Archive for June 2019
Abstention from Grains [part 3] 辟谷
The following post is collated from notes from several Internal Alchemy courses at Five Immortals Temple lectured and lead by the abbot Li Shifu [Xing De]. Any mistakes or misrepresentations are entirely my own: 辟谷 Abstention from Grains [part 3] ______________________________________________ Science claims that after seven to eight days without food and water, life comes…
Read MoreAlchemical Classics I: 大成捷要 [柳華陽] The Essentials of the Shortcut to the Great Achievement by Liu Hua Yang
Alchemical Classics I: 大成捷要 [柳華陽] The Essentials of the Shortcut to the Great Achievement by Liu Hua Yang —————————————————————————— Liu Hua Yang together with Wu Shou Yang [伍守阳] make up the so-called Wu-Liu School with its main focus on Internal Alchemy [nei dan 內丹]. The former is also the author of the Scripture of Wisdom…
Read MoreSaints & Sages Part II: 呂祖 Founding Ancestor Lü
Saints & Sages Part II: 呂祖 Founding Ancestor Lü ______________________________________________ 起先，洞宾母亲临产时，室内飘满奇香，空中有天乐声传来。有一只白鹤从天空飞下来，飞入产帐就不见了。洞宾生下，身体合乎金木五行之数，头背形状有灵龟仙鹤的神姿，一对凤目炯炯有神，两道长眉连到发际。少小时聪慧过人，读书可以一天背诵万言，言语出口便能成章。身高八尺二寸，面容仿佛汉代的张良。 At the beginning, when Lü Dong Bin’s mother was about to give birth a very bizarre fragrance floated within [her] chamber. In the air a divine musical sounds were transmitted, [and] a white crane flew down from the sky, [which] could not be seen…
Read MoreSummer & Winter Solstice 二至
二至 Summer & Winter Solstice ______________________________________________ The Summer Solstice in the Northern hemisphere and the Winter Solstice in the Southern hemisphere are occurring on 21st June 2019, or close to this date depending on which time zone you live in, e.g. in Sydney, Australia, it takes place in the early morning hours of the…
Read MoreAbstention from Grains [part 2]
The following post is collated from notes from several Internal Alchemy courses at Five Immortals Temple lectured and lead by the abbot Li Shifu [Xing De]. Any mistakes or misrepresentations are entirely my own: 辟谷 Abstention from Grains [part 2] ______________________________________________ The question to be raised is why humans still depend on the intake of…
Read MoreHerbal Legends IX: “Ox Knee” [niu xi 牛膝 ] – Achyranthes bidentata
Herbal Legends IX: Once upon a time there was an elderly doctor and herb-gatherer. He had been practicing his healing art for many years. However, he never married and lived by himself. When he realised that he had become old, he accepted many students, to whom he wanted to pass on his knowledge of herbs.…
Read MorePurple Cloud Podcast #17 Mazin Al Khafaji: Scratching the Surface of Chinese Medicine
The field of Chinese medical dermatology is a fascinating one, no least because the visual component gives the practitioner conspicuous diagnostic information that internal conditions often do not. In today’s podcast we talk to Mazin Al-Khafaji, one of the worldwide leading figures in the treatment of skin and autoimmune conditions with Chinese medicine. We talk…
Read MoreSaints & Sages Part I: Founding Ancestor Peng 彭祖爺
Saints & Sages Part I: 彭祖爺 Founding Ancestor Peng _______________________________________________ This hagiography originates from a classic called《Biographies of Spirit Immortals 》[神仙传] authored by Ge Hong [葛洪]. _______________________________________________ 彭祖者，姓錢，名鏗，帝顓頊之玄孫。至殷末世，年七百六十歲而不衰老。少好恬 靜，不恤世務，不營名譽，不飾車服，唯以養生治身為事。殷王聞之，拜為大夫，常稱疾閑居，不與政事。善於補養導引之術，並服水桂、雲母粉、麋鹿角，常有少容，然其性沈重，終不自言有道，亦不作詭惑變化鬼怪之事，窈然無為，時乃遊行，人莫知所詣。伺侯之，竟不見也。有車馬而不常乘，或數百日或數十日不持資糧，還家則衣食與人無異。常閉氣內息，從平日至日中，乃危坐拭目，摩搦身體，舔唇咽唾，服氣數十，乃起行，言笑如故。 Founding Ancestor Peng, family name Qian, first name Keng, was the great-great grandson of emperor Zhuan Xu. Reaching at the end of the Yin dynasty,…
Read MoreAbstention from Grains 辟谷 [part 1]
The following post is collated from notes from several Internal Alchemy courses at Five Immortals Temple lectured and lead by the abbot Li Shifu [Xing De]. Any mistakes or misrepresentations are entirely my own: 辟谷 Abstention from Grains [part 1] _______________________________________________ First of all it is necessary to delineate the term Abstention from Grains [bi…
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