Entering the Tao: Master Ni's Guidance for Self-Cultivation

The beginning was great. I loved the chapter on Zero Doctrine, and in fact that chapter in the sample is what caused me to buy the book. The next chapter on "what my mother taught me" was very good for me. It spoke directly to my own issues I've had with spirituality and distancing myself from mundane life. It got better and better.I decided to jump to the end as one chapter title intrigued me. That's when I hit the opposite of the beginning of the work... later on in the book we get to some really odd chapters like "Basic Spiritual Self-Protection":•  Do not accept gifts from people who have bad or low energy.•  Do not read books written by authors whose energy is confused or gross. Songs, music, and art which may have been created with a distorted vision should also be avoided or they may lead to ill effects.•  Do not visit or stay in places where the energy is unhealthy. Do not live in a house or place that has bad energy.•  Do not visit the sick or attend funerals unless it is absolutely unavoidable; special purification is needed after such visits.Ni, Hua-Ching (2013-11-19). Entering the Tao: Master Ni's Teachings on Self-Cultivation (Kindle Locations 2097-2098). Shambhala Publications. Kindle Edition.What I have a problem with here, is that he is starts off with Zero Doctrine (meaning no dogma... not following one thing based on a set of rules, but use our intuition to tap into the Tao and follow truth through intuition), we get towards the end of the book and the advice we get is a set of rules about the physical world and how it can affect us spiritually.Imagine if doctors and nurses followed the "avoid the sick" rule there. The problem with concerns like this, is in time they turn from advice to harsh fears.Later on in the Chapter, "Sun and Moon Practice," he gets into lots of superstition saying, "People who are born near the time of the full moon are brighter, as a rule, than people born on the night of the new moon. If those born on the new moon do not have support from other energy sources, such as good spiritual inheritance, they will not be as smart. In general, intelligence is connected with the moon. You should not have sex, therefore, on a night with no moonlight, because if you conceive a child at that time, the baby’s mind will not develop well."Ni, Hua-Ching (2013-11-19). Entering the Tao: Master Ni's Teachings on Self-Cultivation (Kindle Locations 2415-2418). Shambhala Publications. Kindle Edition.Where the book starts is sublime... the beginning is not about concerning ourselves with physical objects, people or negative energy. It's not about obeying countless thousands of rules from what we eat, to when we have sex... but it certainly ends there.It's frustrating for me. It's like a lot of spiritual paths - they start out awesome, then as you get deeper into it you find all these rules that are grounded on superstition or fear. There's no statistical relevance to intelligence and being conceived on a new moon. We know this. Without science we know this intuitively.The very teachings of the Tao that is stated in the beginning of the book is that yin/yang are within each other. If instead of avoiding negative people, music or art made by "negative" people, we could look at the positive expressed within them (as it has to be, according to his teachings on yin/yang) then we can actually live in the world without concern or fear.These concerns and rules he lays out will become fears. Spirituality is not constrained, controlled, hampered or harmed by the physical world. In other words, we don't need to be hermits, be born in India, be monastics, avoid negative people, sick people.... We can express spirituality wherever or whenever we are.Ok, so I sound pretty harsh, I realize that... The book itself is filled with gold. The points that bothered me where in the minority of the teachings of the book. 90% of the book is golden with lots of wisdom and encouragement.I would like to find a teaching on Taoism that doesn't fall back on fear and avoidance and tons of rules from what I eat, wear, what time of day I have sex, etc. The Kabbalah Center is a similar example of this fear... their red string being a token to ward off the "evil eye," or their fear of the word "Lillith." Superstition isn't spirituality.Spirituality should transcend the physical world, not be manipulated by it.

The selections in this book are independent from each other: some are stories, some are explanations, some are instruction. Most are less than a page long. This is not a guidebook in a conventional sense. The selections do not function as chapters, aphorisms or platitudes. Instead, they are meant to 'convey', in the same sense that each stanza of the Tao Te Ching conveys.I find this style enjoyable and useful for two reasons.First, it allows the reader to pick up the book on any page, read a topic, and reflect on it - just as one would with the Tao Te Ching.Second, the shortness of each section tends to prevent a reader from focusing too intently on words and concepts, rather than embodying in themselves what has been conveyed by a particular selection.It is appropriate that a guide like this is not "in-depth" in a cognitive sense. As the author says, "The Tao is really simple; it is people who make it complicated. They must awaken from the complications they have created for themselves and dare to live a plain and truthful natural life."Kudos go to the editor, too, for her choice of excerpts and the layout.

This book serves two great purposes: 1. As a basic introduction to the philosophy and understanding of what Taoism is and 2.As a great daily reader for a practicing Taoist for constant learning and daily practices. A good friend of mine, who is a life long Christian, loved this book to help her understand where a Taoist focuses. Highly recommended book for anyone.

Hua-Ching NiIs an excellent teacher and he is about as clear as one can be.Thanks for putting his work out here and now

Master Ni provides an excellent and practical overview of the practices with which to achieve psychological, emotional, and spirtitual balance and well-being and the physical health that naturally flows from the attainment of such balance and well-being.

Good deep new age thinking. No religious and delivers the peace I was seeking for.Recommended to all agesand enojy it.

Thought provoking!!!

Very good starterbook on Tao, actually to general positve way of living, ofcourse much comparission to buddhism, especially if you consider that basic buddhism also says; trying to be or calling yourself buddhist is often missing the point, that's tao, that's the WAY ...