The picture above shows the 100 Chinese characters for longevity. They are all the same character for longevity, but each one is written differently. A person in Beijing has spent over 40 years to collect the writing of the Chinese character for longevity. So far he has found over 15,000 ways to write the character for longevity. It is amazing that a Chinese character can be written in so many different ways artistically.
I was watching TV yesterday and there was a fascinating show on Discovery’s “Curiosity” about “could we live forever?” Now we all know that this has always been the holy grail of everything about life. Interestingly, this show was right after a documentary about Apple’s creator, Steve Jobs. In just the last few years of his life he came up with the I-phone, I-tunes and the I-pad, these inventions have touched hundreds of millions of people! Mr.Jobs was undeniably one of the greatest geniuses of human history and yet for all his knowledge and vision he died at fifty-six years of age. Maybe there is a lesson here: what if he had been focused on longevity instead of computers and entertainment? Perhaps a poignant observation that!
But I digress…. In the show about longevity, hosted by Mythbusters star Adam Savage, he undergoes a series of transformations as he ages and technology emerges at the same time: a very real possibility in this day and age. One of the first things that happens is he gets connected to a machine that filters all of his blood and removes all the “old cells”. The premise being that as cells replicate they mutate and acquire changes and toxins. This yet to be invented machine takes out all the mutated and contaminated cells.
Years later his brain starts to shrink as is known to happen as we age. Part of the problem is that his memory becomes full. In the show he gets an external memory device installed. But why do all that if he could just “delete” the old unneeded and harmful old junk that was clogging his brain? I could go on about all the things in this show but I’m just making a point here.
Everything about longevity science in this show has already been addressed by Taoists. All this “new technology” has roots in Taoist practice. The disappointing and truly sad thing about this show was its focus on “mechanical technology” and no mention of “human technology”. It was all about “what if” and “someday” instead telling people the truth about what is known and available NOW.
Today, after a neighbor showed some curiosity in my qigong practice, I was showing her how I can flow blood to my hands using my mind, and explaining how qigong leads to a longer happier life, she just sort of nodded and walked away. “Funny”, I thought that some people can be shown the elixir and walk away. As I was walking to my home I thought…What would someone give for one more second when they are at the end of their lives…? I understand some people are suffering and death seems welcome to them, but what if they were not in pain?
Pardon my incredulity for pondering these things, yet we can filter our blood and we can regenerate youthful cells in our body, and we can delete old files in our brain and learn new skills. It is possible to age gracefully and maybe even painlessly. What then, what would you give for one more hour on this earth? Or one more day, month, year or decade? We all know it could be over in an instant or life could go on for many years. The technology (qigong and meditation) exists today to improve the quality of our lives and isn’t that alone like living longer? That same technology helps to extend the length of our lives; Taoists know that human life should be at least one hundred years long.
When will the world at large see the light and learn qigong and meditation? Rebuild your life from the raw materials of Heaven and Earth. It is never too late to start, and the sooner you do the sooner you will be adding time to your life. What might Steve Jobs have produced if he had lived for another forty-four years? Maybe it’s a good thing some people don’t go on living too long, like killers, but surely we all would want enlightened people to live longer… oh that’s right, enlightened people do live longer!
Start now and never stop, practice everyday. Don’t be limited by a false belief that you cannot feel and look younger or live better and longer. Have a positive attitude and follow the Way. Study the Way, there is a wealth of life-sustaining knowledge there. Walk the Way always and forever. Recreate yourself!
Taiji on Maui 
Hear, hear!
But who’s to say Steve Jobs didn’t get a 100 years of living into just 56. We all want to live long, but we also want to live well.
Hope to see you on Maui one day.
Good point… lets all live well! How was your trip to China with Solala?
Steve Jobs is following his passion in Paradise and had suffered enough I guess. I had a conversation with a friend years ago when I was in my twentys where she had said that she knew she was going to die young and I immediately replied that I wanted to live to be a hundred. I guess I was having a lot of fun back then. Now I have more reasons to want it because of 6, soon to be 7 grandchildren. I’m happy that I have found your class and I am sure that the exercises are helping me more than I realize. Thanks for being here for us seniors!!! It would be great if more doctors would realize the benefits of qigong and guide their patients to it. Someday it will happen!
That longevity mandala is really something.I have had bad health for about fifteen years you have been to my blog so may have read about it. I have been a Yogi for most of my mid adult life but not a good yogi as a result i have a body which is rejuvanateing and a body which is degeneratateing9 Arn’t we all) often people won’t beleive me when i tell them how old i am, or when I’m in the waiting room at the heart clinic I’ll hear some one remark “He doesn’t look sick, and when i get into the examanation room the nurse comments ” Is that all the meds your takeing with heart disease ” When i tell them I’m a yogi it goes right on by so i have gotten where i say nothing. Forgive me that i use taoist and yogi to identify internal practice i know their are differances i do both, like i have incorperated your breathing practises in my routine. Some say the bodys Karma is set and maybe so but internal practice brings to for the longevity mandela.
Aloha timetales
In reference to the body changes. I was reading about the term Wabi Sabi a Japanese term thought to have been derived from Zen Buddhism. Wabi Sabi could even be called the “Zen of things” in reference to the natural order of life. All similar to Taoist philosophy. All things in the universe are either devolving toward or evolving from nothingness. As in the universe, while the body destructs it also constructs. Just by observation we can’t really tell whether something is in the evolving or devolving mode. Devolving is quiet/yin like while evolving is brighter/yang. And that nothingness itself is not empty space but alive with possibility. So why can’t that override Karma? And what kind of expression would you get back if you said I practice Wabi Sabi? They might even want to look that one up.
Hi WIndy, thanks for the reply, I haven’t thought about Wabi -Sabi in awhile so I read up on it and used it for a post.