The Great Stillness: The Water Method of Taoist Meditation Series, Vol. 2

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as Vol. 1
Review: I really enjoyed his first volume of the Water Meditation Series, fiding it practical, well-written, and entertaining. So I looked forward to reading Vol. 2.

I was disappointed. Whereas Vol. 1 was focused essentially on breathing and mediation, and gave nice descriptions, as well as step-by-step exercises to better master and understand this form of meditation, Vol.2 was scattered. Frantzis, is an eloquent writer, so I was never bored or confused, and his stories/analogies are always amusing, albeit sometimes difficult to completely believe.

However his treatment of Ba Gua Circle Walking is far too basic. Follow these footsteps and breath like in Vol. 1 is essentially what it comes down to. At least Vol. 1 really got into what Frantzis viewed as appropriate steps in the Water Meditation process-- starting from the very basic, and getting to the somewhat advanced. In Vol.2, Frantzis covers a broad range of topics superficially.

I agree that including sexual techniques was a bit misplaced. Chia, at least, has the sense to write separate volumes when distinguishing between martial meditative and sexual qigong approaches. How to improve your sexual sensitivity by fingering tofu--? Come on, Kumar!

Vol.2 also began expounding somewhat on the esoteric, that is difficult to confirm. Reliable friends of mine have attended Kumar's seminars-- he basically asks how many attendees are qigong instructors, then trashes and humiliates them in front of everyone else. Not very classy. According to my friends, he never proves his own abilities, either, merely plays mindgames. My friends agree that Kumar has some skill and knowledge, but his arrogance shows up in his books, and this trait apparently manifests profoundly at least at the two seminars I've heard about.

This book is more in this vein. He claims a lot of things, and tells a lot of stories and makes a lot of anecdotes about wonderful spiritual achievements, but these things are so "advanced" that I cannot confirm them, and wonder if I ever will. I do think I've experienced some of the more esoteric things Frantzis talks about in Vol. 1, so you never know... This may be a book I re-read in a few years and see if I get anything more out of it.

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as Vol. 1
Review: I really enjoyed his first volume of the Water Meditation Series, fiding it practical, well-written, and entertaining. So I looked forward to reading Vol. 2.

I was disappointed. Whereas Vol. 1 was focused essentially on breathing and mediation, and gave nice descriptions, as well as step-by-step exercises to better master and understand this form of meditation, Vol.2 was scattered. Frantzis, is an eloquent writer, so I was never bored or confused, and his stories/analogies are always amusing, albeit sometimes difficult to completely believe.

However his treatment of Ba Gua Circle Walking is far too basic. Follow these footsteps and breath like in Vol. 1 is essentially what it comes down to. At least Vol. 1 really got into what Frantzis viewed as appropriate steps in the Water Meditation process-- starting from the very basic, and getting to the somewhat advanced. In Vol.2, Frantzis covers a broad range of topics superficially.

I agree that including sexual techniques was a bit misplaced. Chia, at least, has the sense to write separate volumes when distinguishing between martial meditative and sexual qigong approaches. How to improve your sexual sensitivity by fingering tofu--? Come on, Kumar!

Vol.2 also began expounding somewhat on the esoteric, that is difficult to confirm. Reliable friends of mine have attended Kumar's seminars-- he basically asks how many attendees are qigong instructors, then trashes and humiliates them in front of everyone else. Not very classy. According to my friends, he never proves his own abilities, either, merely plays mindgames. My friends agree that Kumar has some skill and knowledge, but his arrogance shows up in his books, and this trait apparently manifests profoundly at least at the two seminars I've heard about.

This book is more in this vein. He claims a lot of things, and tells a lot of stories and makes a lot of anecdotes about wonderful spiritual achievements, but these things are so "advanced" that I cannot confirm them, and wonder if I ever will. I do think I've experienced some of the more esoteric things Frantzis talks about in Vol. 1, so you never know... This may be a book I re-read in a few years and see if I get anything more out of it.

Rating:
Summary: deep insights of taoist water meditation.
Review: if i would not have been to one of his seminars i really couldn`t give a valuable feedback of this nowhere else found (as far my knowledge of the western literature and teachers goes) material about the main method of taoist meditation (in the water tradition). for sure mr. frantzis tackles on the most difficult subject to write about : meditation. if you have no practical experience in this field at all, dont try to confuse yourself with "hard-to-belief" stories, how some readers mentioned. its a living tradition and thats why this book can only serve you as companion or introduction to the "A, B, C" of these meditation practices. you have to find a real teacher if you are serious about the subject. and thats what mr. frantzis is.

Rating:
Summary: Not his best.
Review: It starts off where Vol 1 ends. So you should not get this book until you complete Vol 1, otherwise the book won't do you any good. That said, there are problems with this book, though he deals with moving qigong it is inadequately illustrated. His inner disolving process seems to be overly complex and seems to have roots in Chan Buddhism and guided imagery not Taoism, you can get the same results with loving kindness meditation as his Inner Disolving. In my mind this inclusion does not warrent the book. The book gives me the impression that Frantzis ran out material and had to toss in a lot of other stuff.

The real bugger is his inclusion of supposedly Taoist sex techniques. Now this is not part of Taoism and is condemned by Orthodox Taoists as it serves no purpose outside of increasing the practitioners ego, it's been refuted since 4th Century AD Taoists. Why is he included this non-sense is beyond me unless he is trying to attract the same audience that Mantak Chia and Yudelove have. No supposed Taoist would teach this garbage. Unless Frantzis was taught by Redhats and that would not be Liu Hung Chieh. It would be someone else.

Overall not bad, but Shinzen Young has covered the same material in his audio tapes. But if you have completed the first book you can skip it and move on to other works whether Tantric, Buddhist or something else.

Rating:
Summary: Real or Not!
Review: The origins of these practices are very difficult if not impossible to verify. BK Frantzis must know this, so he does not have the burden of having to prove the validity of his statements. He can make up outrageous stories and quotes and people often just believe him without any proof. There are just too many "from time immemorial" and "since the beginning of time" references, to take this person seriously at all.

Also, don't ask him why he is a lineage master; you'll get more hyperbole than a politician. The certificates that are in his books are acknowledgments from his teachers. There is nothing there that says he is a master of the material or that he is carrying on any tradition.

Each time you read about him he has supposedly spent more and more time in the Far East studying. If you add up all the years he supposedly has spent studying, his age is 102.

Most of the material that is presented in his two books is material that you can learn or extrapolate from any beginning meditation texts. There is also some confusion between his reference to Buddhist material and so-called Taoist material.

Ask a real Taoist priest about these topics if you are sincerely interested.

Some people are what they say, others are not!