Sunday, July 5, 2009
A CELESTIAL KNIGHT
by David B. Sutton
I have been asked to explain my reference to a “celestial knight.” It relates to my evolving Taoist Practice in China. But I get ahead of myself.
The Taoist concept of celestial knight goes much beyond the chivalry of King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table but is not totally unrelated, I believe. Let me explain.
SOME PERSONAL HISTORY
I have rediscovered my student-day fascination with Taoism. And as usual, when I study Taoism, I find it very exciting because it primarily re-enforces and explains what I already believe and do. This began in graduate school when I was asked, as an ecologist, to co-teach a philosophy course on “East Asian Views of Man and Nature.” The expectation was that I would be the ‘rational, scientific foil’ for the more poetic philosophies of the East. It didn’t work out that way – all I could see when it came my time to comment was commonality between the grand insights of Western science and Eastern philosophy (and that was long before “The Tao of Physics” was published)
My Chinese friends here are absolutely befuddled by their apparently hip, dancing, bon-vivant–about-town’s fascination with this “archaic, totally irrelevant” Chinese philosophy.
Now I admit, at first thought it does present a bit of a paradox, but I think that I have managed to reconcile the two. For instance, one of my passions is to dance. The noted Webster’s English Dictionary tells us that to dance is “to move in rhythm, ordinarily with music, to move lightly and gaily, to be stirred into movement, as leaves in a wind.”
Too many of us plod through life like the burden was too much to bear—as if it was a meaningless heavy-footed journey. We need to be stirred into the lightness of life’s movement as we search for meaning in our lives. For me, the meaning is to be found in the passionate moving with the rhythm of Nature. The meaning is in the journey when we are aligned with the course of Nature like the leaves in the wind or a watercourse way. The purpose of life might be nothing more than to fully participate in its dance—to trust that we are a part of its unfolding choreography. And this can be done anywhere, in bustling Shanghai as well as amongst China’s magnificent mountainous karst formations in the countryside.
I came upon this notion when I realized that I am most alive when I am dancing. I am sincerely convinced that dancing is the movement we are built for. Don’t worry if you don’t know all the elaborate steps. Nature will be the teacher. Salsa and samba are in the sultry southern air you breathe. The polka and the jig are for you to skip over crisp cold northern ground.
The value of a life is not measured by its span, but by the way we have moved through that span. If we fill our time with the joyful meaning of participating in life’s grand dance, its quality is immeasurable, though its quantity may be insignificant. And, we will find that when the time comes, our life of joyful activity was worth the journey and worthy of rest.
TAOIST PRACTICE OF THE CELESTIAL KNIGHT
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”
This notion has been further re-enforced by my most recent Taoist reading. I have just finished Thomas Cleary’s “Sex, Health and Long Life: Manuals of Taoist Practice,” a translation of the famous Mawangdui finds, Han Dynasty tombs that yielded the richest cache of ancient medical manuscripts ever found in China.
And as usual as I read and study these ideas, they only serve as confirmation of my own inclinations. These new texts deal with some very interesting areas and I found myself nodding in agreement as I read. For instance, I have always believed that the paramount goal of sexual intimacy is sensitive foreplay, thorough arousal and pleasure and the complete satisfaction of the women. And I have tried to act accordingly. In the texts, we are advised:
“A man who is a good lover does not precede the woman; only when the woman has the desire can a good lover make love. Do not be precipitous, do not be domineering; do not force, but do not be hesitant. Make sure to be slow to prolong the act, and make sure to be gentle to maintain self-control, so you do not climax when on the brink of climax; then the woman will be greatly delighted…”
“What is essential in the pleasure between females and males is a matter of taking it slowly and continuing for a long time. If a man can go slowly and continuing for a long time, the woman will be greatly delighted, feeling more friendly toward him than siblings do towards each other and more loving toward him than are parents toward their children. Those who are able to master the science are called celestial knights.”
So even in the delicate matters of sexual intimacy, I find support and I certainly like the prescription: “If you skillfully employ…(these practices), your eyes and ears will be bright and clear, your body will be light and nimble, your sexual energy will grow stronger and stronger, you will extend your years, increasing your life span, and will live in lasting happiness.”
“THE TAO OF LOVING”
The confirmation just keeps rolling in. Now I have discovered “The Tao of Loving,” (“The Tao of Love and Sex: The Ancient Chinese Way to Ecstasy” by Jolan Chang, Arkana, 1977) and all of a sudden these seemingly “irrational” inclinations I have been having take on some very ancient justification.
I have already expressed my long-time fascination with all things Taoist and now I have discovered that it provides just the fortification I need to believe that I can be the vital elder that I think I can be – vital for another 30 or 40 years. Yes, 30 or 40 years—while they are already chalking me off in the US—the “adepts” of “The Tao of Loving” in China more than a thousand years ago were living energetic, vital lives until they were 100-120 years old. Now that is a tradition that I want to identify with.
What is this curious tradition you ask?
Well it turns out that the Chinese had a very enlightened outlook on sex, health and longevity many years ago. Many, many years ago–so long ago that much of it has been lost. But things cycle, as any naturalist and Taoist knows. So, thousands of years after it defined the character of the people (and is still ’in their bones’) this ancient tradition is being “rediscovered” just when it is so sorely needed. At a time when worldwide aggression and violence reign (mostly male, of course) the idea that the duty of a man just might be to bring pleasure to others resurfaces. How nice and how convenient for me, the incurable idealist and romantic– The very thought that my activist inclination can be legitimately served (from a naturalist perspective) by bringing pleasure and satisfaction to others is just too much for me to hope for.
At one level I knew all this, of course, –why else would I have spent the last three years thusly.
I can’t help but think that I have found a new mission.
I have even recently established the “Noble Order of Celestial Knights.” You may recall that an ‘adept’ in the practice of “The Tao of Loving,” was deemed a “celestial knight.” I am looking for kindred spirits who can support one another in this major breaking with convention. (I haven’t really discussed the major challenges to modern day convention here that this presents—suffice it to say— that the satisfaction of male “need” is NOT paramount.) To date, I am the founder and sole member – but I am used to that, some of you know about The Antaeus Group. But no mind, I am on to something here, as I was on to something with The Antaeus Group…”
“… no medicine or food or spiritual salvation can prolong a man’s life if he neither understands nor practices the Tao of Loving.” —P ‘ENG TSU
So what is this Tao of Loving? It is the natural harmonizing of Yin and Yang. In Taoism most of the problems that men and women have, have their root in the failure to achieve fundamental harmony of Yin and Yang and the answer is both easy and pleasant.
Easy because it is natural, there is no formality, no dogma, no church – all it asks one to do is relax and be natural.
Pleasant because it doesn’t ask one to give up any earthly or heavenly joys. Nor does it ask one to reject all desire—such as the craving for beauty of form, sound, smell, taste, touch and carnal love. On the contrary, you are advised to cultivate better taste, healthy living and to enjoy earthly joys more fully. To the Taoist there are no dividing lines between earthly and heavenly joys: they unite in ecstasy, for in the enjoyment of things natural, the Taoist is in communion with the Universe.
Indeed, I am learning that the Taoist believed that there can be no solution to any of the world’s problems without a wholesome approach to love and sex. Nearly all destruction or self-destruction, almost all hatred and sorrow, almost all greed and possessiveness, spring from starvation of love and sex. And yet the source and fountain of love and sex is as inexhaustible as the Universe itself — This is what the Taoist knew for thousands of years. Without the harmony of Yin and Yang, the fountainhead of life and joy, nothing is left for us but death and destruction.
One of the things I so appreciate about these writing is that the ancient Chinese never used sexual terms as pejoratives the way people often use them today. Their language is charming and descriptive. For instance, ‘phallus’ becomes ‘jade stem’ (yu heng) and ‘vulva’ the ‘jade gate’(yu men). Their open and uninhibited attitude towards sex made it impossible for them to think of it in “dirty terms.”
So in that vein let me continue. There are three basic concepts of the Tao of Loving that represent a major break with Western thinking about love and sex.
One is that the man must learn to control his ejaculation. This strengthens him so that he can make love whenever it suits his and his partner’s wish, and continue love-making for as long (or resume it as often) as it takes his partner to reach complete satisfaction.
A second related concept is that ejaculation, especially uncontrolled ejaculation is not the most ecstatic moment for the man. Once he knows this, a man can discover other much more delightful joys of love-making.
Crucial to all of this is the third concept, made possible by the other two, and that is the importance of female satisfaction and the paramount role of bringing pleasure to the women.
As for a personal progress report: I have always believed the third, know the second to be very true and am working very hard on the first.
NOW, A TAOIST PRACTICE FOR ME.
It is all coming together in Shanghai now, for me. There is not much written about Taoist Practice—What to do, how to live it. Indeed, except for these new readings that I have just mentioned. I have seen very little else.
Chuang-tzu observed that the Tao cannot be conveyed by either words or silence but is found in that state that is neither speech nor silence. You have “to be”– to “let things happen” through a “dynamic relaxation” as Alan Watts put it.
First, you need to cultivate the harmonic resonance of ch’i or bio-energy in oneself. Second you need to practice mindfulness. Disciplines such as ink painting, calligraphy, meditation and Tai Chi Ch’uan have been developed to assist in this lifelong cultivation process.
In my Taoist Practice, I want to try and connect the ideas: 1) that I am using dance as my meditative practice, 2) that the Tao of Loving is a wonderful way to cultivate your bio-energy, and 3) that these are exceptional ways of realizing the mindfulness of being here and now.
So to review, I am adding dance as a possible facilitating discipline. Dance where heart and body are in accord with a sense of relaxed fitness, of grace and spontaneity leading to a harmony and refinement of the realization of The Way.
To me, a session of dancing, listening to soft melodies and pulsating beats, dissolving idle concerns in the patterns of a few carefully chosen rhythmic moves can “transport you to where you are” — in the immediate present. The spirit of dance is like the spirit of Tao: it flows spontaneously, roaming here and there impatient of restraint. There is an alchemy to dance and it is one of my ways of being “present in the moment.”
To this, let me add the “Tao of Loving” to my practice discipline. It truly is a remarkable process which takes on a broader significance, for me, everyday.
LOVING TOUCH
Everyday, the implications of the Tao of Loving grow for me. This is my latest insight.
The utmost emphasis laid upon regulating ejaculation is genius. It is not an arbitrary point adopted by Tao of Loving Masters but a conclusion, reached after hundreds of years of careful observation. That male semen is a vital essence that should not be squandered in an uncontrolled manner is only part of the reasoning, there is another part which, to my mind, is the most important. It has to do with the tranquility that comes with a constant warm and joyful loving—what they called “the harmony of Yin (female) and Yang (male).”
All men know the feeling of ‘being spent’– of, after an explosive emission, becoming distant, feeling removed and wanting nothing more than to be left alone. This is also the time when the woman would most like to be held – held in an on-going glowing embrace—validating the intimacy just experienced. But the man is not there.
This does not make for continued, on-going, harmony of Yin and Yang.
With the control of the Tao of Loving, I can tell you that the glow hasn’t left the man either – he, too is ready for the blissful lingering.
Here is what I am finding, that the with-holding of ejaculation maintains an on-going heightened sense of sensual touch—a warmth and sensuality that is simply glorious and never-ending. This is what you lose with that explosive gratification – and to me it is not worth it.
While this may seem to be a stretch to some of you, I have come to believe that this is nothing more than an extension of the profound value of “loving touch,” in general.
The medical literature is replete with reference and demonstration of the crucial need for loving touch in the development of a healthy life. From infancy on through to the aged, the necessity of having loving/touching, caring communication for an individual’s well-being and the disasterous effects of deprivation are well known.
There are touching cultures and non-touching cultures. (I have previously eluded to some of Edward Hall’s work and this is related.) The Chinese culture is a touching culture. Outward public protocol aside, I have more than enough evidence to assuredly make such a statement. I have reported on much of this. I commented on the unbelieveable sense of physical caring that I received with my bout with “prickley heat.” My ravings about the simple pleasures of head, foot and body massages are probably becoming old to most of you by now. But they clearly reflect a “touching culture.” And now, I must add the exquisite joy that I am mutually having as I am experiencing the harmony of Yin and Yang with this Tao of Loving. There really is something to all of this and the Chinese, even if it is subconscious, know it in their bones.
David B. Sutton, former University Professor and President of The Antaeus Organization (TAO), is a human ecologist, biological philosopher, artist and writer with whimsical, evolutionary and earth-centered biases. He is dedicated to life-long learning about the Earth’s essential life-support systems, and the intimate connection between the health of the planet and its people. For twenty years, he has developed socially and environmentally responsible educational programs and ecological approaches to product design, conservation, sustainable enterprises, and cultural synergy and integral health efforts throughout the world.
An obdurate dreamer and old-fashion romantic and idealist, he is dedicated to the Taoist practice of the “celestial knight.” He is an active, energetic, enthusiastic person, an avid basketball player and dancer in excellent health.
Bibliography:
“Sex, Health and Long Life: Manuals of Taoist Practice,” translated by Thomas Cleary. (Shambhala, Boston, 1999)
“ The Tao of Love and SexL The Ancient Chinese Way to Ecstasy,” Jolan Chang. ( Arkana/Penguin, New York, 1977)
“The Tao of Love,” Cheng Heng (Marlowe & Company, New York, 1997).
“Tao Mentoring: Cultivate Collaborative Relationships in all Areas of your Life,” Chungliang Al Huang & Jerry Lynch (Marlowe & Co., New York, 1999)
“Tao: The Watercourse Way,” Alan Watts with Al Chung-liang Huang (Pantheon Books, New York, 1975)
“Roots of Chinese, Culture & Medicine,” Wei Tsuei (Pelanduk Pub., 1992)
“The Sexual Teachings of the Jade Dragon: Taolist Methods for Male Sexual Revitalization,” Hsi Lai (Destiny Book, Rochester, Vermont, 2002)
“ Taoist Bedroom Secrets: Tao Chi Kung,” Master Chian Zettnersan (Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, WI, 2002)
“Taoist Secrets of Love/Cultivating Male Sexual Energy,” Mantak Chia & Michael Winn ( Aurora Press, Sante Fe, 1984)
“The Multi-Orgasmic Man,” Mantak Chia & Douglas Abrams ( Harper, San Francisco, 1996.)
“The Tao of Health, Sex & Longevity: A Modern Practical Guide to the Ancient Way,” Daniel P. Reid (A Fireside Book, New York, 1989)
“Art of the BedChamber: The Chinese Sexual Yoga Classics (including Women’s Solo Meditation Texts,” Douglas Wile (State University of New York Press, Albany, NY, 1992).
“The Inner Teachings of Taoism,” Chang Po-Tuan (Shambhala, Boston, 1986)
“Reflexology Basics,” Denise Whichello Brown (Sterling Publishing Co., New York, 2001).
“ Sexual Reflexology: Activating the Taoist Points of Love,” Mantak Chia & William U. Wei (Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, 2003)