Healing Yoga: Book

You can’t be the most humble person in the world

You are just as unique as anyone else.

There is more to life than having everything.

Trying to be happy while staying selfish is like sunbathing in a submarine.

To be determined, only when you feel like it, is like jogging for one second or like fasting between bites.

And,

If you don’t smile, you are not serious.

Chapter 1

My Story

This is the story of how I came to meet the master of Tao and Zen, Li Yin whose teachings and presence have been a source of light and inspiration and have changed my life completely. I hope that you will also find enlightenment from his teachings. I am very grateful for the time he dedicated to me.

I was traveling on business in Asia and decided to take a small vacation in China. I took the train from central Hong Kong to Guang Zho and from there I traveled by local bus to Nang-yuan. Local buses in China are a very special and colorful way to travel especially to someone who comes from the West. My feet did not touch the floor of the bus directly because it was covered with rice sacks, goods and even a heavy motorcycle. Being a night journey, the bus had bunk beds and I chose to sleep on an upper bunk.

In the morning I woke up to see a beautiful landscape, one that I had previously only seen in pictures. The land was completely flat and ran to the horizon, which was full of narrow and tall green mountains that reached up into the sky. They looked as though they had been thrown straight from the sky because they appeared unconnected to the surrounding land.

On arrival at my hotel, I rested briefly and then rented a bicycle and started to ride along the outskirts of Nang-Yuan. It was splendid to ride among the rivers, mountains and trees. Local villagers greeted me with smiles while they worked among the rice fields. I came to a high mountain called Moon Hill, got off my bike and slowly walked up. When I got to the top I was speechless. I had never seen such a vast landscape and the sun had painted the rivers golden.

That’s when I saw Li Yin.

He was sitting cross-legged, absolutely still. He had a long, thin, sharp white beard, Chinese style. He sat with a soft dignity; his back was upright and his hands gently rested on his lap. His face was so serene that I felt he would melt away at any moment.

I guess I, like many others, had been looking for a wise old man to sort out my life and provide magical wisdom to eternal happiness. So, imitating his posture, I sat down quietly next to him so as not to disturb him. I felt so calmed by his presence. For a long time I had been dissatisfied with my life. Even though I had everything that money could buy, I wasn’t at peace and there was this constant inner tension eating away at me.

Sitting there next to him, I felt peaceful for the first time in years.

I was startled when he spoke;

“I have been waiting to meet you for a long time. I know you are looking for the great answer. Come to meet me here tomorrow at the same time”.

Before I had a chance to respond, he started to walk away, down the mountain. In his serene presence I felt something so strong and special that I decided to return the next day.

When I reached the top of the mountain the next day all I found was a note that said, “ I couldn’t be here today, come tomorrow”. When I came the next day I found a similar note. I had heard stories about spiritual masters that tested their students to see if they were totally sincere. Keeping this in mind, I kept returning until finally on the fifth day I saw him sitting, as I first saw him, on the top of Moon Hill. I sat next to him.

He was silent for a while and then began to speak;

“My name is Li Yin I will teach you about the Great Way which is also called the Tao.

Let’s say I haven’t tasted a sweet thing in my life. Can you explain to me what sweet is?”

After a few moments of confusion the only words that came to my mind were wonderful and pleasant so that is what I said to him.

“There are many things which are wonderful and pleasant” he replied.

Feeling lost I asked him if he would be able to explain to me what sweet is.

“Yes” he replied as he slowly opened his bag, took out a banana and handed it to me.

We both laughed and as I ate the banana he said, “Some things are beyond words. The Great Way of the Tao is one of them. The feeling of parachuting cannot be explained, it needs to be experienced, to be lived. What I will give you is like a map, but you have to walk the Way by yourself to experience the Great Way, the Tao.”

And so Li Yin began to teach me the Great Way, the Tao.

The food that is named is not the real food.

What’s the point in eating the recipe?

Even if we eat the menu we will starve.

The nameless is truly real.

Bite a banana and not the word “banana” on a page.

If you smell the word “rose”,

You will see that it has no smell.

If you give to your wife

The word “flower” on her birthday,

The divorce is guaranteed.

Excessive desires are like sunglasses,

At the end they cause everything to look dark.

Throw away the glasses

And see the mystery of the real world.

Illusion and truth are rooted

In the same source, the Tao.

If we pass the truth through a filter

It will get distorted;

It will become illusion.

Cut all the veils between

You and the Tao.

This is the gate to every

Insight.

Chapter 2

Go Beyond the Opposites

“There is more to life than having everything. There is more to life than our limited vision shows us. In the words of the Little Prince “What is essential is invisible to the eye”[1]. The more we are obsessed with success the more we are vulnerable to failure. The person that obsessively wants honor shakes when condemned” Yi Lin explained.

Where there is gain there is loss.

Where there is praise there is blame.

Where there is pleasure there is pain.

We come from nothingness

And we return to nothingness.

Go beyond the opposites.

The real pleasure is in the place

Which is beyond pleasure and pain.

When gain and loss is no longer important,

One finds the real gain and loses mental suffering,

Then one forgets the “I”, “me”, “mine” forever.

The wise are attentive to the present moment.

Like a jazz musician,

The wise do not need to plan lectures.

His wisdom improvisation is much more beautiful and true than any composed wisdom melody.

The face of the wise radiates truth all the time.

To see that truth is better

Than to hear a thousand lectures.

The wise are not possessive

About the things he uses.

The wise always acts in the present moment,

So how can he expect anything?

The wise lives in the eternal present;

He is forever now.

Chapter 3

You Have Wings of Mighty Eagles

One day I found myself feeling depressed and confused. As a businessman I was not used to staying in a one place for more than two weeks at a time and now I was suddenly a student of inner wisdom. I was not used to the silence of simplicity and nature. My girlfriend back home wanted me closer to her and not on a spiritual retreat in China. She didn’t understand the change I was going through and thought it very unexpected.

I explained to her that it was not unexpected but something that I had needed for a long time. I told her that I couldn’t continue on with my mind and heart tormented all the time and urged her to be patient with me as it was best for the both of us if I were, on my return, a more happy and relaxed person and that I was lucky to have found such a great teacher.

On my next meeting with Li Yin he sensed the confusion in my mind I told him about my conversation with my girlfriend.

He responded by saying “Rise up, rise up. You have an enormous power. You have wings, wings of mighty eagles. Don’t deny them lest they deny you. Ask for them and you will find them immediately.”

If we over appreciate wise men then people will start to think

Of themselves as unwise and the Tao far away.

If everyday we see TV advertisements,

We start to think that without the new car,

Cereal, Nike, Sony Playstation, Coca Cola,

CD Player, Pizza Hut and fast Internet,

Our life is meager and in great suffering.

The Master empties the seekers of their ignorance,

Then wisdom comes automatically.

He helps them understand

The difference between

Desire, want and essential need.