questions about taoist alchemy cosmological terms

Yes, probably I have. And I think intellect IS limited. Only time and practice will show me the real truth, but untill then…
On the other hand, I think you are blindly following what others have said, be them wise or not. (not meaning to be offensive or anything)

“They are saying that Daoism is this and this and that.”

A trap we are all (well, most of us anyway) in unfortunately, not only about daoism, but all things.

🙂

Hello Christopher,

I chose to answer your post in such detail primarily because of the sincerity of soul-searching that you display in your writing. It IS, as you suggest, direct experience of the truth through personal investigation that brings about revelation and change in us, not following others, no matter how important in history they have been. There is a lot that can be said further on this but I am taking only a moment to reespond. I will likely come back to the keyboard tonight and offer more in response to what you say and ask.
Suffice it to say for now that experience over time is absolutely as essential with a really open mind in getting to the root of things. The growth cycles of our lives afford us the opportunity to refine our wisdom through experience. What we believe in our twenties, for instance, is radically altered as we go through these cycles and our perspective increases. If we are fixed on what is “true” at an early age we are resisting the process of learning/unlearning and thus put a cap on our growth. Humility, respect and flexibility are sometimes difficult to come by when our personality has been structured to protect itself for reasons of insecurity.

Aloha, Alexander

I like to hear that there are more young people like my self opening up to Talks like these.:)

Dog, since your words seem to be that of an older, wiser person, I am curious, if it is not too revealing, how old you are. If you’d rather it remain a mystery, that’s OK too. Thanks, A.

i’ve met some old (wise) people young in age and some immature people who are advanced in age.

it’s interesting to observe these dynamics and how they vary from person to person.

one person i admire, respect and feel brought a lot of wisdom into this world is one of my neices and she’s only 9 years old.
she already wants to learn froma qigong master.

nice to hear from you again alexander

thank you, alexander.

-You bet-

your perspective seems much more holistic than the one you are responding to — at least from the standpoint of a living human being. and that is exactly what seems so strange to me about this “false self” language, that it seems based upon a kind of erroneous projection outside of the living, human experience. erroneous because the only thing that could project it as such is a living human! the only thing that could oppose the ego is more ego, sublimated into some other guise.

-I think that’s right because Spirit doesn’t oppose, judge or negate. It’s focus is pure positive energy. Our goal is to free ourselves from our own devices and unconditional acceptance is the only way to do that.
BTW, If you don’t yet know the Inner Smile meditation, you need to. Michael has a free e-book you can download. It’s the best thing in this part of the galaxy. –

the perspective you offer describes the primordial spirit as an eternal creative openness, which nurtures the transformations of energy within it, bringing them into refinement in a process which is ultimately not distinct from itself whatsoever. how could such an natural creative intelligence “reject” its own creations? quite the opposite, it would inherently provide the space for the fulfillment of their individuation (which is NOT in contradiction with their underlying origin in it).

-“Nurturing” is the key word here. The yin, the mother, the void/womb. All that is at the root of Daoism speaks of the feminine as the basis of it all and I believe that is right. Without the ability to nurture ourselves we are lost. We are growing ourselves. How can this be accomplished? It comes down, again, to the feelings. Without them we cannot tell what is going on, we can only think about it. Without feeling there is no compassion and no way to determine what to do. Feeling is our sensitivity mechanism for staying in touch with the source and the way.-

also, the idea that some religious teacher said something somewhere and therefore i should artifically negate my own direct experience of life by subjugating it to my own projection of the meaning of their ideas, seems like a social control mechanism which slows down genuine realization of one’s potential, as opposed to catalyzing it.

-Yes. This has been a big problem. But with the energies of the planet speeding up so much the consciousness of humanity has to let go of its hold on that. It’s one thing to hear something that someone said two thousand years ago and have it feel right to your heart and it’s another thing to HAVE to follow it because it’s doctrine. This is good stuff to put the alchemical formulas to use on and transmute -victim issues.-

so what i am trying to acquire an understanding of is this: how does or does not michael’s teaching fit in with the taoist tradition.

-In my opinion, Michael’s stuff is very pure. He is teaching, as I understand it, the mountain daoist version of inner alchemy. You can read about his path in one of his articles on this site. It will help you answer this question. The ultimate determining factor about someone else’s stuff must always be what our heart says and from the tone of your writing your are in touch with that. Follow it-

fajin seems to assert that it is not congruent with traditional taoism.

-There are several forms, as I understand it, of “traditional” daoism and Michael has said that his job is to take the orientally pre-disposed material and recreate it for westerners. It HAS to be somewhat different in form. But the essence is there and that is based on what it will do for you. I can confirm that it works.-

what does michael think of this?

-I’ll bet he will tell you in his own words if you ask him.-

i specifically mean, how do the cosmological proposals he makes fit or or not fit in with examples of traditional taoist belief? if there is a tradition of taoism that michael is basing his cosmological perspective upon, in contrast to the one presented by, say, fajin (with no disrespect intended by making such a distinction)?

-I am not a daoist scholar as Michael is and it would be impossible for me to give you many details on this. But the basic answer to your question is “Yes.”
My experience of Fajin is that while he is dedicated to his path he is far younger and less experienced than Michael is and has a tendency to “know it all” which goes against him. Therefore he argues when he should be listening.-

i ask this because your and michael’s words resonate deeply with the insights obtained from my own memories and experiences of “inner planes” and the relationships between them, and with the living, human self-experience.

-Yes, I know. I can see that plainly. What is so good about the daoist path is that it will give you a proper body to hold all the info-energy you have inside you and that you will acquire from your travels. It is a supremely grounded path.-

thanks for all your participation in this wondrous dream 🙂
-christopher

-Your welcome! I send you smiles from the high desert of Santa Fe to strengthen your presence. Alexander-

– and I DEFINITELY prefer the new to the old. NN