Reid - The Tao of health, sex, and longevity: a modern practical guide to the ancient way

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Also by Daniel P. Reid

The Tao of Detox

Guarding the Three Treasures

A Complete Guide to Chi-Gung

Harnessing the Power of the Universe

The Art and Alchemy of Chinese Tea

A Handbook of Chinese Healing Herbs

We wish to thank to following for providing illustrations: Huang Chao-Ming, Frances Langton-Lockton, Russel McClay, Chou Yun-y

This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author. It is sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering health services in the book. The reader should consult his or her own medical and health providers as appropriate before adopting any of the suggestions in this book or drawing inferences from it.

The author and publisher specifically disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.

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Copyright 1989 by Daniel Reid

Originally published in Great Britain by Simon & Schuster Ltd.

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This Touchstone trade paperback edition April 2015

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Cover design by Susan Zucker

Cover art iStock

The Library of Congress has cataloged the Fireside edition as follows:

Reid, Daniel P., 1948

The Tao of health, sex, and longevity : a modern practical guide to the ancient way / Daniel Reid.

p. cm.

A Fireside book.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Taoist hygiene. 2. Health. 3. Sexual health. I. Title.

RA781 .R34 1989

89-10098

ISBN 978-0-671-64811-4

ISBN 978-1-4391-4807-5 (ebook)

This book is dedicated
to
all spiritual descendants
of the Plain Girl,
East and West,
and to
Taoists everywhere,
past and present

Tao is the primal power that forges all phenomena in the universe, from the infinite to the infinitesimal. Invisible yet ever present, Tao permeates the world with the very breath of life, and those who learn how to harmonize themselves with Tao may harness that power to enhance and prolong their own lives.

Although the principles of Tao were first formulated in words and symbols by the sages of ancient China about 5,000 years ago, Tao predates human civilization and transcends all boundaries of space and time, race and culture, for Tao is the universal and enduring Way of Nature. But thanks to the wisdom and insight of the ancient sages who gave birth to the worlds oldest ongoing civilization, traditional Chinese culture evolved entirely around the fundamental framework of Tao, and today its principles still lie at the heart of all the classical Chinese arts, from philosophy to poetry, calligraphy to cooking, medicine to meditation.

Tao is more than just a philosophy of life. Its a whole way of life, and the only way to realize practical benefits from Tao is to cultivate and practice it. This was the goal of the ancient Chinese sages, and fortunately they left us abundant records charting their progress along the Way. Today, the most enlightened practitioners of modern Western science are also approaching the Tao, but from the opposite direction, and they are arriving at precisely the same conclusions. This is most apparent in the fields of physics and medicine, where the mutable relationship between matter and energy, body and mind, is beginning to emerge. Still, while the conclusions are essentially identical, the poetic imagery and earthy allusions with which the Chinese sages elucidated the Tao and its power are far easier for the average man and woman to grasp than the complex technical jargon favored by modern Western scientists, and therefore its simpler to view the Tao through Chinese eyes.

This book focuses on three practical aspects of Tao that have always been of vital concern to men and women everywhere: health, sex, and longevity. All three are intimately related, and together they form the foundation of human happiness. The purpose of this book is to provide the reader with a lucid introduction to the basic principles of Tao, and to offer a practical program by which men and women everywhere may apply those principles and tap the power of Tao to enhance and prolong their lives.

Research for this book was done primarily from original Chinese sources, although certain English translations of various Chinese texts were also consulted. Except where otherwise indicated, translations from the Chinese are based upon my own interpretations of the materials. My rendering of passages from the Tao Te Ching , however, closely follows the interpretation of the great English sinologist Arthur Waley, as recorded in his most excellent translation The Way and Its Power. In addition, I wish to acknowledge the deep inspirations provided by the prolific writings of the late sinologist John Blofeld, as well as the pioneering work of R. H. van Gulik.

Supporting evidence from Western science was culled from various reference books, medical journals, health studies, magazines, and recent newspaper reports, most of which are cited in the text or listed in Additional Recommended Reading. However, lest readers mistake this book for a mere recapitulation of existing materials East and West, I wish to attest that I have been practicing all the regimens described here for many years and that this book is based as much on personal practical experience as on scholarly research.

May this book provide all readers with abundant food for thought and sufficient fuel for practice on the Way to a long and healthy life!

DANIEL P. REID

Phoenix Mountain

Peitou, Taiwan

October 1988

There was something formless yet complete

That existed before heaven and earth;

Without sound, without substance,

Dependent on nothing, unchanging,

All pervading, unfailing.

One may think of it as the mother

Of all things under heaven.

Its true name I do not know;

Tao is the nickname I give it.

These mysterious words come from the beguiling 5,000-word poem on Tao called Tao Te Ching , written almost 2,500 years ago and traditionally attributed to Lao Tze, the Old Sage. The incisive insights contained in the terse verse of this enchanting book form a living fountain of wisdom that has brought comfort, advice, and enlightenment to millions of people throughout the world. No other book has been translated as widely and as frequently as Lao Tzes Tao Te Ching , and no book except the Bible has been translated as often into English. As of 1955, there were 100 different translations in print throughout the world, 90 in Western languages, 36 in English alone.