The Great Stillness, Volume Two of The Water Method of Taoist Meditation Series, presents moving meditation practices, sitting and lying down meditation practices, the inner dissolving process, as well as how to dissolve blockages in your physical, qi and emotional bodies. Another extremely interesting section is on Taoist sexual meditation with both techniques and good explanations of the energetic aspects of Taoist sexual cultivation. The last chapter is on internal alchemy, another fascinating and important aspect of Taoist self-cultivation.

The practices themselves are divided into preparatory, intermediate, and advanced stages. Step-by-step instruction is given for each stage. Volume One takes the reader through the introductory materials-including the difference between the water and fire methods of meditation, the teacher-student relationship in the fire and water approaches, and overview of Taoist meditation and both preparatory and intermediate practices.

This is an important work. Taoism is a very old and vast compendium of teachings and practices. Students can choose from a wide variety of teachings, some of which are only now coming to the West. As more long-time practitioners of Taoism begin to share their knowledge and experiences with Western students we will all benefit.

Book Description

This second volume of The Water Method of Taoist Meditation Series focuses on the Water Method's central technique: the inner dissolving process-showing how to overcome your inner psychological demons and distractions, how the mindstream functions and how internal alchemy differs in Taoism's Fire and Water traditions. You will gain a new understanding of the spiritual importance of cultivating the physical body and its internal energies. This book expands on Volume 1's powerful standing and breathing techniques to include moving, sitting and lying down meditation methods, with detailed illustrations. You will also learn sexual chi gung/qigong and meditation techniques, never published before, to increase the intimacy, harmony and satisfaction of your relationships and deepen your spiritual awareness.

From the Publisher

Bruce Kumar Frantzis has studied meditation, internal martial arts and chi gung/qigong for four decades, including five years in Japan and India and more than ten years in China. After two decades of intensive study in the Zen, Yoga, Kundalini and Taoist Fire traditions, B. K. Frantzis met Liu Hung Chieh, one of this century's greatest Taoist masters, in Mainland China. Although Liu had stopped teaching several years prior, he had just had two dreams about this American arriving at his doorstep to study with him. This led to Liu's decision to pass on the knowledge of his lineage to the author. B. K. Frantzis teaches chi gung/qigong, internal martial arts and Taoist meditation worldwide.

From the Author

This second volume includes additional practices in the standing and moving modes, as well as those done sitting, lying down, and during sexual activity. It also offers an introduction to Taoist internal alchemy. Most importantly, it explores in greater depth the inner dissolving process, the central technique of the intermediate practices. It must be remembered, however, that work done at the more advanced stages will be of value only if a proper foundation has been laid in the preparatory and intermediate stages detailed in Volume 1, Relaxing Into Your Being.

Excerpted from The Great Stillness, The Water Method of Taoist Meditation

We possess "intelligence" - everyone believes that our brains make us "superior" to the animals. Yet if we lose our innate ability to feel the insides of our bodies as live, vibrant creations, we become inferior to animals. Taoist intellectuals recognized this problem thousands of years ago and devised solutions to enable individuals to regain the ability to feel the complete sensations generated from the internal working of the body. The Taoists believed that such knowledge was a most important form of intelligence and would allow its holders to deeply feel their personal relationships with others, with the external environment, and with the spiritual forces of the universe.

Originally printed in The Empty Vessel, A Journal of Contemporary Taoism, Summer 1999

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