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Newsletter 7: News for November, 2016

New Books

I am pleased to announce that I have finished writing Volumes 4 and 5 of the Dàodéjīng Series and will send them off to the printer by the first of next week so they will be ready for purchase before the end of this year. Excerpts for their Introductions are given below. They are also uploaded to my website so you can view the Table of Contents there for more information.

Many Paths, One Center: The Dàodéjīng and the Worldview of Ancient China (Volume 4 in the Dàodéjīng Series)

The purpose of this text is to define and place the main themes of the Dàodéjīng into its overriding Thematic Context, which organizes them in a linear fashion in five separate categories. These are (1) a definition of Dào, (2) an explanation of how Dào Manifests into the World, (3) a definition of Human Nature according to its Prenatal state of Balance and its Postnatal state of imbalance, (4) how these imbalances lead to the Fragmentation from Dào and the concomitant Suffering this Fragmentation creates in the World, and (5) how we can Return to Dào to Restore our Humanity so that we can be Healed from this Suffering on the Body/Mind/Spirit levels of the individual, as well as to create “One Peaceful World” on the global level.

While this exploration will consider a variety of methods through which these goals can be achieved, the most important of them all is to Simply Realize how this organization automatically leads to an embodiment of a worldview that integrates these five categories into One cohesive Whole. It will, then, become the “Magic Spectacles” that enable us to see everything according to this Healing worldview so that our lives and the lives of others surrounding us can be Spontaneously Transformed.

To do so this text integrates the main themes found in the Dàodéjīng with those found in other related schools and texts of the time period in which it was written, a period that Focuses on the Warring States Period of Ancient Chinese history from 403-222 BCE as well as the times leading up to and developing from it. In addition to other Daoist texts, especially the Zhuāngzǐ and the Lièzĭ, these include the Yìjīng 易經 (Book of Changes), which was based on the Yin-Yang Pattern/Templates of the trigrams and hexagrams, and the Huángdì Nèijìng 黃帝內徑 (Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine), which is the oldest surviving text on Chinese Medicine (400-100 BCE) as well as the Source of its underlying Principles. In showing the reader how the main themes of the Dàodéjīng are related to these other texts, a more comprehensive understanding of the Dàodéjīng can be attained.

The purpose of this integrated level of understanding is to reveal a worldview that is in many Ways radically different from our own. It originates from the Yìjīng, where the Inclusive Principles of Yin and Yang Balance and Harmony were first expressed. Inclusivity distinguishes this worldview from the only other historical worldview―the Exclusivity of Dualism, which occurs when one Yin or Yang side is Constantly pitted against the other.

The Inclusive worldview tends to integrate the oppositions that are in Constant Contention with one another in the more limited worldview of Dualism. In the Dàodéjīng, these oppositions appear predominantly through (1) Manifestation and Action, (2) the original Good or Bad of Human Nature, and (3) the relative Balance between the Male and Female, whose imbalance is the Source of all other Yin-Yang disharmony. Manifestation depicts the Spontaneous emergence of All Things from Dào and the spiritual realm of Non-Being. In the Yìjīng and other Daoist texts such as the Zhuāngzǐ, this Manifestation takes place in three stages: (1) Non-Being as the non-material Source, (2) its initial Polarization into Yin-Yang Pattern/Templates, and (3) the realm of Being as the final material result. An example of a Dualistic Perspective on Manifestation is Creation, through which material things are thought to come into Being through the Actions of an anthropomorphic Creator God. The Dualistic tendencies of this approach tend to “create” a separation between the Creator and the created―a separation that becomes a future Model through which all other Things in the World are interpreted. Unfortunately, this separation only continues to escalate throughout the World without stop as the Dualistic worldview continues to spread. In contrast, the Inclusive worldview places all divinities, masters, and saints within the Intermediary Realm of Primal Chaos between Non-Being and Being, where their role is not so much that of Source itself, but rather the guiding spiritual consciousness representing Source that connects these two realms. “Creation” is then left to the Human Realm where we have the option to choose either Inclusivity or the Exclusivity of Dualism as our worldview based upon the development of the “Good” versus “Bad” sides of our Human Nature.

Table 1: Manifestation and Creation

The Inclusive and Dualistic worldviews distinguish between these “Good” and “Bad” sides of Human Nature in different Ways. The Inclusive worldview holds that Human Nature is Good and encourages personal Responsibility. In contrast, the Dualistic worldview holds that Human Nature is Bad and tends to foster a dependence upon an external Source of authority whose Pattern/Template usually takes the form of a Lord/Ruler or a Lord/God. The limitation of the Dualistic approach is that it restricts our motivation for being Good and, in doing so, Ends up justifying the Bad. In other words, if we think we are Bad at the core, we obviously cannot imagine the possibility of being fully Good; and if we cannot be Good, then why should we even try, especially if we think that the more we try, the closer we will be to reaching the unchanging Bad of what we assume is our True self. On the other hand, if we think we are originally Good, we will apply a more concerted effort to Transforming our human imbalances and feel increasingly more motivated to do so the more Transformation we are able to achieve.

The third level of these worldview distinctions is related to the relative Balance between the Male and the Female. According to the Yìjīng, the Huángdì Nèijìng, and the Dàodéjīng, the ultimate Source of Sickness and Disease is the disharmony of Yin and Yang. While this definition may seem rather abstract, the primary representations of Yin and Yang within a human being, as well as the social World as a Whole, are that of the Male and Female. When these relationships go awry, Sickness and Disease will eventually arise. These imbalances are further compounded by the underlying worldview that we have of them, as will be demonstrated below.

The Hidden Codes of the Dàodéjīng: Archaeological, Numerological, and Thematic Context Interpretations (Volume 5 in the Dàodéjīng Series)

This volume is the fifth in a five-part series on the Dàodéjīng. The third volume, The Dàodéjīng, Daoism, and the Restoration of Humanity in the Asian Healing Arts, contains a large section on the Ancient Chinese cultural background of the text as well as a Complete translation of each of the eight-one chapters, including the Chinese characters from the Received Text of Wángbì’s Hàn Dynasty version, and a commentary on each chapter based on the cultural background. The Received Text of Wángbì is the version from which all other prominent versions in China and around the World since at least the Míng Dynasty (1368-1644 CE) have been derived.

The fourth volume in this series, Many Paths, One Center: The Dàodéjīng and the Worldview of Ancient China, provides a detailed presentation of the Thematic Context, which organizes the many important themes used in the Dàodéjīng so that its underlying Principles can be better understood and coordinated with practical application to daily Life. Here in the present volume, we shall also include the theme of the evolution of the Ruler to the Heart of every person including the role of the Sage who connects the two. This important role of the Ruler can be understood on four different levels in the text: (1) the archaeological versions where different references to the Ruler were used, (2) the Thematic Context where the Ruler is associated with Political or Governmental Force, (3) a numerological interpretation of the eighty-one chapters where the different roles of the Ruler are symbolized, and (4) the Three Levels of Healing established by Táo Hóngjǐng 陶弘景 in the fourth century CE where the role of the Ruler/Heart/Mind reaches the most comprehensive level of application.

The archaeological versions, Guōdiàn 郭店 of 300 BCE and Mǎwángduī 馬王堆 of 168 BCE, and discovered in 1993 and 1973, are the earliest Known versions of the text that we have today. The Guōdiàn version was written during the Warring States Period on bamboo strips while the Mǎwángduī version was written during the Former Hàn Dynasty on silk banners so that slight character variations are found that are not present in the Received Text of Wángbì. While most of these variations are minimal, most of which indicate that these earlier texts were written for the Ruler, the Received Text included in its audience the educated literati and, by implication, the common ordinary person. These differences are accounted for as much by the political and educational changes made in the Hàn Dynasty as they were by the writing Materials available at the time. From the Warring States Period through the Former Hàn, texts were written on silken cloth or rolled bamboo slips, a technique that limited their availability. However, by the Later Hàn, when the Received Text of Wángbì was written, paper was invented so that the same texts were now available to a wider audience, especially the larger and emerging class of bureaucrats. Furthermore, by the Táng Dynasty (618-905 CE), when Lǎozi was deified by the first Táng Emperor, woodblock printing was invented, which made these texts, and others, much more available as more and more people began to read. At the same time, the earlier Zhōu Dynasty concept of the Mandate of Heaven (tiānmìng 天命) evolved with the cooperation of Chinese Medicine to the extent where the Outer Ruler of the Kingdom also became a pertinent symbol for the Shén/Spirit of the Heart, which functioned in every person as the Ruler of the Body/Mind/Spirit within. The ideas in the Dàodéjīng, then, came to be understood as advice given, not only to the Outer Ruler of the Kingdom, but also to the Inner Ruler of the Heart for Humanity as a Whole.

The Thematic Context is an organization of over two hundred fifty-three different terms used in the Dàodéjīng into an overall Pattern from which the main Principles of the text can be understood on a more linear and comprehensive level. I discovered this system when I first translated the text from the original Chinese, which enabled me to see how different words were repeated throughout the text as well as throughout other related texts of Ancient China such as the Yìjīng, the Chinese Medical texts, the Confucian texts, and other Daoist texts that used the same words to consistently convey ideas that were not perceptible by reading other western translations. I, then, organized these terms into five basic categories, which in themselves summarize the fundamental meaning of the text and the highly significant worldview that emerges from it. These are:

1. A Definition of Dào as both Source and Path

2. The Manifestation of Dào into the World

3. Human Nature, Virtue/Empowerment, and the Psycho-Spiritual Dimension of Humanity

4. The Fragmentation and Loss of Dào

5. The Embracing of Dào for the Restoration of Humanity

Please notice that, for the sake of clarity and to facilitate the learning process, all of these terms appear in Small Caps wherever they are used in the text.

Included in these terms are the Ruler, the Sage, the role of Numbers as an aspect of the Pattern/Template system of archetypes, and the Mandate of Heaven, which connects the evolution of the Ruler to the Heart of every person and makes the text not only more available, but also a requirement for everyone who wants to attain the goal of One Peaceful World. In addition, the Mandate of Heaven is also related to the Three levels of Healing, an idea introduced by the Máoshān Daoist and Chinese Medical practitioner, Táo Hóngjǐng 陶弘景 (452-536 CE). These levels include the Symptomatic Level as the Lowest, the Preventive Level at the Middle, and the Fulfilling of Inner Potential at the Highest, which is directly related to the Mandate of Heaven as we shall see later in the section on the Thematic Context.

Continuing Education

2017 Events

1. Friday, January 13, 2017
Classical Chinese Medicine and Psychology: An Introduction
$75 before 12/31/16 $95 after 1/1/17
3.5 NCCAOM PDA’s

2. Saturday-Sunday, April 15-16, 2017
The Dào Treatments: Alignments for a Higher Potential
NCCAOM PDA Application in Process

3. The Dàodéjīng and Chinese Medicine, Level 1 Introduction (Sunday, April 30, 2017, 2-5:30):

4. Saturday-Sunday, June 3-4, 2017
Chinese Medicine and the Dàodéjīng, Achieve Higher Levels of Healing - Level 1 in the Dàodéjīng Training Series
$375 before 12/31/16, $405 after 1/1/17, $450 14 days prior
15.5 NCCAOM PDA’s

5. Saturday-Sunday, September 30-October 1, 2017
The Three Levels of Healing in Ancient Acupuncture
NCCAOM PDA Application in Process

Classical Chinese Medicine and Psychology: An Introduction

Friday, January 13, 2017 6:00-10:00 PM

Course Description

This one-part three-hour course presents the three levels of healing in ancient Chinese Acupuncture and how they can be accomplished with acupuncture and acupressure through the underlying principles of Daoist psychology and how they are developed further in the ancient Chinese classic called the Dàodéjīng, often translated as “The Way and its Empowerment.”

This class continues from Level 1 by explaining how the five phases of acupuncture are used throughout the Dàodéjīng to further Empower, Chinese Medicine. Level 1 provided the basic five-phase context. Here in Level 2 we will see how the five phases lead to a deeper level of Empowerment by examining the specific chapters related to them and the Dàodéjīng.

Course Outline:

Part 1: The first hour will discuss the relevance of Dào as Source and how it Manifests into the World as the underlying matrix of all Chinese Medical theory. This understanding leads to the Inclusivity through which patients can be approached, a concept that is quite unique in the World and takes the Symptomatic approach of medicine to the higher levels of True Healing. The first hour also examines the nature of the Virtue of the Dàodéjīng as the underlying matrix of Body/Mind/Spirit integration where the patient, or client, can be treated as one integrated whole, rather than a conglomeration of isolated symptoms, or an isolated disease category.

Part 2: The second hour will discuss various aspects of the Fragmentation of Dào, or how the psycho-spiritual imbalances of the individual lead to Suffering and Disease, and how it connects healing on the individual level with the healing of society as a whole. The integration of these two levels is fundamentally important to achieving One Peaceful World. Moreover, without this integration, this state of World peace will never be attained. Therefore, the contribution of the ancient Chinese philosophical and medical Classics plays a unique and enormous role in defining what true healing is really all about.

Part 3: The third hour will discuss various aspects of Restoring the integrity of Dào to the ailing individual, and how this “return” is fundamentally important to reaching the highest level of healing in the ancient Chinese Classics. This level is related to Fulfilling Inner Potential, a level that takes even the Preventive Level of Healing to a higher level by fully integrating it with the social realm.

Q & A: By examining Chinese Medicine from the Inclusive level of the Dàodéjīng, we are not only able to Empower our patients and clients, but we also Empower ourselves as Healers through our ability to practice on this unique and Inclusive level.

Location: Roots and Wings Yoga and Healing Arts
317 North Main Street, Natick, MA 01760

Continuing Education Sign Up

All of these courses are being hosted by Eastern Medicinal Therapies. For applications and payment for any and all of these courses, please go to their website at http://www.easternmedicinaltherapies.com/events. If you only want to take my courses their instead of the extended workshop, please email them for a special code to do so at Events@EasternMedicinalTherapies.com.

Daoist Conference in Paris (May17-20, 2017)

Just to remind you, I have been invited to show the documentary movie I made with my son Jud on Tàijíquán called “Return to the Mountain: A Tàijí Journey” at the next Daoist Conference, which will be held in Paris this coming Spring. It can also be purchased on my website. I was also invited to be on the panel there on Daoism and Chinese Medicine. While I am there, I would also like to present a workshop to acupuncturists on this topic. I already have one that has been approved by the NCCAOM for continuing education credits. If you, or anyone you know, would like to organize this event, please let me know so we can all plan ahead.