Daoist Cultivation: Traditional Models and Contemporary Practice

Camp Sealth, Vashon Island, May 9-13, 2001

Acknowledgments: This conference was first conceived at the Conference on Daoism and Ecology, held at the Harvard University Center for World Religions in 1998. Here Harrison Moretz, Liu Ming, Livia Kohn, and Louis Komjathy first met and agreed that it might be both inspiring and fruitful to bring scholars and practitioners together in a secluded setting to talk about and experience different forms of Daoist cultivation. Now, almost two years later, the conference is about to become a reality, thanks mainly to the untiring efforts of Louis Komjathy and, very importantly, to the generous financial support of the Forum on Religion and Ecology, under the directorship of Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim.

Papers are no longer available in PDF format. They are due to be published in a collection edited by Louis Komjathy

Schedule

May 9

Wednesday

2-6 pm Arrival
6-7:30 Dinner, Introductions, Orientation
8-9 Practice
Harrison Mor Meditation and Self-Massage
May 10 Thursday
7-8 Practice
Michael Winn Inner Smile
8-8:45 Breakfast
9-11:30 Panel 1: Early Cultivation
Livia Kohn Chair
Harold Roth
The 'Numinous Essay' in the Huainanzi and the Foundations of Inner Cultivation Practice
Patricia Leong The Daoyin tu
James Miller Living Light: Shangqing Visualization in Theory and Practice
11:30-12:30 Lunch
2:30-3:30 Practice
Jeff Nagel Qigong
3:30-6 Panel 2: Modern Cultivation
Michael Saso Chair
Solala Towler The Slippery Art of Wuwei
Harrison Moretz Daoist Elements of Taiji quan
Scott Phillips Push-Hands and Wuwei: How Daoist Method Embodies Daoist View
6-7 Dinner
7-9 Free conversation
9-10 Practice
Liu Ming Zuowang
May 11 Friday
7-8 Practice
Patricia Leong Liuzi jue
8-8:45 Breakfast
9-12 Panel 3: Ethics and Ascetics 
Harold Roth Chair
Livia Kohn Morality and Daoist Cultivation
Suzanne Cahill Women's Cultivation in the Tang
Chunyi Lin Daoist Ascetic Practices
Brock Silvers Modern Daoist Communities in China and the U.S.
12-12:45 Lunch
2-3 Practice
Solala Towler Wuji gong
3-6 Panel 4: Internal Alchemy
Terry Kleeman Chair
Elena Valussi Nüdan-Female Alchemy
Xun Liu To Enter the Chamber: The Ethos of Duo Practice in Late Ming Inner Alchemy
Roger Jahnke Three Treasure Neidan: A Form of Internal Alchemy
Michael Winn Daoist Alchemical Formulas as a Deep Language Structure for Communication with Nature
6-7 Dinner
7-9 Free conversation
9-10 Practice
Scott Phillips Qigong
May 12 Saturday
7-8 Practice
Roger Jahnke Neidan
8-8:45 Breakfast
9-11:30 Panel 5: Medicine and Daoist Cultivation
Suzanne Cahill Chair
Heiner Fruehauf Acupuncture Points: Mythology and Symbolism
Jeff Nagel Daoism and Chinese Medicine
Nam Singh Daoist Dietetics
11:30-12:30 Lunch
2:30-3:30 Practice
Harrison Moretz Hunyuan gong
3:30-6 Panel 6: Ritual and Lineage
James Miller Chair
Liu Ming The True and Simple: Criteria for Orthodox Practice According to the Liu-Zhang Covenant
Michael Saso On the Transmission and Practice of Daoist Registers
Terry Kleeman The Dao of Rites: Ritual Performance as a Path to Transcendence
6-7 Dinner
7-9 Free conversation
9-10 Practice
Heiner Fruehauf Qigong
May 13 Sunday
7-8 Practice
8-9 Breakfast
9-9:30 Concluding ceremony

Participants

Suzanne Cahill
secjbm34@aol.com
Transcendence and Divine Passion: The Queen Mother of the West in Medieval  China (Stanford UP, 1993)

Heiner Fruehauf
heiner@teleport.com
The Five Organ Networks of Chinese Medicine (Portland Institute for Traditional Medicine, 1997)
Pearls from the Golden Cabinet: The Practical Guide to the Use of Chinese Herbal Formulas (Portland Institute for Traditional Medicine, 1997)

Roger Jahnke
rjahnke@west.net
The Healer Within (Harper Collins, 1991)
The Healing Promise of Qi (Contemporary Books, 2002)

Terry Kleeman
terry.kleeman@colorado.edu

Livia Kohn
lkohn@bu.edu
God of the Dao: Lord Lao in History and Myth (U Michigan, 1998)
Daoism Handbook (E. Brill, 2000).

Louis Komjathy
komjathy@bu.edu

Patricia Leong
leonglaoshi@yahoo.com

Chunyi Lin
linsfqigong@msn.com

Liu Ming
liudao@aol.com
Dragon's Play: A New Taoist Transmission of the Complete Experience of Human Life (Berkeley: Great Circle Lifeworks, 1991)

Xun Liu
xun-liu@worldnet.att.net
"In Search of Immortality: A Study of Travel in Early Twentieth Century Neidan Practice." Taoist Resources 7.1 (1997), 23-42.

James Miller
jem@daoiststudies.org
Daoism and Ecology, ed., with Norman Girardot and Liu Xiaogan (Harvard UP, 2001).

Harrison Moretz
moretz@earthlink.net

Jeff Nagel
judiche8@aol.com

Scott Phillips
scophillips@yahoo.com

Harold D. Roth
hdroth@brownvm.brown.edu
Original Tao: Inward Training and the Foundations of Taoist Mysticism (Columbia UP, 1999)

Michael Saso
msaso@aol.com
The Teachings of Taoist Master Chuang (Yale UP, 1978)
Taoism and the Rite of Cosmic Renewal (Washington UP, 1972)

Nam Singh
Fax: 415-661-7160

Brock Silvers
bls@taorestore.org
The Taoist Manual (Sacred Mountain Press, 2001)

Solala Towler
solala@abodetao.com
A Gathering of Cranes: Bringing the Tao to the West (Eugene, OR: Abode of the Eternal Tao, 1996)

Mary Evelyn Tucker
mtucker@bucknell.edu

Elena Valussi
elena_valussi@yahoo.com

Michael Winn
winn.tao@att.net
Healing Tao
Taoist Secrets of Love: Cultivating Male Energy (Healing Tao Books, 1993)