Customer Reviews

Cultivating Stillness: A Taoist Manual for Transforming Body and Mind

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is based on an ancient Taoist text written by Lao Tzu. It is about changing oneself ... creating and maintaining internal harmony, despite external circumstances. Due to its esoteric nature, i.e., internal alchemy ... the author, a Chinese American, was guided by a Taoist master when learning from the original text. With this book, the author becomes our very own "master", as she guides us in understanding the path to "cultivating stillness."

One gets a good description of the Chinese philosophy and underpinnings of the text via a wonderful explanation of the symbols ... we learn about the I Ching, the three treasures, the stove and the cauldron, microcosmic circulation, and cleansing all of which occur within the twelve terrestrial branches. We learn of the symbolism of "the Golden Raven, "the Jade Rabbit","the Golden Palace", "the North Sea", "the Winding River", and "the Southern Mountain." Using breath as the catalyst, the student will eventually experience the regeneration of personal energy into vital energy ... The state of "wang chi", the intermediate state between "wu chi" and "tai chi" is discussed. We learn, "wu chi" is the state of the Void, or Tao. We learn, "tai chi", is the state of differentiating yin and yang, when yin encompasses yang, and yang encompasses yin. On many levels this is a complex book. However, if the reader wants to learn Chinese philosophy, the accompanying symbolism, as well as how this knowledge can transform the human spirit this book is definitely the place to start.

This is a poetry book, a book of free verse, filled with statements by Lao Tzu which precede each chapter. On another level, it is a depth psychology book for the reader who applies some of the techniques in learning about themselves. On yet a separate level, it is a history book about how the Chinese philosophers, primarily Lao Tzu, viewed mankind and the universe ... a place of energy and form, in an eternal dance ... and lastly, it is an artistic book, filled with wonderful explanations about Chinese ideagrams. Although it is a highly complex read, therefore not for everyone, it is a thoroughly enjoyable book for those who are patience and interested in experiencing a unique culture and understanding its viewpoint. Erika Borsos (erikab93)

I got this book a year ago, and read it very intensely. It was completely abstract to me and I had a difficult time understanding the meaning of the text. Then I reread the introduction and that helped me understand some of the meaning behind the symbolism.

After applying the principles to my life, I saw the influence of harmonizing with the Dao (Tao) as it manifested to me.

All these experiences were wonderful and uplifting, but it was not until I had been reading other texts and had almost completely forgotten about the book that I had the revelation of internal alchemy and what the book was actually talking about.

This book speaks on so many different levels: it is a serious read. If you are interested in spiritual elevation, internal cultivation, and enlightenment of the mind then this book shows a path that can be followed, but it is only through inner discipline that a transformation is acheived.

Be humble and wise: life is one big road with a lot of signs...
Make up your mind to face reality all the time.

Eva Wong's translation of the Ch'ing-Ching Ching has been a constant source of elucidation to me. The text is full of traditional Daoist metaphors, but a dedicated student can burn through these with sincere effort. For the most serious practitioner, the plates in Mandarin Kaishu reveal even more than the English text - a virtual roadmap to the Way of the Sages. This is not a quick read at the beach...it is a resource that will grow more meaningful as your practice deepens. Or, maybe it is most useful at the beach...watching the action of the waves, sitting and forgetting, entering stillness...

If you're serious about living a gentle life in a gentle world, make "Cultivating Stillness" a part of your living library. LISTEN to the meaning as you read the words. LOOK at the diagrams and plates. FEEL the movement of your original nature at this time. BE Wu-Chi. UNDERSTAND Wu-Wei. Use this book and FIND the Gate to Stillness.

Eva Wong has done a great service in translating this mystic tome and that effort, and the excellent commentary, is deserving of 4 stars. But a word to the not so wise, this is not for the beginner. One reviewer noted that it took reading many other books before they could begin to understand this one and that may indeed be the case for all of us, because at first sight, I've got nothing. Its completely symbolic and even the commentaries generalize important aspects of the Taoist Path. It is not an instruction guide...at all. As another reviewer put it, it is a book to meditate upon.

The introduction hints at much of the Taoist meditation techniques including circulating qi and the stages of enlightenment but the book does not elaborate and the reader may find, like i did, their taste buds had been whetted for a meal that never came.

A most interesting work for anyone seeking the Tao but it is not a detailed guide, it is scripture to wrap your mind around.

Cultivating Stillness is a text from the Taoist canon. Its Chinese name is the T'ai Shang Ch'in-ching Ching. Cultivating stillness is a short text of twenty-four segments. An exoteric interpretation will produce a reading of Taoism that focuses on the ideas of wu-wei, simplicity, and peaceful and harmonious living. An esoeric interpretation will reveal hidden instructions on internal alchemy and meditation, nd will offer advice on a lifestyle that is conducive to the cultivation of health and longevity.

Taoist methods of health, longevity, and immortality were often presented in the esoteric terminology of alchemy, which was intended both to reveal and to hide. To those initiated in the practice, the symbolism revealed a world of inner experience. To the uninitiated, the terminology would appear confusing if not meaningness.

This book does use the language of alchemy which will be more suitable for those who are actually practicing Taoist Inner Alchemy (being familiar with I Ching will also help), but it also contains commentaries on the benefits of cultivating stillness, practicing the experience of "nothingness", and points out the obstacles on the path which need to be dealt with.

The contents of the book point the way to raising one's conscousness, merging with the spirit / Tao.

"The teachings presented in Cultivating Stillness
Are suitable for men and women, young and old alike.
When the golden metal and the jade ston merge as one substance,
Ch'ien and k'un will acend to the highest realm of heaven.
Hurry and find the center of true stillness,
Tame your nind and recover your original nature,
Distance yourself from the east and return to the west,
Gather the herbs and complete the alchemical transformation of the pill,
Let your body shed its mortal shell and ascend to the realm of heaven.
The book Cultivating Stillness and its associated illustrations
Are a raft that carries us across the sea of suffering,
The text helps to see through the illusion of lif and eath,
The commentary is a shaft of light through the dark well of ignorance."

Eva Wong has done a great service to all who practice Qigong and cannot read the original material in its native tongue. This manual was originally given to neophytes who were starting to walk the path and it is still just as fresh and important as it was when first written.

The book uses the format of starting each section with an illustration of the original page. These illustrations are very interesting and informative (such as the use of the original form of the taiqi symbol) in their own right. Then there is the primary verse followed by the commentary. No suprises here, format-wise, to anyone who has seen western books on Zen sutras and koans.

Wong's commentary displays deep insight into the lessons and there is much to be learned here. I read the book at least once a year and never fail to learn/notice something new. I suspect anyone who practices will come to a similar conclusion.

Excellent!

This adept translation and commentary of an ancient text presents an amazing richness of information about Taoist Internal Alchemy.

The open-minded reader who allows to the own rational expectations and rigidness to go away, will be able to sense and integrate deep vitality and peace of the living wisdom that blossoms and transforms for many thousands of years.

Many expressions from the book, starting from the very title, offer the incredibly fruitful points for the practitioner's meditation. As most of the Taoist transmissions, "Cultivating Stillness" does not structure its amazing philosophical and pragmatic messages in a way that would show the full, coherent picture, like modern science does. This makes the underlying Truths sometimes not so easy to grasp. However, the playfully shuffled, "Post Heaven" arrangements have a deep meaning, as the invested efforts of the reader become a dynamic contribution to the body of knowledge and an essential part of the puzzle.

This is yet another book that was not written for the general public. While it does name various techniques, nowhere in it does it tell you how to do the techniques. In fact, the book says:

"If you do not receive instructions from an enlightened teacher, you will not know how to set up the stove and erect the cauldron. You will not know how to build the foundation, how to gather the herbs, how to obtain the cinnibar, or how to pick the herbs at the right moment. You will not know what is the waterwheel, what is the right amount of fire, what is the union of ch'ien and k'un, what is the interaction of k'an and li, and what is the exchange of wood and metal." [and it goes on like this for another two paragraphs]

After you read the entire book, you still will not know any of the answers to these questions. This is not a tutorial or 'how to' book.

This book is hands down one of the best treatises/introductions to Taoist Internal Alchemy. It is attributed to the semi-mythical Lao Tzu, written in the 6 Dynasties Era (220-580 B.C.E.,) and contains mostly straight forward information, as it was written before esoteric terminology became a fad in such writings. Furthermore, the commentary on the original writing was compiled around the late Ming, or early Ching Dynasty(1644-1911,) where simplification of the overly esoteric texts became the norm once again.

In my opinion, it is one of the crucial pre-requisites to some of the more advanced Taoist Internal Alchemy texts. As Wong states, it was intended for the initiates into this Taoist practice. Hence, simple language is used, and reliance on esoteric terminology used by adepts to hide meaning is minimal, and clarified well in the commentary.

The book is broken down into an introduction where Wong gives the reader an overview of the text, it's history, and information about it's commentary. The rest of the book is broken down into 24 chapters, one chapter for each verse of the Cultivating Stillness text.

A lot of terminology is defined at the end of each chapter, and a lot of crucial concepts are covered. You get some in-depth detail about various esoteric terminology used in some of Wong's other texts, along with some brief but to the point explanations about the significance and symbolism of the I-Ching trigrams in the alchemical process.

Overall, a wonderful book from both a scholarly and a practitioner's perspective. I highly recommend this to anyone seriously interested Taoist Internal Alchemy, and is having trouble with concepts presented in later works.

A comprehensive view of Tao, I Ching and Zen, from the perspective of aging and transitioning from Earth to Upper Heaven.