Special Topic Manuals

Companions in the Tao: A Guidebook for Companions on the Taoist Path

by Jill Gonet, MFA

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The idea for this newly released work originally was suggested by a fellow Yi Ren Qigong practitioner back in 2000, who thought that the person partnered to Dr. Guan-Cheng Sun might be able to share what is involved in nurturing a relationship in the context of Taoist cultivation.

Many years and many drafts later, Yi Ren Press is now releasing Companions in the Tao: A Guidebook for Companions on the Taoist Path. This work (in 2 volumes, for a total of 158 pages) encompasses diverse topics and considerations, which when successfully negotiated, add up to big differences.

In spite of the largeness of the subject, the writings are presented under subject headings, and most are quite crystallized and not very lengthy; thus, the reader will find an engaging and nicely paced text, with plenty of white space and full color illustrations, and be able to pick up and put the book down without easily losing the thread of the ideas and suggestions.

Fun to read, Companions in the Tao is sure to strike some major chords in those who have committed themselves to Yi Ren Qigong practice and internal energetic cultivation, as well as to their Companion in the Tao!

Here’s what one longtime practitioner had to say about our new manual Companions in the Tao:

Here is yet another inspired manual for cultivators by Jill Gonet. Taoist esotericism made practical! This two-volume set is all about relationships: with your being (physical and energetic), your home, the deities/immortals, work, food, spiritual practice and, if you have one, your cultivation companion. It offers great insight and suggestions that the author has gleaned from decades (and likely lifetimes) of study, practice, and personal experience; an offering to help guide you through the minefields of habitual and conditioned responses that humans inevitably accumulate. Leading, hopefully, to greater conscious engagement and satisfaction with life, as it presents its ever changing faces. I haven’t encountered another Taoist book that covers the material in this way. I definitely suggest that you get it!

─ Joseph Titland

Conserving the Qi and Expanding the Elixir Fields: Seventy-Seven Rules for Taoist Internal Cultivation

by Jill Gonet, MFA

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Conserving the Qi and Expanding the Elixir Fields: Seventy-Seven Rules for Taoist Internal Cultivation addresses the larger project of internal energetic cultivation for those practitioners interested in taking their practice to another level. And while there are no specific energetic practice protocols included in this manual, it does contain an abundance of candid, practical, and frank guidance.

 

This manual has been in the works for quite some time.  Dr. Guan-Cheng Sun reviewed it twice over the years, and suggested the addition of the present Rule #52.  He had been considering this manual for use as a text book for Yi Ren Qigong practitioners. This new manual is now available to help practitioners to stay on track with their cultivation process in his absence. It is 92 pages long.

Bill Fouts, Dr. Guan-Cheng Sun’s first disciple, and distinguished long time Yi Ren Qigong teacher in his own right, has this to say about Conserving the Qi and Expanding the Elixir Fields: Seventy-Seven Rules for Taoist Internal Cultivation:

I really like this book.

Normally I bristle and resist any implied or stated rules. This is different, it comes from a place of deep insight, and compassion.

If you’re planning a trip to a foreign destination, it’s good to have a conversation with a like-minded friend who has already been there.

This book is that conversation.

No matter where you are in your cultivation practice, you will find insight, inspiration, and guidance in this book.

I highly recommend that you get a copy, you’ll be glad you did.

─ Bill Fouts

Applications of the Five Elements Theory

from a seminar with Guan-Cheng, PhD

Based on a practitioner retreat Dr. Sun offered in 2008, this is a wonderful collection of transformational practice protocols, and includes exercises for Cultivating Internal Fire Energy, Cultivating Internal Earth Energy, Regulating Excess Internal Wood Energy with Metal Energy, and Regulating Excess Metal Energy with Water Energy.

 

 

 

Yi Ren Medical Qigong for Spring Cleansing and Weight Loss

by Guan-Cheng, PhD and Jill Gonet, MFA 

This manual is based on Dr. Sun’s seasonal classic seminar Yi Ren Medical Qigong for Spring Cleansing and Weight Loss.  This is a lovely set of practice protocols, including a couple of exercises familiar to all who have taken Levels 1-3, as well as several exercises specifically designed for the topic.  The protocols included will help harmonize the body for the transition into spring, as well as help the stomach to become more awakened.

Dr. Sun practiced these protocols himself every late winter/early spring for many years.  When he was a child, his maternal granduncle who was a Taoist priest, would come down the mountain and visit Dr. Sun’s family.  The visit consisted of granduncle, however, going into the closet and fasting, and sitting there in a state of suspended yogic animation for several weeks. No doubt this left a deep impression on Dr. Sun at the time, and he eventually came to practice spring cleansing and stomach regulation himself as well.  (Please note: You don’t have to sit in a closet to do these, or stop eating completely in order to follow these protocols and gain something valuable from them!)

Yi Ren Medical Qigong Type 2 Diabetes Management Manual

by Guan-Cheng, PhD

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The protocols included in this manual were developed by Dr. Sun specifically for a National Institute of Health pilot study Dr. Sun conducted at Bastyr University.  The pilot study demonstrated the remarkable effectiveness of Yi Ren Qigong in addressing Type 2 Diabetes in contrast to a placebo group and to a group engaged in resistance training with weights.

 

Also available Diabetes-Free practice DVD. To see more information please click the button below.

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Forms of Meditation

from a seminar with Guan-Cheng, PhD

The this manual, Forms of Meditation, is from a seminar Dr. Sun offered, and will give practitioners useful tools to meet their needs in different situations. This is a short manual, but offers some extremely practical and helpful protocols. Included protocols include a form of meditation for releasing negative or unhealthy energies or emotions; a form for absorbing and digesting positive and nourishing energies; a form for protection; and a form to retain energies so they won’t leak away.

The purpose of meditation is to help people to enlighten their mind.  The mind is the navigator of the internal and external energy flow, but without a clear mind—even if people have abundant energy—it may not be beneficial. Dr. Sun focuses in these protocols and retreat notes on the relationship between the mind and the energy, teaching how to use the mind to manage and direct the energy properly.

Yi Ren Qigong Practices and Meditations Based upon the Dao De Jing

from a seminar with Guan-Cheng, PhD

This manual based on a seminar Dr. Sun offered in 2007:

Yi Ren Qigong Practices and Meditations Based upon the Dao De Jing.  One of the hallmarks of Dr. Sun’s teachings and the way he delivered them was his ability to make the teachings both current and timeless.  This brief manual illustrates this, with its focus on our current energetic understanding and experience coupled with the references to Dao De Jing, in such exercises as Entering the Gate of Xuan, Upgrading the Wisdom Gate (Xuan Zhong—Internal Bellows), Quiet Sitting and Internal Observation, and Resting in Xuan.

 

Wu Wei, Return to the Source

from a seminar with Guan-Cheng, PhD

 

 

Wu Wei, Return to the Source, a manual based on a seminar Dr. Sun offered in 2006. This manual includes exercises such as Prenatal Meditation, Brain Gate Activating, Brain Gate Meditation, and Internal Realization Meditation/Golden Garden.

The Sound-Energy Center Correspondences Manual

from a seminar with Guan-Cheng, PhD

This manual is based on a seminar Dr. Guan-Cheng Sun presented in 2013.  For the first decade of Dr. Sun’s teaching in the west, sound-energy center correspondence practice was a core component of YI REN Qigong.  After 30 years have passed, we feel it still is. This particular approach to awakening and attuning to the energy centers is compelling for the way in which it accomplishes the goal in a relaxed and gentle manner. These sounds can nourish the organs and energy centers; with this set of practice protocols, we can tune in where the sounds are most sustaining and energizing. One of the major benefits of sound practice is the way in which it quiets the mind and may more easily lead to a Zen orientation, for sometimes with movement practice we might still find ourselves processing the events of the day even as we are engaging in our usual exercises. With the sound practices, even in the midst of difficulties in situations, or issues with motivating ourselves to do our energetic practice, we can still tune in with these profoundly simple and effective exercises to bring mind, energy, and body into alignment and unity.