Announcements and Updates
Schedule of Events
SPRING RETREAT REPLAY in the Membership
On March 18th we had an online Members Spring Retreat in which we practiced Eight Brocades, Opening the Three Passes, Chen Tuan’s Seasonal Qigong, Standing Qigong, and meditation. It was a very rejuvenating day!
The replay of the Spring Retreat has been added to the membership area.
The retreat can be done as a personal, private retreat (it’s five hours long) or you can do the practices separately when you have time. If you’re not a member and would like to become one to access that replay and to attend the upcoming retreats, you can learn about the membership and sign up here. Membership is a suggested donation of $18 dollars a month, and you can cancel at any time.
Upcoming member retreats:
Sat, Jun 17
- 11:00 AM Central: Summer Member Retreat
Sat, Sep 23
- 11:00 AM Central: Autumn Member Retreat
Sat, Dec 23
- 11:00 AM Central: Winter Member Retreat
Eight Brocades and the Longevity Teachings of Li Qingyun
Eight Brocades Seated Qigong is a central, powerful set of Taoist exercises, dating way back in the history of Taoism. It’s used both for health rejuvenation and Internal Alchemy (Internal Alchemy is the Taoist path to awaken to your Original Spirit).
At the Sanctuary of Tao, we practice the version of Eight Brocades that a famous Taoist by the name of Li Qingyun practiced. Government records show that Li Qingyun lived to be 250 years old (1677–1833), spending the majority of his life collecting herbs in the mountains of China.
If you’d like to learn even more about Li Qingyun, Stuart has a couple of books on him available here.
Ways to Learn Eight Brocades with the Sanctuary of Tao
If you’re interested in Eight Brocades, you have a couple of options for learning:
1. If you’re curious and want to try it out, you can follow along with the videos in the Eight Brocades section of the Nourishing Life Practices area of the membership. And there is instruction and a follow-along practice available in the Virtual Retreats section of the membership.
If you’d like to become a member to check out Eight Brocades, you can learn more about the membership and join here for a suggested donation of $18, and you can cancel at any time.
2. For those of you who want to make Eight Brocades a key practice in your life, we recommend taking our in-depth Eight Brocades Online Course. The pre-recorded lessons and practices in this course provide the full instructions for Eight Brocades, as well as a comprehensive overview of Li Qingyun’s guidance for health and longevity.
And now we’re creating a way for our community to engage with this course together on a continuing basis.
Announcing our Eight Brocades Spring & Fall Practice Periods
We just concluded the Eight Brocades Spring Practice Period, but the next review classes will occur in October 2023. In the meantime, you can study and learn from all the course materials in the Eight Brocades program and participate in the four Member Retreats we hold each year.
So, no matter when you register for the Eight Brocades Course, you’ll be able to attend our twice yearly review classes (in the spring and fall), and practice Eight Brocades with our community during the retreats.
To join, sign up for the course (link below) and you’ll get immediate access to the portal with the pre-recorded modules and talks.
Once you sign up, we encourage you to go through the modules and learn Eight Brocades at your own pace.
To create an ongoing structure and offer the support of a teacher and a group after registering for this course, we’ll meet together online through Zoom twice during each spring and fall season.
These live sessions will include:
- Stuart giving remarks on what we need to know as we dive into the practice, and what we might consider as we work more deeply with the practices.
- Q&A and discussion with Stuart
- Patrick leading a review of the practices
- Q&A during the practice review with Patrick
Logistical Details for the Eight Brocades Practice Periods:
Dates:
The next two live sessions will be held through Zoom at 1:00 pm Central Time on Saturday October 7th, and Saturday October 28th.
Cost:
Normally this course is offered at $300, but we’re offering it for $200 for the time being. In addition, we’re giving members an additional $80 off the discounted price (so, the total for members is $120).
If you'd like to become a member and use this discount, you can sign up for the membership here. Once you do that, email us at [email protected] and we'll send you the link with the discount.
You can cancel the membership at any time, and renew it whenever you wish as well. One of the benefits of being a member is the ability to attend the virtual member retreats in which we practice Eight Brocades, Qigong, and the Wind & Dew practices. The four retreats along with the spring and fall review classes are a great way to stay connected in your Eight Brocades practice.
Access:
The live sessions will be held through Zoom, the links will be sent to you via email the day before and the day of each session
The replays will be available in the portal afterwards.
Once you’ve purchased the course, you’ll have lifetime access to it through your portal. You will then have access to anything we might add or updated versions of the course as we continue to run it.
Find out more:
If you’re interested in learning more you can watch the webinar Stuart gave as an introduction to these teachings on Eight Brocades and the Longevity Methods of Li Qingyun.
Or if you’re ready to sign up, you can register for the Course Here.
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We would love for you to join us for the Eight Brocades Spring and Fall Practice Periods! Eight Brocades is an incredible method for creating clarity in the mind and tranquility in the body.
64-POSTURE AFTER HEAVEN TAIJIQUAN (TAI CHI) COURSE
We just wrapped up the 16-Posture Before Heaven Taijiquan (Tai Chi) Course.
It’s been an amazing way to begin the year. We really enjoyed going through the course with those of you in it! And we’ve gotten some wonderful feedback that people are finding it easy to learn Taijiquan online with this course because of all of the video recordings and pdfs they have access to between classes.
As we finish this round of the 16 Postures Course, the recordings of the classes and talks as well as the teaching modules are available online. So you can learn more about it and sign up to gain access to the course here. This course will lead into the upcoming year-long program on the After Heaven 64 Postures starting on May 27th.
If you’re interested in learning Taijiquan with us, this will be an incredible in-depth program. And there’s a gap before it starts so you have time to go through the 16-Posture Course before the 64-Posture Program begins.
This is important because the Before Heaven 16 Postures make up the first sets of postures in the After Heaven 64 Posture form. And we won’t be going back over those in the 64 Posture Program. Also, there’s a lot of foundation material in the 16 Posture Before Heaven Course that will be helpful to understand before the 64 Posture After Heaven Program begins.
So we highly recommend taking the 16 Posture Course to start with, and this would be a great time to do that because you’ll have time to catch up before the 64-Postures Program begins.
As Stuart said in the the seventh live class, Taijiquan is one of the best things you can do for your health. Doing Taiji daily helps you prevent illnesses and injuries, and it helps you heal and recover from health issues that you may currently have. It builds and mobilizes the Qi, our life force energy. Having a good amount of Qi that is free-flowing and not blocked is the foundations of health.
If you’re interested in finding out more about the 16 Posture Course, you can learn more here.
We hope you will join us for this year-long journey of learning Taiji that we’ve just begun!
INTRODUCTION TO THE I CHING
Learn the basics of the ancient Chinese system of divination and calculation for gaining wisdom and developing intuition.
The I Ching is one of the oldest books in the world and is central to the formation of Taoism. It is a book of wisdom, divination, cosmology, calculation, philosophy, internal alchemy, science, and a means for mapping out all phenomena.
All Taoist practices such as Taijiquan (Tai Chi), Chinese medicine, Feng Shui, astronomy/astrology, to name a few, are foundationally structured on the I Ching.
Many of the brightest minds of our world’s history have held a deep fascination with the I Ching. Interestingly, Gottfried Leibniz, the inventor of the binary code system we currently use for our modern-day computers and devices, published a paper crediting the Chinese for creating the first binary code system after his study of the I Ching. He also noted that every binary number from 000000 to 111111 corresponded exactly with the I Ching.
Intrinsically mathematical, the I Ching is an incredible tool for divination and calculation. Because of its depth and complexity, it’s important to understand the I Ching before attempting to use it in any meaningful way, much less applying its insights into your life. Consequently, you need a knowledgeable teacher to guide you.
Although many teachers have an academic understanding of the I Ching, few of them can teach its true Taoist fundamentals and principles. Stuart Alve Olson is uniquely qualified to clarify the inner workings of the I Ching. He has been studying and teaching I Ching and Taoist philosophy for nearly 40 years and is an award-winning author of over 35 books on Taijiquan, meditation, Taoism, and I Ching.
In this beginner course, you will:
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Learn the basic components and structure of the I Ching
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Understand the correlations of the images that make up the I Ching
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Study basic Taoist philosophy and how its concepts are integrated into the flow or movement of the I Ching
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Determine whether a question should be answered through calculation (using correlations of images) or divination (using the oracle)
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Know how to calculate the answer to a given question or properly cast and interpret a question to the I Ching
The four classes in this course will be taught live on Zoom, with the video replays posted into the class portal within a few days of each class. You will have lifetime access to the videos and course materials.
Classes take place on Sundays at 5:00 pm Central time, beginning on May 7th. Each class will run about an hour with Q&A.
Class Schedule:
May 7, 2023 05:00 PM Central Time
May 21, 2023 05:00 PM
Jun 4, 2023 05:00 PM
Jun 25, 2023 05:00 PM
Times Per Zone: 3:00 pm Pacific, 4:00 Mountain, 5:00 Central, 6:00 Eastern
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And starting in June …
I Ching Study Group
(For Beginners and Advanced Students)
After the completion of the introductory course, we will be starting an ongoing monthly I Ching Study Group in which Stuart will give a short talk on an important aspect of the I Ching, and then have a group participation on examining a casting or calculation of a question posed to the I Ching. The most difficult aspect of the I Ching is learning how to interpret the answer to a question. This is what the I Ching Study Group will largely focus on and it will be a very interactive portion each monthly session.
New Member Content
Zhuang Zi Commentaries
We are excited to announce that Stuart has just begun to give a new series of commentaries in the Membership on the Zhuang Zi. Last year Stuart gave his commentary and answered questions on each chapter of the Tao Te Ching. Then he did a series on five key Taoist scriptures, referred to as the “Weft Texts” (sub-texts). And now he’s beginning to offer his commentaries on Zhuang Zi.
Zhuang Zi was one of the three main Taoist Philosophers, along with Lao Zi (who created the Tao Te Jing) and Lei Zi (who may have actually been Zhuang Zi, writing under another name). Stuart’s first talk last weekend gave an overview and introduction to Zhuang Zi
Jade Pivot Scripture
We’ve just added two talks to the Membership portal on the Jade Pivot Treasury Scripture that Stuart gave during last year’s Spring retreat. There are also notes included for those of you who prefer to read.
One of the main themes of this scripture and Stuart’s talks are the qualities of Sincerity, Gentleness, and Silence which are needed to cultivate the Tao. We hope you’ll enjoy them!
How to Access These Talks
If you’re already a member, you can join us for these talks every other Sunday on Zoom at 1pm Central Time. If you can’t make it live, the replays will be available in video format in the Philosophy area of the Membership, or in audio form in the Member Podcast portal.
If you are not a member and would like to become one to participate in this series, you can check out our Membership and sign up here. If you’re not ready to sign up yet, you can study our free resources through our blog here, where we’ll be sharing clips from these and other talks Stuart gives in the membership.
