Podcasts about gongfu

Try the best green tea we've found after traveling around Japan: https://nioteas.com

FULL PODCAST: https://open.spotify.com/show/4M2PVnajKrQsq3hgcmESLa?si=SHP2AKlLTd6vw6MG-BIggQ This is a special episode of Tea Time with Jesse because we're in front of a ⚡️LIVE AUDIENCE ⚡️ at West China Teahouse in Austin, Texas Major thank you to So Han Fan for hosting the podcast at West China Tea House! In this episode, Jesse and So Han chat about Chengdu, working and living in China as a foreigner, and opening a teahouse in Texas. Get a 10% off discount on Jesse's Teahouse products with code: “SOHANSOGOOD” 2017 White Dew White Tea: https://jessesteahouse.com/products/white-dew-white-tea-2017 Duidui's 2010 Reserve Cooked Pu'er Tea: https://jessesteahouse.com/products/duiduis-2010-reserve-aged-cooked-puer Want Jesse's curated tea club boxes to show up, once per season? Join the tea subscription club! https://jessesteahouse.com/products/jesses-tea-club-subscription-service?variant=43241340567777 Don't miss out on future episodes! Subscribe and hit the notification bell for more Teatime with Jesse.

Venício Tomás Ferreira dos Santos Fernandes nasceu em Cotia (SP) e cresceu na base do Santos ainda sendo conhecido como Vena. Fazendo parte de uma geração muito vitoriosa, ele chegou a também atuar na seleção de base antes de migrar para o Vasco da Gama. Sem ter jogado nos times principais desses gigantes nacionais, Venício foi para a Finlândia e começou a carreira profissional no norte do país, atuando pelo OPS, AC Kajaani e AC Oulu. Tendo ficado quatro anos num mercado bem diferente do brasileiro, Venício foi mais um caso de atleta que se destacou em divisões menores e não teve uma chance na liga principal, a Veikkausliiga. Em 2020, topou voltar ao Brasil, para jogar o Gauchão pelo Caxias. O que parecia ser uma ótima chance, acabou sendo o começo de um período difícil pessoal e profissionalmente. Com a pandemia e o súbito fim do contrato com o time do Sul, Venício compartilhou a dura história da perda da filha recém nascida no fim daquele ano. Chegando a repensar a continuidade no mundo do futebol, o zagueiro topou participar de torneios amadores em 2021, até que no começo do ano seguinte disputou um Candangão pelo Taguatinga, quando de fato conheceu a difícil realidade da maior parte dos jogadores brasileiros. No entanto, do outro lado do mundo havia quem visse seu DVD dos tempos de futebol finlandês e quisesse contar com seu talento. Em 2022, o Shijiazhuang Gongfu se tornava seu novo desafio profissional. Chegando com a desconfiança da torcida chinesa em função do pouco histórico recente, Venício tinha uma convicção: ele faria de tudo para que aquela chance desse certo. Mesmo sendo um jovem time recém promovido da terceira divisão, a primeira temporada serviu para mostrar que era possível sonhar grande. No ano atual, o entrevistado vem comprovando o que tinha colocado em mente. Sendo um dos claros concorrentes ao acesso à Superliga Chinesa, Venício compartilha com o Canal Outra Liga a sua história de superação pelo futebol da China, local em que pretende fazer muito sucesso por muitos anos. #veniciofernandes #ShijiazhuangGongfu #Shijiazhuang

This episode we explore ways to build understanding and express our vision of what a tea can be.

In this episode, Derek takes on the daunting task of giving a brief history of Tea in Chaozhou, Guangdong, as well as discussing the evolution of Chaozhou Gongfucha in the area and in China at large. After living in Chaozhou for all of 2021, Derek has a lot of deep insights on life and tea culture in this Mecca of Chinese tea. Derek also mentions his new project with his friend Dart, Tao Teaware, a curated teaware company that digs deep into Chinese history and cultural wares. Check out the offerings on taoteaware.com and follow the Tao Teaware YouTube channel for deep digs into the history behind the pieces! Take out a pen and paper for this episode because it's a bit of a deep dive!

Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming (楊俊敏博士) has a M.S. in Physics from Tamkang College in Taipei Xian and a  Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University. He started his Gongfu (Kung Fu) training at the age of fifteen under the Shaolin White Crane (Bai He) Master Cheng, Gin Gsao (曾金灶). In thirteen years of study (1961-1974) under Master Cheng, Dr. Yang became an expert in the White Crane style of Chinese martial arts. With the same master he also studied White Crane Qin Na (or Chin Na), Tui Na and Dian Xue massages, and herbal treatment.At the age of sixteen, Dr. Yang began the study of Taijiquan (Yang Style) under Master Kao, Tao (高濤). Dr. Yang's tai chi can be traced back to the Yang family through Master Kao's teacher Yue, Huanzhi (樂奐之), an indoor disciple of Yang, Chengfu (楊澄甫). After learning from Master Kao, Dr. Yang continued his study and research of Taijiquan with Master Li, Mao-Ching (李茂 清) and training partner Mr. Wilson Chen in Taipei. Master Li learned his Taijiquan from the well-known Master Han, Ching-Tang, and Mr. Chen learned his Taijiquan from Master Chang, Xiang-San. In 1982, he established Yang's Martial Arts Association (YMAA) in Boston, MA. YMAA has since grown into a network of 30 schools in over 15 countries. Dr. Yang has traveled the world teaching at seminars and training camps.Since 2005, Dr. Yang has resided in northern California where he trained a group of disciples in a multi-year comprehensive training program. Today, he continues to author books and teach seminars online and around the world.https://yangjwingming.comhttp://somaticprimer.comSupport the show

EPISODE #376-- Happy Women's History Month and contrats to Michelle Yeoh on the newest feather in her cap. Today we take on David Chung's MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS (which is currently available on the Criterion Channel). It's a fun one. Lots of kicking. We also talk ROYAL WARRIORS (1986) and THE HEROIC TRIO (1993), which are both on the Criterion Channel. We also rap about the Tamil film BEAST (2022) from Netflix and REPO MAN (1985), which I watched on Blu-Ray, because that's who I am. Donate to the cause at Patreon.com/Quality. Follow the show on Twitter @AQualityInterruption, and James on Twitter @kislingtwits, on Instagram @kislingwhatsit and @kislingkino on Tiktok. You can watch Cruz and show favorite Alexis Simpson on You Tube in "They Live Together." Thanks to our artists Julius Tanag (http://www.juliustanag.com) and Sef Joosten (http://spexdoodles.tumblr.com). The theme music is "Eine Kleine Sheissemusik" by Drew Alexander. Listen to DRACULA: A RADIO PLAY on Apple Podcasts, at dracularadio.podbean.com, and at the Long Beach Playhouse at https://lbplayhouse.org/show/dracula And, as always, please leave us a review on iTunes or whatever podcatcher you listened to us on!

In der ersten Folge geht es um den wichtigen grundlegenden Begriff "Kongfu" aka "Gongfu". Und wie der so mit Kampf und Kunst und Chinas Kultur zusammenhängt.Glossar: http://erleuchtung-garantiert.de/Folgen-Glossar/

And so I finally did it. After months of procrastinating and going nowhere, I have finally received a call from a fellow martial artist with a simple request: When am I going to publish a gongfu book? What? Yes. When am I going to publish a gongfu book? I thought I did already. But no. I have not. What's been missing is a manual with pictures and instructions and shit on how to do baguazhang. I said no. I'm not going to that. And why would I, when you can already get books on the baguazhang pre-heaven palms, post-heaven palms, changing and fixed palm sets, the swimming dragon form and countless other versions depending on which style of baguazhang you want to learn. I'm not bringing anything new to the table. But then, as if nobody's listening to me, I got asked to do a manual on one of my forms created in Australia. Again I said no because of the potential backlash from those who don't like change. To which the response came as: Fuck'em! Baguazhang is all about change. If they don't get that, then they're in the wrong house. We've seen what your forms can do and it's time to come out of hiding. So apparently now is the time, and after much further ribbing at my expense, I did it. I published the gongfu manual both as an ebook and as a paperback on Amazon. It is called “The Baguazhang Living Tao GONGFU EDITION”. If you do go looking for it, make sure you add the phrase ‘gongfu edition' to get the right version. It contains an entirely new form. I don't say much about it – in fact hardly anything because it is in the practice of doing the form that a practitioner becomes one with nature.

Today's episode is all about tea and the culture that surrounds it in China. I answer some questions and show you just how deep Chinese culture is immersed into tea production, preparation, and ceremony. From tea plants, types of tea, and the tea market to Gongfu cha, chadao, serving etiquette, and the culture around it all, in this episode we have a lot to discuss. So pour yourself a cup and join the conversation!Tea Talks – Unfiltered Episode #7 >WaysOfWudang.com >Support the Ways on PatreonThe Ways of Wudang Channels Wudang Way – Martial Arts InstructionYoutubeFacebookInstagram Tea Talks-Unfiltered – Podcast SeriesYoutubeBuzzsproutSpotify Wudao Music – Xiao TutorialsYoutubeFacebookInstagramSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/waysofwudang)

In which we sample the Wuyi Gongfu Black Tea from Verdant Tea

Learn about the Gongfu tea service as Quinn demonstrates the methods and talks us through her experience in Seattle's New Century Tea Shop!  Music by st_brickworks on Fiverr  Cover Art by Alex Goddard Design Follow us @giveitachai on Instragram, Twitter, and Facebook E-mail us at giveitachaipod@gmail.com New Episodes every Monday!

Im Gespräch mit Daniel Ruppert Ich habe noch niemanden kennengelernt, der regelmäßig ins Eisbad steigt und nicht super cool ist. Mit super cool meine ich weniger neurotisch, mehr präsent, mit klarem und starkem Wesen. Daniel Ruppert ist genau das. Ein unglaublich inspirierender und kraftvoller Mann, Vater, Lehrer, Architekt und Schüler … Einige seiner bisherigen Stationen waren Leben in China und so lange GongFu üben bis er German und European Champion wurde, Burnout Heilung und viele Abenteuer mit Wim Hof und der Kälte. Wenn du die kurze Antwort haben willst, wie Daniel so krass geworden ist: PRACTICE! Die lange Antwort in dieser Folge Pussy, Mind & Soul … ✨ Wie du nach einem Burnout wieder Vollgas geben kannst ✨ Warum unser Purpose, ein sinnvolles Ziel im Leben, so wichtig ist ✨ Ängste und Sorgen vieler Männer rund um das Thema Familie gründen ✨ Missverständnisse zwischen Männer & Frauen ✨ Daniel kennt Wim Hof persönlich. Hab natürlich gefragt wie er so ist —————— ❤️ Sharing is caring: Teile Pussy, Mind & Soul mit deiner Community, deinen FreundInnen und deiner Crew Hat dich dieser Podcast berührt, inspiriert, motiviert und entertained?

More Ming Dynasty tea history this time. Further innovations from China's tea artisans further improves the taste and experience of tea. The famous "zisha" clay teapots and tea ware from Yixing, Jiangsu province are introduced as well as their role in the Gongfu Tea Ceremony. As the second half of the Ming Dynasty starts to wind down, the Europeans will soon be knocking on China's door. They too will discover the goodness and greatness of tea with historic consequences. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-tea-history-podcast/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode with Ethan Murchie, we talk about all things martial arts and the classic texts of Chinese medicine. Ethan is the founder of the Montreal Gongfu Research Center (Gongfu, more commonly known as Kungfu). He is a veteran practitioner of many Chinese martial arts including Taichi, Xingyi, and Bagua and has practiced Chinese medicine or 20 years. His path into Gongfu and Chinese medicine began as a teen when a rapid growth spurt gave way to lung complications. Where surgery saved his life but left him debilitated, ancient practices steered him onto a path of healing. Now Ethan is a student of classical Chinese language. We talk about his recent teachings of the Shang Han Lun, his research and ongoing passion for the Huang Di Nei Jing, and his captivation with the Yi Jing. And we explore how for the last 5 years he has expanded his vocabulary, use, and understanding of Chinese. This is a captivating episode for the Chinese medicine enthusiast who wants to bring the medicine inward for personal growth and healing. Please enjoy this episode of Pacific Rim College Radio with Ethan Murchie. Episode Links: Montreal Gongfu Research Center North American Tang Shou Tao Xinglin Institute Sabine Wilms at Imperial Tutor Learning Links: School of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine at PRC Online Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine courses at PRCOnline Student Clinic at PRC

Today I’m talking with Brea Fisher. Brea is the founder of Quan Yin Gongfu and has spent the last 13 years dedicated to the disciplines of Qigong, Taiji, and Gongfu, drawing on focused study and knowledge of Daoist philosophy and lifestyle, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yin Yang theory, and Five Element theory. Brea unites the visual arts and the written word with the Chinese internal and martial arts. She carries the lineage of Eagle Claw Turning Style (Ying Zhao Fan Zi Men), teaching Gongfu Palm + Sword, and Taiji forms handed down by Master Sing Chui. You can read more about her work at www.quanyingongfu.com Liberated Being is at www.liberatedbeing.community. Our embodied practice studio is www.liberatedbeing.community/studio

Résumé : Rodolphe et Gala s'entraînent d'arrache pied sur la planète Gongfu. Le maître Lès Kargo estime qu'il est temps de les récompenser. Suivez-nous sur Facebook Suivez-nous sur Instagram Site Web : www.loustiketfarfelux.fr 

This episode of The Conscious Cloud features Steve Odell, owner of Rabbit's Moon Tea Arts and Enthea Tea House. We talk about the philosophical and ordinary aspects of Gongfu tea, the concept behind Rabbit's Moon Tea & Enthea, and also being-ness. Rabbit's Moon Tea Arts: (http://www.rabbitsmoontea.com/) Rabbit's Moon Tea Arts IG: (https://www.instagram.com/rabbitsmoonteaarts/?hl=en) Enthea Tea House IG: (https://www.instagram.com/enthea_teahouse/?hl=en)

There's a certain novelty factor to bamboo pu'er - sheng or shou pu'er packed and (usually) aged in a bamboo tube. It's not the way we usually acquire our pu'er, and it can be both challenging and fun to crack open the bamboo log and see what's inside. But aside from the novelty, are bamboo pu'ers worth exploring for serious tea drinkers? To look inside the bamboo log a little more deeply, we're joined once again today on Talking Tea by John Wetzel, founder and owner of Stone Leaf Teahouse in Middlebury, Vermont. Specifically we're focusing on one bamboo pu'er, a 2016 sheng from Naka Shan.  John chats with us about the location in Yunnan Province this tea is from, and how the bamboo used in the processing of this tea is a link to the culture, natural environment and life of this region. We discuss the process used to make this particular bamboo pu'er and the flavor profile that results from it, as well as some of the challenges in making bamboo pu'er. We talk with John about how and why this tea evolves rather quickly after unpacking it from its bamboo home, and John gives us some suggestions on how best to store it after unpacking.  More information about Stone Leaf, including the location of the teahouse, its online store and special event info, is at its website, stoneleaftea.com. You can  also find Stone Leaf on Instagram at stoneleafteahouse  and on Facebook at Stone Leaf Teahouse. And for the backstory behind Stone Leaf, check out our episode "A 'Tea Cave' In Vermont". Talking Tea is produced and hosted by Ken Cohen. You can follow Ken on Twitter @kensvoiceken.    more about Talking Tea  Sign up for our email list to get updates on new episodes and events.   The views and opinions expressed by guests on Talking Tea are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Talking Tea or its staff.   This podcast features music from “Japanese Flowers” (https://soundcloud.com/mpgiii/japanese-flowers) by mpgiiiBEATS (https://soundcloud.com/mpgiii) available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Adapted from original.   Image of Naka Shan bamboo pu'er courtesy of Stone Leaf Teahouse. Adapted from original. Header image “Raw Puerh mid 1980 Menghai” by Cosmin Dordea, used under a Creative Commons CC By-SA 2.0 license. Adapted from original.

I talk about the short koan practice known in Korea as HuaTou, gong fu in Chinese. Another skill in the practice towards liberation.

We drank FOUR TEAS this episode. FOUR! And Shiuwen brewed them all gongfu style in an yixing pot, one by one. Needless to say, we did get a little silly by the end. This was a seriously fun episode to record. This is the second time (out of potentially three) that we recorded drinking the Spring High Mountains blind. Enjoy, and we sincerely recommend trying it for yourself!

Today we're exploring connections between tea and Daoism, the millenia-old Chinese religious and philosophical tradition that has had such a profound influence on culture and history in and beyond China. We're joined by Robert Coons, who straddles both the tea world and the world of Daoism. Robert is a well-known tea vendor based in Canada and China and is also a writer, teacher and podcaster on Daoism, qigong and Daoist meditation.  Robert tells us a little about his own journey from martial arts and other Daoist-related activities into tea culture, and then we delve into the relationship between Daoism and tea. We begin by looking at some of the definitions, history and relationships of some key practices in tea - chado or sado, chadao and gongfucha - and Robert gives us an overview of Daoism, its core elements, its history and its cultural forms. We explore references to tea in Daoist texts as well as concepts of energy, or qi, in Daoist medicine and traditional Chinese medicine, and Robert explains how both tea and meditation are seen as elixirs in Daoist tradition. We chat about the Daoist role of harmonious energy in chado, chadao and gongfucha, and we look at Daoist concepts of "action", "non-action", "action without action", "knowing sufficiency" and emptiness, and how they can come into play in our tea practice.  Robert is the author of Internal Elixir Cultivation: The Nature of Daoist Medititation, published by Tambuli Media and available on Amazon at this link.  Info on Robert's teas, as well as some of his classes and teachings, is at his websites, chayotea.com and daoistmeditiation.com. Also be sure to check out Robert's new podcast Sinotexts, available on YouTube, and his older podcast, This Daoist Life, on Soundcloud. Note about Robert's classes: In the episode Robert mentions classes he holds in the Toronto area. During the COVID-19 pandemic, please check with Robert on the status of these classes. If you need to know how to contact Robert about his classes during the pandemic, reach out to us and we'll do our best to put you in touch.   Talking Tea is produced and hosted by Ken Cohen. You can follow Ken on Twitter @kensvoiceken.    more about Talking Tea  Sign up for our email list to get updates on new episodes and events.   The views and opinions expressed by guests on Talking Tea are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Talking Tea or its staff.   This podcast features music from “Japanese Flowers” (https://soundcloud.com/mpgiii/japanese-flowers) by mpgiiiBEATS (https://soundcloud.com/mpgiii) available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Adapted from original. Episode image "Teacup" by Cosmin Dordea, used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license. Adapted from original. Header image “Raw Puerh mid 1980 Menghai” by Cosmin Dordea, used under a Creative Commons CC By-SA 2.0 license. Adapted from original.

This week we rest our weary cloud-trodding feet and take a deep dive with Scott Park Phillips into the Tao of Journey to the West. Learn how classic Chinese stories were used in theatre, war, and religious rituals. Uncover some of the martial arts' greatest secrets. If you thought you understood the Monkey King and his travel buddies, think again! Be sure to check out Scott's youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/NorthStarMartialArtsUSA Find out more about the common origins of Chinese martial arts, religion and theatre in Scott's book, Tai Chi, Baguazhang and The Golden Elixir: https://amzn.to/35hikMb

About two weeks ago I had an unusual dream, even for me. I dreamt that I got elected by the Roman Catholic Cardinals to be the Pope. In the dream I saw myself wearing the Pope's white habit and white skull cap. I know this because in the dream I saw myself reflected in a mirror with full lucid clarity. A couple of days after the dream, I told a friend about it and just for fun he started calling me: Papa Pete. At first calling me Papa Pete was just a bit of jesting. But it only took about a day for my mind to pull up the names Papa Doc and Papa Luanda. While I don't know if there is or was a Papa Luanda, except to say that Luanda is the capital of Angola, Papa Doc, on the other hand was a real person. His real name was François Duvalier, former president of Haiti from 1957 to 1971. He got the moniker Papa Doc because rumours had it that he was a Voodoo priest. Not in the same league as Papa Legba or Papa Ghede, but powerful enough with the right connections to wield both spiritual and temporal powers. Now to be clear, I am not a practitioner of Voodoo. But I was asked again by another friend to elaborate on a deeper level regarding Baguazhang as an internally focused martial art. And just as there are eight elements in bagua, there are eight meanings to the word 'internal' as it relates to Baguazhang. The first (1) meaning is that Baguazhang is Taoist as opposed to Buddhist Shaolin; the second (2) meaning is political, in that it originated from within China; the third (3) meaning is that Baguazhang can be used as a kind of walking meditation; the fourth (4) meaning is that one looks within oneself for self-healing; the fifth (5) meaning of internal is that it is a reflective art emphasizing fluidity over ridgetity; the sixth (6) meaning of internal means that it is a killer's art in the darkness versus a fighter's art in the light; the seventh (7) meaning of Baguazhang as an internal art, is that a lot of what needs to be learnt to really get good at it, comes from the experience of living the life of a martial artist and ultimately discovering what it means to be a fully realised Gongfu master! The eighth (8) meaning to which you can verify for yourselves by learning about the early Baguazhang masters, is that much of what a Baguazhang master has to deal with, has got nothing directly to do with martial arts and yet has everything to do with it. It is this last meaning that has me talking about Voodoo, being a Yinyangshi, or even just truly grasping the essence of cooling like a snake or swimming like a dragon throughout the Bagua circle. So believe or don't believe. It really doesn't matter. You could dismiss this all as woo-woo nonsense, but then, you would never be able to fully appreciate why the Taoist god Xuan Wu Shang Di 玄武上帝 is the dark lord of Chinese martial arts!

☳ Because the Baguazhang 八卦掌 master moves in a circle, Heaven blesses the master with the ways of the sky. The Swimming Dragon form embodies the typhoon. Round and round it goes; this way and that. So that when the master has learnt the ways of Qigong ☳ 氣功 and Gongfu ☵ 功夫, the next level is Tianqi ☶ 天気 mastery. ☵ To be a good Tianqiren or Weatherman, a person must be good at reading the weather and then be able to plot the future direction of one's current state of affairs to a profitable outcome. ☶ This is more than just predicting weather patterns and seeing weather forecasts on the nightly News - It is about knowing where the storm will hit and to what severity, so that when the king asks "How will it impact my kingdom?" The Weatherman can follow up the most likely scenarios with the potential opportunities to follow. Which is what the king actually wants to know. ☰ Cyclonic weather patterns, freakish electrical storms, and plummeting celestial fireballs traditionally heralded the end of kingdoms and dynasties, the world over. While it is easy to hide behind modern science and dismiss these things as superstitions. Very few people realise that the underlying motivations of why scientists like to study these things is that 1) It gives them a certain amount of power and authority in these matters, and 2) For the government of the day, to ignore the warnings these events bring, can spell calamity. For, it is not the disasters themselves that are the concern but the direct impact on the people themselves and in turn their reaction to the disasters, should the government be seen as incompetent. ☷ And it is here, where the Tianqiren diverges from the weatherman of the nightly News. It is the Tianqiren's role to be able to read The Will of the people and know like the ocean currents, how the people will react, by when and by how much. And all of this is born out of repeated observations of how people actually do things and not what they say. ☱ Like here in Australia for example, after two weeks of social distancing, the word on the street is that people are starting to have had enough of the "we're in this together stuff" and there is a feeling of being under some sort of voluntary martial law. Which means that the restrictions - while meaning well - is starting to remind the men of the days when Australia was a penal colony. And for the women, it's starting to feel like social rejection because social intimacy is not allowed (except immediate family). On top of that, some medical experts are starting to suggest that anybody who is outside must wear a mask at all times, which sounds a lot like certain countries around the world. ☲ Now at the moment, nobody is advocating anything extreme but a good Tianqiren knows and would advise their boss that trouble is brewing when people start calling for heads to roll. And given that I am only using the Coronavirus COV-19 as a real-life working example of it having existed for only 5 to 6 months, the change in the kingdom's state of affairs has been shockingly fast! ☴ I understand that for most Baguazhang practitioners, the term Tianqiren is a new one and I have to admit that I first came across it in author Fonda Lee's novel 'Jade City', but given that Baguazhang is of Chinese origin, it is a better term to use than the Mafia's consigliere or the Chinese word for sage Zhi 智, which can also mean Saint. One of the best historical examples was Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮 the strategist (181 - 234AD). A veritable great mountain in his own right.

When a listener requested an episode about teapots. we realized that this was a topic we haven't really delved into on Talking Tea. And having attended one of tea blogger, writer and teacher Scott Norton's incredibly comprehensive seminars on yixing teaware, we invited Scott to join us for an in-depth overview of teapots, their design elements, their history and how to best match your teapots with your teas. You may remember Scott from our episode Glimpsing Tea's Past, Finding Tea's Presence, at New York's Floating Mountain.  Today we begin by chatting a bit about Scott's "teapot journey" and his background collecting, curating and teaching about teapots. And then we begin to explore various styles of Japanese and Chinese teapots. We start by comparing two very different teapots from 19th century Japan, a larger blue and white porcelain teapot and a small lotus-leaf design kyusu, and we discuss the advantages offered by small teapots in control over the brewing process and obtaining more pronounced flavors from our teas.  As we move to Chinese teapots, we compare porcelain, glazed ceramic and unglazed clay teapots and the relative advantages and disadvantages of each. Scott chats with us about how to tell if an unglazed clay teapot is highly fired or low fired, and how the levels of firing and coarseness of the clay can create distinct differences in flavor and the results of our brewing. We also touch on the history of teapots and the influence of the Silk Road trade on teapot design and evolution in China. Scott has some rather large teapots in his collection, and we discuss when we might want to use a larger teapot and how to best use a large-size pot. Finally we chat with Scott about the questions we need to consider in matching our teapots to our teas, and Scott gives us tips on buying teapots and how shopping for a teapot can and should be an extension of our tea practice. Scott Norton's blog is at  scotttea.wordpress.com. You can find Scott on Instagram @cutechajin, and videos of a number of Scott's workshops and seminars are available on his YouTube channel. Talking Tea is produced and hosted by Ken Cohen. You can follow Ken on Twitter @kensvoiceken.    more about Talking Tea  Sign up for our email list to get updates on new episodes and events.   The views and opinions expressed by guests on Talking Tea are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Talking Tea or its staff.   All images on this episode page, other than the header image, are courtesy of Scott Norton. This podcast features music from “Japanese Flowers” (https://soundcloud.com/mpgiii/japanese-flowers) by mpgiiiBEATS (https://soundcloud.com/mpgiii) available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Adapted from original. Header image “Raw Puerh mid 1980 Menghai” by Cosmin Dordea, used under a Creative Commons CC By-SA 2.0 license. Adapted from original.

This episode we drank a new GABA Hong Shui, this one from Shi Ding. It's made by a very skillful farmer and roasted by Mr Zhan. It got us really philosophical, and we dipped into the subject of plant-human relationships and the imprint we are making on tea when we brew it. It was a really fun episode to record, and we hope you enjoy it!

Today on the pod, we're joined by Jost Sauer. Jost Sauer is an author, acupuncturist, therapist and all round legendary character who has a deep passion for health and fitness. Jost's loves to share his ongoing discoveries about making lifestyle your best medicine through his books, blogs, articles, workshops and retreats. Jost share's his experience using the principals of the Tao to create health and vigour in the body, mind and spirit. Jump in folks, it's a fascinating, mind expanding ride.   Jost and Mason explore: Jost's journey from drugs to the Tao. The power of the Taoist practices. The importance of integration when "enlightened" states are experienced. Yin and Yang theory. The TCM body clock. The matrix of the Qi cycle. Herbal alchemy and personal practice -  "I use my practice to correct symptoms, and I'd do the herbs to nourish my soul."   Who is Jost Sauer? Jost (aka the lifestyle medicine man) was born in Germany in 1958 and is an ex-hippie, anarchist and drug runner turned acupuncturist, popular author and healthy lifestyle expert. His background includes competitive skiing, body-building, and ironman training, but after post-drug suicidal depression led him to martial arts and the study of TCM, he discovered the power of Qi, the cycle of Qi of Chinese medicine and that a natural rhythmic lifestyle holds the secrets to anti-ageing, health and success. Jost has been using lifestyle therapeutically for his clients for over 20 years. Jost is an expert in Chinese Medicine, which he lectured in for over a decade at the Australian College of Natural Medicine, he has been running successful health clinics since 1991, initially specialising in addiction recovery, and has treated tens of thousands of clients. His passion is sharing his ongoing discoveries about making lifestyle your best medicine through his books, blogs, articles, workshops and retreats.    Resources:  Jost Website Jost Facebook Jost Instagram Jost Youtube   Q: How Can I Support The SuperFeast Podcast? A: Tell all your friends and family and share online! We’d also love it if you could subscribe and review this podcast on iTunes. Or  check us out on Stitcher :)! Plus  we're on Spotify! We got you covered on all bases ;P   Check Out The Transcript Here:   Mason: (00:00) Jost, thanks so much for being here, man.   Jost: (00:01) Thank you. It's amazing.   Mason: (00:02) It's so good to meet you man. And it was so cool. Everyone here might be a little bit of a gap between the interviews, but I've just had Nick Perry on the podcast this morning and I know I've already told you, but he really wanted me to tell you he's a massive fan of yours. He was-   Jost: (00:15) It's awesome to hear that.   Mason: (00:17) Yeah. And I am as well. Let's jump in, in where you first started getting your fascination with Chinese medicine and Taoism. You were just 10 years old, were you saying?   Jost: (00:27) Yes. It was back in 68. I was just 11 years old and I was fascinated into China. China was on my mind, on my radar, and the cultural revolution was big. So, I started writing letters to the Chinese committee and-   Mason: (00:41) Well, what was the Chinese committee?   Jost: (00:44) There was the public affairs committee in which we are running the cultural revolution. They were communists big time. Yeah. And I started expressing my interest and what an amazing philosophy that is. Obviously, I had no idea that cultural revolution and China's philosophy actually got nothing in common.   Mason: (00:58) Yeah.   Jost: (00:59) And I talked about Yin and Yang and all that kind of stuff and how fascinated I am by the magic of it.   Mason: (01:07) How did you learn about Yin and Yang?   Jost: (01:08) Not by these sort of interplay of forces. I was already fascinated by it, because I mean kung-fu started to evolve and came to the West. And so, the whole idea of Yin and Yang, sort of I saw those symbols already, but I didn't really know what it meant but I was drawn to it intuitively. So, some people would say, "It must be past life," whatever. "It most likely is the case, because why would you be interested in it?" Yeah?   Mason: (01:36) Mm-hmm (affirmative).   Jost: (01:36) Because I wasn't really interested in the mundane world. And I grew up in Germany, in Western Germany when post war economy was peaking and everything was about working hard to succeed to get the house and the cars and the prestige. And I said, "No, I don't want this."   Mason: (01:52) Yeah. And you were young, when you got that. Right?   Jost: (01:55) Yeah. I didn't want it. I just always already was dreaming myself being on top of the mind, the magic and the sorceress and evolving the forces from the cosmic and doing sort of martial art fairytales, like what you see this day in crouching tiger. This sort of stuff I dreamed about over and over. But every time I mentioned that to people, obviously everyone said, "Oh, you're just a dream." And so, I realised I can't really talk much about it. And, yeah. I mean, I was 14 and someone gave me hashish, very good quality from Amsterdam, because I lived only one hour away from Amsterdam.   Mason: (02:33) Yeah.   Jost: (02:34) So, I had drugs and then I realised, "Oh, it is a reality." So, obviously I started to explore the drugs. And I got into university, I studied social work, but I also love that psychedelic aspect more and more and more. I moved to Amsterdam when it was 19, 20. And so, I worked there for a while. I did my experience year in social work there in Amsterdam in the Milky Way.   Mason: (03:00) [inaudible 00:03:00]. Nice.   Jost: (03:01) The classic Milky Way where they sell hashish on the ground floor, and then they do counseling on the top floor. It's like the-   Mason: (03:08) ... the whole package.   Jost: (03:10) Yeah, the whole package. Amsterdam in those days, whatever your interest is, there's a business.   Mason: (03:16) Yeah, right.   Jost: (03:17) Whatever you want, someone sells it to you.   Mason: (03:19) Yeah. Okay.   Jost: (03:22) And there were some straight people in those days, but they lived outside Amsterdam. And even the cops, the police, [inaudible 00:03:30] had red hair, henna in there hair, they had earrings. One day we were smoking hashish in the car in my really bumped out VW van and we were in the stop sign and smoking. We couldn't even look through the windows. And we heard a knock at the window. We put the window down, and there was a cop there. And he said, "Hey guys, you can't park here." "Okay, man." So, we kept driving in Amsterdam. So, everything went down. You just do it. So, you explore the psychedelic on every level. So, I really went with it and I wanted more of it. But, exploring more by drugs doesn't work. That was the big learning curve.   Mason: (04:15) How long did it take you to learn that?   Jost: (04:17) I was 22, 23 by the time I realised, "I can't get more on drugs."   Mason: (04:23) Well, it's something to get. That's interesting to even ever be able to catch that and get that. Is that because you had an intention?   Jost: (04:30) I was a drug dealer by then. I was organized. I always loved the entrepreneurship, so I had access to quantities big time, which is all in my books. I talk about it in my books.   Mason: (04:43) Especially in high-   Jost: (04:43) Higher and Higher, Drug Repair That Works, fully describe the stories.   Mason: (04:45) Oh man, I'm really looking forward to reading this.   Jost: (04:48) Yeah. It's full, it's incredible really. Great stories like dealing with Chinese people in Amsterdam, with opium and things like that. In those days it was pretty hardcore.   Mason: (04:58) Did they have genuine Chinese opium den's?   Jost: (05:02) Yeah. Full on. It had everything. You had an underground scene. So, it was like the Chinese were running the drugs. They were just like the Hell's Angels were running the drugs. The had Hell's Angels cafes. It was enormously multicultural. But for some reason, it all worked. They knew their territory and everyone kept sort of by the boundaries very well.   Mason: (05:26) Yeah. Okay.   Jost: (05:27) But because I had access to so many drugs, I could have what I wanted. And I had access to really the best mescaline. I mean, I'm talking to serious quality in those days, and LSD as much as I want. I actually came to Australia with a bottle of LSD liquid. And I actually took it with me to Nimbin in 1981-   Mason: (05:49) And became the king of the town.   Jost: (05:50) I was in the pub one day, in the middle of Nimbin.   Mason: (05:55) Yeah.   Jost: (05:56) We're talking '81 Friday night pub. And there was a guy, I was beside this guy at the counter. And I asked him, "Do you want some LSD liquid?" And he looked at me if asking me a thirsty man in the desert, "Do you want some water?"   Mason: (06:09) Yeah, right.   Jost: (06:11) And I said, "Yeah, of course." So, I gave him two drops in the scooner. And within half an hour, he was just like going all over the place. It was serious stuff.   Mason: (06:20) That was good.   Jost: (06:20) Yeah. The whole pub suddenly knew, there's this German guy who's got a bottle of LSD liquid, the real thing. So, there were 50 people in the pub, so I put everyone two drops in. The whole pub, off their face. So, some people-   Mason: (06:37) And Nimbin has never been the same again.   Jost: (06:38) ... have never had that quality.   Mason: (06:39) Yeah, right.   Jost: (06:40) Because, we told them serious quality. It was pure. Three drops would've burnt to your brain. So, I made sure everyone only two drops. But a lot of people, in that center of Nimbin, they couldn't... they were going in circles and couldn't hack it. It was just too much.   Mason: (06:56) Who are you?   Jost: (07:01) So, I had an incredible introduction to Nimbin, because within three weeks the whole bottle went that night and everybody knew me. But I lived in Nimbin for the whole year, and I survived on jobs. One day I went to the job vacancy board, end up with a job there. And there was helping the artist to upgrade the murals, all the pictures of Nimbin.   Mason: (07:26) Oh, nice.   Jost: (07:26) And I got this beautiful job, for six months paid, to, to work on the murals and all those pictures.   Mason: (07:32) Yeah.   Jost: (07:33) And people came up, "How did you get the job?"   Mason: (07:36) Yeah.   Jost: (07:36) I said, "I went to the job vacancy board." There was only one job on that job vacancy board in 20 years.   Mason: (07:45) I mean, there's some kind of flow there.   Jost: (07:47) Yeah, it's sort of faith, yeah?   Mason: (07:48) Yeah. Obviously, there's some kind of faith. I mean, like some kind of, you bring in the lady sky dancer kind of energy as well. You would have been like, yeah, you're cruising on some kind of etheric reality.   Jost: (07:58) Yeah.   Mason: (07:59) And so, the whole time, did you maintain your interest in Chinese medicine and Taoism during this?   Jost: (08:05) Yes. All along. Because, always when I was doing the drugs, it always is working with Yin and Yang symbol that came to me all the time.   Mason: (08:12) In artistry?   Jost: (08:13) Yeah, in artistry. Yeah. I just saw those symbols all the time. And I did the Chinese philosophy. Every poetry I could get, I was putting down. I was looking for the Chinese artists books. Obviously, when I lived in Nimbin, I lived in [inaudible 00:08:28] and I lived with someone who introduced me to the macrobiotic cooking, the Chinese cooking. And then, I learned about Tai chi, I learned about Qigong. I mean, I came from Amsterdam heavy on drugs, addicted to speed and every possible drug known to man, I came to Nimbin and I got off drugs.   Mason: (08:50) Yeah. I mean, yeah, that's very interesting.   Jost: (08:50) So, I went to Nimbin to get off drugs.   Mason: (08:52) Yeah.   Jost: (08:54) And, so actually I didn't do much drugs in Nimbin.   Mason: (08:57) What was it about where you were at?   Jost: (08:59) Because, I arrived really broken from the drugs, because I tried to get the Tao on drugs.   Mason: (09:05) Interesting.   Jost: (09:06) I tried to reach that consciousness on drugs. I tried to reach it. And because I had access to as many drugs as I wanted, there was no limitations to how much I could explore. And I realised very quickly, it will not work. I realised by then, "Okay, it shows me what I need and what I want, but it will not deliver."   Mason: (09:29) And so, okay, let's talk about that peak experience, because that's something that comes up again and again. How do you see the relevance of using these psychedelics now in the search for the Tao. And then there's one thing I've said there, there's a bit of contradiction there in terms of searching for the Tao in the first place.   Jost: (09:50) I've done the drug, so I can't really judge drugs. So, it would be hypocritical. My personal experience is you don't need the drugs to find it.   Mason: (09:59) Yeah, right.   Jost: (10:01) I actually haven't done drugs for over 35 years. Not because I shouldn't have drugs, it's because I write books about it. I actually don't want, because it just takes me backwards not forwards. So, because I studied under that Chinese master, I studied in all kinds of Chinese martial art practices and meditation practices and I've explored really good revenues with them, with all kinds of avenues with masters I met in my time. And I was explored to cosmic. I was introduced to cosmic consciousness via techniques. And that took me further as on the drugs. I couldn't go further. Then, I met those techniques, and in particular with under [inaudible 00:10:40], who run the transcendental meditation with the Maharishi in the '60s. I met him and he was my main... the main guru I followed. And he was a friend of Osho. We're talking back obviously 25, 30 years when it all started. And so, he introduced me to the cosmic consciousness via a meditation technique that took the next level from the transcendental meditation to the spontaneous expression that the transcendental meditation only you could do in a contained form by sitting down.   Mason: (11:11) Yeah.   Jost: (11:11) So, they had this big fall out in the '60s. [inaudible 00:11:16]... that you actually need to learn, make the body stand up to express your energies more effectively so you can actually open up all the [inaudible 00:11:22] channel and all the other points. So, the water [inaudible 00:11:25] points that all lead up to the brain to hold them up for this aspect of the cosmic consciousness that's all within us. According to my personal experience in having studied both modalities, like the cosmic consciousness of walking by the meditation and having done LSD and mescaline and etc, and all the mushrooms, there start on the same pathways. There start there. But, the technique goes further, simply because when you take a drug, you've got a chemical running through your system and it directs you what to do. Whereas, if you don't have a chemical, you're spontaneous. You can take it to a level where you're not subject to the chemical.   Jost: (12:08) So, the chemical can take you to say to step eight, but it may leave you at step eight. So, you start at step one, bang straight to step eight. It can do that within 20 minutes, but then the chemical may leave you there, because you got a software now running through your system.   Mason: (12:26) Well, this is the whole nature of having a complete system that through antiquity right has been proven and in its holistic nature can work in moving a human forward verse the Western what we do is we'll take one particular meditation technique out of a very advanced system, and then apply that, and then sit there excessively with it. And you see like with transcendental meditation, right?   Jost: (12:46) Yeah.   Mason: (12:47) So, how did you complete the system? Obviously, you've just moved through different techniques and adopted what you need out of them. Is that something that just happened for you through your will or intention or subconsciously? Or, did you purposely go and look for that?   Jost: (13:01) Because, I want more.   Mason: (13:02) Yeah. Okay.   Jost: (13:04) I want more. I'm the classic definition of an addict. I want more.   Mason: (13:06) Does that still motivate you?   Jost: (13:10) I search.   Mason: (13:11) Are you still searching, or is that-   Jost: (13:14) I've got really good techniques now, because I'm 61 years old. So, I've obviously have found my ways, my techniques I can work with. But there are those techniques I work with, firstly of all this, the cosmic consciousness via the meditation technique derived from the Vedas, which is the VC environment cosmic meditation. Which Is spontaneous expression. So that is the equivalent in the Taoist tradition, is the yuanyou meditation, the ecstatic travel. So, that's spontaneous. But then, I also study the lineage of the Tai Chi, of the Chen family. So, the Chen family, has got an enormous, powerful way to get to your right up to the top, but it's way of the body.   Mason: (14:01) Who's the Chen family?   Jost: (14:02) The Chen family started from the Chen village. They're the ones who started Tai chi in the 1600s.   Mason: (14:07) Wow. Okay.   Jost: (14:09) We're talking 1640 when the general in that Chen village introduced the first form that is now in the West, known as Tai chi. It wasn't martial art, but he took it from the Buddhist and from the Taoist. So, there's a taoist cultivation principle in there, the Buddhist transcendence and the ability to generate your energy so you can fight and be a victor, so you can win. So, it's martial art. So, it's a combination of a longevity of strengths, of power, martial art, but also transcendence way, the Buddhist view. And so, that form was fiercely guarded for 400 years by the Chen family. Because in those days, when you develop a form, you don't show others, because it's your livelihood of survival. Because, your form gives you the strengths over others. Which is why in the 1800s, all the bodyguards for the caravans would travel the country and to protect the cars off the bandits, they used Chen fighters that are cheap people from the Chen village, because they were the best fighters.   Jost: (15:22) And so, the Chen Tai Chi utilizes this opening up the cosmic consciousness in a massive, in an extremely grounded way. So, you become very, very solid. Really so solid, you can't move a Chen fighter. It's just bang, you're solid like a pyramid. You just root yourself into the ground. You're trying to move like a Chen fighter, it's not possible. You can take a big Mack, truck, not possible. And they're doing all kinds of experiments and presentations and demonstrations on YouTube, where those 10 fighters can't be moved by 100 people. So, you developed this enormous solidity, this enormous power that is incredible. And it's all in the body.   Mason: (16:05) Yeah.   Jost: (16:05) And there's always the Jing. And the Jing, then to the Shen, and then obviously the Qi. And/or Jing, Qi, Shen, whichever way you want to put first, but it's works via what we've given. Because, the strengths, the power that the Chen family tapped into and developed over the hundreds of years, based on the Taoist principle, but is now available to people. That allows them to utilize this in order to deal with obstacles in life, in order to become strong, in order to become fit.   Jost: (16:35) So, what I learned with my cosmic consciousness techniques, especially with my hippie life and things like that back in the... 40 years ago-   Mason: (16:42) Yeah. You got to really explore.   Jost: (16:43) Yeah. You go right out there, but not grounded.   Mason: (16:49) Yeah. That sounds familiar.   Jost: (16:51) So, I went right out there. So, when I was 22, 21, 19 with all the drugs, I was just so out there. I could see the whole creation of the universe. I was as ready to tell God what to do.   Mason: (17:04) Yeah. I hear you. Highly existential.   Jost: (17:09) Boom!   Mason: (17:09) Yeah.   Jost: (17:11) So out there, and understanding everything. I even could've looked at a quantum mechanics formula and, "Yeah. I get this." It's unbelievable.   Mason: (17:23) Well, that's like there is a somewhat reality to whether you can intellectually ground in and an apply something being tapped into that source field where all information comes from.   Jost: (17:34) Yeah, that's it. You tap into it. It's like, it's all there. And the drugs take you there, but they don't teach you how you get there, and they don't tell you and they don't teach you how to return. Yes.   Mason: (17:46) And then, how to take any kind of any kind of... how to realise and form anything in reality with what you've tapped into as well.   Jost: (17:56) Yeah. It's called to integrate it.   Mason: (17:57) Yeah.   Jost: (17:58) And most importantly, how to tell others what it is. You can't communicate with others.   Mason: (18:03) Yeah.   Jost: (18:03) So, I went right out there and I realized very quickly when I expressed my position, which was totally removed from the local point that other people were operating on. If I then reflected my perception of reality from my point of view, the people at the local point couldn't find... they couldn't get me. And as I more and more realized, it's not of any use.   Mason: (18:31) That's a harrowing realization when you find that no longer... that's not useful.   Jost: (18:37) Yeah. So you see it, but you don't know what to do with that.   Mason: (18:40) Yeah. Okay.   Jost: (18:41) Yeah.   Mason: (18:42) And so, that was a catalyst for you whenever you want more. You got frustrated.   Jost: (18:45) First of all, it made me angry.   Mason: (18:46) Yeah. Well, was that because you've done so much? You've done so much work and you'd realized so much and yet you couldn't... Was that what was frustrating?   Jost: (18:54) Yeah. First of all, what happened to you, first, I couldn't express. I could say, but I couldn't express it suitably nor effectively.   Mason: (19:01) Yeah. [inaudible 00:19:02], I kind of get that when you're like, "Hey, I experienced this." And people go, "Oh yeah, no, I know what you mean." You're like, "No, you don't." And that frustration that you can't actually communicate who you are genuinely as a person, right? You don't have the stamina, or the... You don't have the ability to slow down and consciously, consistently communicate who you are with the world, right? You need to do everything right-   Jost: (19:28) Not slow, not consistent, all over the place, because obviously that what held my perception together is Yin. So, whatever I perceived, it didn't have a connection. For me, it was obvious, but for others who are trying to observe, they couldn't follow. That's classified as psychosis.   Mason: (19:49) Yeah, absolutely.   Jost: (19:50) So, I developed all kinds of various levels of psychosis. Which was very interesting once again, because by being right out there and actually unable to integrate, you get an incredible insight into how society works, because you an outsider looking in, Timothy Leary. Yeah? So, suddenly I was out there watching in, but couldn't go in. And first of all that made me angry, because if the organism can't express itself, that other people want to listen to and follow, the Yang rises. That means the Yang and the liver rises, and it's anger. So, which means in those days it translated, I became an anarchist. So, from the hippie, I became an anarchist. Now, I become angry with society, so I started to blame society.   Mason: (20:40) Which is the classic pattern.   Jost: (20:41) Yeah. I told people, "Society is fucked. We are going to fucking blow this all up."   Mason: (20:45) Well, that's somewhat even the, as you come back down, it's almost a search for identity. You need something to oppose in order to get some formation for yourself, right? And who you are and what you stand for.   Jost: (20:57) Yeah, because you need to be integrated.   Mason: (21:00) Yeah.   Jost: (21:00) The thing is we, this is the thing as being in this physical form of being here in this world is we need to be working with others. At the soul, we are united with everyone. But when we incarnate into this world, we feel separation. And then, we open up with drugs. We're going to back to the cosmic consciousness, where everything's united. But now, I can't integrate that. Which is why it made me angry. And everyone that was with me in my times, or my hippy buddies, we all became anarchist.   Jost: (21:31) So, we started getting very violent with these cops and demonstrations. And yeah, it became dark. It became very, very dark. And so, it was more a means of trying to make sense of myself, as you said. It's right. And then, I had this opportunity back in, we're talking... just in the turn of 1980 to 1981, I had an opportunity to escape, because by that time the police was after me, the army was after me, the drug bust went bad, the drug dealers were after me, the bikers were after me. It was a little too much.   Mason: (22:07) That screw your head just a little bit too much.   Jost: (22:10) So, I lived illegal already in the underground. But if the bikers are also after you, it's like, "Get out."   Mason: (22:19) That's when it's real. Yeah.   Jost: (22:21) And, on this Sunday night, someone offered me to go to Australia on a plane to be a translator. And within three days, I was on the plane. I had no idea what I was doing. This is one of the things you go with the flow. So, I landed in Sydney in 1981, and I landed... So, that was in Sydney. And obviously, in those days the plane flew four days. And four days in a plane as a drug user, my God, you'd have to take a lot of drugs with you. Yeah? So, obviously I had packs of, stacks of gear with me. When I arrived in Sydney, I realized that I had a big block of Lebanese hash in my pocket I forgot to smoke. And when I was in the queue, I thought, "I'd better go to the toilet to destroy the evidence." Because I thought, "If they're going to find this, it's not a good way to start my journey in Australia." Obviously I looked very suspicious. Long hair, bare feet, green pants, purple jacket. I didn't look quite normal.   Mason: (23:17) Yeah. The whole look, yeah.   Jost: (23:21) So, I went off to the toilet to destroy the evidence, but a custom officer followed me. And I thought, "Oh shit, I can't destroy it." And I thought, "Okay, maybe they haven't noticed me. Maybe everything's got to be fine." So, I got to the custom, to the queue, and obviously straight they took me into the room and searched everything. And they found the hashish. And they said, "What's this?" And I said, "Look, I forgot to smoke it." And they looked very, very puzzled and the found all the amphetamine pills, I had a lot of drugs with me. And they said, "What's this?" And I said, "I'm a junkie. I need it to stay calm." They found the bottle with the LSD liquid which was in a nose drop bottle. This guy says, "Nose drop." So, they didn't look at that. They didn't taste it for some lucky reason. And then they told me to fuck off. And I thought, "gee this is a very rude country."   Mason: (24:10) Yeah.   Jost: (24:11) It was like, Australia, my God, different to Amsterdam and Germany where they don't swear. And I said, "Where should I go?" And they looked at me and said, "You go to Nimbin."   Mason: (24:21) No way.   Jost: (24:23) So, I've never heard of Nimbin. So, I got out of the custom, I asked him, "Can I get my hashish back? And they said, "No, fuck off." So, for some reason I didn't get thrown in jail. Nothing. One of those weird stories. It wasn't that much in hindsight, it was only about five grams. But it was good block of beautiful Lebanese red hashish. And anyway, I got out of the airport and hitchhiked north, for Nimbin. And I arrived. I'll never forget that. All the cars until Lismore looked ordinary.   Mason: (24:59) Yeah.   Jost: (25:00) Then hitchhiking from Lismore to Nimbin, everything changed. Cars stopping with three wheels and three different wheels and the goat in the back and weird looking people. I said, "This is my world."   Mason: (25:12) Yeah, I hear you. All right. So then you land and... Okay. So, we've kind of almost gone from that, from the void comes the one, the Tao, and then the two, the Yin and Yang.   Jost: (25:22) Yes, correct.   Mason: (25:23) So, the Yin and Yang is a continuing concept for you and obviously a reality and continues to be today. Where have you from that period to now, how have you related to Yin and Yang in life? And I know this is a huge conversation, but especially for people listening who haven't quite understood the realities and intricacies and all of Yin and Yang dominating and being the reality of their body and the universe, where are you now in terms of communicating in Yin Yang in your relationship with it?   Jost: (25:56) Yeah. Obviously, I understand that everyone of us is on a journey here. And obviously in Chin... In the taoist philosophy, they call it, your contract with heaven. So, the highest form of medicine in Chinese Medicine is nourishing your destiny. Because I've been using Chinese Medicine for 30 years now, and as a registered acupuncturist I obviously work with all kinds of people from all different walks of life, but I never ever used the herbs to treat a symptom. I always identify the person's destiny first.   Mason: (26:36) Dude, yeah. Speaking our language.   Jost: (26:38) Yeah. Because, everyone, it's just like the universe. Everything is created with a purpose, and that's the Tao. The Tao runs everything. So, we know this purpose, but not so much on conscious level we can feel it, but very, very difficult to put into words. And so, Yin and Yang, the fluctuation between the polar forces guides me along this journey. That means I get drawn to an absolute. Then, I realize it's not me, but it shoots me to the next absolute, which is the opposite. And then, it's not me either, then it shoots me to the next absolute. So, it's like a process. So, between Yin and Yang.   Jost: (27:16) So, obviously for me it was like, first of all, getting involved with the cultural evolution back in '68 when I realized it had nothing to do with Taoism. And so, I was always exposed to communism. Then, I actually realized, I found the real modality, which is why the Tao isn't, but that took me to the drugs. The drugs then took me to the anarchism, to violence and pain, which then led me to the realization it's within. And that led me to the meditation, which, so that was the Yin aspect. And then from the Yin aspect, I realized I need to strengthen myself, otherwise I can't express what I see. So, if I'm weak and I can't fulfill my destiny. So, in order to fulfill my destiny, in order to live my destiny, I have to go Yang. And that took me to Chinese martial art. And Chinese martial art, well, we're talking now 35 years ago, my first exposure was kung-fu. And I practiced very hard.   Jost: (28:13) And that then led me to the Chen family, the Chen Tai Chi, which is not the Tai chi that you see people do in parks. You got to look that up on YouTube, Chen Tai chi, C-H-E-N, the origin Tai Chi. It's a different world. It's very, very intense, very powerful, incredibly expressive, but it's hard to learn. It's really hard on your body. You have to work very hard. So, from the Yin, the hippie aspect of going to the cosmic consciousness, which is like without the effort, I then was taken to the Yang with a lot of effort. So, for me, the Yin Yang is always the mix between receiving, perception and having a mental idea, "oh gee I love this." And then the yang, the effort to integrate that. So, which is Gongfu, effort over time. That's the classic translation of Kung-Fu, effort over time.   Jost: (29:09) So, that means I constantly get the idea what I want, the vision, the beauty via poetry or via music or via meditation or even via sexual practices, I get the idea, but then the Yang via the effort, I moved towards it. So, this is one thing that I've never really discovered in the Western world, the perfect blend between your vision, your idea and the effort. So, in the West, we see success strategies, but they don't integrate with your heart so much. Because in order to integrate your heart, you need to feel it. So, now you need a practice that actually takes you into feeling. And so, this is where meditation, cosmic consciousness meditation come in too. That's where sexual practices come in. That's alchemy. So, I need to feel it, because if I put into word what I think my destiny is, then it's concept. Then, it's most likely based on a conditioning and an upbringing from a previous time or parents or I follow security principles. It's based on all kinds of other values. It's interfered with values.   Jost: (30:16) But if I go alchemically into it, that means via practice, and the Tao is alchemic. Alchemy is the way of the body. So, by working with the body, I then can actually feel it. And once I feel it, I then moved towards it. And that feeling is what they call the Yuanyu, is the ecstatic travel. So, that's where the drugs come into. So, the drugs can show you, but unless you put the effort in, the Gongfu, which is the Yang, it will not work. So, to me that's the Yin and Yang.   Mason: (30:49) Yeah. And then almost, the whole idea behind the drugs and the plant medicines is you become externally reliant on something to be able to show you that vision, which is innately in there rather than a daily practice being... that tune in and feel.   Jost: (31:03) Yes. In Chinese medicine we always say, "Don't think, feel."   Mason: (31:09) Okay.   Jost: (31:10) The whole training and the Tai Chi, "Don't think, feel." So, we've constantly like every morning and we go first into, into feeling. So, I never start the day with thinking. So, this is where I work with Yin and Yang, because the thinking takes me into the Yin not into the Yang. And so, I need to start the day with going into Yang first. And that means I'm not thinking. So, I'm actually moving. So, of course when we wake up, we want to think about all kinds of stuff, but the idea is to shut up. I spend a lot of time in, having studied under the masters, and personally direct the training under them. It was every morning. You just don't think.   Mason: (31:53) Yeah.   Jost: (31:54) You don't think.   Mason: (31:54) Which is the practice.   Jost: (31:56) Yeah. Which I explained in that book Clock on to Health in the large intestine chapter. Because, when we wake up, the energy, you see the Tao is very, very intelligent. Yeah? The Tao has given us everything what we need in order to fulfill our destiny. But in order to find our destiny, first of all, we need to feel not think.   Mason: (32:21) Yes.   Jost: (32:21) Yeah?   Mason: (32:22) Yes.   Jost: (32:22) And in order to feel, not think, the Tao has given us the uniform, and the Qi starts with Large Intestine and Lung, Lung and Large Intestine. And the Large Intestine is the organ that lets go off negative thinking.   Mason: (32:38) Yes.   Jost: (32:39) So, every morning we got the opportunity to let go of thinking. Because, forgetfulness is the highest form in Taoism, the art of forgetting. But what they mean with the art of forgetting is not to think about it, to feel. But that's something you can't put into words. You try to do, and I would say we tried to do, but you can't really do it. Because, I wake up and I think about a certain area. I'll wake up immediately and think about my books, my business, what I need doing, but I can't make sense of my thoughts. Obviously, I can make sense of my thoughts, but they don't suit me. So, as soon as I get up and go into my practice, I go into feeling. Large intestine takes over, and then it delegates my thoughts into the direction that they need to go, so they're not a hindrance to me.   Mason: (33:31) Yes.   Jost: (33:31) So, that's where the Tai Chi goes into. That's why it's a martial art. When you go in front of an opponent and you start thinking, you get wrecked. It has to be spontaneous. Because, if you don't think, then you've got the highest response. And then it's always correct, because then you don't have an opinion about your opponent, nor do you have a judgment, nor do you have a feeling about any criteria. So, you are in a perfect state of neutrality.   Mason: (34:07) And you're in reality.   Jost: (34:09) Yes. You are. You're real there, you're right at the moment. And you actually look at that person as what the person is, not what you think it is. So, you're not using judgment, you're not using analysis. And then, you realize there's no need to fight that person anyway.   Mason: (34:25) Yet.   Jost: (34:25) which is why Tai Chi, this is the interesting thing, it's so Yang, but it takes you so Yin.   Mason: (34:33) In original. You're talking about original Tai Chi.   Jost: (34:35) Yeah. They are the most peaceful people I've ever met. It's makes you totally peaceful, because you actually don't see the point to fight. But, you are a little better. You can immediately change the situation, but there is no interest.   Mason: (34:51) Well, that's the irony and the cosmic giggle of the universe, right?   Jost: (34:56) Yeah. That's the Yin and Yang. So, you are in the state of Yin, but you're very Yang. When you meet those masters, they're so compassionate. They don't have an issue with you. They don't judge you. It doesn't matter what you do. Whatever habits you have, it's irrelevant, because there's not thinking. It's pure feeling. It's just like goes back to the old days when people met in the park and hit a few joints. You just feel with each other.   Mason: (35:21) Yeah.   Jost: (35:21) Yes.   Mason: (35:22) Yeah. That's the peak experience to what-   Jost: (35:24) Yeah, the peak experience, just feel with each other. In the morning have a joint, the day is your friend. Yeah? So, it's like all this hippie festivals I went into. Have a joint and straight away you communicate what you're feeling not thinking.   Mason: (35:36) And then having the, I don't know whether it's the practice or the ability or just getting to the point where you're so frustrated that you need to constantly go to something external to get that experience, even just going and having the intention. This is why I want to talk about the day plans and clock...   Jost: (35:52) Yes.   Mason: (35:52) Because, for me that fits, that slides into the lifestyle design based on the reality of how Qi transforms in our body. And it's obviously a very ancient system. It's one I feel has become, if you look at the TCM body clock and the organ clock, it's become something that... everyone's like, "Oh yeah, no, I've seen that before. This times that, this times that," and there's this like breadth of awareness but not that much depth of actually being to able to know what's going on in our organs at that time.   Jost: (36:23) Yeah.   Mason: (36:24) But, what I'm thinking is just like, with that having a joint in the morning with mates and just getting into that connection, then being able to go like those masters you're talking about at 80, at 90 years old, "What does my whole life and my lifestyle and my practice needs to look like in order to embody that, and not only feel this level of connection and compassion and love for everyone, but be transcending even what I'm feeling here on this substance and embody that and then share that with the world," that takes serious consideration. And that's kind of what I feel, for me, that's what I kind of get in... I've gone through Clock On. I've got my copy at home, and been going through it. You know what I mean?   Mason: (37:04) Like, "Yeah, I'm going to really consider this organ clock more than I have in the past and really give this a few years to permeate me and allow me to understand [inaudible 00:37:13], allow me to understand my own Qi and my own wu-xing five element phase transformation. That's what I see as the point of this, is designing a day where we can tonify from the two things, the three things, the Jing, Qi, Shen, so that then we can do exactly what you're saying in terms of being able to embody these things. So, I don't know if that's got a correct assessment, but that's been my takeaway so far. But, is that kind of fair in to what the intention is behind clocking on to this?   Jost: (37:47) Yeah. What happens is that, okay, in a Taoist tradition, our information of who we are, our true nature is energetic.   Mason: (37:56) Yeah.   Jost: (37:56) And the structure is, of our nature, is structured by meridian systems. So, before we incarnate in this physical form, we are meridians. And we actually, the energy organs exist before we incarnate.   Mason: (38:12) And the embryology is kind of proving that as well, right?   Jost: (38:17) Yeah. In Chinese medicine, we have an energy organ and a physical organ. Which is why scholars all over the world, the academic agreement is, "Let me talk Chinese, spleen. We have to write the spleen in upper cases." So, when we talk spleen in Chinese Medicine, we have spleen and Spleen. The upper case spleen is different to the lower case spleen. The lower case spleen resembles Western medicine. The upper case spleen is Chinese medicine. And Chinese medicine has identified that this energy organ exist before we are born in physical form, and it will stay with us when we leave.   Mason: (38:59) And it's referring more so to the Qi.   Jost: (39:03) It's an energy. So, what happens is that each... in order to structure this body, in order to structure the soul, which is a complex entity anyway, we are really complex beings. And, I mean, the whole of creation is very complex. But in order to hold this unity together, it's run by 12 organ systems. And that's why the 12 [inaudible 00:39:23] universe. 12 hours in the day, 12 months in a year. And the Chinese and Western philosophers agreed on the 12th. 12 months and 12 years, because they work with the yearly cycles and monthly cycles. And 12 hours in the day, by two makes it 24 hours. So, it's all held together by time. And as quantum mechanics has identified, space is in time. So, in order for the physical to exist, first of all it needs time. So, as soon as you take time out of the equation, the physical collapses. It can't exist.   Mason: (39:57) Yeah.   Jost: (39:57) So, what it means to be in the physical world rather than the spiritual world is, here in the physical world, we have time, in a spiritual world, we don't have time. So, when this organ system now goes into the physical system, now it's regulated by time. And the Taoist already tapped into that 5,000 years ago for some reason. Without them having a perception of a clock, they knew that it's time that holds it all together. Which is why so many quantum mechanics look at Chinese Medicine, which is why Niels Bohr, used the Yin Yang, as his logo as a symbol, when he did his coat of arms.   Mason: (40:38) Yeah. Right.   Jost: (40:39) And so, it's all done. If you put it up on internet, it all comes up. Niels Bohr, Yin and Yang, coat of arms. Because, he understood what quantum mechanics is trying to say. The Tao has already tapped into it many thousands of years before them. And I realized that you'd never be able to put two things together, as Heisenberg uncertainty principle says, "One cannot know the velocity of a particle and not the direction of the particle at the same time." So, you cannot be Yin and then Yang. It's always happening at the same time. So, it's Yin and Yang. That's why it never says anywhere, Yin or Yang.   Mason: (41:19) So, is this the concept that they don't, they cannot exist without each other?   Jost: (41:23) Yes. But it never is, like you can't understand who you are and the direction at the same time. Which is why thinking about your destiny will never work. It's based on the uncertainty principle, Heisenberg uncertainty. So, "One cannot know the velocity of the particle and at the same time know the direction of the particle." So, you can't know who you are and know the direction you go by knowing, you need to feel it. Because then, Yin and Yang becomes one.   Jost: (41:48) So, when people do drugs, Yin and Yang become one. When we observe, academically or intellectually a situation, it's a Yin or Yang. But once you take a joint, it's all one. Which is why when you're with people, it becomes like, you feel with each other on a... You know each other.   Mason: (42:09) Yeah.   Jost: (42:09) You can go into other experience that, you can go with people you don't speak their language and you smoke hashish and you suddenly connect, unite. Yeah?   Mason: (42:18) Mm-hmm (affirmative).   Jost: (42:19) So, there's a lot going on. So, Yin and Yang is really exemplifying what that all is. And the Qi cycle put the whole complexity together via time. Because if you take time out of the equation, it will collapse. These days, people live, make up their own times, which is why they got all kinds of symptoms.   Mason: (42:39) Yes.   Jost: (42:40) 5:00 AM is different to 12:00 PM. 12:00 PM is different to 5:00 PM. And it has got a totally different influence on your body. If it has a different influence on your body, that means there's a totally different velocity and a different direction. It means there's a different feeling. So, how you feel at 5:00 AM is different to how you feel at 5:00 PM, but that feeling is essentially in order to understand who you are.   Jost: (43:02) So, the Qi cycle gives you the matrix of how to tap into these incredible complex information that your soul is, structured via the meridians and the 12 energy organs. So, each energy organ has got a very specific information. And the Taoists called it the orbs. The orb of the Spleen, which is the heavenly messenger. So, each organ has got a very specific information about who you are as your soul. There's all your akashic record is in each of the organs. You can tap into anything. So, the Spleen knows exactly when it comes about your intellect. Your Kidney knows everything about who you are in terms of your willpower. The Liver knows exactly when it comes in terms of your direction. But, putting that into words is not possible. So, we need to feel it. Feel, don't think.   Jost: (43:52) So, by living the Qi cycle, we tap into this different time zones, which then creates a sink into this energy organ. And now, it's almost like you open up a gateway. And every two hours, there's a different gateway to perceive a different perception about who you are, what you're feeling. If you integrate that now with action, which is doing, which is now you give the particle its direction, first of all, when you zone in to the time zone, it's a velocity. Now, you give it its direction by doing according to what it needs to be done at this time. You actually feel what you're supposed to be doing.   Mason: (44:31) Yeah.   Jost: (44:32) It's absolutely magic. So, suddenly life gets mystical and rather than mundane.   Mason: (44:40) I like that. I can do a little bit more mystical. And quite often something that's occurring in the West, is reverse in the East, is the East is, it is a reality and a fabric of society that... Let's just make it really obvious one. Qi exists, verse in the West where something that... sometimes just even talking about the Qi cycle to someone off the street, it's known as a bit of a, it's interesting like a mystical Chinese concept, a Chinese medicine concept. And quite often, I'm just curious as to your experience and really... And likewise, we're educating people about the reality of Qi and Taoist theory, so I can relate. But, how are you going about teaching people about this Qi cycle to Western reductionist minds that almost need to go like, "well, what are you talking about? What?" What is the Qi?"   Jost: (45:39) It's very, very simple. That's why I use archetypes in my book Clock on. I don't talk about the large intestine Qi. I talk about the cleaner. Okay. What I'm saying here is, you can't put into words what Qi is.   Mason: (45:51) Yeah.   Jost: (45:52) Because the definition of Qi is information, energy and consciousness. Quantum physics can measure the impact consciousness has on matter, but it can't measure consciousness. So, you will never be able to put Qi into words. So, in China, over the thousands of years, everyone has developed an association with Qi. So, you go into a village and you talk with an 80 year old man, and it's, "Oh, the Qi is very good here." The association is on common ground. Everyone has got no association with that word. In the Western world, there's not association with that word yet. So, when you talk to someone Qi, if they have an association, it's most likely so removed from what it is, because they don't have the experience in it yet. It will take a few generations for us to actually have an association.   Jost: (46:40) So, at this stage, in the Western world, most people don't have enough association in their unconscious about the word Qi. So, when they hear the word Qi, they don't know what to associate with it. So, it goes mental. So, once you've got mental there, it's not Qi.   Mason: (46:56) Yeah. I mean, once you try to intellectualize the concept-   Jost: (46:59) You can't. Niels Bohr already realized you can't put it into words. The quantum mechanics already understood it's not possible, because you've got consciousness. Once you gone into consciousness, you've got all kinds of dilemmas, because you get the double slit experiment, where the particle goes through both slits at the same time, but only one particle arrives at the wall. And kind of like quantum mechanics full of paradox. And that's Chinese Medicine. So, when you talk Qi, you're always with a paradox, because you've got the Yin and Yang at the same time. But when you talk, it's Yin or Yang.   Jost: (47:30) So, you will never be able to put Yin and Yang and Qi into words. But, because I've worked with so many people and I did so many talks in my time, I understand the dilemma of, "okay, how can you create an association in people?" Which is why this book, Clock on, I worked with, "okay, what is an association?" Instead of me talking about large intestine Qi, I talk about the cleaner. Instead of talking about the Spleen, the energy Spleen, I talk about the builder. Instead of talking about the Small Intestine Qi, I talk about the judge. Because, Chinese medicine started with archetypes and storytelling and poetry, not with the textbook. Chinese medicine didn't start at a textbook. It started with storytelling. The shamans told stories. It had beautiful feelings. It evolved the feeling in people. And that feeling then got ingrained and now develop an association. When they heard the word, it brought the feeling up. So, in Chinese Medicine, you always have to work with both. You have to bring the word to arise a feeling, otherwise it will not work. It's not based on science.   Mason: (48:42) Well, and then people are trying to lay them over each other.   Jost: (48:45) They can't.   Mason: (48:45) And they can't, right?   Jost: (48:45) No. It's a fairy tale.   Mason: (48:48) I mean, and that's the interesting in what you were just saying about if you say Spleen, and in conversation, you almost need to say Spleen earth in order to... because you can't go capital S spleen.   Jost: (49:04) Upper case spleen. It just goes on and on and on.   Mason: (49:10) And that is the interesting thing in terms of, I feel like most Westerners learning these concepts is arriving in an acceptance and acknowledges... And a feeling state rather than a thinking state when tuning in to this Qi. And rather going, "Okay, what time is it? Oh, okay, I'm waking up at Liver time. Maybe physiologically something is happening to my Liver." And feeling like that possibly could be, and there is probably a reality to that.   Jost: (49:40) Which is there in the correlation, the correspondence to that Liver time isn't actually in the large intestine time. It's never at the time.   Mason: (49:45) Well, that's the interesting thing. You can't think about the physiology necessarily. That's where I've tripped up, years ago when I was starting out, it's where I kept on tripping up. And probably when I talked to most young acupuncturists not getting taught the reality of not trying to fit this Qi model or like this reality, this gigantic system into Western pathology. Although there can be crossovers, that's fun and interesting, but you need to stay within that system that's respecting the classics, right?   Jost: (50:21) Yeah. My observation is they work very well together as long as you don't try and explain with Western words what Chinese phrases are.   Mason: (50:30) I think that's the distinction. Yeah.   Jost: (50:30) And you can use a Chinese to explain the West. I believe that both work very well, because I work with supplements which are based on Western sciences, I work with all kinds of Western science principles, but that's a different approach. It's Yin and Yang. You can't explain Yin with Yang. They are a totally different approach, but if you put the two things together, that's what I believe the future is.   Mason: (50:56) Absolutely.   Jost: (50:56) Chinese Medicine is fairytale. It's magic, it's psychedelic. It takes you into feeling, and it shows you your potential. It's power, it's magic. It makes you strong, incredibly powerful. And, it's longevity. I mean, at my age of 61, I can't relate to men of my age, because-   Mason: (51:18) Too much Jing.   Jost: (51:19) Yeah. I relate more to the 30 year old, because when I work out, I work out more on the 30 year olds level, not the 61 year old level. So, obviously I go into the Qi. If you go into chi, you always rectify symptoms. You always rectify symptoms. So, that's why I talk in my book Clock On, how to direct it. You wake up to a symptom for a reason, and Large Intestine is designed to move the symptom. So, if you use the Western signs and use Chinese lifestyle, medicine lifestyle, wow that's the potency. And I believe this is where we moving towards. And it was prophesied by Waysun Liao, a famous Tai chi master in 1974, when he wrote that book treatise of Tai Chi, and you talked to the Chen family. He talked about the Chen Tai Chi.   Jost: (52:12) I need to say there are a lot of people have a misconception of Tai chi, because what we see in the West, old people in the park is not Tai Chi. It's like saying a skateboard is a Lamborghini.   Mason: (52:21) Yeah. I mean, I think that's something that's happened in a lot of these traditional. If you look at yin yoga, then practices like restorative yoga just flopping into a position verse of very active intentional five minute hold in a position that is designed to completely transform and open a meridian, it's a very different concept. So, it's hard fucking work. And that's what Tai Chi being, "Well, this nice. I'm just going with the energy of the universe without going through the methodical work of learning to engage the [crosstalk 00:52:57].   Jost: (52:58) And your legs, and you burn your legs, it's so intense, so painful, so incredible, intense. But then, you just, you can see your direction. You can see your purpose. So, while you do the move, it's enormously intense, but you can see who you are and it moves you. So, it puts you in an altered state immediately. But Waysun Liao prophesied in the 1970s, that what the Chinese started, this [inaudible 00:53:30] and the whole Tai Chi, the Supreme ultimate, not the Tai Chi, the form, but the the supreme ultimate, the yin yang, "What they're tapping to is profound." But he said, it will be completed in the West.   Mason: (53:43) Yeah, and well, that integration model is, and that's I think there's this distinction, because this is where it's such... it's slippery. Of course, this is always going to remain slippery. The distinction to not try and layer these two systems over each other, but allow them to sit side by side and work together-   Jost: (54:03) If you're trying to sort out Chinese medicine and Western medicine, it's like giving a male, trying to sort out hormonal problems with a woman.   Mason: (54:12) Yeah.   Jost: (54:12) Or, a woman telling a man what ejaculation should be about, or a man telling a woman how she should psychologically feel. It doesn't work. It's asleep, doesn't work in harmony.   Mason: (54:23) Where can I just leave them to be who they are.   Jost: (54:27) Work in harmony. You can't understand day, when you're at nighttime. You won't say, "we're getting sick of wet. We need from now only to have dry," or, "we don't need cold anymore. We only have hot," or, "we don't need men anymore, we only have women." It's just bullshit.   Mason: (54:50) Yeah, man, sing it. Before we go, for some people that aren't aware of that organ clock, can you run us through kind of an example? A very general, because obviously this is a huge conversation. You've got two books really tapping into it, but can you run us through an example?   Jost: (55:15) Yes. It's very simple.   Mason: (55:16) Yeah. Okay.   Jost: (55:16) Yeah. You wake up today to let go of the previous day.   Mason: (55:19) Yes.   Jost: (55:19) So, you wake up to Large Intestine time. That means, Large Intestine is you go to the toilet.   Mason: (55:24) Yeah.   Jost: (55:25) You clean out your system. That's your cleaner. Before you start the day, you clean out your unit. You clean your apartment, you clean everything out. That means Large Intestine gets rid of negative thoughts. If you start the day without cleaning, the negative thoughts of yesterday will dominate you today. So, in the Qi cycle lifestyle, we always start with letting go of the old first, because it's a new day. So, we do these via Qi practices. We do this with yoga, with core training, but we don't engage with the work yet. We don't engage with talking to people. We don't engage with having breakfast yet. First of all, detox the system. And that's what pretty much like all of Western medicine cancer researchers revealed, you want to get rid of the bad cells. You want to eliminate toxins and you want to get rid of waste products, because if the bad cells, negative cells go, the good cells can flourish.   Jost: (56:29) So, in order to be healthy, first of all, we need to let go. So, that's like Large Intestine. Let go. Because if it goes, bang, then you can come in. So then, because we let go, the next thing is, we're working with the peacemaker, which is stomach Qi. And that means after we have cleaned out everything, we now sit down and have a mindful breakfast. So, we have nice, we've got to be aware we're not getting up and have breakfast. We clean out first, detox. Then, whatever time it's required to do that. Then, when we finish, we move into sitting down mindful and eating a warm breakfast. The happiest people I've met in my time in all the East, the happiest and happy, really strongest people all have cooked warm breakfast. But they do practice beforehand. So, I never have fruit juice and stuff like that.   Mason: (57:25) You don't go in and dampen the stomach.   Jost: (57:26) No. You start with warming. So, the reason why the stomach is called, why I call the stomach the peacemaker is, because the stomach is in fact your system in order to negotiate with other people in harmony. So, if you start the day correctly by going into mindfulness, you then have the ability to engage with others in a peaceful intent. So, it becomes natural. So, you have this 20 minutes where you sit and eat and go mindful and you don't multitask. If you don't, , and you multitask and you stand up and rush around, you're not the peacemaker. You're a troublemaker, because now you get to reactive throughout the day. Because, you didn't let go of your negative thoughts through your practice. You didn't have the peacemaker. You didn't settle in the morning with breakfast. Now, you've got too much negativity and you got to dump it on others. Road rage, anger, telling other people what they should be doing, getting judgemental, critical and things like that.   Jost: (58:34) The peace maker means, you're not judgemental. You just going through the day, whatever it is, but you know exactly who you are, so you keep moving. Then after that, after the peacemaker, after a beautiful peaceful breakfast, you go hard. Work very hard. And that's the builder and the emperor and that Spleen and Heart. So, you work very, very hard on your journey, on your job, on whatever needs to be doing. You know who you are, because you have seen who you are and you felt who you are during your morning practice. It was all downloaded via the breakfast. The breakfast gave you the piece, now you work hard. So, it's you start with the Yang, breakfast at Yin, then you go Yang. Then, about one o'clock, it's Small Intestine time and it's now judgment. So, that means you need to sit back and allow the whole day to be looked at. So, you stop rushing. You're in front of the judge, and the judge will look at your case, because you've done already a major part of your day. Because really when you look at, you started the day about by transforming negativity into positivity. You did the detox, you then had peaceful intent set at breakfast. You then worked very hard in your destiny. Then at one o'clock, or 1:30, you sit down... And then you sit down and you have a meal, lunch.   Jost: (59:56) And then, in the afternoon you go more into the Yin mode. And then, at five o'clock you go into Kidney time. It means you switch off from the day. And at switch off time, between 5:00 and 7:00, you're actually switching off from the day.   Jost: (01:00:13) [inaudible 01:00:13].   Mason: (01:00:16) Jake, you can edit that part, yeah?   Jost: (01:00:18) Yeah. [inaudible 01:00:18].   Jost: (01:00:27) So then, this is another important part, between 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM is exactly the same importance as between 5:00 AM and 7:00 AM. That sometime in the time, you need to switch off from the day, because the Yang phase is moving into the Yin phase. So, the Qi side is all about Yang, Yang, Yang, Yang, going to mid time. And then, from the afternoon it goes into Yin phase. But then, between 5:00 and 7:00, we need to consciously switch off. Once again, we work with the practice, a little bit of Chi Gong, a bit of yoga and it takes us away from thinking into feeling. But because it's supported by the Kidney, and the Kidney is the puppeteer. And the Kidneys are another of Yin and Yang. You actually have a direct access to the scene behind the curtain. Actually you feel mystical in that moment.   Jost: (01:01:19) So, the switch off practice, when you look at the ancient cultures, between 5:00 and 7:00, the farmers, everyone, the workers came into the village, into the center and played bowls. They're switching off from the day.   Mason: (01:01:32) That's the same with the Italians playing dominoes at the day.   Jost: (01:01:34) Yeah. Domino, connecting, not via work, connecting via play.   Mason: (01:01:44) Yes.   Jost: (01:01:44) So, if you connect via play, you work with Yin and Yang. So, that means you're actually letting go of the day. At the same time, you're embracing the joy of being in the company of others. So, this is all ancient cultures follow the Qi cycle.   Mason: (01:02:00) Yeah, you're right.   Jost: (01:02:01) And then, between 7:00 and 9:00, they all go home and then you're just by yourself, with your family, with your loved ones, and you go completely into yourself. And that's when you have another meal and a glass of wine. And it's completely just cut off from the day. It is like, now you had security at home. And Pericardium time between 7:00 and 9:00 is actually being at home. And, it's called the bodyguard in my book, because if you get this right, you will actually guard the heart off cardiovascular disease and anxiety and all kinds of other stuff. Because the Pericardium channel is the channel that got discovered in the 1600s hundreds, and it's the main channel used in order to treat CVD, cardiovascular disease, anxiety, depression, etc. And, that you regulate that simply by between 7:00 and 9:00 PM, you're just going into yourself and being with loved ones and you're not doing anything in order to project outside. You guard your heart. It's your body guard. You got your heart. It's like the body guard in front of the prime minister, it ushers all the journalists the way.   Mason: (01:03:08) Yeah.   Jost: (01:03:09) So, by seven o'clock you're going into your own world. So, it is the pajamas, whatever, cross fitting, whatever. It's irrelevant, as long as you're completely calm. And then, usually, if you follow the cycle so far, at nine o'clock, the energy goes into San Jiao, which is a mystical organ. And I call it in the book the ferry man, because it's actually involved with the lubrication. It's like a ferry man in Venice. And what it is, it's

General definition of Qi and Qigong: Qi is the conscious living energy or natural force that fills the universe. Qi can be generally defined as any type of energy which is able to demonstrate power and strength. Qi is also commonly used to express the energy state of something, especially living things. Since the term as used today refers to the cultivation of Human Qi through meditation and exercises, we will only use it in this narrower sense to avoid confusion. Each individual sentient being—person, animal, and plant—has its own Qi field, which always seeks balance between yin and yang. In the human being the Qi field is divided into seven chakras. This sevenfold spectrum of Qi is the whole field (kshetra) of being and activities for the human being. In China, the word “Gong” is often used instead of “Gongfu,” which means energy and time. Any study or training which requires a lot of energy and time to learn or to accomplish is called Gongfu. The term can be applied to any special skill or study as long as it requires time, energy, and patience. Therefore, the general definition of Qigong is any training or study dealing with Qi which takes a long time and a lot of effort. By the way, the actual name of the sage ‘Confucius’ is Gongfu Shah. The greatest achievement in the study of Human Qi is in regard to health and longevity. Since Qi is the source of life, if you understand how Qi functions and know how to regulate it correctly, you will live a long, happy and healthy life, and attain enlightenment in this very life.

One of our guiding principles here at Talking Tea is that conversations about tea and tea culture have the power to deepen our understanding and enhance our experience of tea. Today on Talking Tea we're exploring one of the ways people are increasingly coming together to share and talk about tea: tea meetup groups. We're joined by Roy Lamberty, founder and organizer of the New York Tea Society, a popular tea meetup in New York City. Roy tells us a bit about his own tea journey, how and why he came to organize the New York Tea Society, and how the group has grown and evolved since its inception. We talk about the challenges of running a tea meetup group and discuss choice of venue, theme and other important considerations in planning a successful meetup. But we also chat about the bonds that are formed through sharing tea, the value of learning from each other and the appeal of the meetup format to tea drinkers of all levels of experience. Aside from his role as meetup organizer, Roy Lamberty is the owner of myteaguy.com, an online seller of tea and teaware. For more info or to join the New York Tea Society, go to its Meetup.com site.  The New York Tea Society was featured in this New York Times article on September 26, 2017.  The Facebook group New York City Gong Fu Cha, mentioned in the episode, can be found here.    Talking Tea is produced and hosted by Ken Cohen. You can follow Ken on Twitter @kensvoiceken.    more about Talking Tea  Sign up for our email list to get updates on new episodes and events.   The views and opinions expressed by guests on Talking Tea are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Talking Tea or its staff.   This podcast features music from “Japanese Flowers” (https://soundcloud.com/mpgiii/japanese-flowers) by mpgiiiBEATS (https://soundcloud.com/mpgiii) available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Adapted from original. Photo of a New York Tea Society meetup courtesy of Roy Lamberty. Header image “Raw Puerh mid 1980 Menghai” by Cosmin Dordea, used under a Creative Commons CC By-SA 2.0 license. Adapted from original.              

I rarely hear people say they love Los Angeles. Do Kim is an exception. Not only does Do love LA, she also spends time regularly praying for the city and the artists that reside within. Originally from South Korea, Do is part of the 1.5 generation; kids who immigrate before their teens. And though the city of LA is not her homeland, Do takes full ownership of it. Always speaking a blessing over the businesses and the people even in the midst of traffic. Music by Home and Euneverse Follow Host @colleenlindl Follow @mostlyminutiapodcast Listen to Mostly Minutia Podcast Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify Cover Art by Evah Fan

Munkar, kaffe och diskussion av innehållet i the Division (spoilerhornet avfyras innan) och en del intressanta tankar om hela spelbranschen utifrån det. Länkar Top four om munkar Dunkin’ donuts Tim Hortons Cikoria Kung fu-teritual The Division Destiny Rikers island Shadow of Mordor Grim fandango remastered Stencilskuggor Titlar För mycket av sött och fett Fullt tillräckligt för en månad Alla slentriankoppar Dricka aska Ta en paus och göra sin lilla ritual Bismak i munnen

An institute dedicated to intensive, interdisciplinary tea education and research is not something you'll typically see at a college or university in North America - or anywhere else, for that matter. But it's exactly what you'll find at Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania, where an initiative originally undertaken by students has resulted in the groundbreaking, university-funded Tea Institute at Penn State. This week on Talking Tea we visit the Penn State Tea Institute and chat with its current Executive Director Zongjun "Sam" Li, Director of Research John Miraszek, founder Jason Cohen and past Executive Director Ryan Ahn (all pictured here, along with host Ken Cohen), to explore the Institute's history, curriculum, public programs and research. Jason first talks with us about the Institute's beginnings as a student club, how it grew into a tea house and finally, in 2009, into an institute with an established international reputation and funding from the governments of Taiwan, Japan and Korea as well as from Penn State University. The group gives us an overview of the curriculum in the Institute's three tracks of tea study (Chinese, Korean and Japanese) as well as a more in-depth look into its lineage-based Chinese track and instructor certification program. All of our guests this week are scientists, and we chat about the integration of science and art in tea and the impact of aesthetics and environment on taste perception and appreciation. We also discuss the Institute's libraries of books and historical teas, its past and current research projects, its upcoming programs and its successes in introducing students to the world of tea. Information about the Institute, its programs, events and contact info, social media links and the hours of its tea house, are at the Institute's website. Dates of the events mentioned in this episode are subject to change - visit the Institute's Facebook page for updates. Additional links mentioned or referenced in the episode are: Jason Cohen's ongoing research at Analytical Flavor Systems - www.gastrograph.com The Korean Way of Tea, by Brother Anthony - available through Amazon.   For more information on Talking Tea and updates on new episodes, visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/talkingtea. To inquire about being a guest or having your organization featured, please email us at talkingteapodcasts@gmail.com. Have something in mind you'd like to hear discussed on Talking Tea? Leave us a comment on Facebook or on our Libsyn episode page, or email us. Talking Tea is produced and hosted by Ken Cohen. You can follow Ken on Twitter @Kensvoiceken.    This podcast features music from "Japanese Flowers" (https://soundcloud.com/mpgiii/japanese-flowers) by mpgiiiBEATS (https://soundcloud.com/mpgiii) available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Adapted from original.  

One of the things we hear over and over again from people in the tea world is how so many great relationships have been created and nurtured through tea. But what is it in tea culture that's so good at bringing us together? In this week's episode we get philosophical about tea and relationships with Benjamin Olshin and Alex Schein,  two men whose own friendship was forged over tea and who have helped build community through tea in their professional and personal lives. Ben, a writer, teacher and consultant, teaches philosophy (among other things) at the University of the Arts, and has co-owned a Taiwanese-inspired teahouse in Philadelphia. Alex, a media producer, singer and songwriter, has run two teahouses in the U.S. and has produced and directed a documentary about Dobra Tea. Together we talk about why tea is not just a beverage but an experience, a practice, a way of being, a way of relating with each other and with the universe.    You can watch Alex's film, "Dobra Tea: The Good Tearoom" at http://www.goodtearoom.com. More information about Alex's work is at skyhuntermedia.com, makingsensefilm.com and alexschein.com.  You can find Ben's books on Amazon.com under Benjamin B. Olshin.   For more information on Talking Tea and updates on new episodes, visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/talkingtea. To inquire about being a guest or having your organization featured, please email us at talkingteapodcasts@gmail.com. Talking Tea is produced and hosted by Ken Cohen. You can follow Ken on Twitter @KensvoiceKen.      This podcast features music from "Japanese Flowers" (https://soundcloud.com/mpgiii/japanese-flowers) by mpgiiiBEATS (https://soundcloud.com/mpgiii) available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Adapted from original. The image "Tea is Served" (http://tinyurl.com/nrt7f6j) by ~Mers (https://www.flickr.com/people/barnkim/) is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/).   The views, positions and opinions expressed by guests on Talking Tea are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views, positions or opinions of Talking Tea, its host, producer or staff.

More Ming Dynasty tea history this time. Innovations from China's tea artisans further improved the taste and experience of tea. The famous "zisha" 紫砂 clay teapots and tea ware from Yixing 宜兴 are introduced as well as their role in the Gongfu Tea Ceremony. As the second half of the Ming Dynasty starts to wind down in the late 16th-early 17th century, the Europeans will soon be knocking on China's door. They too will discover the goodness and greatness of tea with historic consequences. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More Ming Dynasty tea history this time. Innovations from China's tea artisans further improved the taste and experience of tea. The famous "zisha" 紫砂 clay teapots and tea ware from Yixing 宜兴 are introduced as well as their role in the Gongfu Tea Ceremony. As the second half of the Ming Dynasty starts to wind down in the late 16th-early 17th century, the Europeans will soon be knocking on China's door. They too will discover the goodness and greatness of tea with historic consequences. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Talking Tea is back in Philadelphia to chat with Rebecca Goldschmidt of Philly's Random Tea Room & Curiosity Shop, one of the most eclectic tea shops we've encountered on our tea journeys to date. Rebecca talks with us about her own path of tea and her aim of providing a space for health and well-being, which come together to create the unique tea environment that is the Random Tea Room. Rebecca also gives us a short overview of gong fu cha, one of the various ways tea is prepared at Random.   More on the Random Tea Room & Curiosity Shop, including a menu of teas, an online store and social media links, can be found at its website, http://therandomtearoom.com.   For more information on Talking Tea and updates on new episodes, visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/talkingtea. To inquire about being a guest or having your organization featured, please email us at talkingteapodcasts@gmail.com. Talking Tea is produced and hosted by Ken Cohen. You can follow Ken on Twitter @KensvoiceKen.      This podcast features music from "Japanese Flowers" (https://soundcloud.com/mpgiii/japanese-flowers) by mpgiiiBEATS (https://soundcloud.com/mpgiii) available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Adapted from original. Photo by Jesse Moore, courtesy of Rebecca Goldschmidt.

This week on Talking Tea we get "drunk" on tea at Tea Drunk, a teahouse in New York City serving traditional Chinese tea. Shunan Teng, who founded and owns Tea Drunk (and knows just about everything there is to know about Chinese tea), talks with us about wild tea, Chan Cha or "monk's tea", tea picking seasons, and why tea requires a dedicated palate and a dedicated mind. In our next episode, Part 2 of "Drunk on Tea", Shunan talks with us in depth about pu erh tea, as well as about ongoing events and classes at Tea Drunk. Stay tuned!   Tea Drunk's website is at www.t-drunk.com and includes information about classes and events.   For more information on Talking Tea and updates on new episodes, visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/talkingtea. To inquire about being a guest or having your organization featured, please email us at talkingteapodcasts@gmail.com. Talking Tea is produced and hosted by Ken Cohen. You can follow Ken on Twitter @Kensvoiceken.    This podcast features music from "Japanese Flowers" (https://soundcloud.com/mpgiii/japanese-flowers) by mpgiiiBEATS (https://soundcloud.com/mpgiii) available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Adapted from original.   Photo of Tea Drunk courtesy of Shunan Teng   

"The Four" is the kind of movie that explains why imported films dominate more than 70 percent of market share in Chinese cinemas. For the duration of the film, you do not sense much serious commitment other than the commitment to profit. Director Gordon Chan has a habit of providing the public with whatever is missing in the market. And, apparently, he has found that Chinese movie-goers are missing a movie adaptation of a Gongfu novel written by Wen Rui'an, who is perhaps the third most popular Gongfu novelist in China. But "The Four" is not so much about Gongfu as it is about superheroes and sorcery. The screenwriters, led by the director, have stripped the original work of its Gongfu essence, keeping the names to lure an audience. The major characters, including the four constables, possess abilities that are often seen in science fiction: werewolf powers, telepathy, elemental powers, and other things that remind you of the X-Men series. These are all cheap and easy ways to entertain the audience, but the online comments suggest that the viewers are not pleased. Other noticeable efforts include the use of the camera rail system. This technique does lend a third dimension to a 2D action film. Apart from that, there is hardly any professional use of cameras. The film seems to consist of too many close shots in numerous short takes, perhaps a little too many for viewers who have stomach problems. Fortunately, you may only have to endure the close-up assault for the first 15 minutes. After that, your can focus on other parts of the film. For example, you can concentrate on the beautiful face of actresses Liu Yifei. Her role in the film is that of a female constable named Wuqing or, and here I quote the appalling subtitles, Emotionless. This role, Emotionless, may sound challenging for Hollywood actresses, but not for Chinese ones. For an actress to be popular in China, she needs to have two faces: a pretty face and a poker face. Liu Yifei has both and therefore nails the character without much effort. Almost every other actor and actress fails to create an impact, including the stage veteran Anthony Wong. The only other exception is actor Wu Xiubo who saved the day. His acting is perhaps the only thing about the film that makes the viewers ask for more. Nonetheless, more will come. "The Four" is just a prequel in a Gongfu film series, and that means we will see more poker-faces and superheroes. So, it seems there are profits to make in the Chinese movie industry after all, enough to encourage investors and directors to make more films, regardless of the quality and viewers' opinions. For the matter at hand, I give "The Four" a three out of ten.