Gilles Marin - Five Elements, Six Conditions: A Taoist Approach to Emotional Healing, Psychology, and Internal Alchemy

T his book is for anyone interested in understanding the work of healing at the physical as well as the mental, emotional, and spiritual levels. To understand healing at these multiple levels, we need to use a mental process that allows us to have a global appreciation of these different levels of existence. This is why I find it necessary to use the Eastern concept of the Taoist Law of the Five Elemental Forces of Nature.

To be complete, any healing method needs to embody a holistic perspective on health and existence. And to be accepted by the general public, it also has to make sense. In addition, I believe that human consciousness has reached a level that requires clarity rather than mysticism. We no longer live in a time when it was enough for us to just believe, to have blind faith in our doctors and other health care providers, or our religious leaders, for that matter. I chose the Taoist approach because of its comprehensive cosmology, scientific soundness, and use of the Law of Five Elemental Forces of Nature (also called the Law of the Five Elements or Law of Five Phases)and because it has a universal grasp of life. Its origins are deeply rooted in Taoist esoteric monastic practices and traditional wisdom, and it has survived the test of time. Today, despite the global pervasiveness of conventional allopathic medicine, it is the most popular traditional medical method used among Asian populations. In the West it has become a way of thinking that reconciles the most current scientific perspectives with both ancient and traditional philosophy and cosmology. Taoisms description of the world integrates completely with the most up-to-date theories in modern physics. Taoist cosmology, with its system of polarity (Yin and Yang), its Five Elemental Forces, and its sixty-four binary representations (IChing), is still, to this day, the most accurate and dynamic representation of existence. It has been used by scientists all over the world to help them progress in their methods of research, and many have written books about modern discoveries proving the truth of Taoist wisdom.

This book is based on more than twenty years of clinical practice and personal experience in a Taoist method of healing called Chi Nei Tsang, along with the exploration of a very wide spectrum of healing techniques as a client and practitioner of massage therapy. It is also the fruit of a regular practice of martial arts such as Aikido and Tai-Chi-Chuan, different forms of Chi-Kung (qigong), and various Taoist meditations since my first involvement with Aikido, bio-energy, and massage therapy in the mid-seventies when I was still a teenager. I owe my understanding of the working of the Taoist system of the Five Elemental Forces of Nature primarily to two great Taoist teachers, Dr. Stephen T. Chang and Master Mantak Chia. Dr. Chang taught me the principles of classical Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, internal exercises (Chi-Kung), classical Chinese herbology, the IChing, Feng-Shui, and Taoist philosophy. Master Chia has been my mentor in esoteric Taoist meditations and Chi-Kung practices since my mid-twenties.