Tao of Letting Go: Meditation for Modern Living

180 Pages·2009·21.81 MB·English

TAO OF LETTING GO
MEDITATION FOR MODERN LIVING
THE TAOIST WATER TRADITION PASSED DOWN BY LAO TSE
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DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY
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FRANTZIS
AUTHOR OF THE CHI REVOLUTION
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012
http://archive.org/details/taooflettinggomeOOfran
TAO OF LETTING GO
Other Books by Bruce Frantzis
Relaxing into Your Being (TAO Meditation, Volume I):
Chi, Breathing and Dissolving Inner Pain
The Great Stillness (TAO Meditation, Volume 2):
Body Awareness, Moving Meditation and Sex Chi Gung
The Chi Revolution:
Harness the Healing Power of Your Life Force
Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body:
Chi Gungfor Lifelong Health
The Power ofInternal Martial Arts and Chi:
Combat and Energy Secrets ofBa Gua, Tai Chi and Hsing-I
Tai Chi: Health for Life;
Why It Works for Health, Stress Reliefand Longevity
Dragon and Tiger Medical Chi Gung Instruction Manual
TAO OF LETTING GO
MEDITATION FOR MODERN LIVING
Bruce Frantzis
fBLUE SNAKE BOOKS
BERKELEY. CALIFORNIA
TAO of Letting Go: Meditationfor Modern Living
Copyright © 2009 by Bruce Frantzis. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except
for brief reviews, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
form or by any means— electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—
without written permission of the publisher.
Published by Energy Arts, Inc. Publications, P. O. Box 99, Fairfax, CA 94978
Distributed by North Atlantic Books, P. O. Box 12327, Berkeley, CA 94712
The following trademarks are used under license by Energy Arts, Inc., from Bruce Frantzis:
Frantzis Energy Arts® system. Mastery Without Mystery®, Longevity Breathing® program,
Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body™ chi gung, Marriage of Heaven and Earth™ chi
gung, Bend the Bow™ spinal chi gung, Spiraling Energy Body™ chi gung, Gods Playing
in the Clouds™ chi gung, Living Taoism™ collection, Chi Rev Workout™ , HeartChi™
and <?k^s? *** ®
North Atlantic Books is part of the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a
nonprofit educational corporation whose goals are to develop an educational and cross-
cultural perspective linking various scientific, social and artistic fields; to nurture a holistic
view of arts, sciences, humanities and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on
the relationship of mind, body and nature.
Editing: Heather Hale, Energy Arts, Inc., and Anne Connolly, North Atlantic Books, Inc.
Interior Design: Lisa Petty, GirlVibe, Inc.
Cover Design: Rick Snizik, Snizik Marketing and Design, LLC.
Copyediting: Nancy Riccio, Plateau MediaWorks, Inc.
Illustrations: Michael McKee
Back Cover Photo: Guy Kowarsh
Printed in the United States of America
PLEASE NOTE: The practice of Taoist energy arts and the meditative arts may carry risks.
The information in this book is not in any way intended as a substitute for medical, men-
tal or emotional counseling with a licensed physician or healthcare provider. The reader
should consult a professional before undertaking any martial arts, movement, meditative
arts, health or exercise program to reduce the chance of injury or any other harm that
may result from pursuing or trying any technique discussed in this book. Any physical or
other distress experienced during or after any exercise should not be ignored and should
be brought to the attention of a healthcare professional. The creators and publishers of
this book disclaim any liabilities for loss in connection with following any of the prac-
tices described in this book, and implementation is at the discretion, decision and risk of
the reader.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Frantzis, Bruce Kumar.
The tao of letting go : how to meditate / Bruce Frantzis.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-55643-808-0
1. Meditation-Taoism. I. Title.
BL 1 923 .F74 2009
299.5' 14435--dc22
123456789 Peter Schultz Printing 14 1 3 12 1 1 10 09
5 1 3 1
CONTENTS
DEDICATION 1 1
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 1
FOREWORD 1
INTRODUCTION 17
Why Meditate? 1 7
Integrating the Experiences of Your Life 1 8
What Is Meditation? 19
Lao Tse's Tradition 2
Balancing Expectations 21
An Education about Your Inner World 22
CHAPTER 1 : The Water Tradition of Taoist Meditation 25
Inner versus Outer Wealth 25
The Water Tradition 26
Balance, Then Compassion 27
The 70 Percent Rule 27
Old View for the New World 28
Accepting the Here and Now 29
The Dissolving Method 30
CHAPTER 2: Breathing and Body Awareness 33
The Stress Response 33
Longevity Breathing 34
^ Personal Practice Session 1 35
<&&? Author-guided Practice Session 1 35
Becoming Present 36
Physiology of the Breath 36
The Internal Organs of the Body 37
^ Personal Practice Session 2 38
Greatest Transformative Benefit with the Least Effort 38
^Author-guided Practice Session 2 39
CHAPTER 3: Body Alignments for Sitting Meditation 4
Physical Mechanics 41
Find Your Alignments 42
6 TAO ofLetting Go
Know Thy Kwa 46
The Solution: Stretch and Keep the Kwa Open 48
Exercises to Stretch the Kwa 49
^Author-guided Practice Session 3 53
Sit Well, Be Grounded 53
CHAPTER 4: Blockages: Recognizing the Four Conditions 57
Strength 57
$£& Personal Practice Session 3 59
Tension 60
g^ Personal Practice Session 4 61
When Something Doesn't Feel Quite Right 63
^ Personal Practice Session 5 65
Contraction 66
g& Personal Practice Session 6 66
^Author-guided Practice Session 4 67
Putting It All Together 68
gj^ Personal Practice Session 7 68
The Present Is Freedom 72
Make Time Anytime 73
CHAPTER 5: The Dissolving Method:
A Process of Letting Go 75
The Eight Energy Bodies 76
Nervous Tension 77
Letting Go into Happiness 77
Outer and Inner Dissolving 79
Letting Go Externally and Internally 80
^ Personal Practice Session 8 82
^Author-guided Practice Session 5 83
Let Go, Chi Flows 84
^ Personal Practice Session 9 85
CHAPTER 6: Deepening Your Dissolving Practice 87
The Value of Outer Dissolving 87
The Value of Inner Dissolving 88
What Should I Let Go Of? 89
Cutting the Root of an Agenda 90
Applying the Mind's Intent 90
Beyond Past, Present and Future 91
71 5
Contents 7
^ Personal Practice Session 10 92
Beyond Ordinary Conscious Thought 93
(§£ Personal Practice Session 1 1 94
v£K Author-guided Practice Session 6 95
Freedom Is Space 95
CHAPTER 7: The Descending Current of Chi:
From Heaven to Earth 97
Targeting Specific Blockages 98
Your Intuition Is the Guide 99
^Author-guided Practice Session 7 101
Penetrating the Core of a Blockage 101
CHAPTER 8: How to Train the Monkey Mind 1 03
Calming the Monkey 103
Distraction after Clearing Blocks 104
^&?Author-guided Practice Session 8 1 05
Dissolving a Psychic Itch 105
CHAPTER 9: Dissolving Emotions and Shock 1 09
Feeling Emotions below the Surface 109
J^ Personal Practice Session 12 1 09
^Author-guided Practice Session 9 111
Letting Go Begins with Your Intention 1 1 1
The Courage to Practice 1 1 2
Dissolving Shock 1 12
CHAPTER 10: Dissolving Fog and Depression 1 1
Deceptive Internal Dialogue 1 16
Face or Happiness— It's Your Choice 1 1
Depression Is a Black Hole 1 1 8
^^Author-guided Practice Session 10 118
Oh, You Think Life Is Fair?! 119
CHAPTER 11: Ten Thousand Agendas and the Greatest
Poverty in Existence 1 2
Formulating an Agenda 121
^Author-guided Practice Session 11 123
The Beast of Greed 1 23
Loneliness 1 23
The Antidote to Greed 1 24
1 1 1
8 TAO ofLetting Co
CHAPTER 12: Anxiety: The Disease ofthe Modern Age 1 25
The Energy of Overwhelmingness 1 26
^Author-guided Practice Session 12 1 26
The Mentality of an Overachiever 1 27
Find the Joy that's Already Here 1 27
Perfection in Imperfection 1 28
Finding Space with Clarity 1 30
CHAPTER 13: Anger and Frustration as Agendas 1 3
Don't Wait for an Explosion 1 3
^^Author-guided Practice Session 13 132
When Everyone Is the Enemy 133
^ Personal Practice Session 13 1 34
Denial Is Anger's Partner 1 35
CHAPTER 14: Fear as an Agenda 1 37
Confronting the Fear of Not Existing 1 38
Dissolving Fear as an Agenda 139
^Author-guided Practice Session 14 141
Spacing Out and Internal Fog 141
Unexpressed Fear 142
Bodily Fear 142
The Three Aspects of Fear 1 43
The Root of All Fear 144
CHAPTER 15: Pain as an Agenda 1 45
Physical Pain 145
^Author-guided Practice Session 15 147
Becoming a Mature Human Being 147
The Pain of Thought 149
<g&Author-guided Practice Session 16 150
Emotional Pain 150
<S&Author-guided Practice Session 17 151
Loss of a Loved One 1 5
&&>Author-guided Practice Session 18 153
Other Kinds of Loss 1 53
Dissolving Your Pain 153