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Courses at the Phoenix Taoist Center
Introduction to the Chinese Language:
An Entirely New Way to View our World
Four-Class Course
by Kenny Cannata
Sundays:
Dates and times to be determined.
The main purpose of this course is to give attendees the opportunity to learn how to begin speaking, reading, and writing the traditional Chinese language. At the end of the course participants will be able to say and understand basic phrases, recognize and write some 100 characters, and be able to recite a Classical poem.
The Course will cover many subjects within the Chinese language, including Chinese sayings, Chinese poetry, as well as an introduction to Classical Chinese texts such as Lao Zi’s Tao Te Ching and others.
The fee for this course is $180 for four Sundays.
Private lessons will be offered later for those interested. Only 15 seats available.
Intensive Seminar
in Chinese Tea
Weekend Course
by Kenny Cannata
August 30 & 31
9:00 AM–12:00 PM
Register by Aug. 18.
As Wine is to the Western World, Tea is to Asia.
The Phoenix Taoist Center will be hosting a two-day seminar on Chinese Tea. The course will cover the Art of Chinese Tea Ceremony called Gong Fu Cha, and its relationship to meditation, Taoism, and with Chinese culture as a whole. Upon completion, one will be able to efficiently serve Chinese tea a number of ways as well as be able to distinguish and taste many different types of Chinese tea.
Don’t miss out on this chance to learn an ancient art of promoting peace and harmony among people.
Cost is $240 for two days. Only 10 seats available.
After the seminar, private lessons will be available to those who wish to perfect the art and learn more.
Contact us to register
Weekly Meditation Schedule
Monday thru Saturday Mornings
- 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. (Seated Meditation)
The daily seated meditation periods are open to the public and FREE of charge.
Private Classes
A class pass costs $80 and provides the student with six private half-hour classes. Students may take private lessons in any of the following areas of study:
Curriculum of the Phoenix Taoist Center
1) Taoist Meditation and Philosophical Studies
- Chang Sanfeng’s Method (The Internal Alchemy Practice)
Chang Sanfeng was a Sung dynasty Taoist Priest who is attributed with the creation of T’ai Chi Ch’uan. He is also credited with an internal alchemy meditation technique called “The Quarter-Hour Method.” He believed that a person needed at least 15 minutes of stillness to develop qi and that toiling the body, or forcing it, to sit for long periods was counter productive. His idea was that the body and mind should be naturally eased into longer periods of meditation so that both the pain in the body and anxiety of the mind would be gradually eradicated.
This method consists of an hour-long meditation session divided into three 15-minute sitting periods, separated by 5-minute periods of standing meditation (after the first two sitting sessions) and walking meditation (after the final sitting period). This regime is used for the daily meditation practices and meditation retreats at the Phoenix Taoist Center. It allows beginning students to ease into longer periods of sitting. Within a few weeks students can normally sit comfortably for the full hour.
The purpose of this method is to help students focus on their Tan-T’ien (Field of Elixir), a qi cavity located three inches below the navel, which develops heat (qi) within their abdomen and to gain a sense of tranquility during meditation.
Within learning the meditation practices students are also encouraged to learn:
Eight Brocades Seated Taoist Yoga
Swimming Dragon Taoist Qigong
Five Animal Frolics of Hua To
- Kuan Shih Yin Chant Method (The Compassion Practice)
This is a Taoist and Buddhist method alike. The melodic chanting of the name Kuan Shih Yin quiets the mind and stills the thoughts very quickly and is recited by the entire meditation group during the first 15-minute sitting period.
In Buddhism, Kuan Shih Yin (pronounced Gwan Sure Yin) is considered to be the embodiment of compassion, and in Taoism she is thought to be a transformation of Miao Shan (Goddess of mercy) and/or Tou Mu (Mother of the Bushel Stars). The chanting of her name is thought to invoke both compassion and protection into the person reciting it.
- Taoist Philosophical Studies
Students are encouraged to study the following classical Taoist literature. Eventually, these works will be translated and published by Valley Spirit Arts, the media division of the Phoenix Taoist Center. When Stuart Alve Olson lectures on Taoist philosophy during the weekend meditation retreats or on other occasions, the lectures are filmed and made available free to all members.
Non-members can purchase them through our website.
- Philosophical Studies
- Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching
- The Book of Chuang Tzu
- The Book of Lieh Tzu
- Internal Alchemy Studies
- Pao P’u Tzu by Ko Hung
- Understanding Reality by Chang Potuan
- 400 Words on the Golden Elixir by Chang Potuan
- Chang Sanfeng’s Internal Alchemy Treatises
- Yellow Court Classic
- Attaining Tao Studies
- Yellow Emperor’s Yin Convergence Classic (Huang Ti Yin Fu Ching)
- Jade Emperor’s Mind Seal Classic (Yu Huang Hsin Yin Ching)
- T’ai Shang’s Tranquility Classic (Ching Ch’ing Ching)
- Lao Chun’s Treatise on Response and Retribution (Lao Chun Kai Ying P’ien)
- T’ai Shang’s Transforming the Barbarians Classic (Hua Hu Ching)
- Wisdom and Compassion Studies
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