The Wisdom of the Ruler on the Path of Longevity

7 hrs. 15 min.

Author Bronislav Vinogrodsky

Narrator Igor Knyazev

Description

In traditional China, achieving healthy longevity is the highest value of human life. Health is understood as a balanced inner state of a person, which manifests in healthy, simple, and pleasant relationships with the outside world. A person is an integral part of the Universe, therefore the health of each is connected with the health of the family and of the entire people as a whole. The author speaks about the wisdom of the ruler, implying not only—and not so much—a person engaged in managing administrative and state structures, but above all wants to designate the one who seeks to govern his own world, the world of his consciousness, which perceives internal and external movements of being.

In the audio book, the topic is immortality in all senses of the word. In Daoist teaching, immortality—and first of all immortality of the physical body—was the main goal of all efforts. The author fully allows that immortality of the physical body might be impossible and unattainable, but the ultimate foundation of one’s actions always makes them more productive.

Each chapter consists of three parts, forming a complete picture of the path to achieving health. In the first, the author retells the Dao De Jing (“The Book of Truth and Power” by Laozi) in such a way as to reveal ways of working with consciousness, to show images and paths along which healthy life flows, and how the state of illness arises. The second part of each chapter presents quotations from classical Chinese medical treatises, which essentially also describe the work of consciousness in the human body. The third part in the chapters is a practical interpretation of Chinese wisdom. Here it tells about possible applications of Chinese knowledge about the structure of the world and the body, provides the main definitions and concepts encountered by a wise ruler of the inner and outer world on the path to healthy longevity, aspiring to eternity.