Opening the Dragon Gate: The Making of a Modern Taoist Wizard

This text presents a biograpy of Wang Liping, the 18th generation transmitter of Dragon Gate Taoism, heir to a tradition of esoteric knowledge and practice accumulated and refined over 11 centuries.

(Borrowed from Amazon's reviewer : Yuri Kuzyk "zentao" (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews)

The book follows his initial training including stints in a hole in the ground and under a large cast-iron kettle. It then follows his journery with his masters into the mountains just as the Cultural Revolution began to sweep across China. Along the way many lessons are imparted including some interesting methods of cultivating with trees.

The main portion of the story ends with Wang Liping's return to his village and subsequent marriage (!) as his masters admonish him to carry on the way in a form suitable for the new age.

The book finishes with some commentary on Wang Liping's present activities including some stories from his group training sessions - some of the first held in China as strict controls on Qigong began to be lifted.

I enjoyed the story as well as the information contained in here. There are some great views on meditation, including the aforementioned tree style, in addition to the overview of his training. There are also some very interesting tidbits about the location of the lower Dantien shifting in relation to the cultivator's distance from the equator.

There is also an interesting comment that there are meridians within the body that are not terminated - that is, they are open to the universe.