The Tao of Immortality: The Four Healing Arts and the Nine Levels of Alchemy

I have never been so disappointed in a book. I really don't want to talk badly about Mantak Chia, he does lots of wonderful things, but this book just doesn't even come close to being what it claims to be. It is nearly 400 pages of rambling thoughts and ideas with maybe 10 pages of actual instructional information, all of which is on the preliminary practices that you probably already know, (microcosmic orbit, inner smile, etc.) Simply put, this book does not explain or teach the nine levels of alchemy in any helpful way; it just barely mentions them!The book essentially just tells you what the various aspects of each practice are, but without teaching you how to practice them. It seems that they want you to enroll in their courses. If you have already studied with Mantak Chia for some time then this book may provide enough of an outline to remind you how to do the practices. It really just functions as a reference, like a course syllabus for the path of alchemy. It lists all of the things that you COULD learn along the way, but it does not teach them to you. (I have 15+ years of experience in yoga, tantra, qigong, astral travel, and meditation, so in case you are wondering, this book was not "over my head", it just fails to teach the practice of alchemy.)How about a concrete example? Here is the "teaching" on the practice of "Three Minds into One"1. Relax the body by smiling down.2. Empty the mind down: turn the upper mind into an observing mind, and observe inwardly; fuse three minds into one mind at the lower tan tien and keep it spiralling.3. Expand the spiraling chi to the mid-eyebrow, crown, and forehead, and thence into the universe.Yeah, so unless you already know how to do all of that, I'd be shocked if you can do it now!If you are looking for an overview of the different practices that are being taught under the Universal Healing Tao (UHT) system, with some philosophical background, then this book will be an interesting read and help you to decide which types of practice you would like to pursue.If you have already decided that you want to learn Taoist Internal Alchemy and you are hoping that, finally, there is a modern book to explain the entire process, you will be wasting your time and money and end up feeling extremely disappointed, since there truly is nothing to learn here.Just keep doing the Microcosmic Orbit everyday and let your inner master guide you to the next step. I hope this helps and I hope it inspires Mantak Chia to actually release a book that explains HOW to do the practices. We are in the 21st century and do not/cannot all travel around the world to take years of training. It is time to share the gift of internal alchemy freely and completely!

After quick walk trough the book there are almost all HT simplified version practices outlined in the book and a lot of info.For the HT practitioner very useful book as a reference and reminder of different HT practices.

It is very good and useful book. Ta knjiga je zelo dobra in uporabna.

What a great book! The knowledge and explanations have really come a long way over the years since Chia's earlier works (which were also great). The full color pictures and quality pages are wonderful to hold and turn. He does mention that the concepts are easy to understand but difficult to practice/master.

I wish they described the essential exercises in detail and skipped over others. This book sometimes feels like a catalog of available exercises. Not always good for a how to bookAs other reviewers mentioned you may need the other mantak chia books to figure out how to do some of the exercises.

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Ce livre ne donne pas forcément le détail des méthodes proposées tout ua long des livres de l'auteur, mais offre des explications sur la place de l'être humain dans l'univers et combine il est important de développer notre ame et notre esprit.