Once you stop pushing and stop feeding agitation, the next question is simple: what actually guides your actions now?

In Taoism, Lao Zi talked about three treasures that form the foundation of the path: compassion, frugality, and not putting oneself first. If you really want to understand what it ...

Certain issues arise in Taoist cultivation right when things are finally settling. After all the effort to restore Jing (精), regulate Qi (氣), and clarify Shen (神), why does practice begin to look like less doing and more meditation, more stillness, more drifting with the current? And why is it exact...

One of the analogies Stuart often used was the idea of pushing the boat so it can drift with the current. This is a common idea in Taoism. The character for Tao (道) shows a person floating in the water, going with the flow of the river. It’s the image of being at ease and not fighting against what’s...

Stuart taught us that spiritual cultivation must always combine practice with study. He wasn’t saying theory matters so you can sound smart or explain things intellectually. He was saying that theory gives the practice its internal alignment. He often repeated the line:

“Theory without practice is ...

Stuart used to talk about the Laying the Foundation stage as men restoring Jing to the kidneys and women restoring or settling the Blood in the womb. This stage sounds simple on paper, but in practice it’s one of the hardest stages for people to truly enter. Many students hover around it for years, ...

Most people are first drawn to Taoist internal arts because something about the practices feels exciting or mysterious. They hear about energy cultivation, spiritual awakening, and immortality, and are curious, if not positively determined, to achieve such states. That curiosity and desire are good....

This begins a new series of reflections on what it means to be a cultivator, a sincere practitioner of Taoist and Buddhist philosophy, meditation, Taijiquan, and Qigong. Each article will explore the inner realities of practice, the living transmission of our lineage, and the art of integrating cult...