Home › Forum Online Discussion › Philosophy › Request feedback on new Healing Tao Mission statement
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November 2, 2006 at 8:17 am #19054Michael WinnKeymaster
I’ve been re-formulating the mission statement of Healing Tao USA, and am open to feedback from this community as to suggestions to improve or clarify it.
Healing Tao USAs 5-Star Mission:
1. Embody Tao principles of Natural Unity, Balance, & Harmony.
Surrender to Life Force flow as Original Nature, Yin-Yang & Five-Phases.2. Develop a heart-centered Human Energy Science to benefit all.
Cultivate love and trust in the Life Force via Qigong & Inner Alchemy.3. Accept unconditionally the process of Physical Embodiment.
Awaken radiant sexual health & whole-body enlightenment.4. Release struggle, follow the Way of Effortless Completion.
Express creativity & focus free will to shape our souls unique destiny.5. Individuate the whole, true, original, and Immortal Self.
Integrate our personal heart-mind with all levels of Greater Self.thanks in advance for your feedback
Michael
November 2, 2006 at 9:49 pm #19055snowlionParticipantThis is great; in the past you have been one of the few I have seen for a Renaissance of Western World Qigong. I wish this could be incorporated somehow so people would understand with clarity the difference of a Qigong Movement that is unique to non- Asian Speaking Students. This is for sure a appealing factor due to the paradigm shift of consciousness from the days of old, of Chinese Master, Sifu Et Cetra….to a Western Community Movement that has no barrier’s of Race, Creed, Gender.
Would these five Mission points have any explanations on why they are? Thats my first snapshot two cents..SnowLion
November 3, 2006 at 6:22 pm #19057voiceParticipantIt doesn’t do anything for me!
Four suggestions:
Only have one statement per numbered point.
Get rid of the numbers!
Write it so points flow in an integrated manner – more like poetry than a list.
Provide an introductory sentence that lists they key points (e.g. embodiment, heart etc.) which are then elaborated upon below.
Chris
November 4, 2006 at 1:01 am #19059spyrelxParticipantBrace yourself because this is gonna be harsh.
I think you’re out of your mind. I think you should come back to earth and try to communicate with people instead of making up a vocabulary that no one else (and perhaps you) don’t understand.
See below:
1. Embody Tao principles of Natural Unity [WHAT DOES THAT MEAN, I MEAN REALLY? IT SOUNDS ALL NICE AN NEW AGE-EY, BUT WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? NATURAL UNITY? SHEESH], Balance, & Harmony.
Surrender to Life Force flow [SAME COMMENT. “LIFE FORCE FLOW” — WHAT IS THAT AND WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO SURRENDER TO IT] as Original Nature [SAME COMMENT. “LIFE FORCE FLOW AS ORIGINAL NATURE” WHOLLY OBSCURE. IS THAT YOUR POINT – TO BE OBSCURE?], Yin-Yang & Five-Phases [I THINK YOUR USE OF “AS” IN THIS SENTENCE IS WRONG].2. Develop a heart-centered Human Energy Science [A BIT DIPPY BUT BETTER. WHAT OTHER KIND OF SCIENCE WOULD IT BE IF NOT HUMAN? ALSO, WHY DO YOU INSIST ON CALLING IT SCIENCE? IS IT SOME SORT OF INSECURITY OF YOURS? ALMOST NOTHING YOU DO IS SUBJECT TO ANYTHING THAT COULD REMOTELY BE CALLED SCIENTIFIC METHOD. HOW ABOUT “HEART CENTERED ENERGY PRACTICES”?] to benefit all.
Cultivate love and trust in the Life Force [THERE’S THAT LIFE FORCE AGAIN. MAYBE YOU SHOULD DEFINE IT UP FRONT SO PEOPLE NO WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT AND DON’T THINK YOU’RE JUST SPOUTING VAGUE SPIRITUAL SOUNDING STUFF — “USE THE FORCE LUKE!” ] via Qigong & Inner Alchemy.3. Accept unconditionally the process of Physical Embodiment. [AGAIN, WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?]
Awaken radiant sexual health & whole-body enlightenment. [WHY ARE YOU PLUGGING SEX, PARTICULARY SINCE YOU ALWAYS SAY IT’S OVER-EMPHASIZED IN THIS SYSTEM? ALSO, WE’RE AWAKENING SEXUAL HEALTH BUT NOT GENERAL HEALTH? WHO KNOWS WHAT “ENLIGHTENMENT” MEANS, LET ALONE “WHOLE BODY ENLIGHTENMENT”. HOW ABOUT TRANSFORMATION? WHICH, WHILE STILL VAGUE, IS LESS VAGUE AND MORE ACCURATE.4. Release struggle, [ONE DOESN’T RELEASE STUGGLE. ONE RELEASES TENSION, PAIN, ANGER, ETC (ALL OF WHICH MAY BE THE RESULT OF STUGGLE). ONE PERHAPS STOPS STUGGLING, OR LESSENS STRUGGLE. BUT THEN YOU’D HAVE TO, AGAIN, SAY WHAT THE HELL YOU WERE TALKING AOBUT. WHAT STUGGLE? ] follow the Way of Effortless Completion. [IF I HADN’T READ ALL OF THE ABOVE GARBAGE I’D SAY “EFFORTLESS COMPLETION” IS RIDICULOUSLY VAGUE. BUT AT THIS POINT IT’S LOOKING PRETTY GOOD] Express creativity & focus free will to shape our souls unique destiny. [DOESN’T REALLY GO WITH THE REST OF THE PARAGRAPH]
5. Individuate the whole, true, original, and Immortal Self. [COME ON “INDIVIDUATE THE SELF”? CAN’T YOU TRY NOT TO SOUND OBSCURE AND POMPOUS? EVERYONE VIEWS THE SELF IN INDIVIDUAL TERMS. WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY?] Integrate our personal heart-mind with all levels of Greater Self. [YOU THINK PUTTING GREATER SELF IN INITIAL CAPITALS MEANS SOMETHING? NO ONE KNOWS WHAT YOU MEAN BY GREATER SELF. IT SOUNDS COOL BUT MEANS NOTHING (IS THAT WHAT YOU’RE MISSION STATEMENT IS ABOUT?). FRANKLY, “HEART-MIND” IS A BIT OF A STRETCH BUT IT’S THE LEAST OF YOUR WORRIES.
I could go on but I won’t. Throw it in the garbage and start over. Pretend you’re talking to a high school business student whose never heard of heart mind, soul completion, greater heaven or any other fancy and largely undefined terms that you like to bandy about. Just tell him simply, in words he can understand, what these practices will do for him. If you can’t do that, you’ve got no business teaching this stuff or writing a mission statement.
You did ask.
November 4, 2006 at 3:35 am #19061singing oceanParticipantIt looks like you are compiling all the key points that you have developed in your eastern and western alchemical work. Here is what each one boils down to for me:
1. a structural map of dimensions
2. virtue qualities
3. embrace physicality (spiritual within physical & V.V.)
4. effortlessness
5. free will
I think the compilation is fairly complete, and like the idea of a “spiritual science” for humanity to explore free of control freaks and dimensional monopolizers. For someone unfamiliar with your practices, it might be unclear. I think the key is to avoid creating dogma.
The following statement I found to be very informative as an “introductory explanation”, but I think that has a different function than a mission statement:
“His vision is a heart-centered spiritual science promoting harmony, long life and the realization of human soul immortality.”
November 4, 2006 at 1:25 pm #19063uroburroParticipantIMO, mission statements need to be clear and concise. Your proposed mission statements are vaguely worded and difficult to understand. If you’re trying to reach the general public, you can’t use jargon; the high school business school student as target reader sounds right to me also. If you’re trying to reach people with a background in the general field, then you need much greater precision in your statements. If you’ll pardon a bad pun: KISS* it, it will make it better.
-Michael
* I’m assuming the acronym is known, but I hate assuming: Keep It Simple Stupid.November 4, 2006 at 8:13 pm #19065rainwaterParticipanti personally find it pretty attractive and accessible, but i could see how it’s language may not be so helpful for someone just getting into these things. perhaps you could simplify each point to its essential meaning which, by using some more general wording, everyone could relate to in their own way. then in other materials where you explain the mission in greater detail, you could include discussion of the topics you’ve referred to here.
as much as i love idiosyncratic cosmological verbiage with capitalized first letters, and find it pretty easy to explore and synthesize, it’s probably not so appealing to people in general.
thanks for your work,
christopher
November 4, 2006 at 8:17 pm #19067rainwaterParticipanti do feel like the points in themselves, in their essential meaning, are quite wonderful and important in what they emphasize.
November 5, 2006 at 12:17 am #19069spyrelxParticipantHere’s a few thoughts:
1. Embody Taoist principles of Unity, Balance and Harmony with nature.
2. Support the investigation and dissemination of Taoist practices and philosophy.
3. Further develop and synthesize these practices, including chi gung and inner alchemy meditative practices, into new and more accessible programs.
4. Teach others, through these programs, to live in harmony with the life force and thereby achieve health, knowledge and spiritual transformation.
November 5, 2006 at 2:10 am #19071singing oceanParticipantI think michael’s mission statement is already a very, very condensed (refined!) version of a large body of concepts. I included the basic points that I thought each section of the mission statement boiled down to, and will list them again. I think you might be confusing a “Mission statement” with an “introductory explanation” type of thing, which is different. Why should a mission statement have to pander to a non-experienced person? I think it makes more sense to have it be a complete description of what the organizations intention is rather than a “nice explanation”.
Just out of curiosity, is it:
1) the concepts you disagree with,
2) the statements are confusing to someone who doesn’t understand the concepts, or
3) the concepts are presented in an unclear way?
November 5, 2006 at 2:17 am #19073singing oceanParticipantI also noticed that in your list, you left out a few things from the original statement that some people might think are important points. Here are the points I listed earlier as what I thought the key points are as listed in Michael’s original list:
1. a structural map of the life force
2. virtue qualities
3. embrace sexual pleasure of being in a physical polarized form (spiritual within physical & physical within spiritual)
4. effortlessness
5. intention to develop individual free will but maintain harmony with whole
November 5, 2006 at 5:26 am #19075Michael WinnKeymasterI really appreciate the diversity of feedback, and am fine with everyone shooting straight in their criticism.
One thing I see is that it is not really a mission statement, but an attempt at summarizing some major principles, perhaps in too few words to be meaningful to all segments of the general public.My intention was to put this list at the top of a new section of FAQS to give some over-arching perspective.
I am putting your responses in my cauldron to let them simmer a bit before taking next action.
Latecomers are welcome to continue with new responses.
chi,
michaelNovember 5, 2006 at 8:29 am #19077BeginnerParticipantAfter sitting with it for a bit I looked at it simply from my own position. I noticed that the statements are all two sentences. Reading the first ones in the numerical sequence gave me a sense of completion. They were consistent.
Reading the second parts in sequence gave me another perhaps more explanatory sequence.
What my mind has difficulty with isn’t so much the content or the words chosen as much as the way it flows together. When I add simple connective words and drop the period between the sentences I read them in one whole breath. Barry
November 5, 2006 at 9:41 am #19079Simon V.ParticipantI find nothing fundamentally wrong with this statement, and much good.
I don’t remember exactly, but I was fond of the idea–which I seem to remember was in the first mission statement–of what I recall as an idea of openness to other points of view (i.e., different spiritual traditions not dissimilar to daoism). This attracted me at that time.
Simon
November 6, 2006 at 12:29 am #19081spyrelxParticipantSinging Ocean wrote:
“Just out of curiosity, is it:
1) the concepts you disagree with,
2) the statements are confusing to someone who doesn’t understand the concepts, or
3) the concepts are presented in an unclear way?”
All three actually. As to point (1), I don’t think a mission statement has to pander to the completely ignorant but it is a statement of mission. The first part of that is a “statement”, which traditionally means it is supposed to communicate to others (i.e., not just those familiar with lingo largely made up by one man). The second part of that is “mission”, what the organization seeks to accomplish. Much of what Michael wrote, and all of the basic points you wrote, are not actions that an organization would take. Virtue qualities (you) and individuate the self (winn) don’t really fall into a mission of an organization. (perhaps “help others attain the qualitty of virtue through . . . ” etc.).
As to point (2), I’ve already discussed this above. The thing was loaded with buzzwords largely made up by Winn to describe his take on Chia’s formulas. I’m not objecting to the creation of buzzwords or even new concepts, I just think it’s both pretentious and confusing to put them in a mission statement. I might create a brand new language that no one else knows. I might want to teach people that language. And it might be a great language. But I think it’s a bit ridiculous to write my mission statement in that language.
As to (3), oh yes. Quite unclear. Mostly because it would take about 15 pages for Michael to clarify them. And I genuinely believe that if we had a dialogue about them a number of his concepts would change over the course of explanation. So yeah, it’s unclear. I think Michael is a fine — and clear — teacher by the way. I’ve had the fortune to take a short class or two of his in person and had more extensive exposure to his tapes. But his writing about this stuff comes across as willfully obscure and “dense to impress”.
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