Heru BryanApril 23, 2008 2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is the best book ever written, in the area of Chinese ancient Daoist alchemic practices. And I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to advance further in internal alchemy. I have been reading and re-reading this book for over 20 years, and everytime I open it, there are still bits and pieces of information, that is still helpfull in my cultivation. For the price, I would say this book is a gift, "really,"
Best meditation everFebruary 8, 2008 3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I just want to say that I don't agree that this book isn't for beginners. I started practicing the meditation techniques taught in this book when I was seventeen and the only experience I had prior to that was a little bit of mantra meditation. I had great success! I got as far as feeling vibrations along the 8 channels and having wind pass through my ears. Very highly recommended.
A Must Read For Any Serious Taoist Yoga/Chi Gung/Qi Gong PractionaireJanuary 30, 2008 3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Many years before almost any Taoist Yoga, Chi Gung books were available. Long before Mantak Chia great works that break it down in physical simple terms and Dr. Yang's Hallmark extremely detailed must read The Root of Chinese Qigong; this was the only book out there. It allowed me to get started years ahead of what I would have been able to do otherwise. This book is a must read because it was the first out there and gives some detail that is availble no where else. The descriptions used here help much with being able to imagine, then really feel and subsequently control and manipulate "vital breath" (a form a chi energy) to eventually open psychic centers and transform jing to higher forms of chi (shen), and thus nourishing and evolving those centers.
Excelent - highly recomended for practitionersOctober 20, 2007 7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Highly recomended for sincere practitioners with a meditative understanding.
Read the Preface first, and pay particular attention to the first chapter. While not said in these words, what is unusual about this practice teaching is that it starts off with emphasizing a degree of stability in non-dual awareness (ch1) and emphasies its importance for any hope of success. This is what is lacking in so many watered down teachings, with people spinning around in the practices for years with little solid benefit from a higher viewpoint.
The english translation is not the most fluent, and terms such as 'the need to not be mindful of the process is absolutley necessary for success', is spot on in its original intent, but lost a bit in translation. In this instance what is refered to is an anchoring beyond the thinking mind and its ambitions, limited conceptualizations, which crowds the space so that the underlying light is not noticed and cultivated. It does not refer to an abandonment of awareness, rather a deepening of it. There are a number of simular areas in the book, including things like a disaste for sexual relationships, etc; but if you get past the immeadiate words and undertand the essence of what is being said in the containement and how the underlying flows are qualified (or more so are not qualified into a dualistic energy), then this is the original true meaning.
While the feminine side is an inherent aspect of the internal landscape for anyone proceeding with this practice, nevertheless this book gives it no outward attention and its male mode of presentation might be a little difficult for female practitioners to sort through and integrate the teaching in a way meaningful for them.
The above comments are not meant to discourage anyone who loves meditative practice away from this book. It is truly one of the best and most rare books in a caliber far above most of what is offered.
EnlighteningFebruary 11, 2007 8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Earlier I read another book by Charles Luk which was on Master Hsu Yun's discourses and Dharma words and the Diamond Sutra, called "Chan and Zen Teachings, 1st Series". Reading the words of Master Hsu Yun was enlightening and motivating, so I was curious to read another book of Luk's- Taoist Yoga. I was not disappointed.
This book gives all the basic information you might be curious about when it comes to Taoist alchemy and immortality. It gives instructions on Taoist methods aimed at improving health, rejuvenating the body, and even the ultimate aim of creating an "indestructible diamond-body". The ancient wisdom presented in this book is really impressive. If practiced, the methods taught in it can be very beneficial to any yoga practitioner.
