Reveals techniques for achieving spiritual immortality through an in-depth exploration of Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching • Includes practices and meditations for living in harmony with the Tao (universal essence) and Te (kind action) • Reveals the integration of heavenly and human power in the mystic field within us • Presents Tao Huang's English translation of the Tao Te Ching from the original Chinese Mawangdui text unearthed in 1973 For over 2,500 years the words of the Tao Te Ching, the primary scripture of Laoism and Taoism, have been regarded as among the greatest treasures of the world. Lao-tzu, whose name means “the ancient child,” wrote these brief but essential verses that have both confounded and conferred blessings on humankind. Now Taoist masters Mantak Chia and Tao Huang guide readers through the origins of this philosophy, the meaning behind its 5,000 pictographs, and the way of living that generations have followed. While the text of the Tao Te Ching has been passed down in literary form for generations, the essence of the text can be understood only through heart awakening--a true integration of body and mind--made possible with the insights and exercises in this book. The authors analyze Lao-tzu's teachings, line by line, and offer meditations, interpretations, and practical illustrations that clarify the true meaning and purpose of this classic text.

For twenty years, Gordon J. Van De Water has collected editions of the world classic the Tao Te Ching and pondered this ancient, yet still vibrant Chinese text of wisdom literature. Written in the sixth century before the Common Era and ascribed to Lao Tzu, a venerable sage, it offers a guide to life based on adherence to the Tao or Mother Nature, those forces and powers that govern and shape both the world and human nature. Its eighty-one verses repeatedly emphasize seeking harmony through simplicity, the rejection of the trappings of material wealth and the arrogance of power, and identification with the great underlying forces of the universe. Many of the verses also offer practical wisdom for those in leadership positions. So fascinating has been the compressed wisdom of the Tao Te Ching that it has been translated into many languages more often than any other book except the Bible. Van De Water has sought to strike to the heart of this highly compressed and often enigmatic text by creating a plain English version that highlights the continuing relevance of the Tao Te Ching for our complex and oft troubled times. His interpretation also includes an introduction, selected translations and interpretations in English by pioneering scholars, and an extensive bibliography of translations and interpretations in English.

In December 1945, two Egyptian fellahin, digging for natural fertilizer in the Nile River valley unearthed a sealed storage jar. The jar proved to hold treasure of an unexpected sort: a collection of some fifty-two ancient manuscripts, most of which reflect the teachings of a mystical religious movement we call Gnosticism (from the Greek word gnosis, "knowledge"). The texts are also, with few exceptions, Christian documents, and thus they provide us with valuable new information about the character of the early church, and about the Gnostic Christians within the church. In this volume, Marvin W. Meyer has produced a new English translation for general readers of four of the most important and revealing of these early Christian texts -- the Secret Book of James, the Gospel of Thomas, the Book of Thomas, and the Secret Book of John.

A groundbreaking book, Emotional Wisdom reveals powerful ancient tools for transforming our painful emotions into happiness and health. So-called negative emotions are valuable messages that let us know we are out of balance. With compassion and humor, Taoist authors Mantak Chia and Dena Saxer explain the messages that anger, depression, fear, worry, and stress offer us. They present three easy-to-learn twenty-minute internal energy practices, with helpful illustrations, to turn these imbalances into harmony and joy. They provide unusual nutritional advice for emotional healing and a Taoist First Aid section with proven natural remedies for minor ailments such as insomnia, indigestion, headaches, and overeating. Relevant quotes from the Tao Te Ching add inspiration to this practical, life-changing book.

Explains how to use your Taoist astrology birth chart as a personal nutritional guide for health, longevity, and organ energy balance • Explores how to help balance your birth chi through your eating habits as well as explaining how foods address your five-element energetic profile • Provides detailed food lists based on ancient Taoist wisdom that reveal their effect on the Yin, Yang, and five-element energies • Shows how your five-element energies outline your life and influence success in relationships and at work We are each born with a unique combination of heavenly and earthly energies defined by the five elements and dictated by the universe at the moment you take your first breath. This “birth chi” can be calculated using the year, month, day, and time of your birth, and it reveals your personal profile of health and emotional strengths and weaknesses as well as the energy cycles you will encounter throughout your life. In this Inner Alchemy astrology nutrition guide, Master Mantak Chia and Christine Harkness-Giles explore how to strengthen your birth chi through your eating habits, revealing which foods will address imbalances in your five-element organ energy profile. The authors explain which organs are connected with each element--fire, earth, metal, water, and wood--and provide detailed food lists based on ancient Taoist wisdom that reveal the energetic temperature, flavor, and organ related to many common foods and superfoods. They emphasize the importance of local, seasonal, and fresh foods and of yin-yang balance for health. The authors illustrate the five elements’ characteristics through sample profiles for celebrities such as Paul McCartney and Meryl Streep, along with Taoist nutritional recommendations based on their charts. The authors also explore how your Inner Alchemy astrology profile determines your life and relationships and explain how Inner Alchemy practices and five-element nutrition can improve all aspects of your life. By eating in line with your personal five-element energetic profile, as part of ancient Inner Alchemy techniques, you can improve health and longevity and strengthen connections with your loved ones and the energies of the cosmos.

An interdisciplinary group of scholars explores the social history and anthropology of Daoism from the late nineteenth century to the present, focusing on the evolution of traditional forms of practice and community, as well as modern reforms and reinventions. Essays investigate ritual specialists, body cultivation and meditation traditions, monasticism, new religious movements, state-sponsored institutionalization, and transnational networks"--Publisher's Web site.

Exercises to deactivate emotional triggers, transform negative emotions into positive ones, and heal from PTSD, depression, anxiety, and addiction • Provides illustrated step-by-step instructions on how to combine the eye movements of EMDR therapy with the energetic practices of the Universal Healing Tao • Reveals how negative emotions are stored in the organs, where they also have effects on physical, mental, and spiritual health • Explains how to release stored negative emotions, transform them into positive energy, and harmonize the energies of your organs Through the energy psychology practices from the 5000-year-old Taoist Chi Kung system, you can recycle negative emotional states into positive energy for your spiritual, emotional, and physical benefit. By combining these ancient practices with the recently developed therapy of EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, you can produce fast, profound relief from emotional trauma, as well as address the emotional imbalances underlying depression, anxiety, PTSD, and even addiction. In this illustrated guide, Master Mantak Chia and Doug Hilton explain how to integrate the eye movements of EMDR with the energetic exercises of the Universal Healing Tao to rid yourself of the negative feelings associated with past trauma, build up positive feelings about handling similar events in the future, and remove any physical sensations connected to the issue. The authors explore how negative emotions are stored in the organs, the effects they have on physical, mental, and spiritual health, and the maladaptive emotional states people develop to deal with the pressures of modern life. Providing step-by-step instructions for each practice, the authors show how to deactivate your emotional triggers, trace energy disturbances back to the affected organ systems, transform negative emotions into positive ones, and harmonize the organs with EMDR and the Universal Healing Tao techniques of the Inner Smile, the Six Healing Sounds, and the Microcosmic Orbit. The result is a powerful self-healing practice that can be learned and applied quickly and easily.

The Inner Glide presents a unique and original practice that will challenge ski enthusiasts, snowboarders, or skwallers, whether experts or beginners, to make the transition from the raw quest for sensation--itself a source of imbalance--to a more subtle and harmonious practice based on internal centering.

Craniosacral therapy and Chi Kung practices to harmonize emotions, release chronic tensions, and optimize the flow of energy • Provides illustrated instructions for movement exercises, breathwork, self-massage, and emotional intelligence meditations to free the flow of energy in the body • Reveals clear parallels between the craniosacral rhythm and the flow of chi • Explains how to release energetic blockages and emotional and physiological knots, activate the energetic pumps of the 3 tan tiens, and tap in to the Cosmic Flow Exploring the connections between Western craniosacral therapy and Chi Kung, Taoist master Mantak Chia and craniosacral instructor Joyce Thom detail movement exercises, breathwork practices, self-massage techniques, and focused meditations from Taoist and other wisdom traditions to release and harmonize the flow of energy in the body and optimize our potential for physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. The authors link the craniosacral rhythm--the gentle flow of cerebrospinal fluid from the head (cranium) to the tailbone (sacrum)--and the flow of chi throughout the body, circulated by the pumps of the three tan tiens. They explain how these subtle energetic flows indicate the harmony or disharmony of the whole person and are greatly affected by physical traumas, chronic tensions, and unresolved emotions. For example, the psoas muscle, known in Taoism as the muscle of the Soul, connects the spine to the legs and is the first muscle to contract when anger or fear triggers our fight-or-flight response. Often a storehouse of subconscious stressors, this muscle’s sensitivity is connected to many common ailments like back pain. Providing step-by-step illustrated exercise instructions, the authors explain how to identify and unwind energetic blockages and emotional and physiological knots. They explore emotional intelligence exercises for tuning in to our hearts so we can listen to our bodies’ messages and learn to relieve related emotional burdens. They also reveal how to activate the cranial, respiratory/cardiac, and sacral pumps of the three tan tiens to optimize the body’s energetic flow and explain how, when our energy is flowing freely, we can enter the Cosmic Flow--a state of calm well-being and extraordinary creativity where we find ourselves truly at one with the universe.

A guide to the foundational practice of “smiling to the organs” to promote deep relaxation and internal health • Presents exercises that dissolve the physical and mental tensions that can cause energy blockages and unhealthy chi flow • Shows how to recognize illness at its inception on the organ level and how to balance the emotions to heal it The Inner Smile is a practice that focuses gratitude and joy on the internal organs to resolve the physical and mental tensions that can lead to illness. In Taoism negative emotions--anger, sadness, depression, fear, and worry--are seen as low-grade energy that causes chronic disease and steals our major life force by creating energy blockages. Master Mantak Chia shows that the internal awareness produced by the simple yet powerful Inner Smile meditation practice flushes the organs of poisonous negative energy that may be blocking chi energy flow in order to nourish the entire body. Just as a genuine outer smile transmits positive energy and has the power to warm and heal, an inner smile produces a high grade of energy that promotes powerful internal healing, deep relaxation, happiness, and longevity. Smiling to the organs and thanking them for the work they do helps to reawaken the intelligence of the body, which, once activated, can dissipate emotional imbalances and inner disharmony before serious illness manifests.