plgey.the.magus.of.java.teachings.of.an.authentic.taoist.immortal

8/10/2019 Plgey.the.Magus.of.Java.teachings.of.an.authentic.taoist.immortal

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"w

A Collection of Sacred-Magick.Com


2/115

THI MACUS

OF

JAVA


3/115

THE

MAGUS

' l i:achiqgs

of anAuthenticTaoist mmortal

KOSTA

DANAOS

Iturcr Trditions

Rochester Vermont

OFJA\A

J

TTi

A Collection of Sacred-Magick.Com


4/115

For Doris

CONTFNTS

Ione.

Tiaditions ntemational

Roche.ter,

Vmont 05767

w{w.lnnerliaditions.cm

CopydshtO

2000 by Kosia

Danaos

All rishts

reseryedNo

prtfthis

book

my be .produced r utilized n any

form or by any

means, lectronicor nechnicI,

ncludins

phorocopyins,

rcording,orby.y

i.tomation storage

ndretrievalsystem, ilhout

permissin

in w.iting lrom

the

publisher

Librry of Cons.e$ Cata,osins-ir-Publication

Dt

The Masls of

lava:

teachinssofan

authentic

oist mmoftl KostaDans.

lncludes ibliogphical

.eiere.ces.

ISBN -89281 11 1

Glk

pap,

L Chans,John.2

Taoists-lndoneria

lava

Biosnphy 3. HealeE

Indonesi

Java

Biosaphy

l tle.

8L1940.C426D36 2000

299 '514092-dc2I

tB l

oa-o36942

Printed and

bond n Canada

1 0 9 8 7 6 5

Text desicn

a.d lyout by CryslalH

H Robfts

This book

was ypeset n Veisswith Schneidler

nitialsas he displaytypeface

Introduction

ChapterOne

ChapterTo

ChapterThree

Chapter Four

ChapterFive

Chapter Six

Chapter

Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

ChapterTn

Epilogue

Appendix One

Appendix

Two

Looking

through the Mirror

Lifeforce

Beginnings

The Immortals

The Story

of

Llao

Slfu

Lessonso Be Learned

n

and Yang

The Vill of Heaven

The

Keris

The Nature of Reality

Fo raB rea t h lT r r y . . . .

Notes

Obsenrations nd Speculation

vi i

1

t2

35

61

76

99

116

133

147

162

177

20 0


5/115

INTRODUCTION

Imaglne

a world where he mind and

soul of

rnar

are oee o rech

thchgreatest

potential,

where

powers

onceconsidered upematurl

or

paranorrnal

re a simple act of life . lmagine a

place

where dis-

ciscs hitherto thought

incurable

an be tretedwith the uncompli-

cltcd

administration ft he hea lers wn abundant ife energy,

place

where

mankind

caD

eadily communicatewith

earthboundspirits,

whcre

powerful yogis

can speakwith

their Creator Cod Himself.

Vouldn't

it bewonderfulto dwellin

sucha domain, he stuff of fair y

talcs,

myths

and legends,storybooks, and Hollywood celluloid?

Vouldn't life havea distinct flavor,a tangy zest, f such hings were

lndced rue?

Velcome to my world. I l ive in such a

place,

where all

the

ex-

traordinry

hings that I have suggested re real

and ncontrovert-

lble. n my world Vestern science nd Easternmysticismwalk hand

In hand,embraced nd nsepa rable, iror aspects f the same eal-

Ity, eqully a ctualandvalid. The opportunity to

grow

s thereevery

waking

moment, he

gift

of our own

$eat

potential-

Youmight supposehat sucha destiny s fr awat

but

n truth

it

ls

at

mankind's

oorstep.

There can

be

no doubt

that

humanity

is

once

again n

the

process

f

chnging.Traditions

ar evolving as

crosscujturlbaffierccontinue o fall. Old values, dals,and con-

ccptsareno ongerblindly accepted;

eople

of allcreeds, aces, nd

nationshvebecome esshesitant o

question,

o ask

olry


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rather ignominio us psetd,onyril

Dynafla

dc& In this

documentary

Master Chang

shocked he world

by demonstrating

he mpossible:

First he

generated

an lectricalcunent

of high arnperage

rstls 1'5

our body o heal

Lorne of an

eye infection, and

then he "zapped"

Lawrence

and

heir sound

cordist)utilizing

the same

nergy.* n a

dramati

conclusion

Master Chang hn

used his

bio-energy o

ser

a crumpled-upnewspaper

blaze,

warning the researchers

hat

the

same

power

that

had healedLome

could readily

be used

o kill a

man as

well.

It

was he first

documented emonstration

f neikunggivn

ro

tbe

Vestern world.

\/hat

s evenmore

amazing s h at

tens

of thou-

sands fpeople

around h e world

(myseJf

ncluded)

eadily

believed

it, and hat

the two brothers

had no idea

what twas theywere

film-

ing at the tim.

In order for

you

to fully undrstand

what the

term neiha4 m

plies,

you'll

hve

o workyourway

through hts ext.

X/hat s

mpor,

tant at this

poirt

is that, for the

first time in hrrman

development,

man who

according o

Chines ulture s a rstri',

aTaoist mmofal,

is

willing to

come forrh and reveal

o the

Vesr the truth

behind his

teachins.

John

Chans is

unique n the

annalsof mankind.

Like the

Jedi

Knights of the

StarWansaga, e

hasamazins

preternaturl

bilj-

tis, elekinesis,

yrogenesis,electrogenesis,

elepathy,

evitation,rc-

mote vie\rins,

evnastral

rolectton for

ackof

a better erm).

Thou-

sandsof

people

have wihessed

him do rhese

hings. My

teachert

power

is

cntathomable o

the \(esrern miodi

smll

perenrge

f

its accumulated

nergy

can inslantly

overpower,

or heal, a human

being

or largeranimal.

Andyet Mr.

Chang sa Vesterner

A resident

of urban

Java,

he visits

Europe

and the United

States ften.

He has

searched hrough China fo. others ike himselfwith the intenr of

leamins and

sharing a unique

rair for

one suchas hc,

as

you

will

discovr It

could be said

hat Mr. Chans

is the ultimate

combina

tion

of Eastand X/est

r, morc

poeticall,

rhat n rhe

bidge

between

East

and Vest, he is

one of the oundation

rowers

r

Minta in inA hysical

ontacr i th h in

at har

poinr

wouldhave

ee n

like

puttins

onei hand

n a wllsocket.

I havc called

rhis ability ele ctro

senesis

or

clec roge.c.at

on for lack

of a b*ter rerm

This tcxt will essntially over the

life

history and

preliminry

rcach;ngs f

John

Chang. I have attempted o follow the method

suggested y theJedi and

present

astern oncepts n a manner hat

ll \flesterners an

undrstand. s such,

pray

that this volume wlll

be up o the ask, nd

honorJohn

Changand

his

eachings.

Perhaps e are ndeed ort unate o be living in that time in our

developmentwhen Cod has decreed hat the separate r anchesof

human

science om

ogether Perhpsw f the

r/est

need he East

to saveour world from ourselves

KostaDanaos


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10/115

f i re. Thls was accomplished i th a minimum of fuss, almost

nonchalantly.The man waiteduntilthe film crewwas eady,looked

up

to

check

with the cameraman, teadiedhis right

palrn

over

crumpled newspapr,ensdhis body, and set he

paper

ablaze. t

was obvious o the viewer hat somekind of

potnt

nrgywasbe'

ing

generated

rom the mant open

palm-so

much so hat the news-

paper

burst nto a roaring lame.

There ar e at

least wo

ways

hat

this

feat

could have been ac

complishedasan llusion.One is that the f ilmmaken were collabo-

ratingwith the man and, hr ough specialeffects ,

erpetrating

hoax.

Th

other

is

tht

it was the rnanhimself who was ricking

the

re

searchers,

aving

slipped a

piece

of

phosphorus

or someother in'

flammable nto the crumpled

paperand

iming his display o coin cide

with the chemicalt oxidation.But knew hat neitherwas he cse'

knew that I was ooking at the real Mccoy, so to spak.

There were reasons or this, th most mpoltanl

beig be man

himself.He

was

a well

bilt but smll Oiental, srnilingand unpre'

tentious.

He

apperedo b of

indeterminat

ge,with a fullhead of

thick

black

hair

and hc skin of

youth,

but his eyeswere he eyesof

an ancient,nd sincerityshone h rough them. His voice wascaing

and compassionate, it hout

glrile.

He waseven nervous n fron t

of

the cameralMost imp ortant, t ppeared hat the man

had nothing

to

gain

lrom the displayrneither his nmenor his location

v/asdis,

closed

by

the researcbers,nd

he certain ly was not askinganyone

None of i hes hings occurred o me at the time, ho\ever. n

that momnt when I first saw he video, knew only

one h lng, that

I had finally, after wenty-five

years

of searchinsimet

my mastr t

was shocking, I looked

at

him and knew htm,

and nothins could

sway me from

going

to

hjrn.

Lik

many

people

of my

generation,

had been studying the

rnartialarts or a ongtime.I hadstartedat the ageof ten and

drifted

through a series f Orientalfighting arts o fi nllysettle

onJapanese

jujutsu

in my early twenties.

/hat

I had

been searching or was

simple, wantedwhat the actor David

Carradinehad so eloquently

portrayed

n

the now classic it ser is nr, Fl,l.wanted an artwhose

Msters

were wis, nlightened

philosophers

who could kill

a tiger

with a

punch

f they had to,

yet

abhorred he violence

hey trained

for I wanted

an art whose

practitioners

would

acnrally

gow

strottger

with age rather

than weaker. wanted an art

through \{hich my

tcacherwould indeed eachme about myself

and the world aroun d

me. I wanted o r? Kwai

Chans Caine.

I had searched

round he world for such a mentor,

and what I

had found

generally

ell into

thre categories,

nlightened

philoso-

phers

who could not

punch

their way

out of a

paper

bag

given

the

opportunity; otal animlswhowere

great

ighters,bur whom

acivi-

Iized man would

not

invite into

his houserand individuals

who ap-

peared

o

b exactlywhat I wassearching or

but

proved

nadequate

to

the task,

ultimatly dispiayingeither ack

of

judgment,

nhrent

weakness,audulentmotives,or emotional nstabil;ty. t is lsoquite

possible

hat it was I who was

not worthy of them, and left

them

before came

o un derstand hem.

In the

past

had rpeatdly ejected he

Chinse martial arts

because f the notablescarcityof authenticknowledge

nherent o

thir disseminationn \X/estern ociety. n

the 1970sand 198Oshe

Chineseartswerenotorious or their ack

ofcredible echers. iust

worthy instructors

werc,

in

general,

much harder o find

than im-

postors

ashing n

on

the

popularity

ofkung fu movies.Also,

could

not

enter Communist Chlna to search or a

true masteruntil 1992

because f my

profession.

And

yet

I had, like

all diligent marrial

artists, ead he books by reliabl e esearchers

nd teachers. knew

th thory behindthe

Chinesemartialarts,and Iknew that the man

lhadseen

n he i lmwasChinese.alsoknewr,vhathadwitnessed

wascalledneikung-the

manipulationof internal

power.

I had o f ind him.

I

knew t wasnot

going

to be easy.

didnt know the mansname.

The documentary ad ndicated

hat he ;ve d somewherenJava

or

Bali,but I had nowayofknowing

if even hatimplication was

rue

they could have

ilmed him in San Francisco, or all I

knew. And I

spokeneither

Chinesenor Malay.

Tndayslaterlwasonaplanetothelndonesiancapitalof jakarta.

After n eighteen-hour rip, I checked nto

the cleanest f rhe dirty

motels ound

onJalanJaks n d restedup for the mo rro\r. I knew it

would be tough

going.

3

LookinS

hroughhe Mirror

2

LookinghrouSh he Mirr or


11/115

The next day

pocketedthe

stackof

photographs

had aken

of

the video

sequencen Rin4olFn

and,set ff tor

Jakarta's

hinatov/n,

a

district called Clodok- My

plan

was o visit all the

Chinese

phar,

maciesand acupuncture linics n

Clodok, asking hem

whether or

not they knew the rnan

n the

photographs.

t seemed

ke a

good

idea at the time.

They thought

I was nsane.

I must havemade hei r week.

t wasmy first trip to

lodonesia;

had expected he worst and

was dressed ike a

\X/estern

ourist on

satari.Some

shopkeeprsaughed n my face;

others

ust

politely

told me to

piss

off. One of them even

rhrew me outl Afrer

six or

sevenhours of constant ejection,

wlking among beggars

nd lep-

ers and being foll owed

by a

pack

of streetkids, I

spied an ancient

Chineseemple n he midstof i t al landwalkedn. mmedtately,he

noisewent away

and I was eft alone.

The

templ caretakers ere curious.

/hat

was I doing

there?

was oo

shy and oo embarrassedo

tell them. They

bought me din-

ner and gave

me water o drink

and sentme on my

way.

I rcturned

to Clodok the following

day, my resolve

strength,

cncd and annedwith note

my motel clerk had

written out for me.

|

[ tcr learned hrr w\ar he

had

wrrtren

wa s

Honored

ir or madam,

I am a very

stupid oreignerwho has

been ricked into

coming

here allthe

way from Crece.These

are

pitures

fa

man saw on a

video, I

am looking for him I

do not know his name

or w here he

lives.

Do

you

know hirn?Thank you.

This is

probably

why

people

were more polite

and why I

saw

more smileson my

sccondday.After a few

hours of diplo matic

re-

jection, I rnademy way back ro the temple, hinking that lwould

meet with

yesterdayi

riend.

They

were delighted o

see

mc

aod twice ascurious

asbefore

This

tim I was he one

who bought them all lunch,

we sat og ether

for

a time, laughingand

communicatins n

broken English

and sign

language. s

our camarader;e eveloped,

hey

grew

cufious

enough

to

pressure

me ior

details.

"Kosta,

ell us , what are

you

doing here?"

'\o,

rt .

r tupid, ou

donl wanr

o know

LookinS

hrough he Mirror

l:inally thcy

werc so i,rsistent hat

I relented and, rather

thn

cxplaining,

anded hem he note.

Suddenly was facedwith

group

of stat ues; hetr

smileshad

bccn replaced y distnrst.A

chill went up my

back One man whis-

pcred

someth;ng

to a

young

boy, who ran

off. As one, all rny

ncwlound

rlendsstood.

"Stay

here,"a burly man said

Ten minutes ater a wiry

Chineseof indererminate

se rod up

on a bicy cle. He

offered me his hand and

sat down.

"My name

sAking," he said. l am

a studentof the man

youseek."

Aking grilled

me {or almost

a week, asking rne

questions

ike

"Vho

sent

your"

and Vhy

did

you

come o this

place?"

t was udi-

crous o him

tht I could have ound a lead

o hi s teacherso easily,

coming

as I did from Creece*of all places-wirhout

cle

as to

Iocal

cstomand

geography.

He

wassure wasa spy n the

scruice f

some

ntelligenceagency;he even

mademe sunendermy passport

to

himl Afier a week Aking finally gave

me an address

n a ciry in

easternJavand

old

me

to fly out ther h e next

morning, he man

had seen n the

documentarywould be expecting

me, I was old.

\/ell, I

didnt believehim.

It

had been oo easy, oo Lrnbeltevably

asy. tho usht rhat

these

srinnins

Chinese

were

plying

ajoke on the foreisnel

sendinghim

on a wild

goose

chaseand

having a laugh at his expcn se.

boarded

the

plane

wjth

hesitation, elt like a fool

when llanded, felt even

norellkea foolwhen

ltook a axi to the

addresshad been

given

and

was

old t he man wasout. Come

bck at two o'clock, hey

said.At

least hey

spokeEngl;sh.

I spenta few hours uming

n my room at the dirty

motlwhere

wasstaying. vowd

etcrnalvengeance n the

people

who had sent

me out here.

would teach them to

bewareof Creeks.Hahr

Hear

about the

Tiojan Var, my f riendsr Youe

about to trade p.

I felt

ridiculous,

ike a

ackass,

tupid;

kept telling myself hat

the whole

thingwas a hoax, hat I hd

spntway too much money

coming out

here, hat I was

an diot and stupid and usting

and naiveand. . .

I went

back at two o'clock The man was

here.

I

cannot

plainly

convey he shock,

he.;oy, ndthe eliel

of

findins

Dynamo

Jack

standing n hont

of h;s home. had

beenan

mbecile,

5

Lookinhrou8h

he Mirror


12/115


13/115

indlvldual

freedon and spontneity,

aisscz aire

government

and

soial

primit 'vism,mystical

experience nd techniques f

self-

transformation,

presentsn rnany

ways he antithesis o Confucian

concernwith individual

morlduties, ommunity

standards, odgov

rnmental

esponsibi l i t ies."*

Many

things

popularly

hought

to be Chinese

n

the \vest

ar

actuallyTaoist,

and havebecome

widespread ven o China only

in

the

pstcentury. Amongthesearemany

prctices

hathave become

"brandnames"n Vestern

society, uchasacupncture,

'aichichuan,

fengshui,

and he I Ching. The

truth is, t is now impossible

o sepa-

rate Taoism

rom Chineseculture,

be two have, n our age,becom

one and the same

Taoism has been

categorizedby sinologists

as having both a

philosophical and a religious

radition complctc with formalized

doctrine

nd a relisioushicrarchy.

The Vesthas been

looded n the

past

wnty

yers

with bookslaining

to be irrauthoritative xt on

Taoism Maoy

of thesebooks are

valid,

some

essso, while oth ers

arc sirrply a

hodgcpodgeol ridiculous hcories

Evenmore frustrat'

i rrra, ny0rccxccl lcnl

randations f mcdieval

hineseexts hat

arc rrr islcat l i rrr

imply rccause,s ranslat ions,hey aresubject

o

cx( n(l ivi( lur l

f i lnr latorfs

ntcfprelt ion'hedispari t iesn meaning

lhr(

y(trr

i I l i rrcl ctwccn incs

n the ranslatedextswheo

yo u

, , u

, s ' , r r ,

, r ' ,

u r r h , , r ' r h

a r r o t l r o

e

s h o t k , n g .

li,l,o

(-hans,

rhe eacherwhose

;fe and heoriesare he focusof

this book, s hc Headmasterofa

kung u ineagewhose

ootscan be

tracedback wenty four

hundred

vears.

ohn

himselfdenies he ap

pellation

laoist

perhaps ightfully so, because aois mhas coe

to

be

considereda religion by the

world. However,since he teachers

of Maste r Chanst

lineasebasically

ived

within

the confinesof his-

torical toist

retreals,and since he word Taoisr

has

become

a

ge-

neric erm n the \?est

or "ntiveChinese

hilosophy,"

will continue

to call my teachera Taoist.

Perhaps t would b m ore accuratc o

refer o hls teachingas

practicalTaoism" o differntiat e t from the

Toism f other

sources rlineages.John

imsell allsToism 'philo-

'

Encydopedionhna Ol

ma

'Ioism."

a

LookinShrough he Mirrof

sophicalscience,"he simplestudy of natural

aw, for reasonshat I

wi l l out l ine elow

Of ll the spiritual

disciplinesTaoism s

perhaps

h most con

fus;ngand difflcult to defin

in tht it began ts developmentas a

phllosoph

calschool, um d into a religion,and

was

propagated

sa

series

of folk beliefs.However, there are many ways by

which to

differentiatea

religion from a

philosophy

and, mor so, from a sci

ence. n our specificcase,

wo

justi

ictionsaremost clear The first

is that a religion is basdon beliefs hat

calrol be

ror.n,

that ar e a

matterofeach ndividual'saith. V as

practicalTaoists

onsideror

tcachinga science hat

gives

estimony o natural

phenomena

hat

both the students f our

generation

and

past

Maste of our ineage

haveexperiencedirsthand,a tbar anh 4rotut rxperin y

othns t anf ti n?.T'his s the most mportant distinction

and one that

I cannotstress ufficiently.

o

put

the argumntmore simply,

a high

school student studying

physics

and algebrawill inevitbly

reach

certainconclusions nd develop

pecific apabilities, uplicating he

experiences ndthe logic

of his tachenand of those n

pastgenera-

tions who

passed

hesesciences long.

There is nothing "religious"

in

the experience

f

physics

nd algbra; hey are ools of

knowl-

cdge and

power,

w'th no doctrine or systmof beliefs.Algebra

and

physics

ffer

in

otherwords,

what hasbecome he key erm of Vest

cn sclen e, reirodncibh

tsult\. They

bass

'1 cthinl tbat cawot be

Proocs.

This approach s

precisely

what someone

oing

ihrough training as

John

Changk

studentwillexperience,he

will fo llow in the footsteps

of thosewho carne eforehim, enounte. he sam

henomena,

each

thc same onclusions.

The second eason assert hat "practicalTaoism" s a naturalis

ric science s that the word

|giorhas come to imply a fall ing-out

bctweenman and the Divine on

that the

proffered

doctrine can

rcconcile

by

acting asn ntermediary.*

Ve can f'nd no

proof

ihat

' 'l 'he

orrginal Ltin verb nli4aEDer

'1o

tie fimly," sggesting nion

with the Divine; assuch t is much closr

n concept o the Snskritwo.d

yotra

from

which comes he Enslish/ol'),

ralher than the concept of

rcjoLnina hat the word d/rqiorhascoe

to imply today

9

LookinhrouShhe M

ror


14/115

mn hasever allen

rom Cod's

grace,*

assurning

hat there sa Cod;

instead here seems

o

be

considerable vidence

hat man is evolv'

ing

to

become

whateverCod

intendedhim to be.

As "practicalTao-

ists"we ffer

no specialmeansfredemption,

o salvation,

ocarrot

to make the donkey

run. Rather,we offer

a method of enhancing

existence,makins

each ndividul mor of what

he already s aod

movlng

him t oward what

he can hope to be come. Ve

are, simply

put,

a

philosophicalscienc.

Perhaps

ou

will

understand he

distinction a bit better f

I

an

lyze the Chinese

erm '4t Many

people

hink

tht t mens

mar-

til

afls," but this is not

the case.

The

Chinese

erms ot martial

technique

nd martial arts are

now ox rr{ aod r,/

yt,

rspctively.)

The two words raa4Ja revery difficult to translate,ndeed,we must

absolutely tudyChinese

writins to omprehend

heir meanins.Let's

mke he attempt.

Kur4Jr ls composed f

the ideograms,

trt

1,,

UN C FU

Now, thc f irct crm,

kung, s wri t ten asa combinatio f

th e

chamctcrs

ul

(I.)

and

i

(

f).

Kru4 means'to build, to construct."

l imcans

"poweror trength."Theecond

erm,Jr,s nade p ofthe

sinsle haractert

({),

which i s a complex

deosram o interpret.

Ia is derived

frorn the character or man

(^.),

witb added

wide-

spread arms and an adult mani hatpln through the character in

medlevalChina eachadult

male wore a hatpin throush his hat and

hair).

The implication is of a mature,

arge, esponsible dult man

or

father figure; the character s also

used n other contexts o de-

note someone's

usband. n other words,

the term hu4 actually

nrcrns, theconstftrction nd development

f onesenergyover ime,

tlrrough daily effort, sLrchhat in the end

one obtains

maturepowr

ind the

spir i tual evelopment f a

Master."

KrrgJa,

n other words,

s

a

path

of continualdisciplineand rain-

ing, of nonstop

growth

over

your

entir life. This is

precisely

he

path

chosenand represented yJohn Cbane

3

*

Or, con'ersely,

hat the

puaosc

of existence

s

sihply suffering,

sansara,rom which

humanbeinss sholdstrive o escape.t was

not my

intent to harp on

Judaeo

Christianity, simply wnted o keep his

scction as bdel as

possibl

l|)

LookinShro8h he

Mnror

11

Lookin8

hrouSh he

Mirol


15/115

ChapterTwo

LIFEFORCT

A

CAR

RIDT

"l

have

o

go

to my

prawn

farnr his

afternoon.You can com with

It wsaboul

two wcek nto my acquaintance ith

the manwho

wds () )cconrc ly

tcchcr For wo weekshe had stuckacupuncture

ncccllcsnto rrryclbows,

knees, nd wrists,sendinsa steady unent

ol

ch'i

(litc

cnergy)coursing hroLrgh

my body.As I

progressed

was

ablc to

rclax more and more during th

treatment, and

John

me-

thodically

ncresedhe nte nsitywith echsession.

had discovered

to my surprise

ht he useda cunent in tensity of

no more thn O.5

percent

of his o tal

powrto

treat

patients.lt

wassiaggering.

Normal

people,even he strongest nen,couldbe knockedoutby 2 percent

For wo weeks had asked im every

day to acceptme asa stu-

dent

He was lways irm in

retusins,

but

he never nsinuated hat I

should

"piss

off"

(to

put

it bluntly), and

he always n vited rne back

for furthertretment

he followlng day. did;ust

that, nevermissing

a chance or a session,

ritting

my teeth against h

pajn

and nying

to rerleat nto meditation

asJohn'trppeclhe current," ncreasing

he

intensity of the

power

he snt

nto me 1() he highest eve ls could

stand.

tvas indeed

painfulbut,

more

mportant, herea an effect.

It seemed hat

vith evry sessiomy

joints

fell

better and better,

arrt lwhl lc thc calci lrrn

eposi ls

n

my r ight arm did not

go

away

(thcy

had bcen hcre

or

twclv yeart,

rhose n my lcft

arm

(which

hir(l bccn lorrnins

for a

year

or so) dlsappeared

ompletely.

ohn

rlv, slt


16/115

Ve went

to the

prawn

rm

by car

John

drove,quite

asr

bur nol

recklesdy.

Vhen we

reached

ighry

eishr rnilesper

hour I

became

bit concerned

because

either

he aws

nor

the traffic

conditions

of

the country

he resided

n

allowed

or such

a vetocity.

And

ber

n

mind

that I

am a

Creek and,

assuch,

am used

o borh

hish

speds

and

deplorable

oad

condirions.)

affic

was

very heary

and,

after a

tjme, the inevitablc

happened.

Johns

cellularphone

rang and

the call

was mportant;

he began

speaking

or)

the unit

in shorr,

rapid

sentnces,

radliog

the

phone

underhis

chin andbasically

rivingwith

one

hand,nottwo.

To com

pllcate

thtngs,

he

began

passing

a series

f cars-quite

illegally,

as

ther

was a double

dividing

line in

the

centerof

the road.

His lane

was

clear beyond

hose

cars,

and he was

n a hurry.

John hadcornpletedhismaneuver ndreentered is proper ane

when

suddenly

a

truck, intnt

on

passing

a similarly

slow-moving

vehicle n

front

of it and having

hadJohns

speedy

pproach

masked

by that vehicle,

entered

our lane.

The cars

we had passed

were ess

than one

hrndred yrds

behind

us, minute

distanc

at our spced.

I

gripped

hc

consolc

and

wassuddenly

ery gtad

waswearins

nryscrL

clt Vc

wcrc

doing

aboutninetyr

he

oncoming

ruck

wa s

go,n8

ar cast

ir ty, nd

ohn

was r jvins

with

onehand

while

speak-

irrt

(,

lhc

phonc

I

was e

rhat

we were

heading

or a

maloracci_

(lcn(

ndwas

l\ankful

hat

urcarwas

argc

ndstrong.

r i t t ins

my

tcc(h,

poin(cd

t he oncoming

ar and

braced

or mpact.

Iohn

harcl ly

ookcd

up. Vithour

skippins

bet

or

pausins

n

convcrsalion,

he swerved

nto

the soft

shootder

of

the road, passed

the rruck,

nd returncd

o his

lane.He

checked

he

rearview

niof

to

cnsure har

the

iruck had

succcsstully

voided

he cafs

rhat

had

bcenbehindus as well , andwe wenl on. After a ninute or

so he

finished

his conversatrcn

nd clicked

off the

phone

"My

eyesare

still

good,"

hc

said o

nredryly.

He

was ifty-seven

a1 hc

time and

ookcd

forty.

"Do you

always

drive

this fast?"

ws

rhe only

response

coulcl

think

ol

"Vhcn

I'm

by mysclf

I Lrsually

rive

fasrer,

about

I l0 to

125

miles

per

hour

or so. like

speed, ou

sce Vhen

I have

orhcr peoplc

1+

irr hc car I usr.rallytaybelow ninety because thnvise, f anything

lrappcns,can't

rotect

hem."

"Have you

everhad an accident?"

"Only

once. broadsided truck doing about a hundred."

"Vhat happenedz"

"Nothing

happened.

used ny

power

to absorb he impct on

my body. They had to cut

me

out

with cha in aws.The witnesses

thousht t wasa miracle, hat Cod o r somsainthad

protectd

me "

I was stunned.Vhat he was telling me was hat his body, aus-

mentedby the

powers

ri

neik ns rainins had

siven

hirn, had with-

stooda stress

reater

har

the

yield

strengthofsteel.

tried o iftagine

the metaland

glass

hards lowing aroundhisbody, unable o

pierce

hman lesh.

Certinly,

plastic

defo'mation as

planned

by the cari

designers llowcd or much,

bt thef e wasno denyins that the mo

mentunrhe had absorbed

ad

been

phenomenal.

\(as it true?Could a humanbcins

rcacha

statc

n

which

hc vas

impervious o exterior harm? t seemed oo much to swallow.

"Youknow,"he contlnued,

when

was

younger

wanted o be a

I lol lywood

stuntnan,

lnce couldn't eal lybe hurt n crashese-

caLrsef my

powcr

But hen

I ih.rught, no, l

you

do that too many

rimes

eople

i l l wonder bout

ou,

and

xsidcs, had

promised

ty

Master hat I would not usemy

power

o makemoncy."

Ve drove on lor while ir silerce. He besan to

question

mc

aboutCrcccc.

He undertood bout he BalkansHe had beenborn

penniless,

nd he

*,as

hrnese.

"My

father died when

I

was

our,"hc

sald

"l

grew

up very

poor

Llasicallywasa streetkid.Though

my mothcr

worked

vcry hard,

she

did

not bve he money o send re to school. did finish

hish

school

latcr on, though, but

I ncversrudledat any collese or univ ercity."

"Risht,"

joked.

"Youll,sthve Ph D in becoming ,per hunn."

"No,"

he replied seriin,sly,

you mu\tn'r thjnk ot m e as beins

superman.arn ike a f ishtef

pi lot

of a hanrpionship

thlcte Not

cveryone an become ike me-there arecertain

qualifications

but

so

,:pcoplc

an.Vhat

I

arn

s a

product

l discipl ine od faining s

nruchasnaiu|al alcnt.

"My

wife real1y elpcdmc,"

hc coDtinued ' l xplainedo her

15


17/115


18/115

\)/e nived

at the larm.

lt was ol

medium size,

about rwenty

people

were employfd

there. roamed

aroundwhile

h finishcd

his

business. young girl

brought out a

bowl of fruit

and a decantr

f

coffee

or me, the

tropical ruir was

delicious, he

coffee ned;ocre.

John

walted

up and

sat down, helpin g

himself o

somecofle

"People

are so stupi d," h

said. My

shipment s

bins held

up

jn

customs

cause ome ocalofficilw ants

bribe.Thatt

the waywe

operate

here,

you

know"

"lts

the same

all over the

world," said. You

have

o

srease

he

whels or

them to turn "

He

wasdelishted

by theclichd Enslish

metaphor

and

commit-

ted tto

memory. Ve

havea sirnilarphrase

ere. t's

rue hatpeople

oftn

abuse heir

position

n

society ol thejr

own

beneftt. n the

eod, ti all about powei,"he

said.He seemed

o rhink

abour he ast

word for a

second, hen turned

suddenly

oward rn.

Vhat

is

the

differencc

between ';lmg

and raitar4r"

he asked

"Vell,

clilua4 means

o develop

he energy

of the body.,.

.,'

'?ll

over the

body,

yes.

X/hat

about nejkunsT"

"N.i fur4

means'internalower

'

"Ycs,

lrl intcrnal

o what?"

he asked.

I

hcsirarcd,

nd.,ohn rcw

hree deosrams

n

a napkin:

"This

sae;tazg.

he first deosr am,

ei

means' nn

nrerins

a house.',

"Yes."

"Sowhen

we

practice

eikung,

we

purch'iirsirie,

ut

insidewhat?,

"Uh

. . the

dantienr The

bonesr

Chakras2"

was

graspins

at

John

grinned.

"Vell,

well. I see

all the boots you

read

did sonr

good.

Vhat

is the dantien?"

1 8

-fhc

rJantien,r'clixir tield," s

the

primary

bio,energy

warehouse

ol thc humanbody.

Located ourfingers el ow he navelin

hem;ddle

i,l

thc tono, this

centerhasth bility o store st

arnounrs f ch'i.For

lhis

rcsont is also nown asci:i :ai

ocean

f ch'i). But t is a mistke

l{, rhink that the dantien tsel f

gnrates

h'i, as

presented

n many

tcxrs.Rather,t is

possible

o storc her har ch'i which

th

practirio-

ncr ntakes rom hcuni verse

roundhlm. t ls

practice

ndpemistenc

that eadto "dantien o wer";

uch

power

s notan

impliedcharacteris

ric

of the humar body. can

perhaps

xplainbettrwith

sirDile. ay

thai a specificyoth

asexcptionalalenr n a

given

sport.Neverthe-

lcss,he still needs

o trai n andwork hard-to hone

his skillsand his

|nind

every ay n order o become champio nship

thlete. he dantien

is

similar o that

youth.

Yes,t canstore eeminglyimilless mounts f

cnetw, but tlldtesegy un be

,tt

therc

or

b(ddnri\ iolrflcro"

k will not

soakup, nor will it genrate, ower

of its own accord

ItoldJohn

asmuch.

He nodded,

somewhat

pleased.

All right,"

he said. "l'll show

you

onemore hrng odayCne mt a

banana

Ireached;nto he basket nd

picked

banana t random rom

one ofthe two bunches

n

thebasket.

had lredyeten

hree

imag-

ine he smaller ruit

found n Asia,not the overgrovn

and afificially

ripened

bananashat reachour tables n the

Vest)r the y werc deli

cious

and completelyuntmperedwith

John

ook the fuit fmm rne

andheld t in

plain

ishr n his efr

hand.He extendedhe ndex

nd

middle ingers f his ighthand,

oldinsthe orher wo nto ththumb.

Tnsingbriefly, he

passed

is hand n a slicins motion

about hree

inchesawayhom

the banana; herewasan audibleclicft,

nd hall the

huit fell to the floor.

I was long

past

being arnazed

at this

pointi

the whole thing

seemed ind of matter

of

fact.

He handedme the

other

half

of the

h it. lt wa s shiny,

as f

cleaved

by a hot knil that had

tused he

surface f the

banana nto a

slassy

mass.

John

pointed

o th e center of his

palm.

This,"

he said, is ike

sholgun."He extendedhis two fingers

again and

pointed

to their

tips.

"This,"

he continued, is ikc

a

laser."

t9

rt

c

t-

KU N

J

NE I


19/115


20/115

ch'ikuns

enrers

n

thedevelopment

nd control

of

yang

ch,i

also

alled i;

ch'i or "fire"

ch'i),

while

neikung nvolves

hejojnt

employ-

ment

or

yang

ch'i od

yin

ch'i

(called

,watel'

ch'i or lanr

ch'i).

ln

truth, yin

andyans

energies

un parallelto

each

other

n our

bodies,

and

both re

vital

to our continued

health

Like

yin

and

yans,

it

is

impossible

o separate

h'ikung

rom

netkung,

ndeed,

he

atter

s a

higherform

ofthe

same

rr.Perbaps

he

distinction

wscreatedsim-

ply

to

help

define rhe

abilities

of rhe

adepr.

yaog

ch,i

cannot pass

beyond

he

confines

of the physical

body,

while

yin

ch,i can

and

so

may rmpart

o rhe practitioner

preternatural

bilities

such

as

hose

demonstrated

y Master

Chang

In

the second

century

cE Buddhis.

monks

began

ro

arrive in

China. Then

circa

500 cE

came the

Zen patriarch

Bodhidharma

(Tamo)andtheCh'arn Zen)sectTmoarrivedatthe Shaolin emple

to

preach

o and

subsequeotly

tay

wirh

the Buddhist

monks,pass,

ing o'

to them

two methods,

he Y

Cin Ching,

which

is essentially

ch' ikuns,

nd

he Shi

SuiChins,

which

s essenria

neikuns.

t i ,

from

these

wo forms

that

the Shaol;n

chool

developed.

Appar,

ently

the ncikuog

techniqucs

were

losr within

a few generarions,

:nd

only

hose f

the Yi

Cin Chins

relined.

any

of

todays

rar_

t ial arls,

cspecial ly

hose

utside

China,

are

descended

ro[r

th e

Shaolrn

chool

wirh a

stf icr ly

h' ikuns

pproach.

Thc

Taoisr

marrial

rrs emained

ery

much

alivc

nsidc

Chia,

howcvcr,

spccifically

n placcs

uch

asVu Tng

mounrain

and other

Taolst

etrcats.

roadly

pcaking,

t

canbc

said hat

hcif

approach

is guided

nlore

by the nterplay

ofyin and yang

han the gencrarion

of power

evident n

Buddhisr

arrial

arts

ike thc

hard

style

Shaolin

torms.

I

have noticed

a tendency

o

move thc

weishr

conpletely

from one foot to the other in Taoistarrs, n both external

and ntcr-

nal

styles,

sopposcd

o the

sotid

stances

f the

Buddhisr

rts.

n

addit ion,

hefe

secns

o

bc more

of a l lowing

and

bending

f ihe

spine

n

the tormcr

han s

evident

n thc

atter

Again,

hesc

om

parjsons

re erygenerdl

nd, n

ruth, here

as

een

o ruch

nrer

acl ion

etwecD

uddhisiandloisr

cchniqucsand

h

loso

hies

h

at

i t i \

di f f icult

o separate

hc

two. I have

ecn

elercnces

o'Taoist

brcathing'and

Buddhist

reathtns"

n thc

l irert lre,

or

example,

brt

such

a distinction

s naccurare

Crcful

eeafch

hows

hat

i1 s

22

rro

nsy ask o

discngagehe wo

philosophies

r his

point,

ar east

rr{) in

China

\X/hatcver

he

path,

martial

artists

quickly

saw.hat by

applying

thc

csoteric echniques

usedby the seekrs

f enlighrenment

and

imnrortality

n

their

quest,

hey

developed

power

baseand capac-

ity much

broader hn those

achievable y muscular

trength

a1one.

Practitionrs

f ch'ikung acquiredprodigious

strength, hey

werc

ble o

balance heir entire

weighr on

on finger, or example.

Prac

titionersof neikung

discovered hat

there were wys

o es cape he

limitations

of the

physicalplane

of existence. yrokinesis,

elekne,

sis, elepathy,

evitation

thesabilitiesand

othersbecarne

heir re-

ward for a lifetime

of dediationand discipline.

Ve

will se e n the

following

chapters

a.hat uch a

quest

was ike , d

where r coold

take he practitioner . . andstill can oday.

23


21/115

i

Chapter

Three

BECINNINCS

John

had

more

than

a

dozenpatienrs

o see

on

rhe

ast

day

I was

n

the

country

He never

charged

anyone

a dirne

for

therapy:nd

al-

way$

made

rime

for

whoever

came

olrr

to

see

him,

oltn

without

priof

arraogement.

had

seen

miraculous

hings

during

the

month

I

was

here,

A

stroke

victim

had

regained

he

use

of a p;alyzed

limb,

a

woman

who

had

Lrlfered

rom

chronic

sprnar ain

was

suddenty

hcillc.l

lohn

spccilized

n rrealing

neurological

iisease,

hough

o.-

thopcdic

i lnlcnrs

nd

chronic

nfect ions

ere

also

ight

up

;s l ,

lcy.

oltcn

assisrcd

im

with his parientsi

process

hat

basical ly

i , , v , , l r d

r a n d i n B

h e , e

o u t

rng

h e r r i e n r

" n d

a . rng

ra

s r o r r n d

ror

Jonn

bro-electr i( t ty

I had

been

reated

nyself

or

a month.

\X/irh

he

xceprion

of

two

very

01d

lcium

deposits

n

my right

arm,

myjoints

were

ine.

never

missed

a

chance

o askJohn

whether

or not

h

would

accept

me as

an

apprentice;

e always aidno.My self-esteem asat an all_

r ime

ow

dnd

hd

no dea

what

o

do

\41

rrroney

ar

unnrng

ur

but I

did

not

wanl

o

leave

he

counrru

w,rhoL,rohn

a,

qu,-,

-g

ro

at Ieast

send

me

on

to some

studenrt

studenr.

Anything, just

don,t

order

rne

away,

please.

. .

I

waited

my

turn

for

treatmenr

on

thar

day,

helping

John

out

with

the

orher patients;

he left

me

for

last.

He

knew

I

would

be

leaving

he

following

morning.

Ve

were

alone

n his

clioic

when

I

asked

im

orwhat

thought

would

be

he

inalt ime

o

either

dmit

nrc

as pupil

or

at leasr

ive

me a name

and an

address

could apply

to. didnl

care

f hesent

me on o he

owesrman

n he

otem

pole;

ljrst

wanted

o st udy what

he had

to teach

Iwas lying

face

up on one

of his herapy

couches,

my knees

nd

elbows ull

of acupuncture

eedles.

here

was no

way I

could have

chngedposition

even t

I had wanted

to, all

sudden

movements

were

dangerous.

slowly

turned to

face

John,

who had

sone

quiet.

Hewas

studying

me

carcfully,his

softeyes

ooking

nto

my fce

and

beyond,

a small

smile

playing

on his ips.

Thls

s heno'1

dt4elotl' an

h the

Wesunoot,

I thought.

I was

a

head

and a hlf

tallerthan

he was,

andsixty pounds

heavier,

ndyet

there

was

no way I

could withstand

2

percent

ol his power

Cood thing he wasbenevolent.'Actually,"

he said, l have

already

hown

you

the training

method

torLevelOne.

Now, when you

finish

with that,

can

showyou Level

Two."

"Does

hat man

. ?

He had

caught

me completely

by

surprise.

chokedback

a flood

oftears;

twas

my opinion

hen that it

would not

do ro become

mo

tional

whil

pinned

down

on a table

ike a fly

on

paper

In any case,

did not know

what

more to say

o him at

rhat

point.

I

had already

promised

im

my obedience

nd

diligence or

he rest

ofmy life

should

he accept

me as

an apprenrice,

nd had

meantevery

word I

said.

Tiadit;onally

under hese

ircumstances

he

apprentice

wassup

posed

o kneel

before he

Master and

pledge

o

him once

again hat

he

would be

a loyal and hardworkins

student

ln my

case hat was

impossible,

ecausecouldonly turnny head.144 L he e lt, thoushtt

lohn k a Westemer

s wellasa Master

J ,eikug

I was

i lenr or

a r ime, nd

he respected

hat

si lence.

ohn

1ir p

cigarette,

ook

a few

pults,

and seftled

t inlo aD

ashrray

He wiped

his

handswrth

alcohol

nd began ul l ing

out the needles,

ipins

edch

rea own

wirh

alcohol shc

wentalo,rg.

''fhnk

you,"

I

said inally and

satup

on the edge

of the couch

John

nodded

and shrugsed.

H kept

smilins

"l

don't know

what to

say," continued.

"lt

doesn't

mtter,"hc

said. Have

a nice

rip back home."

25

Be8inninSs


22/115

Two years

atr,sitting

on rhe

balcony

of h; s horne

with

my

girl

friend,

I elaborated

on

the above

story for

her

benefit.

John

sar

si

lently

smoking

while I

wenr through

the

morions,

and

Doris,

who

had

lreard t

a hundred

imes

n the

past,

simply

waired politely

for

me o f inish.

"You

hinkyoll

hd

a hard rime?"John

skedwhcn

I hd

ioished.

"Your

casews

nothingr

There

are

people

who have

searched

or

me

for

nlne

years

before

hey finally

found

me, and

then

there

was no

guarantee

hat I

would welcome

hem

asstudcnts."

"Have you

ever sent

people

away:" 1

asked.

"Many

tinres."

What

a sS'aikl

Westemt,

is

glance

seemed

o

say,

and

I felt

sheep;sh. inally

Iooked

dowo,

unable

o rneet

his

saze.

''l

saw your

conins

in

a dream,"

he said

softly,',three

monrhsbeforeyoucame o stand

atmy doorstep.

The

day

you

arrived,

was

v/aiting

for

you."

"Yeahr"

"Yes."

Hc paused.

Do yo

wanl to

hearwhat

I \a.ent

hrough

to

be

accepted

as a student

by n7

teachcr:"

he finally

asked.

V/e

both

jumped

at rhe

chance

andJohn

began he

srory

of his

apprenticcship.

discovered

hat I had gottcn

ofl,rD.

easily.

By the

timehc

was inished,

oris

and vere

ol l ins

on he

loor

wirh augh,

ter,

John

wasa

very

good

storytcller,

with

an expressive

ace,and

he

renrcnrbered

verything ividly

"My

Master

nnre

wasLiao

TsLt ong,',

e

said n

his

pleasanrly

accented

English, and

he

was rom

trainland

China

I ftrst

mer him

when I

was ten

ycars

old.

I loved

kung flr from

the

besinoins

and

had

trained

with

varios

eachers

lmost rom

rhe

momcnt

I could

walk,

but I had

a friend-Chan

1ien Sun

was htc

name_who

kepttelllng me that

he was

studying

avery

powerfut

kung Lr

ystem

ron

an

old man n

his neishborhood.

Chan

kept

sayins hat

the

old man

\4as

a

gret

healer

and an eminent

Master

of the martial

arrs. was

curious,

o went

with him

o the

old m:n

house.

. .

The

Apprentice

Vhen

the

young

boy ftrst

saw

he old man,

he

was DoL

ovefty im

pressed

He hadcome

only because

is

childhood ricrd

had

nsisred

26

8einni 3s

The

old nransold bananas or

a

livins,

the

people

n the

neishbo

hood

clled him

'Mr

Banana

Some

people

even

calld him

"Mr

Vcird Banana" ecauset

wassaidthat the old man

wasvery stranse

ifld difficlt to

understand.

Chan had

declaredthat he old man was

a

greatMastcrand

hat

he had healed

many

people

who were

seriously ll. The

young

boy

had heard

he stofies, oo, thoush il

seemed hat rhe old mn

was

very

picky

aboutwhom he treated

Sone

people

he kept witing

fof

days

outside his houseand then

sent way uncured,conharily,

he

would hcalothersuiferers

who didn'twanr his help

evenagainst heir

will, so'netimer hasing hen

into thei. own honelt

(Later

he boy

would learn hat

the Master was able o seeeach ndividual's

a.ma,

and would

heal he

peFon

or not based

on that obseNation Any-

wa, he wasn'tall tht kcen on studyirg with the old man, brt, well,

nen

Sunwashis best riend and had nsisted

hat theytrain tgether

"Vhat

doyou want here,

boy?" he old man asked he

hallboy

he found standingon he

steps utsidehis home.MasterLiao

studied

the child carefully The

boy wasesscntially streetkid

of Southeasr

Asi,dressedn

simpleclothesand

qune

rough aroundthe

edgcs.He

had

probablybeen

n lishts from dre momenrhecouldwalk.

The old

Masler saw

hat the boy's o*unes had taken

a turn for the bener

.ecently,

but the sisDs f

past

malnutrition

were still therc He sw

much

pain+n

orphanr Vhat type oleducation

hadthe boy.eceived?

He

saw ometh ng else, oo/ somelhing

har excitedhim consid-

erably,

hough he did not show t, oicou6e.

The boy had he talent.

Not o.e man in

one

thousand

could bccomc ike he was

His

skillwas similarro that

of

the

greatest

Olympic arhleres, ot

only did

you

have o havethe

Cod-brnsift, but

you

alsohd suffe.thrcush

decades f hrd

discipline

o reach

he finalprize.It wasno

easy ask.

MasterLiaowas nhis latesixties, lmosr evenry, ndhad incd

in henart i lar ts

l lh is

i ie ,

ince hcmoment e couldwalk.

e had

been n

Java

or more han six

ycas

and had seen ew

pcople

l thar

timewho

possessed

ll he rcqifementso nake itthroush

to the end.

Could this strcetwaif accomplh he trainingr

"l

. . . l 'm a

good

friend of Chan en

Sun,Sfi,*" the child stur-

tercd,

"l

would like to

ltudy

kung

tu with

you

as well."

" The

term actually means

father

teacher,"

hough

"masrei'

s widely

uled

in

the Vest as he trBlation.

27

Be'nnins


23/115


24/115

Vhcn the same hingoccured

asajnor thc two followingdays,

the boy besan o

wonder f he would ever be taughl krng

tu orjust

be an unpaid

eant

for

the rest of his life.

On the fourth

day after beins allowed nto Liao

Situs hosc,

John

discovredthathis

praatorywas

ob

sjven

a newdimension.

The old man was congenil

on

that

day, almosi

ovial.

He

offered

John

tea, and they drank together for

a time, saying nothing,

the

Master studyi'ra him.

Suddenly Liao Situ ooked inro his

cup with

distaste nd sc tinizedJohn

with impromptu nspiralion.

"You

know,"

he said,

l

have a friend down the road,

about five

hundred

yards

away,who hasa wellwith

wondertulwater"

"Yes,

Situ,"Joh n replied hesitatins ly He

did not like the direc,

tion the convcrsationwas bginning

o tak e, bsides, e knew

rhat

the well water all over the

areawas he same.He had earned

about

such hings n schoolr igation and sanitationwere very important

"l

wanl

you

to carry water frcm his well to fill my

sto.age eser

voir here

Come with me

"

They

went out onto the balcony and

the old man showedhin

where his hiends

housewas octed.

"\X/hatls

wroas with thc water frm

your

well here, Sifu? the

"lti

not

rood.

lt rnak es he

te astebirtcr.'

'llut

Sil , thc warer the

sameall ovcr the netghborhoodt"

"\I/hy

can'1wejt use

he water rom this welb'

Thc old nran stood

up

"lf

you

dont want to do the

work,

you

can

eo

home,

youknow

But don't come bck

'

He

walked away and

lcftJohn tanding

.

h is

balcony

The

yorng

boy

was angfy but he was llo

terriljed of the

old

man.John had heardeven more unusual htngsabout him, Lio Sifu

was beconins

a leeend n the neishborhood

So hc did rhe

chores

erpected

of

him,

waitcd a while fr Liao

Sifu to .erurn, then

wenr

home

whenhe d idnt.

It

went on forweks. Every

day the

young

boy wold

go

out to

the Mastcrs house, lean

he inte.iof, rakeard tidy

the extcrior,and

carry water from the

well a

quarter

mile away lt

took hin all after.

noon,ard the oldnan

always enthim ho'e alLerwardwithotrfte.h,

ing hin hing

nen Sunkcpt him ar t, encc,uraging

im every inre

thcy mc t, iDsisting hat Liao Silu rvas

reat

and that s oon he would

begin o tra inJohnn eamest.

"Dld

the sane

thlng happen o

yo(?"John

askedhis friend altcr

a month had

passed.

Chanlookeddown."Vell,

no. Hestartedto teachme risht away."

The boy was nstantly urious.The old ma n was usins hitl

H

held on to hisangerall hat nisht andthe nextmorning. {/hen

it

cane

time to

go

to the old mans house, e barffd right in and conkonted

the Master The childs stndinsup to him amcd t he old man.

'Are

you

eorng

u rea

h ne

Lng

u o, no,

"Vhats

your problemu

"Char

nen Sun said ht

you

started eaching

hin right awa,

that

you

acceptedhim asa student ight awayf'

"Ah,

I see.' Liao Situ kept his face serious.

He

is wrcns,

you

know. So

far i ha"e neverhad a student n my life. You f.icnd is not

"\vhat?

Uut he. . .

"

Suddenlylobn

felt very small and fright

"l

teachChan llen Su n becausehis

amily helpedne

oncewhen

I wasvery ill. I was stficken with

lve.

and

helpless. X/hen

did

nol

appear or three days,

llen

Sun father entered my home and

his

Imily

gave

me wter and ood Later, hey bousht me the medicine

l requel ted nd rec ole.ed.I fnot or hci rhclp, l wouldbe dead. o

I teach hir son o repay y debt to them. Do

you

undestand:"

"Ys

Sifu.

But 've

been

comins here every day fof two months,

working ha.d, cleanins,

and so lryo havent sbown me nythingi

Not onemovemeDu"

Dcspitc his

pfctcmatuEl power

ofconce.tration,

Liao

Sifr

hd

to tLrn away o hidc his

grin

from the boy.

"Kune fu i very .lifli.trlt

to earn," esaid. henhe e l t hehouse, hoking own

his aushter.

Ihe boy mmediately cga o cleanand

perlo.n.

hisdallychc'.es

He

wondered

f he hadblown t for

eood.

Liao Sifukept hin wo.king lor tu,o norc nonths Vhen thc boy

had

completed

otrr onths of seNitudc, hc Mdsler sl'oKc o ,,n,,

"Norv

vewi l lsce," he

N4aste.a id,

i fyou

afccapablc f r ra in i ' re ."

John

was cstat ic.

"l

want

you

ro stand

ere lke h i " L ia

Si fu

showed in rhe

basic cntry nrto what has been

popclarly

called

the "Horse Rrdlng

Stance'

Ma

Br in Chincse)

Joh.

eascf ly opied

his

movenre.t ,

30

be$nnings

3l

6eEnnin$


25/115


26/115


27/115


28/115

so

I had to train intrmittently

after that becau se

f my increased

responsibilities,

ut I never

stopped.Liao

Sifu never et

me."

He

paused

o sip his tea "Vhen

I turned

sixteen,

starteddriv

ing a mini

bus, ransportingpeople

and

goods

around

own, I

was

lorced

o drop out

of schoolbecause

f our ncreas ing

inancialprob-

lems.Despite

my difficuhis,

continuedro

practice

my kung

u and

medltatlon

every day.

Oh,

I

forgot ro tell

you

that Liao

Situ had

shown me

the meditation

or LevelOne,

he same neyou

arework

ing

on noq when I

was ourteen

years

old.

"Not

erlier2"

"No.

It

is better f the

newoussystem

of the trainee

s

fully de

vloped

bfore training

starts.Also it

is

good

to

be

past

he

begin-

ning

of

puberty."

"l see."

"Liao

Situ knew everythiog

did ar all

times. t mystified

me, I

could not

figure out how

he did ir. I

ven houshr

he had

people

spying

on met He knew,

or example,

whether

or not I had

fined

on

a specificday

andwhen I

purposefully

ried

to avoid rining.

He

could

tell when I

was ying, too, you

know I recall

one

day when I

visited his hous

and he asked

me f I had rneditated

hr

day.To tell

you

the trth,

he had never

explained

anything ro

me nd I

con

stantly

wondered why

I had to do

all that useless

medirarion,

so I

tried to

avoid it when I

could. The

scenewent softethig

jke

this:

"Liao

Sifu, Did

you

meditare odayl"

"l

was nineteenbefore I was

given

an inkling of how

powerful

my Master ruly was.He called me to him one day and announced

that

I had finishedwith LevelOne. I had no ideawhat h was akins

"Vhat

is LevelOne exactly?"asked.'Youve hovn meth train

ing method,but we've never alked about what I'm supposedo be

doing,"

"ln Level

One

you

fill

up

your

dantienwith

yang

ch'i. You must

be n actualmditation o achieve his, nd t is tim dependent. n

Level Two we sha pe he

yang

ch'i to our specifications o that the

practitionr

can

push

it

out

of his body. This is what neikun g s,

really."

"Vhat

about LevelThree:"

"Ve can alkabout hatwhen the tim comes. will t ellyou this,

In LevelFouryou

bringyouryin

and

yns

ch'i tosether andbesin to

"How

many diffrnt

evelsare herc?"

"Seventy-two."

"Vhat?1"

John

smlled. No one said t waseasy. he levelscorrespond o

xhe

n(mber

of

chkras n the humanbody. Youknow what a chakra

is?An enrgycenter?'

"These

dayseverybody

does."

"PerhapsThe lastchakra o op en, Level Seventy

Tvo, is

at

the

very top of

your

head."

"l know

of

it I

used

o

practice

Buddhistmeditation."

"l

see.

myselfknew nothing about hosemattersuntil the day

my teachrcame o m e and

old rne had finished eith Level One.

On thatevening e

gave

mea demonstration f

innef

power,

eikng."

"Vhat did he do?"

"Do

you

rernember he long table hat he had in h;s house,on

top of which we

had

our

fightr It was our

yards

ong. He

placed

a

bowlon one end and satat

he

other

He

put

lour flngersof h;s ight

hand on top of the table;hls thumb wasbelow

it. \{et,l he

pshed

forwardwrth hr, {rnger. hebowlexploded.

"At first I didn't

believe

t. His th umb wasunder he tabletop,so

I immediatlybesan o look

for a button or a wire or something.

39

"YoungJohn,

Yes,Sifu "

"Liao

S;fr, Dtd you

meditate

oday2"

"YouneJohn

Yes,

,tu

,

SLAPtJohngoes lying across he room.

"Liao

Situ, Yo re lyinst"

I burst

out augh;ng.

ohn

oind

n

brie,,y.

"After that,"

he continued,

Liao

Stfuwas ;k e a

god

to me.

Since

he knew

everything

did, there wasno poinr

in tyine

to him,

and so

I decided

had

better o eract ly

whathe sked.

became

dil igent

shrdcnt,

nevermissing

a da1,,

utting

in many

hours. t

scemed hat

during my latcr

tenage

ears

was either

working or

training, not

38


29/115


30/115


31/115


32/115

askdmy Master

f

it was all right

and he

said

yes,

t vas

oky for

peopl

to

be

erateful

as

ong as I d id

not directly

take mony

for

srvices endered.

So I

took the

ob,

so to speak,aod

made a

good

piece

ofchange. And

since hen I have

studiedandlearned

h ways

of the businessworld

with the

samedilignce

hat I spnr

studying

kung tu. As

you

can see,

did okay."

Hn hourewarwonh

srxmil l iondol lars.

"\vy'hat oure

telling

me," said

slowly after he

had finished,

,is

that

you

proved

o

many

people

hat thre s

ife after

death."

''Io

hundreds

of

people,

Kosta,"he responded.

t

can still

prove

it to anyone

at any time.

Vould

you

like

to met

a spirit?"

I

jumped

up in response.

'Very

well," he

aughed. Tomorrow

we

willgo on

a shon trip

by

car; t'sabout half an hour away rom here.Ve can alk more about

it

then."

THEHSIEN

It would

be neglectful

o

go

on at this

point

and not

giv

you

some

backgroundon

what s

popularly

considered immortality"

byToist

alchemists,

nd what the

theory behind

the sta.e

of immortality

is

per

the

school of ner-lar

Taoistbelief

Immortls

ar housht

to dis-

play

abilities

similar to

those of

John

Chang, nd

the

warpins of

acceptd

atural aw

s said o

be commonplace

round

hem. How

ver,

must caution you

that

the technique

and method

of Master

Chang differ

greatly

frorn

those used

by othr sysrems.

lso,

as I

statedearljer,

ohnt

techings

ave norhing

to do

v/ith religion.

lf

the outlinebelow

leads

ou

to other

books,l musrwarn

garnst rac-

ticing the methodology ourlined n rhose publicarions, have no

idea

whether or not

the

procedures

escribed

re act

or fancy

(or

whether

or not thy

are dangefous

o rhe

student).

The

perfected,

mmortal

umanors;r

(ltterally,

/mountain

man,')

isa centralfigure

of religious

oism. he

techniques

herebypeople

sought mmortality

were

groundd

both on internaland

externalal-

cheny.

The external

school

(uti

laal developed

echniques

based

on

chemical experimentarion

nd dietary

regimens

and hoped

for

actual

physical

mmortaliry;

here s

strong evidence

hat

they did,

46

In

lact, come up

with

an

elixir that

provided

at l east some

partial

rquvenation

lhave

heard hat Chinat

modem eadersconsumeuch

a

potion

to retain heirvitlity andyouth).

The internalschool

(nei-

dan)

stressedbreathcontrol,

ogicexercises,

medjtation,andsexual

tcchniques.

Through

breath

control and the trovement of one's

llfeforce

ch'i)

throush the

fields

of

the

body,

the indivi dual both

prolonged

ife in thi s body and achieved

mmortality through the

nou.ishment

within of an embryonic

tpirit

body"

(sl'r"),

which be

came he

immortl

self after

death.* Throughout its devel opmnt,

three

hems ame o b central

o the teachings

f

nei-danTaoism,

l The

philosophy

of rur-pei

spontanity

nd

noninterference)

coupledwith

a

profound

everence or life a nd an enhanced

ercep-

tion of th workings of

natureon all levels.

2. The

yogic

alchemy

or

transmuting

he endowments f the

mind

ndbody into an mmortlspirit uitii

oer

ooerbe

hysical

orl.

This

spirit body, he shen,wascreatedand nourishedby he disfilla

tion of

Iife

enersy

(ch'i)

augmented y the

power

iohrnt n

puri-

fied semen

clirg).

This "purification"wasa meditational

process.

:. The

yogas

of absolute

medittionwherby

passion

nd de-

sire

werevanquished, llowing be

yogi

to

eter

nto a condition of

enlightenment

wherein he spirit body can exist ndep endent fthe

body and

ernanateo "ride he clouds.'t

The word

sio n

Chinese

s composed f the d eogramsor ruorl-

tdi

( rr)

andman

,,

),

and

means

ust

hat. t is housht hat, hough

mountainshemselvesrc

yang,

o,r

mountains

re

ull

of

he

pnmalyin

energy

of the universe,and t is to that energy hat Taoistseeke locked

to

"charge heir batteries" ndenjoy he stillness fthe surroundings

n

meditation. come

hom a mountainous reamyselfandcanverify hat

when ra inins n the hishlands,

he energy leel s hundreds f tlmes

what I experience hen ra nring

h

the city

vhere I norrnally eide.

Thewei-dan school,whicb soughta chemical

orrnula or actual

physical

mmorlality, s not directly

pertinent

o this text.

Thc nei

dn, or

internal

school,

on the other hand, s Ne/-cDia oists,who

"

Ercy.lofeia

titan &

Onlir', "Relisious

Taoism."

t

Blofield,

ohn,

I4,s.. Ii,.Rodl roL,od4l,r)'

{Boston,

Shanbhala

Publ icat ions,978).


33/115

followed

his

school,

sought

a means

y wh;ch the

condit;on

ol hu-

man existence

ould

be transfomd

nto

one

that would

last ndefi,

oitely,

but noi necessarilyinhysical

orm.

To achieve

hjs,

hyworked

exclusively

ith

the tooh

nature asgiven

us,

hoseofourmind,

body,

nd

spirir.The'elixirof

immortaltty'was

rewednot

n some

rucible

usingpotions

olarsenic,

mercury

and pearl,

as n

the wei-dan

chool,

but in the

body itself,

usins

he ndjvidual

own

ife enersies.

In

China h

thre

qualitie

man energy

arecalled

be

Sar tao,

or

"three

reasurs./i

hey

are

ching, ch'i,

aod shen,

or essence,

n

ergy,and

consciousness

y

ransmuration

fth

three

reasuresrom

coane

to subtle orm,

and

by subsequent

nrcneacron,

a mysteflous

"something'is

onceived

That'tomething,js

hespirir

embryo,

which,

like

any baby,

equires

urrher

csration

rior

to finalbirth

However

should he Taoist ogi be successtuln

developtns

he

spirit body,

he

can exist

ndependent

f his physical

body and;s

as

such mmortal.

Central to

the belief

tn the spirit

body is

the tener

hat,

while

man

doeshave

a soul hat

ives

on after derh,

he soul

s not

immor

tal

and will

alsodie after

ime I person

y

believe

har thjs

elisious

doctrine

came

nto

being sirnply

because

he

yogis

could

not

pcr,

ceive he

spif i ls fspecif ic

cceased

ndividats

fter

a

sivn

pcriod

at tima-oheftas

heJore

hdt

oixt

heycould.

either

lailure

nor

isno

rancc s

widely

olerated

n China, or

cannot

imply

y,,1

on't

know."

Thus th

loi(r

teachers ad

to come

up

with sor.il,in4,

nd

thc

dosm outlined

dbovewas

he reL,lt

you'

fjnd

that

there s

a

basisor my

assumption

n fol lowing

haplers

Ching-ihe

tcrm

essentially

reans

esserce',-js

he

primals uff

of I ; ie.Many

belicve

hat

you

are

given

a f ixcd

arrount

i

ching or

yor

lifetime,

and rhat if you

use

t up,

you

are

out of luck.

ln thc

malc, hing s presentn

coareorn

in the

spem,

and s

depositd

in

the lesticles.

n more

refincd

fornr

chins circulates

hrolrsh

the

bone

marrow

of thc

body, and

s stofcd

n rhe

kidneys

*

Therefore,

"

\X/hen

began o

study he litcnnre

on Taoisn,

I wassurpised

by how

many concepts

cincidcd

with

tolk beliels

n ny

native

Crcece

Upon

ensaAing n

a tor.id lovc

affair

with a new

siflfriend,

and

subsequently

sho\rins

up to tech

my

iujursu

cla$ somewhar

azed,

wascolnseled

by the

oldest mn n

tlrc clals

o

".efrain

rom los,,,B

mo

m.n

lpermi as

you

will

beein to losc

yorr

bone

marow"

48

whax was of crucial mportancewas to

preserve

ssence;t is this

npproach hat led to the theoriesof sperm etention and controlled

cjaculation

hat have become representative f Toism n

popular

Vcstern

literture.Some eachers tatd

hat

ching had

a natural

tcndency

o flow

downward.They thus forbadesexual ntercourse

ior a thousand aysat a time while tra ining, so that the ching c ould

"pile

up" andenliven he energycenters f the body.

Others allowed

ior a min imum amountof sexual elease,he

philosopher

Sun Szue-

mo

recommends

he following

program,

For

men n their trMnties,

one jaculationevery our daysr n their thirtie s, one in eight days,

in their forties,one o sixtendays; n their fifties,one n twenty

one

days.

From he age

of sixty

upwardsemission

hould be avoidedal-

togther, hough a sixty

year

old v/bo

is

still rob ust may allow him-

self on ejaculation month."

This sa far cr.j' rom th exorbitantsexual timulationevident n

Vesternsociety. nEuropeyoucanhardlywalkdown

thestretwith-

out

thinkingofsex; large-breasted omen

pout

down from the cov-

ers of

magazines

n every corner kiosk

(some

nude, some scantily

clad),while their ma l counterpafts

ump

ron and

promise

emale

readem ndless epetitiveorgasmswith their

saze.

t is hardly natu-

ral;we needonly ook at he animalkingdom o realize hat attempted

reproduction s not

something

a mammal

should ngag n every

day.*

My dog

can outrun

me in his

sleepand

has

kept abreast f a

snowmobil n deep snow; the averagehuman could not hope to

parallel

his

physicalprowess.

He breedswice a

year.

Perhapst is

this naturalconsewationof chin g that allo ws other mammals heir

tremendous

hysicl

abilities.

I havediscussed

h'i.

Shen, h final

reasure,

s

a bit more diffi,

cult to identify. In cors

orm it

most crtainly means

mind,

self,

soul"; willuse the erm, rsowl aaarness.s determined arlier,many

Taoists lieve hat the spirit tself cannot ast ndef initely,and must

be'enhanced" o hat he

prize

of immortalitycan be captured. h ere

sems o

be

a

orocess

or this.

*

I am awareof

both

the natural nclinatior and the reproductive

yle of

ihe dolphin, for readerswho think they havecaught a faux

pas.

49


34/115


35/115

"But

we haveyin

energy

our bodies o o,

right?',

asked.

"Correct,"

hereplid.

"However,

a

pure

spirit

exists n

a djfferent

space-time

ontinuum

than

we do.

One

year

for

us s

one day for

them,

and thy (e

not limited

by the presenr

moment

but exist

n

the

immediat

uture

and

past

as

well. Do

you

understandr,'

"l

rhink

so." I rook

out a

pen

and

paper.

Do you

mean

sorne

thing lik

this?"

On the

paper

drew,

TIME

MAN

"Exactlyt"

he

said.

You

kno,M

ow

in meditation

we

slow down

our breathing

and

our

pu

plgey.the.magus.of.java.teachings.of.an.authentic.taoist.immortal

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