who would dare to do so?
There is the Lord of Death who executes.
Trying to do his job
is like trying to cut wood for the Master Carpenter.
Those who try to cut wood for the Master Carpenter
rarely escape injuring their own hands.

TAO TE CHING - The Way of Heaven

73. The Way of Heaven

Those brave in killing will be killed.
Those brave in not killing will live.
Of these two, one is good, and one is harmful.
Some are not favored by heaven. Who knows why?
Even the wise consider it a difficult question.

The Way of heaven does not strive; yet it wins easily.
It does not speak; yet it gets a good response.
It does not demand; yet all needs are met.
It is not anxious; yet it plans well.
The net of heaven is vast;
its meshes are wide, but nothing slips through.

TAO TE CHING - Do Not Suppress

72. Do Not Suppress

When people lack a sense of awe,
then something awful will happen.
Do not constrict people's living space.
Do not suppress their livelihoods.
If you do not harass them, they will not harass you.

Therefore the wise know themselves
but do not display themselves.
They love themselves but do not exalt themselves.
They let go of one and accept the other.

Symbols of the Solstice

Burning the Yule Log
The term Yule stems from the Anglo-Saxon "yula" or "wheel" of the year. In ancient pagan ritual, the Yule Log was lit on the eve of Winter Solstice and burned for twelve hours. By lighting a fire, the ancients were acknowledging the return of the sun, warmth and light, which was marked by the lengthening of days and the promise of the coming spring. In pagan belief, for good luck, the Log should be lit on the first try.

Later, the Log was replaced by the Yule Tree, but instead of being burned, it was adorned with burning candles.

Mistletoe
Holly with Berries a common Winter Solstice Symbol known as the "kissing bush" actually was one of a group of evergreens such as holly, rosemary, pine and yew. Since these and other coniferous plants flourished during the winter months, they became symbols that life continued its cycle even in the coldest and shortest of days.

The custom of kissing under the mistletoe actually seems to have its origins in the late 18th century; interestingly, the actual bough could have been holly or some other evergreen as well as mistletoe. Ultimately, however, it was the bright berries and rich green color that could withstand the harshness of winter that made mistletoe the favorite.

Candles
As with most belief systems, the use of candles by the ancients symbolized light, focused the spirit and marked the belief that those beings of light, warmth and new life, God and Goddess, would again turn the Great Wheel and the spring would come again.

The Feast
Food has been associated with winter celebrations, Saturnalia of the Romans, the Solstice, or Christmas dinner, since time out of mind. In those distant times, the winter would have meant lean months when subsistence meant surviving on the last of the crops and meat harvested during the fall. To partake from this larder in honor of the run of the sun was to reaffirm the faith in God and Goddess to return light and warmth to the world.

The Winter solstice

As the Earth travels around the Sun in its orbit, the north-south position of the Sun changes over the course of the year due to the changing orientation of the Earth's tilted rotation axes with respect to the Sun.

In the northern hemisphere, the Winter solstice is day of the year (near December 22) when the Sun is farthest south. However, in the southern hemisphere, winter and summer solstices are exchanged so that the winter solstice is the day on which the Sun is farthest north. The winter solstice marks the first day of the season of winter. The declination of the Sun on the (northern) winter solstice is known as the tropic of capricorn (-23° 27').

To the ancients, it appeared as if the Sun and Moon stopped in their flight across the sky, this is the longest night of the year and was a time of both anticipation and rejoicing at the Sun's rebirth.

The Sun's representation as the male divinity, or celestial ruler, predates Christianity. As with other rituals and celebrations, the Church felt that by assimilating this holiday into the Christian beliefs, it would help convert those who still followed other Beliefs.

Symbols of the Winter Solstice and Relationship to Christmas
The selection of December 25th as a Christian holiday was first recorded in scholarly texts dating to 325 A.D., although the actual practice was first decreed in 274 A.D. by the Emperor Aurelian. Since the non-Christians viewed this time as the rebirth of the sun, it made sense for the Church to also mark this period as the celebration of the nativity of Christ. Curiously, the selection of the day appears arbitrary although mankind had long known how to calculate the solstices. One can only guess that, rather than shift the celebration each year, a regularly scheduled event was preferable, the old Roman desire for order never quite left the new faith.

The Winter Solstice marks a crucial part of the natural cycle. In a real sense, the sun begins anew its journey toward longer days, times of new growth and renewal of the world once again. In a spiritual sense, it is a reminder that in order for a new path to begin, the old one must end and that spring will come again.

TAO TE CHING - A Disease

71. A Disease

To know that you do not know is the best.
To think you know when you do not is a disease.
Recognizing this disease as a disease is to be free of it.
The wise are free of disease,
because they recognize the disease as a disease.
Therefore they are free of disease.

TAO TE CHING - My Ideas Are Easy

70. My Ideas Are Easy

My ideas are easy to understand and easy to practice.
Yet no one understands them or practices them.
My ideas have a source; my actions have a master.
Because people do not understand this, they do not know me.
Since few know me, I am very precious.
Therefore the wise wear coarse clothes
and keep the jewel inside.

TAO TE CHING - The Kind Win

69. The Kind Win

The strategists say,
"Do not be the aggressor but the defender.
Do not advance an inch, but retreat a foot instead."
This is movement without moving,
stretching the arm without showing it,
confronting enemies with the idea there is no enemy,
holding in the hand no weapons.
No disaster is greater than underestimating the enemy.
Underestimating the enemy will destroy my treasures.
Thus when the battle is joined,
it is the kind who will win.

TAO TE CHING - The Power of Not Striving

68. The Power of Not Striving

The best soldier is not violent.
The best fighter is not angry.
The best winner is not contentious.
The best employer is humble.
This is known as the power of not striving,
as ability in human relations,
and as being in accord with heaven.

TAO TE CHING - Three Treasures

67. Three Treasures

Everyone says the Way is great and beyond comparison.
Because it is great, it cannot be compared.
If it were compared, it already would have seemed small.

I have three treasures to be maintained and cherished:
the first is love;
the second is frugality;
the third is not pushing oneself ahead of others.

From love comes courage;
from frugality comes generosity;
from not pushing oneself ahead of others comes leadership.

Now courage without love, generosity without frugality,
and leadership by pushing oneself ahead of others are fatal.
For love wins all battles and is the strongest defense.
Heaven gives love to save and protect.

TAO TE CHING - Leading from Behind

66. Leading from Behind

Great rivers and seas are lords of all mountain streams,
because they are good at staying below them.
Therefore they are lords of the streams.
Thus the wise in watching over the people
speak humbly from below the people,
and in leading the people get behind them.
In this way the wise watch over the people
but do not oppress them;
they lead the people but do not block them.
Thus everyone happily goes along without getting tired.
Because they do not compete,
the world cannot compete with them.

TAO TE CHING - Know the Eternal Standard

65. Know the Eternal Standard

The ancients who ruled skillfully
did not try to enlighten people but kept them in the dark.
People are hard to lead when they are too clever.
Those who lead with cleverness rob the country.
Those who lead without cleverness bless the country.
Understanding these two is to know the eternal standard.
Knowing the eternal standard is mystical power.
Mystical power is deep and far-reaching,
leading all things to return to perfect harmony.

TAO TE CHING - Do Not Grab

64. Do Not Grab

What stays still is easy to hold.
Without omens it is easy to plan.
The brittle is easy to shatter.
The minute is easy to scatter.
Handle things before they appear.
Organize things before there is confusion.
A tree as big as a person's embrace grows from a tiny shoot.
A tower nine stories high begins with a mound of earth.
A journey of a thousand miles begins under one's feet.

To act is to fail.
To grab is to lose.
Therefore the wise do not act and do not fail.
They do not grab and do not lose.
In handling things people usually fail
when they are about to succeed.
Be as careful at the end as at the beginning,
and there will be no failure.

Therefore the wise desire to have no desires.
They do not value rare treasures.
They learn what is unknown,
returning to what many have missed
so that all things may be natural without interference.

TAO TE CHIBG - The Wise Never Strive

63. The Wise Never Strive

Act without interfering.
Work without doing.
Taste the tasteless.
Large or small, many or few, repay injury with goodness.

Handle the difficult while it is still easy.
Handle the big while it is still small.
Difficult tasks begin with what is easy.
Great accomplishments begin with what is small.

Therefore the wise never strive for the great
and thus achieve greatness.
Rash promises inspire little trust.
Taking things too lightly results in much difficulty.
Thus the wise always confront difficulties
and therefore have no difficulty.

TAO TE CHING - The Way is Valued

62. The Way is Valued

The Way is sacred to all things.
It is treasure for the good and sanctuary for the bad.
Fine words can buy honor.
Good deeds can gain respect.
Though there be bad people, why reject them?

Therefore at the crowning of the emperor
or at the installation of the three ministers,
instead of sending gifts of jade and a team of four horses,
remain still and send the Way.

Why did the ancients prize this Way?
Did they not say, "Seek, and you will find;
let go, and you will be forgiven."
Therefore the Way is valued by the world.

TAO TE CHING - Large and Small Countries

61. Large and Small Countries

A large country is like low land where rivers flow,
a place where everything comes together, the female of all.
The female overcomes the male with tranquillity.
Tranquillity is underneath.
A large country wins over a small country
by placing itself below the small country.
A small country wins over a large country
by placing itself below the large country.

Thus some win by placing themselves below,
and others win by being below.
A large country wants to protect people,
and a small country wants to join and serve.
Thus both get what they want.
It is best for the large country to place itself below.

The Fourteenth Dalai Lama

Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth and present Dalai Lama, was born Lhamo Dhondrub on July 6th, 1935 in the village of Takster in Amdo near the monastery of Kumbum in northeastern Tibet to a peasant family. At the age of three, he was recognized as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Much mysticism surrounded the discovery of the new Dalai Lama. While the body of Thupten Gyatso still lay in state at the Potala, it is said that his face turned to face northeast. Soon thereafter, a vision of the house where the next Dalai Lama would be found appeared to Reting Rinpoche, a Tibetan regent, as he gazed into Lake Lhamo Latso in southern Tibet. He saw the letters Ah, Ka, Ma, along with the image of a monastery with a jade green roof, and a humble house with a turquoise roof and unusual gutters.

For the letter Ah, a search party was sent to Amdo in the northeastern province of Tibet, and then to the Karma Rolpai Dorje monastery in Kumbum, with its turquoise roof, for the letters Ka and Ma. There they found the house with the unusual gutters. A search of the surrounding villages revealed a house with an ancient juniper bush on the roof, where they sought lodging for the night. There they found an infant boy named Lhamo among the members of the household. The leader of the search party, pretending to be an ordinary servant, played with the child, who took to him instantly and called him Sera Lama, for the name of the monastery where the lama had once been a disciple. A few days later, the party returned with a collection of personal artifacts that had belonged to Thupten Gyatso, the former Dalai Lama, including rosaries, drums and walking sticks. When presented to the child along with other items that had not belonged to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, the boy Lhamo claimed all the correct items as his own. Convinced that the child was the true reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, he was taken to Lhasa, but only after paying a substantial ransom to the Chinese provincial governor for his release.

Tenzin Gyatso was enthroned on February 22, 1940 in the Potala Palace at Lhasa at age four. His eighteen-year spiritual training began at the age of six, and was completed when he received his Ph.D. in Buddhist Philosophy at age 25. In October 1950 however, in the midst of his training, The People's Liberation Army of China invaded Tibet, and Tenzin Gyatso assumed full power as the Fourteenth Dalai Lama on November 17, at the age of fifteen. Political unrest continued to escalate, and by 1959, the Dalai Lama was forced to flee Tibet for India with nearly 80,000 followers. On March 17, 1959, the Dalai Lama escaped from the summer palace at Norbulinka with his family. For nearly five decades, from his headquarters at Dharamsala, India Tenzin Gyatso has worked relentlessly to restore the sovereignty of Tibet through peaceful, non-violent means, and to preserve the historical and cultural heritage of the Tibetan people. On December 10, 1989, Tenzin Gyatso was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

TAO TE CHING - Spirits

60. Spirits

Leading a large country is like cooking a small fish.
When the world is led in accord with the Way,
spirits lose their powers.
It is not that they lose their powers,
but that their powers no longer harm people.
Not only do the spirits not harm people,
but the wise also do not harm people.
Not harming each other, spiritual power grows.

TAO TE CHING - Be Frugal

59. Be Frugal

In leading people and serving heaven
it is best to be frugal.
Being frugal is to be prepared from the start.
Being prepared from the start is to build up power.
By building up power nothing is impossible.
If nothing is impossible, then there are no limits.
Those without limits are capable of leading a country.
Those with maternal leadership can long endure.
This is to be deeply rooted in a firm foundation,
the way of long life and eternal vision.

The Thirteenth Dalai Lama

Thupten Gyatso (1876-1933) was the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, and the second to be given the added title of 'Great'. Born in 1876, it was under his leadership that the nation of Tibet made the transition into the 20th century during a time of great political upheaval. Political ties were strengthening between China and Britain, in which unauthorized permission was granted by China for Britain to make expeditions into Tibet. Tibetan authorities refused to allow entry to the British, however British troops invaded Tibet in 1904, ostensibly to prevent the spread of Russian influence in Asia. At this time, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Thupten Gyatso assumed power from the regent Choekyi Gyaltsen Kundeling at age 19.

Soon after the British invasion, Thupten Gyatso fled to Mongolia. While in exile, he received a message from the Emperor in Peking requesting him to visit. The Dalai Lama agreed, in hopes of convincing emperor to withdraw his troops. However, when the Dalai Lama returned to Tibet, he found Chinese troops acting on orders of the Chinese government to depose him.

Thupten Gyatso fled once again, this time to India, where he appealed to the British military forces to help Tibet defend itself against China. The British chose to remain neutral, and in 1911, the Imperial rule of China was toppled by a rebellion. This turn of events led to the downfall of Chinese military forces in Lhasa, who were driven out by the renewed Tibetan army in 1912. Soon thereafter, Thupten Gyatso the Thirteenth Dalai Lama declared Tibetan independence from China. In the remaining twenty years of his reign, Thupten Gyatso set about the task of shepherding Tibet into the modern age. He engaged in international relations, installed postal, telephone and telegraph systems, introduced paper currency, constructed a network of roads for automobiles, and provided electric power.

Despite his restoration of monastic discipline, he was met with controversy and criticism from conservative Buddhists. Near the end of his life, he spoke of a prophetic vision of Tibet once again losing its sovereignty to China. Thupten Gyatso died on December 17, 1933.

TAO TE CHING - Results of Process

58. Results of Process

When the government is relaxed, people are happy.
When the government is strict, people are anxious.
Good fortune leans on bad fortune;
bad fortune hides behind good fortune.
Who knows the results of process?
Is there no justice?
When the just become unjust, goodness becomes evil.
People have been deluded for a long time.
Therefore the wise are square but not cornered,
sharp but not cutting, straight but not strained,
brilliant but not dazzling.

The Twelfth Dalai Lama

Thinle Gyatso (1857-1875) was born in Olga in South Tibet on January 26, 1857. His short reign was a time of great unrest in the surrounding territories. He ascended the throned as the Twelfth Dalai Lama on August 18, 1860, and when he assumed full power three years later on March 11, 1873 at the young age of 16, the crumbling Qing dynasty was no longer able to offer political or military support, and England persisted in its attempts to colonize Tibet. Another important development during his short reign was the treaty of1860 between China, England, France, Russia and the United which granted free passage of Christian missionaries in the Manchu empire. At this time however, Tibet still prohibited the entry of all foreigners. However, since the treaty did not distinguish Tibet from China as a sovereign nation, Christian missionaries set up a camp at Bongo near the Mekong and Salween rivers in 1865. Tibetan authorities converged upon the mission and renounced the treaty as well as the authority of the Manchu government.

Another turbulent development during the reign of Thinle Gyatso was the series of wars fought between the British and the kingdoms of the Sikkim in 1860, and Bhutan in 1864. As a consequence, the Tibetan government banned all Europeans from entry into Tibet.

In 1874, Thinle Gyatso visited the monastery at the mystical Lake Chhokhorgyal. He died soon thereafter,on April 25, 1875 at the young age of 19.

TAO TE CHING - Love Peace

57. Love Peace

States are governed by justice.
Wars are waged by violations.
The world is mastered by nonintervention.
How do I know this? By this:
The more restrictions there are, the poorer the people.
The more sharp weapons, the more trouble in the state.
The more clever cunning, the more contrivances.
The more rules and regulations, the more thieves and robbers.

Therefore the wise say,
"Do not interfere, and people transform themselves.
Love peace, and people do what is right.
Do not intervene, and people prosper.
Have no desires, and people live simply."

The Eleventh Dalai Lama

Khendrup Gyatso (1838-1856), the Eleventh Dalai Lama, was the third in a series of Dalai Lamas who died at an early age. He was born on December 19, 1838 at Teling, near Gerthar, Kham, coincidentally the same location where the Kelsang Gyatso, the Seventh Dalai Lama was discovered and later founded a monastery. Khendrup Gyatso ascended the throne as the Eleventh Dalai Lama on May 25, 1842. In a break with tradition, he assumed his full power at the young age of 17 on March 1, 1855 at the request of his government. He died mysteriously eleven months later. During his short reign, Tibet fought a war with Jammu, China's influence in Tibet was weakened by the Opium War and the Taiping Rebellion, and Tibet continued its conflict with the kingdoms of Nepal and Ladakh.

The Tenth Dalai Lama

Not much is known of the Tenth Dalai Lama, Tsultrim Gyatso (1816-1837). He was born in Lithang, coincidentally in the same village where the Seventh Dalai Lama was discovered. Tsultrim Gyatso was enthroned at the Potala Palace as in 1822. And although he officially assumed his full power as the Tenth Dalai Lama, he suffered from continual illness and died suddenly in 1837, at age 21 without performing any deeds of historical significance. During his brief life, Tibet continued to isolate itself from the rest of Asia and Europe, while keeping a watchful eye on its borders.

TAO TE CHING - Mystical Unity

56. Mystical Unity

Those who know do not speak.
Those who speak do not know.
Close the mouth; shut the doors.
Smooth the sharpness; untie the tangles.
Dim the glare; calm the turmoil.
This is mystical unity.
Those achieving it are detached from friends and enemies,
from benefit and harm, from honor and disgrace.
Therefore they are the most valuable people in the world.

Qigong for Your Health

If you were to visit a doctor of Chinese medicine for any number of ailments-fatigue, arthritis, anxiety, osteoporosis, asthma, or
menstrual problems, for example-it's likely that a key component of her prescription would be chi exercises, holistic workouts that
simultaneously develop body and spirit, promoting overall health and vitality. Practiced by millions of Chinese for millennia, chi exercises are now gaining popularity throughout the world for their health benefits.

According to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine, chi (pronounced "chee") is the universal life force, or energy, which is
circulated throughout the body along invisible energy channels knows as meridians. When chi circulates in a dynamic and harmonious flow, we feel healthy and invigorated, both mentally and physically. Illness results when energy flow is blocked or inhibited, causing imbalance and dysfunction in our bodies' systems. To improve health, we must work to free the circulation of chi-and that's where chi exercises come in.

The Power of Qigong
Qigong (pronounced "chee gong"), or chi kung, is a collective term used for various energy arts that aim to promote the uninhibited flow of chi. There are hundreds if not thousands of types of qiqong, says James MacRitchie, author of The Chi Kung Way (HarperCollins, 1997) and founder of the National Qigong (Chi Gung) Association and the Boulder, Colorado-based Chi Kung School at the Body-Energy Center. Tai chi, which has become popular in this country in recent years, is a form of qigong.

Literally meaning "the skill of attracting vital energy," qigong seeks to restore balance, break down blockages, and stimulate flow of chi through various physical exercises and meditations. "Qigong can translate as 'working with energy,'" says MacRitchie, "But if you consider the phrase 'more energy, more life,' qigong can also translate as 'cultivating life.'" Thus, qigong isn't merely a set of exercises we do to feel better, says MacRitchie; it's also "the main centering focus of the life within us."

Adherents of traditional Chinese medicine maintain that the practice of qigong results in myriad physical and emotional benefits, including lowered blood pressure, reduced heart rate, increased oxygenation of tissues, improved circulation, increased immunity, and improved mood. Although critics point to a lack of rigorous, large clinical trials to support qigong's health benefits, most agree that practicing qigong can at least lead to enhanced fitness and greater relaxation.

Getting Started
Due to qigong's increasing popularity, you can teach yourself qigong by following instructions in one of the numerous videotapes and books available on the subject. Living Arts' Chi Series includes three easy-to-follow videotapes-A.M. Chi for Beginners, Energy Chi for Beginners, and P.M. Chi for Beginners-that serve as good starting points. You may want to supplement your videotape practice with the real thing, however. In-person professional instruction will ensure you're practicing proper technique. Individual and group classes are available at many fitness clubs, community centers, YMCAs, and hospitals. The National Qigong (Chi Kung) Association provides information on qigong instructors nationwide.

When suiting up for qigong, keep it simple. Your clothing should be comfortable and non-binding. A simple t-shirt and loose-fitting pants such as Tao Pants, which feature an elastic drawstring waist, will suffice. Your feet should be swaddled in comfortable, flexible, rubber-soled shoes such as Tao Shoes.

Work Your Chi
If you normally take to high-speed activities such as biking and running, be prepared to shift into a lower gear. Qigong exercises are
generally practiced in a much more deliberate manner. A typical qigong exercise is "Piercing the Cloud", which is featured in Energy Chi for Beginners:
1. Starting with your feet together, slowly step forward into a lunge position.
2. Bring your hands together, palms touching in front of your abdomen; slowly, yet powerfully, push your hands out in front of you as you exhale and shift your weight onto your front foot.
3. At the farthest point of your push, exhale and turn palms outward; move arms in an arc back toward your shoulders, as if you were doing the breaststroke.
4. Drop hands back down to your abdomen, and repeat the move three or four times.
5. Change feet, and repeat on the other side.

Like any practice, traditional chi movements take time to learn and master. You may notice some of the benefits immediately; others will become apparent over time. Your patience and persistence will ultimately be rewarded. "Once you know qigong, everything changes, you're understanding of what you are, who you are, and what's possible. It moves up to another level."

TAO TE CHING - Know Harmony

55. Know Harmony

Those filled with power are like new-born children.
Poisonous insects will not sting them;
ferocious beasts will not pounce upon them;
predatory birds will not swoop down on them.
Their bones are pliable, their muscles tender,
but their grip is firm.
They have never known the union of man and woman,
but the organ is fully formed,
meaning that the vital essence is strong.
They may cry all day without getting hoarse,
meaning that the harmony is perfect.
To know harmony is to be in accord with the eternal.
To know the eternal is to be enlightened.

To try to force life is ominous.
To force the vital essence with the mind is violence.
The prime is past, and decay follows,
meaning that it is contrary to the Way.
Whatever is contrary to the Way will soon perish.

The Ninth Dalai Lama

Lungtok Gyatso, the Ninth Dalai Lama (1806-1815), born in the village Den Chhokhor, Kham, on January 20, 1806 was the shortest lived of them all. Although he ascended the throne as the Ninth Dalai Lama on November 10, 1808, his life ended at age nine, before he even had a chance to mature and come into his own reign. He reportedly died of pneumonia on March 26, 1815. However, given the fragile nature of Tibetan sovereignty, with the Qing Dynasty crumbling before their very eyes, and Britain licking its chops at the prospect of colonizing this keystone Asian nation, it has also been conjectured that he may have been assassinated by his regent and court ministers, so that they might continue on with the status quo. To further support this theory, it is noted that the three subsequent Dalai Lamas also died very young, and under mysterious circumstances. One notable event in the life of the Ninth Dalai Lama was the arrival of the first Englishman to visit Lhasa, writer Thomas Manning, who was granted audience with the young Dalai Lama in 1811.

Traditions Legends and Lore - December 2

Bodh Gaya (India)- Honoring Gaya- The ancient First Tree of Buddha. The world's oldest and most sacred tree was planted in the year 282 B.C.. It is believed to be an offshoot of the Bodhi or Bo-tree that the Buddha sat under when he achieved enlightenment. It is honored annually on this date by Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims with prayers, chants, and brightly colored flags.

Hari Kugo (Japan)- Annual Festival honoring all Patron Goddesses of Craftswomen. Hari Kugo (translated as: Broken Needles) takes place in the city of Tokyo. It commemorates women's crafts and is dedicated to all patron goddesses of Japanese craftswomen.

TAO TE CHING - Power

54. Power

What is well established cannot be uprooted.
What is firmly held cannot slip away.
The power of sacrifice continues on
from generation to generation.

Cultivated in the person, power becomes real.
Cultivated in the family, power becomes abundant.
Cultivated in the community, power endures.
Cultivated in the nation, power flourishes.
Cultivated in the world, power becomes universal.

Therefore see the person as a person,
the family as a family, the community as a community,
the nation as a nation, and the world as universal.
How do I know that the world is like this?
By this.

The Eighth Dalai Lama

Jamphel Gyatso, the Eighth Dalai Lama of Tibet (1758-1804) was born in Tobgyal, Upper Tsang, on July 29, 1758 and ascended the throne as the Eighth Dalai Lama on August 29, 1762, although he did not assume full power until 1781. Much like his predecessor, he allowed the affairs of Tibet to be handled exclusively by his regent, Ngawang Tsulthim, who spent much of his time retained in Peking, while the Chinese 'amban' rulers acted in his place. During the reign of Jamphel Gyatso, Tibet fought in the Bhutan-Koch Bihar war of 1772 between Bhutan and the English East Company of Calcutta, the Nepal-Sikkim war of 1775, and the Nepal-Tibet wars of 1789 and 1792, based largely upon conflict over inequities in the exchange of gold and silver currency. Tibet also became the focus of much attention from Great Britain, due to its strategic location on the Asian continent. As a result, the Tibetan government began to restrict the passage of foreign visitors. Jamphel Gyatso died in 1804 at the age of 46.

TAO TE CHING - Leaders in Robbery

53. Leaders in Robbery

Those with even a scrap of sense
walk on the main way and fear only straying from the path.
The main way is smooth and easy,
but people like to be side-tracked.

While the courts are arrayed in splendor,
the fields are full of weeds,
and the granaries are empty.
Yet some wear embroidered clothes, carry sharp swords,
over-indulge themselves with food and drink,
and have more possessions than they can use.
They are leaders in robbery.
This is not the Way.

The Seventh Dalai Lama

Kelzang Gyatso, the Seventh Dalai Lama, (1708-1757), was prophesied in a poem by his predecessor, Tsangyang Gyatso.

White crane!
Lend me your wings
I will not fly far
I will return near Litang

Soon after Tsangyang Gyatso's disappearance, Kelsang Gyatso, the child believed to be the true reincarnation of the Sixth Dalai Lama was discovered in Lithang, as foreshadowed in Tsangyang Gyatso's poem. The Mongol chieftain Lhazang Khan sent scouts to find and capture the child, however, Dzungar Mongol sympathizers sheltered him from harm and took him to the kingdom of Derge, where he was given asylum by the royal family. While a bloody battle raged on in Lhasa, the Kelsang Gyatso was later given safe haven at Kubum monastery, under the protection of Emperor K'ang Hsi's Manchu empire. When Emperor K'ang Hsi invaded Tibet, he gave his blessings for Kelsang Gyatso, the Seventh Dalai Lama, to ascended the throne at the Potala Palace.

In 1729 however, due to a series of rebellious uprisings in Tibet, Yung Cheng, the third Manchu emperor accused the Dalai Lama of bowing to the influence of his father and several advisors. The Dalai Lama and his father were exiled to their hometown of Garthar and power over Lhasa was seized by Sonam Tobgye Pholha, with the support of the Manchu army. A series of subsequent uprisings toppled the Manchu government in Tibet. When Ch'ien Lung, the fourth Manchu emperor sent a military force from Szechwan to Lhasa to restore Manchu authority, the Dalai Lama was restored to the throne, where he ruled until his death in 1757, at age 49.

While in exile, Kelsang Gyatso founded the Teling Monastery near his native village of Gethar. He also visited Chhokhorgyal several times, as well as the Yarlung Valley, the cradle of Tibetan civilization. The Seventh Dalai Lama was both a scholar and a poet, who left the affairs of Tibet to his ministers. He was in close contact with the common folk, and it is said that he would even leave the Potala at times to travel incognito as a wandering monk.

TAO TE CHING - Practicing the Eternal

52. Practicing the Eternal

The beginning of the universe is the mother of all things.
Those who discover the mother understand the children.
Understanding the children and returning to the mother,
they live always free from harm.

Close the mouth, shut the doors,
and all of life is without strain.
Open the mouth, meddle with affairs,
and all of life is beyond help.

Seeing the small is insight;
to stay with the gentle is strength.
Use the Light, return to insight,
and thereby be preserved from harm.
This is practicing the eternal.

The Theory of Yin-Yang

The philosophical origins of Chinese medicine have grown out of the tenets of Daoism (also known as Taoism). Daoism bases much of its thinking on observing the natural world and manner in which it operates, so it is no surprise to find that the Chinese medical system draws extensively on natural metaphors. In Chinese medicine, the metaphoric views of the human body based on observations of nature are fully articulated in the theory of “Yin-Yang” and the system of ‘Five Elements’.

The direct meanings of yin and yang in Chinese are bright and dark sides of an object. Chinese philosophy uses yin and yang to represent a wider range of opposite properties in the universe: cold and hot, slow and fast, still and moving, masculine and feminine, lower and upper, etc. In general, anything that is moving, ascending, bright, progressing, hyperactive, including functional disease of the body, pertains to yang. The characteristics of stillness, descending, darkness, degeneration, hypo-activity, including organic disease, pertain to yin.

The function of yin and yang is guided by the law of unity of the opposites. In other words, yin and yang are in conflict but at the same time mutually dependent. The nature of yin and yang is relative, with neither being able to exist in isolation. Without "cold" there would be no "hot"; without "moving" there would be no "still"; without "dark", there would be no "light". The most illustrative example of yin-yang interdependence is the interrelationship between substance and function. Only with ample substance can the human body function in a healthy way; and only when the functional processes are in good condition, can the essential substances be appropriately refreshed.

The opposites in all objects and phenomena are in constant motion and change: The gain, growth and advance of the one mean the loss, decline and retreat of the other. For example, day is yang and night is yin, but morning is understood as being yang within yang, afternoon is yin within yang, evening before midnight is yin within yin and the time after midnight is yang within yin. The seed (Yin) grows into the plan (Yang), which itself dies back to the earth (Yin). This takes place within the changes of the seasons. Winter (Yin) transforms through the Spring into Summer (Yang), which in turn transforms through Autumn into Winter again. Because natural phenomena are balanced in the constant flux of alternating yin and yang, the change and transformation of yin-yang has been taken as a universal law.

Traditional Chinese medicine holds that human life is a physiological process in constant motion and change. Under normal conditions, the waxing and waning of yin and yang are kept within certain bounds, reflecting a dynamic equilibrium of the physiological processes. When the balance is broken, disease occurs. Typical cases of disease-related imbalance include excess of yin, excess of yang, deficiency of yin, and deficiency of yang.

The Sixth Dalai Lama

Tsangyang Gyatso (1683-1706), was the Sixth Dalai Lama, and the most controversial of all the Dalai Lamas. He was born on March 1, 1683 in the remote Tibetan region of Mon (Tawang), the son of Rigdzin Tashi and mother Tsewang Lhamo, under mystical circumstances, as his parents were members of a Tantric sect of Buddhism. His identity remained hidden until 1698, when Desi Sangay finally decided it was time to announce the death of Lobzang Gyatso, the Fifth Dalai Lama, and reveal the identity of the new Dalai Lama.

Now fifteen years old, Tsangyang had grown to be a handsome, intelligent young man who loved archery and roaming about the countryside. He showed little interest in scholarly or spiritual pursuits, preferring the carefree life to the rigors of his office. When Tsangyang Gyatso reached the age of 20, instead of completing his vows and entering into full monkhood, he renounced his original novice vows and became a layman once again. Nowhere was it written that the Dalai Lama had to be a monk. Therefore, he continued to live at the palace, maintaining his role as Dalai Lama by day, and living the life of a dandy, a gadabout, and a sexual roué by night, all the while, composing some of the most subtle romantic poetry the world has ever known. Dressing in blue silk brocade, wearing his hair long, and practicing archery with his friends, he continued living the carefree life he so enjoyed. In the evenings, he would visit the brothels and chang taverns of Shol-town at the foot of Red Hill, where he gambled, drank barley beer, caroused with the common folk and indulged in the carnal pleasures of a different woman every night. Sometimes he would venture a little farther afield into Lhasa, where he drank wine and mingled with the daughters of the aristocracy.

Meanwhile, political unrest was brewing between Tibet and the Mongol empire. After much political and military subterfuge, the Mongol Qosot tribe, led by Lhazang Kahn, lay siege to the city of Lhasa and Desi Sangay was forced to submit to unconditional surrender. On September 6, 1707, Desi Sangay was captured and executed at Tolung Nangtse, near Kyomulung monastery. Lhazang also declared Tsangyang Gyatso unfit for the title of Dalai Lama and ordered him to leave the Potala Palace and relocate to a Mongol camp at Lhalu Garden near Lhasa.

When the people of Tibet learned of Tsangyang's exile, they gathered in anger outside the Lhalu camp, where they overthrew the guard and transported Tsangyang Gyatso to the Drepung monastery. The monastery was soon surrounded by Lhazang's Qosot Mongol troops, and in the face of a brutal massacre, Tsangyang Gyatso appeared before the crowd and surrendered to the Qosot. He was carried off toward China, however, at Gunga-nor, a small lake to the south of Kokonor, on November 14, 1706, at the age of 23, the Sixth Dalai Lama vanished. Some say he was murdered. Others say he was taken ill and died, while still others believe that he escaped, and continued to wander about Tibet, India and Nepal for many years thereafter.

TAO TE CHING - Mystical Power

51. Mystical Power

The Way produces all things.
Power nourishes them.
Matter gives them physical form.
Environment shapes their abilities.
Therefore all things respect the Way and honor power.
The Way is respected, and power is honored
without anyone's order and always naturally.

Therefore the Way produces all things,
and power nourishes them,
caring for them and developing them,
sheltering them and comforting them,
nurturing them and protecting them,
producing them but not possessing them,
helping them but not obligating them,
guiding them but not controlling them.
This is mystical power.

The Fifth Dalai Lama

The Fifth Dalai Lama, Lobzang Gyatso (1617-1682) is one of only two Dalai Lamas who are referred to as The Great. The Gelukpa dignitaries discovered the child Yonten Gyatso at age two in Chhonggye, in the U region of Tibet in 1619. The discovery was kept secret until 1620 however, and he was enthroned as the Fifth Dalai Lama at the Depung Monastery in 1625.

The stirrings of Tibetan political and military controversy began with the reign of Lobzang Gyatso, the Fifth Dalai Lama. While Tibet was in the hands of the power-hungry regent Desi Tsangpa, several Mongol tribes, including the Khoshot, the Bonpo, and the Khalkha, converged on the city of Lhasa. Chieftain Gushi Khan of the Khoshot defeated the other tribes, executed Desi Tsangpa and declared himself Po Gyalpo, King of Tibet. He recognized the Dalai Lama as both the secular and the spiritual leader of Tibet, and the head of all Buddhist sects in Asia.

With his renewed authority, Lobzang Gyatso, the Fifth Dalai Lama, defined the lineage of both the Dalai Lama and the kings of ancient Tibet, beginning with Srongsten Gampo (605-49), as the incarnation of the founder of the Tibetan race, which according to legend, sprang from the union of Chenrezig, the Buddha of Compassion in the form of a monkey, and Dolma, a feminine deity of wisdom in the form of an ogress.

Lobzang Gyatso also declared the city of Lhasa, founded by King Srongsten Gampo, to be the political capital of Tibet. He based the new Tibetan government on the concept of Chhosi Shungdel, the integration of religion and politics, with clergy and laymen sharing power over the country, for which he established two training schools, the Tsedung and Shodung.

The Fifth Dalai Lama ordered the construction of the great Potala Palace on the crown of Red Hill overlooking the city of Lhasa, built on the ruins of the ancient temple where Buddhism was first introduced to Tibet. The Fifth Dalai Lama relocated his residence from the Ganden Phodang, the Palace of Joy in the Depung Monastery to the Potala Palace in 1649, however, the Potala was not completed until 1695.

Using his alliance with Gushi Khan, the Fifth Dalai Lama also reclaimed the regions of Nyanam on the Nepal border, which had been seized by Raja Pratap Malla of Nepal in the early 17th century, as well as the kingdoms of Ngari and Ladakh. He formed an alliance with the Nepalese region Sikkim, and visited the Manchurian court of child Emperor Shun Chin in Peking in 1652.

Lobzang Gyatso was also a prolific scholar, who composed volumes of history, poetry, and religious mysticism, including the biographies of the Third and Fourth Dalai Lamas, a history of Tibet, his autobiography, and a code of studies, rituals, and behavior for monastic orders that remain in effect today. Having successfully unified the nation of Tibet, toward the end of his reign, Lobzang Gyatso, the Fifth Dalai Lama, withdrew from public life. He relinquished the affairs of Tibet to his regent Desi Sangay Gyatso, who later concealed the death of the Fifth Dalai Lama in 1682 for 15 years, ostensibly to maintain the stability of the country and to preserve the Fifth Dalai Lama's many enhancements to Tibetan culture.

Life comes from death and death from life

There are several way in which we can understand this. Some see it as another example of the mystical side of Taoism and point to it relaying the possible achievement of immortality. Yet again, there are also some logical and natural explanations.

One is that life comes from death and death from life. Just as plants come to life from the ground and revert back to death to be consumed again by the ground and their lives become fertilizer for the next generation of life, so too all thing come into being and then revert back to the Source.

The very organisms that are created to hold life are soon corrupted into death so that they may serve as a resource for the next cycle. The life-force is then consumed by its usage, and once this occurs, it reverts to death. Death then reverts it back to the source to be used again.

Life then cannot exist without death, and death cannot be without life to feed it. Neither life nor death are greater in this cycling. Both should be considered sacred.

Therefore, while we live, we would do everything in our power to preserve life by avoiding that which tend to wear it down quickly. Whether this is also true when we revert back to death, It would seem so though.

The Fourth Dalai Lama

Yonten Gyatso, the Fourth Dalai Lama (1589-1617), was the great grandson of Altan Khan, the Mongolian tribal chieftain who first bestowed the title of Dalai Lama on Sonam Gyatsu, the Third Dalai Lama. Yonten Gyatso was also the only non-Tibetan Dalai Lama, first recognized as the reincarnation of Sonam Gyatso by Mongol leaders. However, because they had no authority to do so, it was only after much debate among the three great monasteries of Tibet, that Yonten Gyatso was declared the Fourth Dalai Lama.

For his early education, the Gelukpa leaders sent religious teachers from Drepung to Kokonor in Mongolia. Yonten Gyatso was later escorted to Tibet by an entourage of Mongol supporters, where he ascended the throne as the Fourth Dalai Lama at Drepung in 1601. He made his pilgrimage to Chhokhorgyal in 1606. In 1615, Chinese Emperor Wan-Li, who had invited the Third Dalai Lama Sonam Gyatso, also invited Dalai Lama Yonten Gyatso to visit China. And like his predecessor, he declined the invitation as well. He did however, send a Tibetan delegation to the Manchurian court at the invitation of Emperor Tai-tsung.

Because of the controversy surrounding his legitimacy as a true Dalai Lama, during the reign of Sonam Gyatso, Tibetan Buddhism was divided into conflicting factions that resulted in the persecution of Gelugpa followers by the Kagyupa (Red Hat) Order, and may even have resulted in the assassination of the Fourth Dalai Lama. Sonam Gyatso died mysteriously at the young age of 28 at the Ganden Phodang, the Palace of Joy, in 1617.

TAO TE CHING - Those Who Preserve Life

50. Those Who Preserve Life

Coming into life and going out at death,
the organs of life are thirteen;
the organs of death are thirteen;
and these thirteen make life vulnerable to death.

Why is this so?
Because they feed life too grossly.

It is said that those who preserve life
walk the earth without fearing tigers and wild buffalo,
and in battle they are not touched by weapons of war.
The wild buffalo's horns find nothing to gore;
the tiger's claws find nothing to tear;
and weapons' points find nothing to pierce.

Why is this so?
Because they have nothing for death to enter.

TAO TE CHING - The Power of Goodness

49. The Power of Goodness

The wise have no mind-set.
They regard the people's minds as their own.
They are good to people who are good.
They are also good to people who are not good.
This is the power of goodness.
They are honest to those who are honest.
They are also honest to those who are dishonest.
This is the power of honesty.
The wise live in the world peacefully and harmoniously.
The people share a common heart,
and the wise treat them as their own children.

The Third Dalai Lama

Sonam Gyatso (1543-1588), the Third Dalai Lama and first to bear the title, was born in Khangsar in the Tolung Valley west of Lhasa. He was identified by the high lamas of the Drepung Monastery for his ability to recognize people and the places familiar to his predecessor, the Second Dalai Lama, Gendun Gyatso. Once identified, Sonam Gyatso was placed in the care of many great scholars, and thus grew to become a scholar himself. He divided his time between Depung Monastery and the mystical setting of Lake Chhokhorgyal. However, he also spent much of his life traveling.

Gongma Phadupa Dakpa Jungne invited Lama Sonam Gyatso to Nedong, his capital, in the Yarlung Valley in 1559. Lama Sonam Gyatso also visited Tashi Lhunpo in 1569. He even received an invitation from Emperor Wan-Li to visit China, however, he declined, due to his already extensive travel itinerary. Sonam Gyatso founded the Champaling Monastery at Lithang in Kham, southeast of Chhamdo, as well as the Sandal Khang, the Sandalwood Temple, and the monastery Kumbum Champaling, one of the largest and most famous monasteries in Northern Tibet.

Perhaps the most significant event in the life of Sonam Gyatso was his visit to Lake Kokonor in eastern Mongolia to meet with the great Mongol chieftain Altan Khan in 1578. The two men exchanged titles: Altan Khan declared Sonam Gyatso Dalai bla ma Rdo rje chhang,Ocean of Wisdom, who in turn called Altan Khan Chhoskyi Gyalpo Dharma Raja, the Righteous King. This event marked the beginning of the spread of Buddhism among the Mongols, who built their first Buddhist monastery, Erdene Zuu, on the ruins of Karakorum in 1586. Sonam Gyatso is also known for discouraging such Mongolian customs as shamanistic animal slaughter and the sacrificing of wives with their deceased husbands. After his many travels, Sonam Gyatso died in Mongolia on his way back to Tibet on April 20, 1588. He was cremated at Kumbum, after which his ashes were returned Drepung Monastery.

The Second Dalai Lama

Even before Sonam Gyatso's posthumous declaration, Gendun Gyatso, the Second Dalai Lama (1475-1542), was recognized as the reincarnation of Gedun Drub as a young boy. Born in Dorjiden, northwest of Shigatse, the high lamas of the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery identified him when he was four years old. According to legend, upon learning to speak as an infant, he declared his name to be Pema Dorje, the given name of the first Dalai Lama. At age four, he announced to his parents that he wanted to live in the Tashi Lhumpo monastery.

Gendun Gyatso grew to be a great scholar and poet, who spread the tradition of Gelugpa asceticism throughout Tibet, making pilgrimages to various sacred places in Tibet, including Yarlung, the cradle of Tibetan civilization. In 1509, Gendun Gyatso founded the Chhokhorgyal Monastery above Lake Chhokhorgyal, 90 miles southeast of Lhasa. With its crystal-clear waters, surrounded by snow-capped mountains, the site is believed to have the power to reveal the future in its reflection. Each Dalai Lama visits Chhokorgyal at least once in his lifetime.

Gendun Gyatso also became the abbot of three other great monasteries: Tashi Lhunpo in 1512, Drepung in 1517, and Sera in 1526. Drepung is the largest Gelugpa monastery, and has always been closely associated with the Dalai Lamas. Gendun Gyatso died in 1542 at the Ganden Phodang, the Palace of Joy, which had once been the residence of his predecessor Gendun Drub. The written works he left behind include a history of Buddhism, a treatise on the various sects of Buddhism in India, and his own autobiography.

TAO TE CHING - Doing Less

48. Doing Less

The pursuit of learning is to increase day by day.
The practice of the Way is to decrease day by day.
Less and less is done until one reaches non-action.
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.
The world is led by not interfering.
Those who interfere cannot lead the world.

TAO TE CHING - Understanding

47. Understanding

One can know the world without going outside.
One can see the Way of heaven
without looking out the window.
The further one goes the less one knows.
Therefore the wise know without going about,
understand without seeing,
and accomplish without acting.

The First Dalai Lama

Gendun Drub (1391-1474) was born in a manger to a nomadic shepherd family. At the age of seven, he was sent to Nartang monastery, where he became a disciple of Je Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gaden monastery near Lhasa and the Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) order of Buddhism. Known as the Virtuous Ones, the Gelugpa adhered to austere discipline, strict celibacy, and abstinence from alcohol and gluttony. The Gelugpas trace their spiritual lineage and modeled their asceticism after Atisha, the great teacher of Indian Buddhism who made a pilgrimage to Tibet from 1042 to 1054. Gendun Drub was one of the three great disciples, and perhaps even the nephew of Tsong Khapa. Gendun Drub later became the abbot of Gaden, and founded the Tashi Lhumpo monastery near Shigatse, west of Lhasa, which grew to become the largest monastery in the world. He also fostered the tradition of reincarnated lamas to ensure a smooth transition of spiritual leaders from one Dalai Lama to the next.

By the time he reached middle age, Gendun Drub had become one of the most renowned scholars in Tibet. Among his many writings are Sunlight on the Path to Freedom, a commentary on the ancient Buddhist texts known as Abhidharma-kosha, Crushing the Forces of Evil, an epic poem on the life of Buddha, and Song of the Eastern Snow Mountain, a poem dedicated to his mentor Je Tsongkhapa.

TAO TE CHING - Contentment

46. Contentment

When the world lives in accord with the Way,
horses work on farms.
When the world does not live in accord with the Way,
the cavalry practices in the parks.

The greatest temptation to crime is desire.
The greatest curse is discontent.
The greatest calamity is greed.
Whoever is content with contentment is always content.

The Fourteen Dalai Lamas of Tibet

The tradition of the Dalai Lama actually began in the 16th century with Sonam Gyatso, the Third Dalai Lama of Tibet. It has long been believed by practitioners of the Buddhist faith that all sentient beings may achieve the enlightened state of nirvana and become buddhas. However, some compassionate beings called bodhisattvas postpone this ultimate passage, and instead choose to reincarnate so that they might continue to serve the suffering souls on earth.

All the Dalai Lamas are believed to be the reincarnation of Chenrezig, also known as Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of Compassion. The tradition began when Mongol chieftain Altan Khan once referred to the Buddhist lama Sonam Gyatso, the Third Dalai Lama as the All-Knowing Vajra-Holder, the Dalai Lama, Ocean of Wisdom. Sonam Gyatso retained this honorary title, and posthumously declared his two predecessors, Gendun Drub (1391-1474), and Gendun Gyatso (1475-1542), the First and Second Dalai Lamas.

Homage to the teacher!

Fortunate practitioners gathered here in Tingri, listen!

Just as worn-out clothes can never again be made as new,
It's no use seeing a doctor once you're terminally ill;
You'll have to go. We humans living on this earth
Are like streams and rivers flowing toward the ocean -
All living beings are heading for that single destination.

Now, like a small bird flying off from a treetop,
I, too, will not be here much longer; soon I must move on.

1
If you spend the present meaninglessly and leave with empty hands,
People of Tingri, a human life in the future will be very hard to find.

2
To apply yourselves with body, speech and mind to the sacred Teachings,
People of Tingri, is the best thing that you can do.

3
Give your very life, heart and soul to the Three Jewels [the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha], People of Tingri, and their blessings cannot but arise.

4
Forget your goals for this life, concentrate instead on lives to come.
People of Tingri, that is the highest goal.

5
Families are as fleeting as a crowd on market day;
People of Tingri, don't bicker or fight.

6
Wealth and poverty, like a magic show, just seduce and deceive;
People of Tingri, don't let the knot of avarice bind you.

7
This body's just a bag containing various kinds of filth;
People of Tingri, don't pamper it and spruce it up so.

8
Family and friends are no more real than a magic show;
People of Tingri, in your fondness for them don't tie yourself down.

9
Country and land are like a nomad's pastures
People of Tingri, don't cling sentimentally to them.

10
As parents, all beings in the six realms have cared for you;
People of Tingri, don't relate to them with your ideas of "I" and "mine".

11
The day you were born, your death began approaching;
People of Tingri, remember: there is never any time to spare.

12
Fundamentally there's no delusion, it's an ephemeral occurrence;
People of Tingri, look at the nature of what it produces.

13
Without distraction apply yourselves to the sacred Dharma;
People of Tingri, after death it will guide you on the path.

14
The truth of cause and effect ensures that actions yield their full result;
People of Tingri, avoid all actions that are negative and evil.

15
Leave all your activities behind like a country in a dream;
People of Tingri, just put non-action into practice.

16
The very thing you feel attached to, let go of it, whatever -
People of Tingri, there isn't anything that you need.

17
Since you won't be staying in this world forever,
People of Tingri, make your preparations for the journey now.

18
If you first finish what you have to do, you'll never get to Dharma;
People of Tingri, while you're thinking about it, practice straight away.

19
Inside the forest, monkeys may be living happily at ease,
People of Tingri - but at the edges forest fires are closing in all round.

20
Birth, sickness, ageing and death flow on, a river without ford or bridge;
People of Tingri, have you prepared yourselves a boat?

21
In the narrow defiles of birth, death and the intermediate state
Bandits await - the five poisonous emotions - sure to ambush you;
People of Tingri, avail yourselves of the teacher as your escort.

22
Your never-failing source of refuge is the teacher;
People of Tingri, carry him constantly on the crown of your head.

23
If your protection is the teacher, you'll reach wherever you aspire to go;
People of Tingri, cultivate devotion as the fare you pay for the journey.

24
Those who get wealthy get miserly too;
People of Tingri, give generously without being partial.

25
Whoever gets power acts sinfully, too;
People of Tingri, abandon all desire for rank and power.

26
Those with rank and riches are never happy and at ease;
People of Tingri, get ready to claw at your chest in anguish.

27
In the next world, there are neither family nor friends;
People of Tingri, place your confidence in the Dharma.

28
If you wander in distraction, you'll waste the freedoms and advantages of human life;
People of Tingri, make a resolute decision now.

29
While you're busy being distracted, the demon of Death will catch you;
People of Tingri, practice from this very moment onwards.

30
When will the demon of Death appear? There is no easy way to tell;
People of Tingri, right now be always on your guard.

31
The day you die, there's no one who'll protect you;
People of Tingri, be ready to have yourselves alone to count on.

32
If you reflect on death, there's nothing you will need;
People of Tingri, always keep your death in mind.

33
Like lengthening shadows as the sun sinks low,
The demon of Death relentlessly draws nearer;
People of Tingri, quickly! Get away from him!

34
The morning's ravishing flower will wither by nightfall;
People of Tingri, don't put your hopes in your body.

35
Even if resembling, while alive, the children of the gods,
Once dead they are more frightful than a demon horde;
People of Tingri, you've been deceived by these illusory bodies.

36
Visitors to market day, their trading finished, on the morrow have dispersed;
People of Tingri, your friends will part from you, be certain.

37
Since the scarecrow conjured up by magic is sure to tumble down;
People of Tingri, act now according to the linking of effect with cause.

38
For sure, the vulture of your mind will one day fly away;
People of Tingri, now is the time to soar up to the heights.

39
All beings of the six realms have cared for you as parents;
People of Tingri, towards them cultivate your love and compassion.

40
Hate for enemies is samsara's hallucination, caused by actions;
People of Tingri, transmute your hatred and your hostile mind.

41
Prostration and circumambulation purify obscuration of the body;
People of Tingri, abandon all your worldly physical work.

42
Recitation and taking refuge purify obscuration of the speech;
People of Tingri, abandon all your ordinary conversation.

43
Fervent devotion purifies habitual tendencies of the mind;
People of Tingri, meditate on the teacher above your head.

44
Your flesh and bones took form together, but in the end are sure to separate;
People of Tingri, do not believe that you will live forever.

45
Capture that most sublime of countries, the constant land of the natural state;
People of Tingri, where there is no transition or change.

46
Enjoy that most sublime of riches, the treasure of the nature of mind;
People of Tingri, which cannot ever be depleted.

47
Savor that most sublime of foods, the exquisite taste of meditation,
People of Tingri, which abolishes the pangs of hunger.

48
Imbibe that most sublime of drinks, the ambrosia of mindfulness,
People of Tingri, whose flow is never interrupted.

49
Rely upon that most sublime companion, primordial awareness wisdom,
People of Tingri, from which you never can be parted.

50
Seek for that most sublime of progeny, the young child pure awareness,
People of Tingri, for which there is no birth or death.

51
In a state of emptiness, whirl the spear of pure awareness;
People of Tingri, the view is free of being caught by anything at all.

52
In a state without thoughts, without distraction, abandon the watcher;
People of Tingri, the meditation is free of any torpor or excitement.

53
In a state of natural spontaneity, train in being free of any holding back;
People of Tingri, in the action there is nothing to abandon or adopt.

54
The four bodies, indivisible, are complete in your mind;
People of Tingri, the fruit is beyond all hope and doubt.

55
The root of both samsara and nirvana is to be found within your mind;
People of Tingri, the mind is free of any true reality.

56
Desire and hate appear, but like birds in flight, should leave no trace behind;
People of Tingri, in meditation be free of clinging to experiences.

57
The unborn absolute body is like the very heart of the sun -
People of Tingri, there is no waxing or waning of its radiant clarity.

58
Thoughts come and go like a thief in an empty house -
People of Tingri, in fact there is nothing to be gained or lost.

59
Sensations leave no imprints, like drawings made on water;
People of Tingri, don't perpetuate deluded appearances.

60
Thoughts of attachment and aversion are like rainbows in the sky;
People of Tingri, there is nothing in them to be grasped or apprehended.

61
Mind's movements dissolve by themselves, like clouds in the sky;
People of Tingri, in the mind there are no reference points.

62
Without fixation, thoughts are freed by themselves, like the wind,
People of Tingri, which never clings to any object.

63
Pure awareness is without fixation, like a rainbow in the sky;
People of Tingri, experiences arise quite unimpededly.

64
Realization of the absolute nature is like the dream of a mute;
People of Tingri, there are no words to express it.

65
Realization is like a youthful maiden's pleasure;
People of Tingri, the joy and bliss cannot be described.

66
Clarity and emptiness united are like the moon reflecting in water;
People of Tingri, there is nothing to be attached to and nothing to impede.

67
Appearances and emptiness inseparable are like the empty sky;
People of Tingri, the mind is without either center or periphery.

68
The mind with no thought and no distraction is like the mirror of a beauty;
People of Tingri, it is free of any theoretical tenets.

69
Awareness and emptiness inseparable are like reflections in a mirror;
People of Tingri, nothing is born there and nothing ceases.

70
Bliss and emptiness inseparable are like the sun lighting up the snows;
People of Tingri, there is nothing there to apprehend.

71
Deluded talk will fade without a trace, like echoes;
People of Tingri, in sound there is nothing to be grasped.

72
Happiness and suffering, through a mechanism like the sounding of a lute's body and strings,
People of Tingri, are produced when actions are combined with necessary conditions.

73
The natural freedom of samsara and nirvana is like a children's game;
People of Tingri, have a mind without any aims.

74
Your notions of the outer world derive from the mind within;
People of Tingri, let the solid ice be melted into liquid.

75
The mechanism of ignorance is like the gush of a meadow spring;
People of Tingri, it cannot be halted by obstructing it.

76
The delusions of samsara and nirvana are like coming face to face with an enemy;
People of Tingri, as your ally practice virtue.

77
The natural clarity of the five kayas [aspects of enlightenment] is like the expanse of a continent of gold;
People of Tingri, there is no hope or doubt, attachment or aversion.

78
With its freedoms and advantages, human life is like a treasure island;
People of Tingri, do not come back an empty-handed failure.

79
The practice of the Great Vehicle is like a wish-fulfilling gem;
People of Tingri, however hard you search, it would be difficult to find again.

80
For this life, come what may, you'll have enough to eat and clothe yourself;
People of Tingri, put everything you have into practicing the Dharma.

81
While you are young, practice hard and with austerities;
People of Tingri, once you're old your constitution won't withstand it.

82
When emotions arise, bring antidotes to bear on them;
People of Tingri, let free all concepts in their very nature.

83
Think from time to time of all the defects of samsara;
People of Tingri, that will make your faith become much clearer.

84
Right now, develop diligence and stand your ground;
People of Tingri, when you die it will guide you on the path.

85
If you're not free now, when will you ever get to be free?
People of Tingri, your chance to eat comes only one time in a hundred.

86
Life is so ephemeral, like the dew on the grass;
People of Tingri, don't yield to laziness and indifference.

87
From where you are now, should you lose your footing,
People of Tingri, it will be hard to find a human life again.

88
The Buddha's teaching is like the sun shining through the clouds;
People of Tingri, now is the one time that it is present.

89
You say such clever things to people, but don't apply them to yourself;
People of Tingri, the faults within you are the ones to be exposed.

90
That faith succumbs to circumstance is only a short step away;
People of Tingri, contemplate samsara's imperfections.

91
Frequenting evil friends is bound to make your own behavior evil;
People of Tingri, abandon any friendships that are negative.

92
Frequenting virtuous friends is bound to make your own good qualities arise;
People of Tingri, follow your spiritual teachers.

93
Deception and lies deceive not only others, but yourself as well;
People of Tingri, as witness take your own conscience.

94
Delusion born from ignorance is the worst disaster-bearing demon;
People of Tingri, hold fast to your vigilance and mindfulness.

95
If you don't hold on to the three or five poisons [desire, hatred, ignorance, jealousy, pride], the path is near;
People of Tingri, generate powerful antidotes against them.

96
If your perseverance has no strength, you will not reach Buddhahood;
People of Tingri, make sure that you don that Armor.

97
Habitual tendencies, being old acquaintances, keep on coming back;
People of Tingri, don't go on following the past.

98
If your understanding and realization are weak, pray to your lord teacher;
People of Tingri, and deep meditation will be born in you.

99
If you aspire to happiness in future, accept your present trials;
People of Tingri - then Buddhahood is right here just beside you.

100
This old Indian master will not stay in Tingri, he will go away;
People of Tingri, it is now that you must clarify your doubts.

101
I myself have practiced without distraction;
People of Tingri, you too should follow this example.


Dilgo Khyentse, The Hundred Verses of Advice of Padampa Sangye.
Translated by Padmakara Translation Group.
Published by Shechen Publications, New Delhi, 2002.
ISBN 81-7472-088-1

Padampa Sangye

The Hundred Verses of Advice of Padampa Sangye are utterly amazing for their clarity, depth, breadth and brevity. Padampa Sangye (known in India as Paramabuddha) was from southern India, and traveled widely in India, Tibet and China, until his death around 1117 AD. It is widely believed that Padampa Sangye was an incarnation of the 8th century monk Kamalashîla, one of the early teachers of the Dharma in Tibet.

When the Indian sage Padampa Sangye arrived in Tibet, he found the people in the area of Tingri, which is on the Tibetan side of Mt. Everest, to be especially amenable to his instruction. He therefore settled in Tingri and established a monastery.

Travel in Tibet

From the barren desert landscapes to majestic views of the Himalayas, it is breath-taking to travel in Tibet. From the border of Nepal/ Tibet to Lhasa is about 820 km (492 miles). Elevations range from 3800 meters (12,467 feet) in Gyantse, 4300 meters (14,107 feet) in Tingri (New Dingri) to 3650 meters (11,975 feet) in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. The highest point on the road from Kathmandu, Nepal to Lhasa is at 5220 meters (17,125 feet) Gyatsola Pass.

Mount Everest from a unique perspective.

TAO TE CHING - Skill Seems Awkward

45. Skill Seems Awkward

The greatest perfection seems incomplete,
but its utility is never impaired.
The greatest fullness seems empty,
but its use cannot be exhausted.
What is most direct seems devious.
The greatest skill seems awkward.
The greatest eloquence seems like stuttering.

Movement overcomes cold.
Stillness overcomes heat.
The serene and calm are guides for all.

TAO TE CHING - How to Endure

44. How to Endure

Fame or your life, which do you love more?
Life or material wealth, which is more valuable?
Loss or gain, which is worse?
Therefore those who desire most spend most.
Those who hoard most lose most.
Those who are contented are not disappointed.
Those who know when to stop prevent danger.
Thus they can long endure.

Breathing Relaxation Techniques

BY GRANDMASTER SHOU-YU LIANG, AND MASTER WEN-CHING WU

The Basic Relaxation Technique (Fangsong Gong) is especially effective for helping people with deficient-yin accompanied with excess-fire, and people with high blood pressure. It is also helpful for relaxing nervous tension from the pressure of work and to regain a vitality of spirit. Fangsong Gong will also set a sound foundation for your other qigong training.

We will be using exhalations to assist our mental and physical relaxation. During inhalation, the body is in a condensing mode. This makes it difficult for the body to relax. During exhalation, the body is in an expanding mode. T his makes it easier for the body to relax. Also, physiologically speaking, during an inhalation, the intercostal muscles and diaphragm must contract to raise the ribs. During an exhalation, the intercostal muscles and the diaphragm naturally relax and return to the uncontracted position, making it easier for the body to relax.

Preparation:
Posture - Sit comfortably on a chair with your hands placed naturally on your knees or with your hands overlapping and thumbs touching each other. Men should have their left hand on top and women should have their right hand on top.

Visualization:
Step 1. With your eyes closed, sit for about three minutes. While exhaling direct the mind to relax the entire body, one section at a time. Begin from your head (eyes, ears, nose, mouth,) and pay special attention to your eye bridge area (Yintang). Relax your hands, your chest, your abdomen, your thighs, and down to the top of your feet.

Then relax the back of your head, relax your back, relax your waist, relax your hips, relax the back of your thighs, and relax the bottom of your feet. Repeat the exercise a few more times until you feel light, relaxed, and comfortable.

Step2.Next, simply think of the word song, or pronounce the word song softly as you exhale and spread song all over your body. Feel your body and evergy channels, immersing and melting into a tranquil comfortable state.

The word song, literally means loose. It is pronounced, first with your teeth gently touching each other and with your tongue pressing gently on your teeth as you release the air in your lungs from your mouth, making a sssss...sound. Then separate your teeth and allow the air to exit from both your mouth and nose making a "ong..." sound that resonates like a bell.

Key Points:
1. If you should find that some areas are not easy to relax, don't be overly concerned, go on to the next area. With practice you will gradually be able to relax your entire body.
2. If you should feel that some areas of your body are tingling, itching, are warm, or your muscles contract slightly, or you see flashing lights during the training, don't worry. These are natural qi reactions called qigan, qi sensations.
3. Usually after this qigong training you will have a peaceful, relaxing sleep. Some people, however,when they first begin their training, are energized and can't fall asleep. If this should happen to you, lay down on your bed and do this Relaxation Technique. This should help you fall asleep.
4. If your eye lids should twitch and they are unable to stop moving, you should open your eyes for a while, then close your eyes halfway and continue the training.
5. If you should feel any discomfort during training, check your posture and make any necessary adjustments until you feel comfortable. Make sure that you are not leaning, your waist is relaxed, your shoulders are down, and your hands are placed comfortably in place.

TAO TE CHING - The Value of Non-action

43. The Value of Non-action

The softest things in the world overcome the hardest.
Non-being penetrates even where there is no space.
Through this I know the value of non-action.
Teaching without words and the value of non-action
are understood by few in the world.

Qigong questions and answers

- Is Qigong a religion?

No. Qigong is a philosophy of life that fosters wisdom, well-being and harmonious living. It is not a religion or a cult. While individual Qigong teachers may discuss Taoist, Buddhist or other Chinese religions and philosophies, Qigong itself is not a religion. If you have any doubts about a Qigong teacher and his or her integrity, we recommend that you trust your reaction and re-evaluate your involvement with that teacher.

- Can I practice Qigong if I have limited mobility?

Yes. For a person with very little mobility and/or energy, she/he may begin practicing by visualizing the movements in the mind. Then slowly, as mobility and/or energy returns, movements can be added to the visualizations. Often students find that practice of Qigong gives them more energy as well as flexibility and mobility.

- Can I practice Qigong if I’m pregnant?

The general answer is yes. However, each woman’s pregnancy is different, and we recommend that the expectant mother consult her primary care provider as well as a qualified and experienced Qigong teacher. Two Qigong methods included in Liu Dong’s Methods that focus on women’s physiology are especially beneficial for a woman to practice before, during and after pregnancy. Jade Woman and Nourishing Woman are complementary forms that are wonderful to practice in preparation for becoming pregnant. Depending on your energy level and health, Jade Woman is wonderful to practice during the first two trimesters. Nourishing Woman provides very effective support for the expectant mother and the fetus throughout the pregnancy, as well as providing excellent care for the mother after delivery. Practicing Nourishing Woman after delivery also supports abundant and nutritious breast milk for the baby.

- What’s the difference between Yoga and Qigong?

Yoga, as ancient practice of enlightenment which includes practicing physical postures, is similar to Qigong. The philosophy and practice of Yoga originates from India, and is steeped in the tradition and culture of India. Qigong, on the other hand, is an ancient practice that originates from China that retains understandings about life rooted in Taoist, Buddhist and Confucian philosophies. In comparing the physical practice of Yoga and Qigong you will find that, while both Yoga and Qigong include breathing practices and meditation, Yoga tends focus on alignment, muscles and holding of postures, while Qigong concentrates more on energy and flow of movements.

- What’s the difference between Tai-ji-guan and Qigong?

Defined broadly as "energy practice", Qigong includes Tai-ji-guan. The exploration of energy work in China is thousands of years old, and forms the early basis for Chinese medicine as well as Chinese martial arts. As the ancient philosophers considered the factors that affect human health and longevity, they understood that humans are part of nature and participate in the energy patterns of the universe. In studying the workings of the universe, they came to understand the repetitive patterns of the universe, and related those patterns to the workings of the human body. They developed methods of keeping the body and mind strong and available to receive revitalizing energy from the world.

Tai-ji-guan is a part of this energy work tradition. The difference between Tai-ji-guan and medical Qigong methods is that while Tai-ji-guan springs from the martial arts elements, medical Qigong is rooted in Chinese medicine elements of this tradition.

- Can elderly people learn Qigong?

Yes. Qigong is in fact a wonderful form of exercise, relaxation and energy building for elderly people. The gentle yet powerful movements of Qigong can be practiced by all people, including elderly people with limited mobility. By cleansing the body of blockages, and by nourishing the energy of the body and mind, Qigong is a great way to prevent injuries and chronic illnesses. Qigong has been used in Asia in rehabilitation after surgeries to help the body and mind return to health.

- Can children learn Qigong?

Yes. While Five Animals is a beloved form practiced in China for generations by children of all ages, other general methods of Qigong such as One Thousand Hands Buddha, Eight Treasures, and Six Sounds Therapy are appropriate for children as well. For children with specific health concerns, please consult a qualified and experienced Qigong teacher.

- How do I know which form is good for me?

While most Qigong methods will provide benefit to a regular practitioner, certain methods have been developed to address specific imbalances in the body and mind. Depending on the reasons for your practicing Qigong, certain forms will address that reason more directly then others. To see a list and descriptions of the various forms taught at the Ling Gui International Healing Qigong School, click here.

- What experience do I need to take a Qigong class?

None at all. We welcome beginners as well as people who have practiced Qigong for years. Each person brings their unique life experiences to the practice of Qigong. Regardless of the level or years of experience with Qigong, we ask that you come to the practice of Qigong as a beginner, with the freshness of a beginner’s mind where all the possibilities remain.

TAO TE CHING - All Things

42. All Things

The Way produced the One;
the One produced two;
two produced three;
and three produced all things.

All things have the receptivity of the female
and the activity of the male.
Through union with the life force they blend in harmony.

People hate being orphaned, lonely, and unworthy.
Yet kings and nobles call themselves such.
Often gain can be a loss, and loss can be a gain.
What others teach, I teach also:
"The violent die a violent death."
I shall make this primary in my teaching.

TAO TE CHING - What the Way is Like

41. What the Way is Like

When the wise hear the Way, they practice it diligently.
When the mediocre hear of the Way, they doubt it.
When the foolish hear of the Way, they laugh out loud.
If it were not laughed at, it would not be the Way.

Therefore it is said,
"The enlightenment of the Way seems like dullness;
progression in the Way seem like regression;
the even path of the Way seems to go up and down."

Great power appears like a valley.
Great purity appears tarnished.
Great character appears insufficient.
Solid character appears weak.
True integrity appears changeable.
Great space has no corners.
Great ability takes time to mature.
Great music has the subtlest sound.
Great form has no shape.

The Way is hidden and indescribable.
Yet the Way alone is adept
at providing for all and bringing fulfillment.

The Theory of Five Elements

Similar to the theory of yin-yang, the theory of five elements, wood, fire, earth, metal and water, was an ancient philosophical concept used to explain the composition and phenomena of the physical universe. In traditional Chinese medicine the theory of five elements is used to interpret the relationship between the physiology and pathology of the human body and the natural environment. According to the theory, the five elements are in constant move and change, and the interdependence and mutual restraint of the five elements explain the complex connection between material objects as well as the unity between the human body and the natural world.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the visceral organs, as well as other organs and tissues, have similar properties to the five elements; they interact physiologically and pathologically as the five elements do. Through similarity comparison, different phenomena are attributed to the categories of the five elements. Based on the characteristics, forms, and functions of different phenomena, the complex links between physiology and pathology as well as the interconnection between the human body and the natural world are explained.

The five elements emerged from an observation of the various groups of dynamic processes, functions and characteristics observed in the natural world. The aspects involved in each of the five elements are follows:

Fire: draught, heat, flaring, ascendance, movement, etc.

Wood: germination, extension, softness, harmony, flexibility, etc.

Metal: strength, firmness, killing, cutting, cleaning up, etc.

Earth: growing, changing, nourishing, producing, etc.

Water: moisture, cold, descending, flowing, etc.


The following table shows the categorization of phenomena according to the five elements:


Between the five elements there exists close relationships that can be classified as mutual promoting and mutual restraining under physiological conditions, and mutual encroaching and mutual violating under pathological conditions. By mutually promoting and restraining, functions of the various systems are coordinated and homeostasis maintained. By encroaching and violating, pathological changes can be explained and complications predicted.

The order of mutual promoting among the five elements is that wood promotes fire, fire promotes earth, earth promotes metal, metal promotes water, and promotes generates wood. In this way each of the five elements has this type of mutual promoting relationship with the other, thus promoting is circular and endless. According to the order of mutual restraining, however, wood restrains earth, metal restrains wood, etc. Each of the five elements also shares this restraining relationship with the other. Mutual promoting and mutual restraining are two aspects that cannot be separated. If there is no promoting, then there is no birth and growth. If there is no restraining, then there is no change and development for maintaining normal harmonious relations. Thus the movement and change of all things exists through their mutual promoting and restraining relationships. These relationships are the basis of the circulation of natural elements.

Encroaching and violating are the pathological conditions of the normal mutual promoting and restraining relationships. Encroaching denotes that the restraining of one of the five elements to another surpasses the normal level, while violating means that one of the five elements restrains the other opposite to the normal mutual restraining order.