Taoism: Archaic Sytem Or Transformational Practice

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Taosim: Archaic System or Transformational Practice What is that power or energy which fuels life? What is the spark that is so present in the living and so absent in the departed? The Eastern religions of Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism all believe in a powerful life giving force. Different cultures give it different names: in Japan it is ki, India it is known as prana and China it is qi.

QI-THE ESSENCE OF LIFE The Chinese place extreme importance on this life giving energy. Qi is viewed as being life itself and without it we cannot exist. Dr. Manfred Porkert quotes the Nei Ching, which is considered one of the most important medical texts in China, when he says: Change, both inception and transformation, rests on Qi, and there is no being in the Cosmos that does not originate from it. Thus Qi envelops from without and moves the Cosmos from within.

How else than by Qi can the sun and the moon, the planets and the fixed stars shine, can thunder resound and rain, wind, and clouds be formed, can all beings take rise, mature, bear fruit, and withdraw in the course of Four Seasons. Mans existence too depends entirely upon this Qi . ( Mc Caffrey 3 ) David Eisenberg in his book Encounters with Qi describes three types that exist. They are original, air and nutritive. Original qi is the type "transmitted" from your parents and obtained during conception. We are born with original qi and it is slowly dissipated throughout ones life. The second type of qi is that which comes from the air we breath and must be continually replenished. The third is nutritive and comes from food and other environmental factors, also needing continual replenishment.

The Chinese realized that not only physical sickness and...