Big news! The baby of Wandering Dao has a new sister – Mood Food Energy Café is open and running! Healthy, organic, vegetarian, GMO-free and/or raw meals are not so easy to come by in China, even in such a tourist-friendly place as Yangshuo, but luckily now there’s us! Monday was Mood Food’s first opening day and since then people have been trickling in and we can say by now that our menu is a success! Actually we’ve already had to tell people wanting to praise us on Tripadvisor that unfortunately we’re not listed yet! But we are working on it and it will happen soon… We’ are on Foursquare though, so do feel free to check in and leave your comments there! The more, the better! And here’s a little peek into our new world! Welcome! And enjoy your meal! (Why no pictures of food? No worries, they’re coming up in the next batch of...
Weekly Insight By Master Daniel Li Ox Humanity’s awareness has mostly thrived within the materialistic realm. How amazing what we’ve created in terms of technological means to explore the outer Universe. Nowadays, we can easily travel around the world in a very short time. Not long ago, we touched the surface of the moon, and recently, we sent out a fabulous robotic explorer, which connects us directly with a live view of the Cosmos. These are only the big collective events. On an individual scale, human awareness is invested in an average of 24 hours a week of TV watching, and most of our yearly holidays are spent in travel. Without a doubt, humanity has tried to conquer the outer world as a means to achieve happiness. At the same time, science has been inquiring in the opposite direction, hypothesizing that even the smallest particle is endlessly contracting and dividing, thus moving towards infinity as well. So If we look at humanity as being the midpoint between the infinitely big (the ever expanding Universe) and the infinitely small (the endlessly contracting or dividing smallest particle), then doesn’t the outer Universe only represent half of the whole portrait? And if we’re standing in the middle of these two halves, wouldn’t it be sensible to assume that they are directly connected in a continuum? If this is true, then there is no separation between what is inside and what is seen outside. Thus, our inner world becomes the one acting behind the scenes as the matrix of our outer reality. With that understanding, we can see clearly that by only looking outward...
•It’s time to interview Work/Study participant Jesse! Would you like to introduce yourself? Hey, my name is Jesse and I come from the US. I’ve lived in China and learned some taiji and qigong before, but it’s my first time doing anything like this retreat. •What is the reason you are here at Wandering Dao? I came to Wandering Dao to explore my interest in qigong, taiji and daoist studies, and also learn how to heal my body. I’ve been studying Chinese language, Chinese philosophy and anything having to do with Chinese culture for seven or eight years now, so being able to do this program while being in China seemed like a really good opportunity for me. •What kind of work do you do here? I find myself doing all different kinds of jobs. My main focus is on creating the materials to promote the upcoming retreat and also the expansion of the center; but I also find myself participating in more creative projects like designing the restaurant, helping with the menu and building various structures and things to help improve the look and feel of the center. Since I speak Chinese, I also end up doing a lot of translating for everybody – which I enjoy! •Were there any difficulties or challenges you have encountered? Of course. We are uncovering a lot of emotions and past memories that we’ve chosen to bury safely over the years. So, with the detox cleanse and things like massage and stretching, a lot of these things have come to the surface for me. Ordinarily, I would maybe deal with these things in my...
Things at the center are finally coming together. This week, we completed the move into our spectacular new kitchen and most of the debris has been lifted from the future dining area. Now we are simply awaiting the addition of furnishings, some more kitchen appliances, plus a few more staff members and the Mood Food Café will be under way! The best part is that we have to use the coming weeks to test all the recipes we plan to have as menu options. Nothing but good eatin’ ahead! In other news, we have a new work/study student joining us. We have all welcomed Bridget (USA) with open arms, but didn’t waste a moment before putting her to work! She accepted her new role gracefully, and the team feels even more complete now. Stay tuned for an interview with Bridget in a coming newsletter! Last week marked the beginning of a new segment in our training called the Dao of Mind Control. This is the second section of the Self Healing Essentials Empowerment Program that will comprise the second two week block of the retreat in October as well. As the meditation deepens, creativities abound – perfect timing for us all to collaborate on the final design work for the new...
Lately, many of us have been reflecting on how fortunate we are to find ourselves undergoing this training in such an exotic place as China and under such particularly magical scenery as found here in Yangshuo. Even after several months of walking the same streets in the same small community, we still go out each day filled with a sense of adventure that is feels much more akin to traveling than ordinary living. In China, it is unavoidable that life continues to present an unexpected variety around every turn. This helps to keep us alert and deeply fascinated – a feeling we all long for in our daily lives back home. So far, the Dao of Mind Control has been all about going inside and being excited about what you find there. On Thursday, Daniel related this to the experience of a child taking a car ride to a nearby destination. In the back seat they can’t sit still as they are overflowing with enthusiasm and anticipation of what they might find upon entering the unknown. Immediately after arriving, they may run around with curious excitement, marveling at simple wonders that are completely new and exciting. What’s interesting, is that after growing up a bit, this same child will probably drive his or her own car to that same destination, but have somehow lost the lust for exploration and the ability to see past the familiar, the ordinary. Our experience in China has shown that there are always interesting things to observe and interact with – even in one’s everyday environment – but if they aren’t screaming for attention as...
Master Gao Yan-Tao passed away in his sleep on June 15th, 2013. One of my most revered masters just passed away in his sleep at the age of 88 years old. He practiced and taught Qi Gong, Tai Ji, and Kung Fu until his last day, was never sick during his life and died healthy. I will always remember this great man for his humility, and for his peaceful and pacifying mind. His disciples called him Papa. Out of all the great training Papa gave me, I will remember and pass forward two main messages. They were expressed in his extremely limited English: “Hey! Very good” and “One more time”. He taught all his students to love themselves and appreciate their progress as it unfolds, and to be consistent with their practices as consistency is the secret behind mastery. Thank you, Papa for your life and may you travel as gracefully dressed in Light as you did in your training...
Weekly Insight by Master Daniel Li Ox All along the eternal journey of the Soul, our consciousness encountered an infinite spectrum of experiences. At some point, the dualistic mind of the ego has taken the command and started to refuse some aspects of the natural unfolding of life. This conditional acceptance lies at the source of our contractions, which are holding fragments of the past. Everything is energy. You and me, the weather, the things that surround you, a situation, or an event; absolutely everything is energy that has manifested in various shapes. By being selective and refusing certain expressions of life itself, the creation of tensions blocks the natural movement of life and holds it trapped within our field. Theses unhealthy reactions, which are clumsy attempts to avoid feeling uncomfortable events, have created bubbles of stagnant energies within the tissues of our bodies. These bubbles hold memories of life inside, a kind of collection of disliked feelings. Healing is about freeing our body-mind-spirit from the tensions and trapped energies that are keeping the ghosts of our most unpleasant experiences within our energy field. A healing journey is about turning our awareness inward in search of those retained energies so we can allow them to continue on their way through our body-mind-spirit, and out of our field. It doesn’t matter if the energy was trapped yesterday, during childhood or during a past embodiment, the intensity of the memories and feelings locked in that energy has been unaltered. No matter the terror, the sadness, or the physical pain that was there before, the healing will find all this untouched. Healing...
* Aixing, you came here to Yangshuo to participate in the Work/Study Program – would you like to introduce yourself? Yes, I’m a Vietnamese, I’m interested in learning to master the healthy life and the human harmony. * What is the reason you are here at Wandering Dao? I’m here to learn more about a healthy, organic lifestyle. That is not just only a physical heathy life but also a mental, spiritual life. Learning and praticing every day makes me feel more with each part of my body, it helps me to get in touch with my root, my soul, my energy. I’m here because I want to master me myself either in physical field or spiritual field. * What kind of work do you do here? My main job is to develop the menu, which includes detox diet menu and retox diet menu for using during the retreat and for the restaurant that is being built. * Were there difficulties or challenges you encountered? Well, there were some. The first day I came to Wandering Dao, I knew hardly anything about feeling my “dantian.” I had been introduced and done some meditation before but there had not had anybody to tell me that you should breathe to your different organs in your body, and I had never lived in a community like this before. But I always try to keep reminding Master Daniel speech “ When the spirit is low everything becomes a problem, when the spirit is average, everything is a challenge, and when the spirit is high, everything becomes an opportunity.” And I want to have the...
When the mess left behind comes to the surface… With the fast behind us, the crew here at Wandering Dao all assumed that the hard part was over and we would be able to simply bask in the golden light of health and wellness as we allowed ourselves to indulge again in fine cuisine and energizing foods. This was the case maybe for a few days, but the honeymoon ended quickly. The pain of healing and rebirth has been acute and all-present. Fortunately, qigong has provided us with many tricks to help ease the process. As Maris shares, “My true healing crisis came after the fast – my lifelong allergy popped up on my face worse than than it had ever been. It was torture. I automatically started looking for outside reasons for it and it took real effort to look from the inside. When I went deeper into my discomfort, I eventually reached the place where I recognized my rash, swelling and itchiness as healing. There is a sense of tremendous release at the other end of the pain. Realizing that healing is up to me and my self-discipline gives me a feeling of being in control of my own life and what’s more empowering than that?” Although release has tended to be unpleasant, some of our experiences have been more confounding – bordering on amazing. “I have been dreaming a lot more since the fast, and very vividly.” Jesse reflects. “Also, throughout the day, and during meditation as well, I keep having these strange memories and images of old friends… places, even just past acquaintances – many of whom...
There is a misconception in the world about healing. Our qigong and Daoist training has been teaching us that, ultimately, the only person who can heal you is yourself. What’s more, a crucial part of the healing process typically comes in the form of a surge – a healing crisis. This logic behind personal healing also seems to follow for the establishment of a healing center – in China anyway! We have each been feeling the crisis for Inner Happiness Wellness Center and Mood Food Cafe as renovation is now in full swing. Our excitement over having a new kitchen, an exciting project to work on, and an amazing cafe to share healthy food with friends and strangers has been muted by the incessant screech of power tools, endless pounding of hammers, and an extensive accumulation of debris, dust and filth in nearly every corner of our sacred living space. We have already moved and re-moved our temporary kitchen twice so that many of our essential ingredients and tools have been buried or gone missing. Even the city of Yangshuo, itself, has fallen into sync with our process as the street in front of our home has been ripped open to be replaced with a brand new sidewalk. You actually have to be careful when stepping out of the gate in order to not fall into a chasm! I suspect that any outsider visiting the Inner Happiness Wellness Center, a place that will be touted as a nurturing abode for health and relaxation, at this time, wouldn’t last more than a few minutes before losing it completely...
