What is the Healing Energy of the Tao?

In the sixth century B.C., Lao-Tse began his classic essay, the Tao

Te Ching, with this admonition: “The Tao which can be spoken of is

not the Tao.” Loosely translated, “Tao” means “the way” or “the

power”. In early Chinese writings the Tao implied an understanding

of life which stressed individual harmony with the forces of nature.

The Taoist sages often became hermits that lived in the mountains

and disdained offers of power from admiring emperors, saying they

preferred the “Ruler of Nature” to the transitory “Ruler of Society.”

In the same tradition, “Awaken Healing Energy Through The Tao”

is rooted in the process of nature, our bodily nature. This healing

energy works independent of any particular belief or current scientific

concepts. It differs from the Taoist religions which grew up

around the original philosophy. In a nutshell, it is a subtle but verifiable

experience of life energy, of “chi” flowing through the body in a

specific pattern. It was discovered by practical minded Chinese

sages, and is available to to any person of any age who cares to

train themselves to observe and use it. That this healing power is

compatible with different individual beliefs or religions is apparent

in the fact that the author Mantak Chia is himself a Christian, but

has used the traditional Taoist methods to help thousands of people

heal or improve themselves.

A person could study hundreds of volumes of the Taoist Encyclopedia

in Chinese and commentaries on the Tao Te Ching or IChing

in a dozen languages without ever learning how to awaken

the much poeticized healing power of the Tao. It would be far more

useful for such a seeker to spend their time practicing the circulation

of the healing life force in the “small heavenly cycle” or “microcosmic

orbit” as described in this book.

Mantak Chia has read those hundreds of esoteric volumes, in

addition to receiving the highest oral teaching from Taoist Masters.

He believes the oral teachings are too important to be practiced by

a lucky few only, hidden from other seekers by vague poetry or the

arcane symbols of ancient writings. Master Chia sees that the age

has come when the public needs and deserves a clear teaching of

this healing power, which was shrouded in China by the same secrecy

that surrounded medieval alchemy in Europe. This historical

similarity is no accident, as the Taoist “Microcosmic Orbit” is a

process of human alchemy, the first step towards transformation

of human energy into its purest form. This distillation of a healing

energy was perfected by generations of sages who spent their

entire lives refining its many applications.

These applications to daily life are indeed enormous. It is not an

exaggeration to say the circulation of human energy or “chi” throughout

the body is also the key principal functioning behind much Chinese

genius. It is responsible for Chinese achievements in medicine

(acupuncture), the martial and meditative arts (Kung Fu, Tai

Chi Chuan, Pa Kua Palm, Hsing I Chuan, Inner Alchemy),inspiration

for a vast treasure of poetry and philosophy (I Ching, Tao Te Ching).

It could be argued that the increased health and creative intelligence

of the Taoist practitioners helped stimulate the impressive

early Chinese advances in technology and government. Confucius

was well versed in Taoist philosophy and expressed great admiration

for it; he may well have been a practitioner of the art as well.

Since publication of the first edition of “Awaken Healing Energy

through the Tao”, students of various Chinese arts have come to

Mantak Chia and confessed they were shocked to see his book

sold in a store. Its information was taught to them only after years

of dedication and discipline in their practice, be it Tai Chi, meditation,

or martial arts. They were told circulation of the microcosmic

orbit was the “highest secret” to gaining internal power in the mind

and body, and not to be revealed to those outside the “inner circle”.

Having mastered many different systems of esoteric Chinese

knowledge. Master Chia’s perspective is different from most other

teachers. For Master Chia, education begins with the awakening

of this healing energy. It is the most important building block. If you

master the circulation of your energy, growth in other disciplines

proceeds more quickly. Opening the main channel of energy circulation

in the body (referred to as the “Microcosmic Orbit” in this

book) is analagous to a first grader learning to write the letters of

the alphabet.

Without first learning how to write the alphabet, one cannot create

words, sentences, paragraphs, or the simple and complex ideas

taught up to the university level. It is the same with the healing

power of the Tao. Without “getting” the flow of energy taught in this

book, the practitioner will find it difficult to advance quickly to higher

levels in related disciplines. Or, you may spend years with less

direct methods in order to achieve the same end, e.g. repeat certain

physical movements until the flow one day “arrives”, sit facing

a wall for 20 years, or repeat a mantra for a lifetime.

Later volumes of Master Mantak Chia’s “Taoist Esoteric Yoga

Encyclopedia” will elucidate some of the more advanced forms of

Taoist practice in healing, meditation, and self-defense, and their

application in balancing the forces which daily buffet us about. Seminal

Kung Fu (a sexual practice for man) and Ovarian Kung Fu (a

sexual practice for woman) reveal the Taoist secrets of transforming

raw sexual energy into creative energy. Iron Shirt Chi Kung

strengthens the whole body fascia, organs, tendons and bones

and shows how to “root” the human energy in the earth. Fusion of

the Five Elements” teaches how to transmute emotions, heal damaged

organs and gain greater balance and insight into oneself. Tai

Chi Chi Kung, Pa Kua Chi Kung and Palm, Hsing I Chi Kung, Death

Touch Dan Mu, and Five Finger Kung Fu, build internal power, improve

body alignment, and enable one to more quickly master the

longer forms of Tai Chi Chuan, Pa Kua Palm, and Hsing I Chuan.

“Awaken Healing Energy through the Tao” is scientific in that it

demystifies some of the principles on which the miracle of selfhealing

and other feats of energy are based. At the same time it is

deeply rooted in an ancient tradition of spiritual self-mastery that,

step by step, leads the practitioner to experiencing the full mystery

of the Tao.