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Photo: Chinese artist on Mt. Hua’s West Peak, sketches atop a 3,000. foot drop off.
Dear Lovers of Spiritual Adventure,
Another alchemical journey through China’s Sacred Taoist mountains completed. How deeply transformative, with such a wonderful group of Western Taoists! It always amazes me how rich and varied each China trip is. You meet all kinds of odd characters in China. The Chinese artist in this photo described himself as “a Taoist by philosophy, with no formal training.” He is retired but spends most his time wandering about Taoist sacred mountains, sketching them, and “talking to trees and mountains, something I discovered was possible quite by accident”. He shared some great secret places with me that are likely to be included in future China Dream Trips.
This trip was very special, with Mantak Chia along to celebrate Healing Tao’s 30th anniversary. But I’ll let the juicy photo essay below and the captions tell the rest of the story.
Photo: Michael Winn and Mantak Chia. A 30 year spiritual friendship celebrated at Mt. Wudang’s Purple Heaven Cloud Temple. We’re already planning the 60 and 90 year Universal/Healing Tao reunions.
This celebration in China will continue with a World Congress at Tao Garden in Thailand Sept. 5-14, 2010. Details below.
Last Summer for Retreats at Heavenly Mountain
How exciting to jump out of China’s cauldron and into the fire of our annual Summer Solstice ceremony kicking off the 2010 summer retreat program at Heavenly Mountain. The first retreat starts Friday June 18 in the fabulous Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, and we have space for last minute signups. Visitors are welcome to participate in the powerful Solstice ceremony planned for high noon on Monday June 21, but please notify Tynne in advance (contact info below).
I’ve enclosed the online registration form in this newsletter to assist you in reviewing the wonderful array of retreats. As Heavenly Mountain is being sold, this will likely be our final year there. So last opportunity to enjoy the sweet chi field we’ve cultivated there over the previous three years, and to meditate with the largest amethyst geode in the world.
If you know a potential buyer for Heavenly Mountain, contact me. The portion being sold is 140 beautiful acres, 300 beds, a total 300,000. s.f. of space, at a very reasonable price.
If you are planning to attend a retreat, but haven’t yet signed up, please register NOW and put at least a $100. deposit down so we can better plan the complex logistics of food, housing, and teaching spaces. If you are not certain about coming, please give Tynne Clifford our registrar a call at 828 450 8521 (cell) or 888-750-1773 (in USA), or email her at retreats@healingdao.com.
photo: Marie Favorito tests the root of student applying for Healing Tao instructor certification at Heavenly Mountain. See her Iron Shirt/Fusion and Tai Chi Qigong courses at Heavenly Mountain. David Twicken also offers Fusion 3 Macrocomic Orbit and Bone Marrow Nei Kung levels 2 & 3, rarrely taught higher level practice to tap deeper into our human essence.
Tynne will give you great advice and help you with our extended payment plans (no interest charged) if needed. Don’t let money stop you from pursuing your spiritiual development! We still have workstudy spaces open on weeks 4, 5, and 6, which saves you the cost of the housing for work done between classes.
If you’ve got a great retreat space in North Carolina for us to move to next year, please reply to this email. Down the road a few years I hope to build a permanent retreat center dedicated to Taoist cultivation, but the funds for that are still in process.
Enjoy the short essay of the winner of our $500. scholarship to this summer’s retreats at Heavenly Mountain.
» Register Immediately for Retreats HERE
» Winner of $500. scholarship to Heavenly Mountain
» International Daoism Conference in LA
» New photo essay: China Dream Trip 2010
» Contact information
Please note the housing costs are separate from the Tuition costs shown. There are substantial discounts for multiple course registration. Many people sign up for one course and love it so much they sign up for two or three more weeks. Once you start to FEEL the CHI, you realize it is more important than the routine of your life elsewhere.
If you need help with choosing a course or have questions, contact our talented registrar, Tynne Clifford: 828 450 8521 (cell phone) or (888-750-1773 in USA) or retreats@healingdao.com.
| Select Retreat Code to Register. (Removable later) | |||
| Retreat Code (Price) |
Retreat Title Select Title to view detailed information about the Retreat |
Dates | Instructor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| China Dream Trip | |||
| TCH10-00 | China Dream Trip 2010: Qigong in Taoist Sacred Mountains w/Mantak Chia |
May 08 – May 24, 2010 | Michael Winn Mantak Chia |
| Heavenly Mountain Retreats Week 1 | |||
| DM10-1A ($495.00) |
Medical & Spiritual Qigong Fundamentals 1 – 4 Smile, Healing Sounds, 5 Animals, Orbit, Rooting |
June 18 – June 23, 2010 | Michael Winn |
| Weekend | |||
| DM10-1A-W ($295.00) |
Qigong Fundamentals: Levels 1 & 2 Weekend Weekend Option: 20 hours certification |
June 18 – June 20, 2010 | Michael Winn |
| Heavenly Mountain Retreats Week 2 | |||
| DM10-2A ($495.00) |
Fusion of Five Elements 1 & 2 + Iron Shirt Qigong 1 HT Certification |
June 25 – June 30, 2010 | Marie Favorito |
| DM10-2B ($495.00) |
Energy Medicine + Energy Psychology: Practical Tools 1-2-3 SHIFT Your Life! |
June 25 – June 30, 2010 | Judith Poole |
| DM10-2C ($495.00) |
Iron Shirt 2/ Tendons/Bone Marrow Neigong 3 + Fusion 3 Open Macro-Orbit HT Certification |
June 25 – June 30, 2010 | David Twicken |
| Heavenly Mountain Retreats Week 3 | |||
| DM10-3A ($495.00) |
Healing Love for Health & Bliss Taoist Secrets of Sex |
July 02 – July 07, 2010 | Michael Winn Minke de Vos |
| DM10-3B ($495.00) |
Chi Nei Tsang 1: Deep Organ Massage CNT Certification |
July 02 – July 07, 2010 | Karin Sorvik |
| DM10-3C ($595.00) |
Calligraphy: Chinese Shamanic Healing Art Moving Brush, Moving Qi |
July 02 – July 07, 2010 | Zhongxian Wu |
| DM10-3D ($495.00) |
Tai Chi Qigong: Yang Family Short Form | July 02 – July 07, 2010 | Marie Favorito |
| Weekend | |||
| DM10-3C-W ($345.00) |
Calligraphy: China’s Shamanic Healing Art | July 02 – July 04, 2010 | Zhongxian Wu |
| Weekend | |||
| DM10-3D-W ($295.00) |
Tai Chi Qigong: Effortless Flow of Power Healing Tao Certification Course |
July 02 – June 04, 2010 | Marie Favorito |
| Heavenly Mountain Retreats Week 4 | |||
| DM10-4A ($495.00) |
Tao Basics & Sexual Energy Yoga Associate Instructor Certification Course |
July 09 – July 14, 2010 | Minke de Vos |
| DM10-4B ($495.00) |
Chi Nei Tsang 2: Opening the Wind Gates + Breathing into Surrender, Death and Transcendenc |
July 09 – July 14, 2010 | Karin Sorvik |
| DM10-4C ($495.00) |
#1: 64 Hands Bagua of Liu de Kuan Healing Tao University Certification |
July 09 – July 14, 2010 | Frank Allen |
| DM10-4D ($495.00) |
Inner Sexual Alchemy (Lesser Kan & Li) Healing Tao University Alchemy Certification Cour |
July 09 – July 14, 2010 | Michael Winn |
| DM10-4E ($495.00) |
Three Treasures Medical Qigong Certification Course HTU |
July 09 – July 14, 2010 | Tina Zhang |
| Weekend | |||
| DM10-4A-W ($295.00) |
Tao Basics & Sexual Energy Yoga Associate Instructor Certification Course |
July 09 – July 11, 2010 | Minke de Vos |
| Heavenly Mountain Retreats Week 5 | |||
| DM10-5A ($495.00) |
Tao-Yin (Chinese Yoga) + Taoist Dream Practice + Star Gazing. HTU Qigong Certification Couirse |
July 16 – July 21, 2010 | Karin Sorvik |
| DM10-5B ($495.00) |
Classical Northern Wu Style Tai Chi HTU Bagua Certification Course |
July 16 – July 21, 2010 | Tina Zhang |
| DM10-5C ($495.00) |
#2: Classical Cheng Bagua Cascading Palms HTU Certification |
July 16 – July 21, 2010 | Frank Allen |
| DM10-5D ($495.00) |
Sun-Moon Alchemy: Greater Kan & Li *Inner Alchemy Certification Course HTU |
July 16 – July 21, 2010 | Michael Winn |
| Weekend | |||
| DM10-5A-W ($295.00) |
Tao-Yin (Chinese Yoga) + Dream Practice & Star Gazing |
July 16 – July 18, 2010 | Karin Sorvik |
| Heavenly Mountain Retreats Week 6 | |||
| DM10-6A ($695.00) |
Weight Loss & Medical Qigong Amazingly Easy: Breathe Fat Away! |
July 23 – July 28, 2010 | Wang Yan |
| DM10-6B ($495.00) |
#3 The Tao of Boxing HTU Certification Course |
July 23 – July 28, 2010 | Frank Allen |
| DM10-6C ($495.00) |
Star Alchemy (Sealing the 5 Body Spirits) Healing Tao University Advanced Alchemy |
July 23 – July 28, 2010 | Michael Winn |
| Weekend | |||
| DM10-6A-W ($395.00) |
Weight Loss & Medical Qigong Amazingly Easy: Breathe Fat Away! |
July 23 – July 25, 2010 | Wang Yan |
photo: A special conference harpist and choir celebrates “Tao” calligraphy in background.
An international Conference on Daoism in the 21st century was held in Los Angeles in early June, with several Healing Tao instructors presenting. I taught a seminar on a custom qigong form I developed for this conference: Qigong for Scholars: Refresh the Brain & Eyes and Ground the Mental Body. Eduardo Alexander, instructor from Brazil, compared the ideas of Wilhelm Reich with Daoist sexual cultivation methods. David Twicken from Los Angeles presented on Astrology and also on Bone Marrow Qigong, which he is going into more depth at his Heavenly Mountain retreat.
I also chaired a panel on Daoism in the West, which included a paper on the effects of China Deam Trips on Chinese Daoists in creating a multi-cultural perspective on Daoism. It seems the academics are catching up to the impact that the presence of the Healing Tao has had over the past 30 years in globalizing Taoism/Daoism. This research by noted scholars Elijah Siegler and David Palmer will eventually come out in a book.
I’ve posted one of the conference papers that may interest serious Taoist meditation students:
Towards A History of Early Daoist Visualization
by Louis Komjathy
This fascinating paper examines the roots of Internal Alchemy in the Eastern Han (20-220 CE), and shows the development of the notion of the dantian (“elixir field”) was used to describe internal meditation practices at the same time the term was applied by external alchemy experimenters to a cauldron where they mixed their physical alchemical potions.
http://www.healingdao.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?rm=mode2&articleid=120
photo: a Taoist grandfather performs a sword dance with his 6 year old granddaughter.
Note: If you cannot see the photos in this essay, trying setting your mail preferences to “HTML” (not ‘plain text”). I will later post these photos and more on my website in any case.
Photo: Michael Winn at Mt. Wudang: “I always wanted to meditate in the lap of Lao Tzu”.
A quiet moment at sunset, atop the Great Wall of China.
Kazzrie Jazen, your typical smiling China Dream Tripper, equipped with Han Dynasty-style saddle bags.
Wudang kung-fu artist salutes China Dream Trippers.
Lao Tzu’s claimed ascension site is a powerful energy vortex for meditators.
The Yin-Yang of Laughter: Assistant Trip Leader Mitchell Rabin and Wudang Taoist guide David Wei ham it up.
Orbs of light Beings float near the ceiling of the Sun-Moon Cave where some Dream Trippers meditated for 4 days. Many people had powerful,life-altering experiences during their cave time.
Master Stone-of-Perfection with his guest book for visitors to the caves he has been lovingly caretaking for the past dozen years. He has plans for restoring the caves to their original condition, with wooden doors.
Shamanic Big Dipper 7-Star Stepping Qigong ceremony on the terrace of the Purple Heaven Cloud Temple.
Meditation chamber in the new Taoist museum of inner alchemy in the Beijing White Cloud Temple.
Latest upgrade to the Terracotta Warrior museum near Xian. Mitch Rabin and Patrick McLeod get swept up in the “ancients meet modern” fever.
Learning to fly atop Mt. Hua (Flower Mtn). There is a 3000 foot drop off behind me, which is a good test for one’s rooting ability. Calligraphy etched into the rock proclaims “Primordial Tao”.
Antenna atop the Lao Tzu Temple at Louguantai, where he allegedly transmitted the Tao Te Ching. The antenna depicts Taoist cosmology: 3 vertical core channels connecting to the Three Pure Ones; different levels of horizonal coupling of Yin & Yang or Kan & Li (water-fire, moon-sun). A Sacred crane is Lao Tzu’s ascension bird of choice and a Turtle holds the 5 Elements. Below is a vase with the 8 trigram-flower petals unfolding out into the 10,000. Things.
My brother Steven Winn (on right) and myself contemplate Life as the Infinite Spiral of Tai Chi. Lu Dongbin Temple (of the Inner Alchemy “saint”) in Louguantai.
Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China 2010 Dream Trippers. It is my dream to build a replica of this temple at my own retreat center.
Chairman Mao at the Temple of Heaven.
Hugging a giant Reishi mushroom, the fungus of Immortality in Taoist lore. It took me five meals to eat it all….unfortunately, I just gained weight, haven’t felt the immortal part yet. 🙂
Nien Paces of Yu Ceremony in the Purple Heavenly Cloud Temple. This rare ceremony was performed specially on behalf of our group to promote the global expansion of Taoist cultivation methods. At the end a writ with all the China Dream Trippers names on it was burned, and the smoke rose up to heaven, carrying our request. The ritual is designed to stimulate an energetic transmission to the larger chi field of the Tao.
Mantak Chia, the Abbot of Purple Heaven Cloud Temple, and myself – Taoists from Thailand, China, and the USA. The Abbot had a beautiful soft energy, obvioiusly the product of many years of cultivation.
Wudang skyline at night.
Huashan skyline by day. Cherry Li, one of my longtime Dream trip goddess-guides, in foreground.
Temple door on Mt. Wudang. The Tao as Door to all Wonders….
Celebrating 30 Years of Healing Tao service to Heaven, Earth, and Humanity,,
Michael Winn
“Who takes Heaven as his ancestor, Virtue as his home,
the Tao as his door, and who becomes change — is a
Sage.” — Chuang Tzu, Inner Chapters
“The Tao is very close, but everyone looks far away.
Life is very simple, but everyone seeks difficulty.”
— Taoist Sage, 200 B.C
Register online for on Healing Tao University,
the largest Tao (Dao) Arts & Sciences program in the
West with 25 week long summer retreats featuring “chi kung”
(qigong) and inner alchemy (neidangong) training. For
more info, see www.HealingTaoRetreats.com
Or visit www.HealingTaoUSA.com, www.HealingDao.com to
order books/videos/tapes from the Tao Chi Kung Home
Study program. Call the Healing Tao USA Fullfillment
center at the Mystical Number 1-888-999-0555 or more
ordinary numbers: 828-505-1444 (-1044, fax), or email
info@HealingTaoUSA.com
Visit www.Taichi-Enlightenment.com for a glimpse into
the world’s most magical spiritual tai chi form.
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