4/30: I received my certificates for attending the seminars on “The 9 Heart Palaces: Wellness and Healing for Practitioners and Patients” and “Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine for the Recovery from Illness” taught by Taoist priest Jeffrey Yuen. The seminars were sponsored by the Maryland Acupuncture Society early last March. Lolit and I drove down to Tinicum, MD, a 4-hour trip. These 2 seminars will probably be the last of the
kind until the Covid-19 pandemic is over or when it is possible to hold them with people in attendance.
I was also registered for a 4-day seminar on “The Spirit of the Meridians” in Asheville, North Carolina with Jeffrey Yuen. It is about the reason for and meaning of the points and the meridians and the evolution of the meridians. We had already reserved the hotel for 6 days and were prepared to drive 2 days one way. But the seminar was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. At first the sponsor, Taoist Traditions College of Chinese Medicine decided to have it live-streamed but eventually cancelled it. They re-scheduled it for August. I will also sign up for Yuan Shigong’s weekend seminar on Death and Dying in North Carolina in September. It is partly about the sacred rituals and herbal and acupuncture treatment protocols for the dying. I have been interested in the subject for sometime now and have been studying the Tibetan Buddhist materials on the BardoTodol and Phowa.
Jeffrey Yuen teaches the classical materials, including the spiritual and alchemical aspects of Chinese acupuncture, qigong and herbs. I studied many things with him, including Stones and Minerals and dietetics/
nutrition. I have studied with him for 15 years attending his courses in Boston, Asheville, New Jersey and Maryland. He has a very interesting biography. Look it up on the internet. I have 10 of his seminar transcripts
at NESA and the CDs of his 5 seminars on Extraordinary Vessels, Manifestations of Shen, Sinew Channels, Nan Jing, Suwen, Ling Shi, etc. in Maryland.
It is true I’ve lived a relatively solitary existence, but these seminars were a substantial part of my life, just like my acupuncture, herbal, alchemical, qigong, Shaolin and Taijiquan studies over the years and my relationship with the masters and people and colleagues who shared my path in life. It is a path that intersects a source of important knowledge, a formerly esoteric culture that is making a headway into the mainstream. It is a part of the “counter-culture” but it is now being accepted by a large part of the population. At my age (79) I would like to see a time when these disciplines and practices become integral to the culture and life of the people.
The pandemic has turned the world upside down. I do not even dare to follow the news on TV because it is so depressing. Watching the authorities mouth moronic suggestions and the sad statistics of the casualties day in and day out has become an exercise in self-torture. A student in the Philippines wrote to say that with the lockdown she has more time to do her meditation and Taijiquan! The self-quarantine has forced us to look inward and hopefully made us question the values of an individualistic society. I hope it has given us the time to realize that we have to care for each other, that life isn’t all about your self, that we have to live as a community and are interconnected so that when we meet again on the other side, we find ourselves in a better world.
*May 6. Several friends are interested in getting in touch with me on Skype (which I have just installed on my computer). So don’t be surprised if the line is busy. Please do not feel you have to Skype. I know how busy we can be at this time. I am just beginning to adjust to this technology. I do not even know if I’ll get it right.
I was able to talk to my friend David Verdesi, who is now in Moscow, on Skype. It is so nice to see the person you are talking to “live,” up close and personal. David said that the documentary about him “The Superhumans” produced and directed by Eleanor N. Coppola, is due to come out soon. I do not know who is the distributor, so I cannot give you further information, except that the film is about masters with extraordinary powers. You can google many items about David on the internet. He and I worked out together on different practices in China, Indonesia (Java and Bali),Thailand, Istanbul, and Italy.
For more info about David (and John Chang, the Magus of Java, and the hermits of Huangshan), you can read my essay “Thunder Path in Huangshan” in the Writings section of my website or you can google him for his talks. I was pleasantly surprised when David Skyped yesterday morning, We had been trying to get in touch for a couple of years now but for one reason or another something came up. When he was in California on a teaching schedule, he asked me to join him. But I was booked to leave for the Philippines, My Skype address is my e-mail address.
It is probably right to consider me a luddite because I am ignorant about technology. I used the Skype a few times 10 years ago and then I forgot how it’s done. I tried to open Skype again 2 years ago to talk to David Verdesi but it was a disaster. David wanted to invite me to join him in California but I was booked to leave for the Philippines, We could not even talk because I could not install Skylpe.I missed a great opportunity to study with him. Never, never again miss the chance to study with your teacher, I told myself. David has given me a lot of profound and important lessons. Besides he is a wonderful friend. He was only 15 when he started studying with me in 1993. Since then he has studied with many masters and has shared his knowledge with me all the time. We worked together in China (Daiian, Huangshan and Hangzhou), in Italy, Turkey, Thailand, US, Indonesia (Bali and Java). I have the recordings of his lectures in Bali and I listen to them often. He invited me to join him in Bodhgaya, India, where the Buddha achieved enlightenment, but I could not go because of previous commitment. So many missed opportunities. David has his website you can google showing him teaching in different countries. Watch for the documentary about him called “Superhumans” directed by Eleanor Coppola, wife of Francis Ford.
You can now take lessons with GM Chia on the internet. I do not know how much it would cost. You can connect to his website; www.universalhealingtao.com
I will be very busy on Skype with David. I will also be busy with the lectures of Taoist priest Jeffrey Yuen, His lectures have just been uploaded by the Maryland Acupuncture Society, I was told.
So there’s 3 days of lectures to listen to. I paid $210 to listen to them. That’s separate from the $450 I paid to attend the lectures in Maryland. But it’s worth it, I am sure. I am scheduled to attend Yuen Shifu’s seminars in Asheville, NC in August on the Spirit of the Meridians (4 days) and Death and Dying in September. I hope in-person presence is postponed and live-streaming is done.
It is a long 2-day drive to Asheville and for me to stay for 5-6 days in a hotel is very expensive.
Stay safe!
Flor Navarro
My brother Flor was one my martial arts partners. We trained together with 2 masters. He was the one who introduced me to Wado Karate, a style popularized by the legendary Mass Oyama. Sadly, he passed away a few months ago. He was a wonderful martial artist. In one photo he was jumping over me as I went to the ground to do a scissor attack.
