Posts by Purple Cloud Admin
Saints & Sages Part XI: 陶法真 Tao Fa Zhen (1915-2000) [excerpt 1]
Saints & Sages Part XI: 陶法真 Tao Fa Zhen (1915-2000) [excerpt 1] ______________________________________________________ Tao Shi Fu was born in Shan Xi [陕西], An Kang [安康]. She began studying Daoism when she was only seven years old. Her aunt was an at-home practitioner of the Upright Oneness school. By the age of sixteen, she was already…
Read MoreSaints & Sages Part III (pt.2): 锺离权 & 吕洞宾 Zhong Li Quan & Lü Dong Bin
Saints & Sages Part III (pt.2) 锺离权 & 吕洞宾 Zhong Li Quan & Lü Dong Bin ___________________________________________________________ 云房因与同憩肆中，云房自为执炊。洞宾忽就枕昏睡，梦以举子赴京，状元及第。始自郎署擢台谏、翰苑、秘阁及诸清要无不备历。两娶富贵家女，生子婚嫁蚤毕，几四十年。又独相十年，极势薰炙。偶被重罪，籍没家资，分散妻孥，流于岭表。一身孑然立马风雪中，方兴浩叹，恍然梦觉。炊尚未熟。 As both [Master] Cloud Chamber and [Lü Dong Bin] were staying together at the tavern, [Master Cloud Chamber] prepared a meal [for both of them]. [Lü] Dong Bin suddenly rested [his head] on a pillow feeling drowsy…
Read MoreTai Shang’s Treatise on Action and Response: Commentary by Xing De
太上感应篇 Tai Shang’s Treatise on Action and Response Commentary by Xing De _________________________________________________ Purple Cloud Institute and Purple Cloud Press are enthusiastically announcing the publication of a small so-called ‘Book of Merits’ [shan shu 善书] entitled Tai Shang’s Treatise on Action and Response: Commentary by Xing De [tai shang gan ying pian 太上感应篇]. It should…
Read More打坐炼静 Sitting Meditation and Stillness Cultivation [excerpt 2]
打坐炼静 Sitting Meditation and Stillness Cultivation [excerpt 2] ______________________ What are the requirements? How should one do it? Why even do sitting meditation and stillness cultivation? In order to do so, one must adhere to the Three Regulations [san tiao 三调]; namely and the regulation of the body [tiao shen调身], the regulation of the breath…
Read MoreSaints & Sages Part X: 劉理航 Liu Li Hang (1901-2002) [excerpt 1]
Saints & Sages Part X: 劉理航 Liu Li Hang (1901-2002) [excerpt 1] ___________________________________________________________ 现在我想把道教培养一部分。继承纯阳的东西。我就把眼睛闭了都可以。现在不能够继承下去。就怕我死掉了以后 纯阳我带着走。这个内丹 没有哪个人能讲的出来。也没有哪个人能做得到 这个内丹功。内丹 它是先天气 后天气 三元，天元 地元 人元。这是我们道教讲的养生 就是内丹。学内丹功夫很难。 Presently, I wish to foster a part of Daoism, by bequeathing the material of Pure Yang. [Having done so,] I will be allowed to close my eyes. Now, I am not capable…
Read MoreDaoism Series 15: 不死方 The Formula of the Undying
Daoism Series 15 不死方 The Formula of the Undying ___________________________________________________________ The term of the Formula of the Undying [bu si fang不死方] appears in the《Rhymed Formula of the Reverted Elixir》[huan dan ge jue 还丹歌诀] by Yuan Yang Zi [元阳子] during the Five Dynasties Period (907-960). 长生药，不死丹，世人欲作寻复难。心犹豫，意迟疑，八丹方法由来有，如何不取一 门知。二人语， 共商量，日夜寻思不死方。若取黑铅并奼女，腾身天上自翱翔。一为左，一为右，阴阳具足还丹就。 真须炼，必长生，逍遥自在紫雲庭。 The medicine for long life, ‘the Elixir…
Read MoreDaoism Series 14 要飯聖人採訪 – Interview with the Beggar Sage
Daoism Series 14 要飯聖人採訪 Interview with the Beggar Sage ___________________________________________________________ 什么是道？ What is the Dao? ________________ 道德经说道不可以说，它无形无相，无情无名，用我们好理解一点的话来说：道就是自然界的规律；也是宇宙之中的规律。大到整个宇宙，宇宙外面的宇宙，外面更远的宇宙，没边；小到原子、分子、质子、夸克；现在不是有一个词叫上帝粒子；还有，里面还有，是叫其大无外，其小无内。不管以任何一种形式它都在道内，有行的，和无形的都在。 The Dao De Jing says that the Dao cannot be named. It is without form and without appearance, without sentiments and without name. To discuss it, let us use a few words only which we understand well. The…
Read MoreSaints & Sages Part IV: 陈抟 Chen Tuan (920 – 989) [excerpt 1]
Saints & Sages Part IV: 陈抟 Chen Tuan (920 – 989) [excerpt 1] ___________________________________________________________- Chen Tuan (ca. 920–989) was also known by the appellation Master Fu Yao [扶搖子], the Elder of the Inaudible and Invisible [xi yi xian sheng希夷先生], and by his style name Tu Nan [圖南]- Diagram’s South. Chen Tuan was most renowned for…
Read More錢本草 Materia Medica of Money
錢本草 Materia Medica of Money _____________________ by Zhang Yue 張說 [1] translated by Allen Tsaur, editor of ‘Explanations of Channels and Points’ and translator of the forthcoming ‘The Complete Compendium of [Zhang] Jingyue, Vol.1-3’ 錢味甘，大熱有毒，偏能駐顏，彩澤流潤，善療饑寒困戹之患，立驗。能利邦國，汙賢達，畏清廉。貪婪者服之，以均平為良，如不均平，則冷熱相激，令人霍亂。其藥采無時，采至非理則傷神。此既流行，能役神靈，通鬼氣。如積而不散，則有水火盜賊之災生；如散而不積，則有饑寒困厄之患至。一積一散謂之道，不以為珍謂之德，取與合宜謂之義，使無非分謂之禮，博施濟眾謂之仁，出不失期謂之信，入不妨己謂之智，以此七術精煉方可。久而服之，令人長壽；若服之非理，則弱誌傷神，切須忌之。 Money – sweet in flavor, very hot [in nature], toxic. It can prevent aging, it animates and moistens the complexion;…
Read MoreChinese Herb Series 02: 蓖麻 Castor Plant
Chinese Herb Series 02: 蓖麻 Castor Plant _____________________________ The following healing methods come from oral transmissions of my teacher Li Shi Fu on White Horse Mountain. [1] Its Qi and flavour are sweet, pungent, neutral, slightly toxic. Generally speaking the plant has the functions of treating athlete’s foot [jiao qi脚气], pain, swelling and numbness of…
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