Verito

OF JA A V

THE MAGUS

Teachings of an Authentic Taoist Immortal

KOSTA DANAOS

John Chang in meditation.

ii Introduction

THE MAGUS

OF JAVA
Teachings of an Authentic Taoist Immortal

KOSTA DANAOS

Inner Traditions Rochester, Vermont

iii Introduction

For Doris

Inner Traditions International One Park Street Rochester, Vermont 05767 www.InnerTraditions.com Copyright© 2000 by Kosta Danaos All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Danaos, Kosta The Magus of Java : teachings of an authenticTaoist immortal / Kosta Danaos. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. eISBN-13: 978-1-59477-877-3 1. Chang, John. 2. Taoists—Indonesia—Java—Biography. 3. Healers— Indonesia—Java—Biography. I. Title. BL1940.C426 D36 2000 299’.514’092—dc21 [B] 00-036942 Text design and layout by Crystal H. H. Roberts This book was typeset in Weiss with Schneidler Initials as the display typeface

ivIntroduction

CONTENTS

Introduction Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Epilogue Appendix One Appendix Two Looking through the Mirror Lifeforce Beginnings The Immortals The Story of Liao Sifu Lessons to Be Learned Yin and Yang The Will of Heaven The Keris The Nature of Reality For a Breath I Tarry. . . . NotesObservations and Speculation

vii 1 12 24 35 61 76 99 116 133 147 162 177 200

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Introduction

Imagine a world where the mind and soul of man are free to reach
their greatest potential, where powers once considered supernatural or paranormal are a simple fact of life. Imagine a place where diseases hitherto thought incurable can be treated withthe uncomplicated administration of the healer’s own abundant life energy, a place where mankind can readily communicate with earthbound spirits, where powerful yogis can speak with their Creator God Himself. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to dwell in such a domain, the stuff of fairy tales, myths and legends, storybooks, and Hollywood celluloid? Wouldn’t life have a distinct flavor, a tangy zest, if suchthings were indeed true? Welcome to my world. I live in such a place, where all the extraordinary things that I have suggested are real and incontrovertible. In my world Western science and Eastern mysticism walk hand in hand, embraced and inseparable, mirror aspects of the same reality, equally factual and valid. The opportunity to grow is there every waking moment, the gift of our own greatpotential. You might suppose that such a destiny is far away, but in truth it is at mankind’s doorstep. There can be no doubt that humanity is once again in the process of changing. Traditions are evolving as cross-cultural barriers continue to fall. Old values, ideals, and concepts are no longer blindly accepted; people of all creeds, races, and nations have become less hesitant to question, to askwhy. vii

The mind of man is in a frenzy as never before, technology growing logarithmically by leaps and bounds. We have set foot on the moon and touched the bottom of the ocean. We have moved at many times the speed of sound and have viewed the faces of the planets around us. We control the power of the atom and can replace a crippled human heart with that of a suitable (and willing) donor.We are a step away from creating an artificial, silicon-based intelligence. We have even invaded the sanctity of the gene and created clones. It seems that our quest for knowledge is constrained only by energy, time, and financial allocation. We have made much social progress. Despite discriminatory distribution, education levels are at an all-time high for the human race. The phenomenon of...