Blog
Lately I’ve been teaching counting the breaths. It's one of the oldest and simplest meditation methods there is. Count the inhalations. Count the exhalations. Count both. Count to 10 (or any of the numerous variations I’ve been teaching) and start over. If you lose track, simply return to one and tr...
The “Three Star Gods,” Fu, Shou, and Lu, are among the most recognizable figures in popular Chinese religion. Fu represents fortune, blessings, happiness, and good luck, Shou represents prosperity, status, success, official rank, and Lu represents longevity, health, and long life. Although the Three...
On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, one of the oldest traditional festivals in China is celebrated. Although the Dragon Boat Festival is most commonly associated with dragon boat races and eating zòngzi (sticky rice dumplings), its origins are complex and appear to predate both organized Taoi...
Stuart used to write a section for the newsletter called A Few Words. I thought I would continue the tradition in my own way with A Few More Words.
I dream about Stuart all the time. In the dreams, we’re talking, working on classes, planning things, or just interacting normally. Then, somewhere in ...
As the Dragon month comes to a close, the Snake comes slithering in on May 17th to represent the fourth month of the Chinese year. This Snake month will be a Water Snake month, which tells us more about the kind of energy this Snake has.
Snakes already carry the ideas of strategy, concealment, pati...
Hexagram #1, Creativity of Heaven, is a hexagram that carries pure Yang energy. It is the most active, generative force in the Yi Jing and is characterized as strong, initiating, and forward-moving. It is about doing, leading, creating, and pushing forward with clarity and intention. It favors initi...
Zhang Sanfeng is one of the most famous and mysterious figures in Taoism and martial culture. He is traditionally depicted as a wandering Taoist immortal, internal alchemist, martial artist, and spiritual teacher. Placed somewhere between the late Yuan dynasty and early Ming dynasty periods, he is p...
On the 14th day of the 4th moon, which this year will fall on May 30th, Taoist observe the birthday of one of its most famous figures, Lu Dongbin. Lu Dongbin is one of the Eight Immortals, a legendary group of enlightened beings who embody different paths to spiritual realization. He also holds crit...
We hope our newsletter finds you well as we welcome the Water Dragon, the ruler for the month, which comes soaring in on April 17th. The Dragon marks pivot or transition points. They store energy, and the specific element combination can determine how that stored energy expresses. Dragon months tend...
The hexagram for the month is #43 Decision. This hexagram is intense. The image suggests that something must be declared decisively or cut away. It represents a buildup that has reached a breaking point, the need to take a clear stand, and either exposing or confronting what can no longer be hidden....
Xi Wangmu (also known as the Queen Mother of the West) is a profoundly important figure in Taoist philosophy and Taoism, and actually predates Lao Tzu and organized Taoism itself. Xi Wangmu is a remnant of an earlier matrilineal society in ancient China. Before the big three teachings (Taoism, Buddh...
The third day of the third lunar month is the Immortals’ Peach Celebration Day, known as the Pántáo HuĂ, or Feast of Peaches. Peaches are symbolic of immortality—i.e., the peach of immortality as presented in the legends of the Western Royal Mother (Xi Wang Mu), which became her most famous attribu...
