Purple Cloud Podcast

There are many arts found under the umbrella of Daoism, including alchemy, medicine, ritual and martial arts to name a few. Many of these are taught to visiting students of all backgrounds at the Five Immortals Temple in Wudang China by Abbott Du Song Feng. Cheng Feng has been a longterm student of the Abbott and has resided at the temple for many years translating and assisting with his teaching as well as furthering her own studies in many of the arts taught there, perhaps most notably her study and recital of the morning and evening Xuanmen ritual scripture. She has also just launched her own project, Feather Beings, which aims at spreading these teachings throughout the world.

China has a long tradition of painting which differs in many ways from traditions in the West, in particular uses of perspective and how painting was intended to be viewed. In this episode of the podcast we talk in depth with artist Dapeng Liu (www.dapengliu.com) about these differences, which can help provide us with a new set of eyes with which to view Chinese painting.

Daoism and healing in China have a long, intertwined history. Beyond the more widely known Chinese therapeutic techniques such as acupuncture and herbal prescriptions, Daoists have incorporated other more esoteric modalities in the healing of illnesses such as incantation and talismans. In this episode, we talk in depth with Josh Paynter, co-founder of Parting Clouds Daoism and Quanzhen Longmen lineage holder , about his experience with these healing traditions, his Parting Clouds organisation and the nature of Daoism in China today.

Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism all have a long history of influence in the development in Chinese medicine, which is perhaps most apparent in the syncretic traditions of the Wen Bu Pai (School of Warming and Tonifying) doctors of the Ming Dynasty. In this episode we talk with Leslie De Vries about one of these doctors, Zhao Xian Ke, and his book the Yi Guan or “The Thread that Runs through All Medicine,” and the theories expounded in this work such as those involving Ming Men or the Gate of life and the potential influence of internal alchemy practices. Later in the conversation there is also a discussion on the influence of these Chinese medical theories on Vietnamese medicine.

Dao Yin or “Guiding and Pulling”  has a long history in China stretching back thousands of years to the occult shamanic traditions of ancient times, and its influence is still very much present in modern Qigong practices. The Zhu Bing Yuan Hou Lun, or the “Treatise on the Origins and Symptoms of Medical Disorders” was a Sui dynasty Chinese medical text that was innovative due to it being the first textual attempt at a comprehensive classification of different diseases and well as the first text to prescribe Dao Yin exercises for specific diseases. Our fascinating conversation today with Dolly Yang, who has just finished her PhD thesis focused on this text, addresses how and why the innovations in this text developed as well as delving into some of the specific details of this captivating text.

Maintaining traditional modalities of any kind is not always a simple pursuit in the modern world. Simon Feeney has devoted his life to investigation of how best to maintain traditional current of Chinese herbal medicine in the present day. This episode examines the state of herbal medicinal farming in China and the world today, how preparation of various herbs can influence their action as well as Simon's own spiritual training in Theravada Buddhism.

In this episode Daniel chats with Dr. Xiaoshu Zhu about issues with the education of Chinese Medicine in the West and in China, the current state of research n the field, the challenges and rewards of working with Biomedical professionals and contextualising an ancient modality in modern times, as well as her collaboration with the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine and other institutions in China. Dr Zhu is Associate Professor, Associate Dean of School (International) and Director of Academic Program of Traditional Chinese Medicine at the University of Western Sydney. She is also key senior researcher in cancer field at the National Institute of Complementary Medicine (NICM) which is hosted by the University.

In this episode Daniel interviews Michael Stanley-Baker about his in depth study of the spiritual and medical practices of the Shang Qing school of Daoism. The podcast delves into the relationship between religion and medicine, the visualisation and meditation techniques of the Shan Qing practitioners and touches on the roles of played by important figures such as Ge Hong and Tao Hong Jing.

In this episode Daniel interviews Lindsey Wei, martial artist, Daoist practitioner, author of The Valley Spirit and longterm student of Abbot Li of the Five Immortals Temple. Lindsey talks about her path since returning to the USA, her Kung Fu, Wushu and Tai Chi studies and instruction and how she had applied the principles of Daoism to her everyday life.

In this episode Daniel interviews Jonathan Chang, long time student of the late world renown acupuncturist Dr Wang Ju Yi, discussing his unique approaches to medical practice.