Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism

I have really been enjoying the chanting on Saturday mornings, and the discussions afterwards. It really helps us all, I’m sure, to stay connected to our practice, and to feel a part of the whole. Last Saturday was particularly great. It being the anniversary of Master Moy’s passing there was a very special feeling. I need to remember that feeling every day of course!

Master Moy helped me so much with my overall health. He encouraged me very strongly to chant. It has been and continues to be very healing and uplifting for me. When we chant together I feel the resonance quite powerfully in my mind, body and spirit. It is so great that we are doing this for the world!!

– Barb, Ontario

I want to express that I have enjoyed the chanting sessions every Saturday as it is so profound and connected even though we are separated from each other.  The sense of connection with so many around the world is a way of helping and keeping us strong throughout this time and in the coming months.  By practicing the chanting every week, I have improved and feel more confident. The words are becoming clearer and I am beginning to understand their meaning.  The various topics discussed have also been a wonderful tool in giving everyone a deeper understanding of who we are and it is a joy to listen to.  I can start my day and my week positively knowing that we will get through this difficult time together.

Thanks for the chanting this morning! I woke up in a very unpleasant state. I was anxious and preoccupied…At 9:30 am, I tried to connect… power failure! All is well… I followed the chanting on Youtube. Not very enthusiastic at first, enthusiasm came as the session went on. At the end I was re-energized and above all I felt connected. What I was doing had a meaning that I was discovering as I did it. I was able to experience what we are talking about, that just like our physical Tai Chi practice, chanting helps add strength and confidence.

– Alain, Quebec

For several months I have joined the Saturday Chanting sessions for the World, Festival Chanting on other days and taken part in a weekly, local, Chanting practise session. Like my individual Taoist Tai Chi®arts practise, Chanting has become a daily endeavour, one I cannot imagine not being part of my being. I find as I go about living I sometimes notice I am chanting quietly and rhythmically. The feeling is expansive, opening, and seems to permeate to a deep, internal knowing.

This consistent Chanting has brought significant well-being to mind, body and spirit.

My mind feels calmer and I have noticed a settling and stillness. I find I am letting go of worry and am  approaching issues, in a balanced way. Drama has been put in its place.

Each day my body feels stronger and capable of dealing with not only uncertainties that I face, but the beauty and joy health brings. The “1000 miles” is a journey made possible as I practise cultivating balance through Taoist Tai Chi®arts.

My spirit is uplifted and strengthened because of the support, encouragement, care and heartfelt compassion from our Board, from our community of participants around the world and precious teachings of Master Moy.

– Rose, British Columbia.

After my brother’s death by suicide 2 years ago, I experienced severe stabbing, catching pain in the heart and lung areas of my chest. I put it down to grief, but my doctor wanted me to have an ECG. It came back indicating some blockage in my heart arteries. I was hospitalized and underwent a perfusion scan of my heart and a stress test. Thankfully the tests came back normal, and eventually the chest pain subsided to a manageable but constant and persistent level.

When our Taoist Tai Chi® classes were suspended in March I started chanting everyday. Soon I joined the Saturday chanting sessions and FLK Board discussions, as well as my weekly branch chanting sessions. Seven months into the daily and weekly chanting practice, I feel the expansion of my lungs and ribs increasing and my chest pain is gone. I did not start the chanting with this outcome in mind. Yet here it is, and I am so grateful for the reduction in pain. As was said today during the discussion, chanting is for our health and the Taoist Tai Chi® practice is our medicine. My gratitude for the Taoist arts Master Moy gave us increases daily.

– Felicity, British Columbia

I am writing to share my experience today with the chanting and discussion on Zoom.

I continue to appreciate the opportunity to chant with everyone. My chanting felt very natural and felt that the sound was in harmony with the Chanting recording.

I recalled the following: I had the opportunity in the 1980’s to chant for some time on the weekends with Chanters at the FLK temple on Bathurst and Master Moy was often there. On one occasion we were chanting at the memorial altar, the Goon Yam Gao Foo Ging and the Dai Bay Jao and Master Moy said, “It is as though the person (Deceased) is standing right here with you.” Master Moy’s words underscored the immediacy of the relationship with the deceased and the chanting ritual at that moment.

So today recalling this memory, While chanting the Goon Yam Gao Foo Ging, I had a feeling of Master Moy’s presence ( in my mind’s eye I saw Master Moy wearing a royal blue shirt). I was saddened briefly but then continued chanting, feeling that Master Moy’s presence was with us and as the Directors have mentioned his legacy is alive and the FLK organization continues to grow and the teachings appreciated and experienced on a profound level by many.

– Linda, Ontario

I’d thought about joining the chanting on Saturdays for a couple of weeks, but hadn’t quite plucked up the courage. I’m very much a ‘beginner’, at the start of my Tai Chi journey, and lacking confidence, but joining with others, doing something I’d never done before was tempting.

So, this week, I thought I’d give it a go. And I’m so glad I did.

Joining with so many others across the world with one aim, I felt connected. I felt quite overwhelmed at one point, and emotional, but connected. Chanting with one voice and with so
many. It was powerful.

And equally as powerful were the words spoken, both before and after the chanting : the explanation of the ceremony; the lighting of the incense; the bowing… I could relate to it all.

And afterwards… the shared stories, the shared emotions and experiences. I was moved, and blinking hard by the close of the meeting. And feeling grateful.

Thank you so much for the Saturday morning chanting. It is the highlight of my week!

Beyond the physical and mental benefits of the chanting, I appreciate the opportunity to come together with other participants from around the world and chant together for the world. It makes me feel like part of an extended family. I enjoy the discussions from the directors before and after the chanting about the value of personal practice and anecdotes about Master Moy, etc. It makes me realize the richness of our tradition.

Last, but not least, I love the end when our mikes are unmuted and we have the chance to greet and say goodbye to one another in our various languages. The whole experience of the chanting session is like a mini Retreat week, but with so many more participants. At the end of the session, I am sitting at my computer with a huge grin on my face and a wonderful feeling of serenity.

Looking forward to next week.

– Rosemary, British Columbia

This was my 4th week of chanting on the zoom call and I left with a feeling of extreme gratitude and appreciation for this opportunity and for this organization.

My Taoist Tai Chi® practice is keeping me calm and content during this pandemic, even though I am vulnerable due to my medical issues. Master Moy’s teaching of quiet internal cultivation from chanting and the messages from our leaders about taking this time to develop discipline in our own practice as well as taking the opportunity to change has helped me better understand that we really are responsible for our own learning.

Having the time to reflect on my own practice and really get in touch internally has reawakened an understanding of just how powerful this art is. There is a stillness of mind, body and spirit now that I am not thinking, just doing.

I want to thank you for this chanting opportunity, for sharing your thoughts and for your dedication to keeping Master Moy’s vision alive.

– Anne, Newfoundland and Labrador

This morning I participated in a zoom chanting session with people from 22 different countries including folks from Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, the U.S. and Canada joined together: 1,000 voices chanting for the world.

The most touching moment for me came at the end when everyone was saying goodbye.

We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow or the day after, but for a moment the ‘power’ of 1,000 voices and 1,000 faces coming together was comforting and bracing.

We are not alone…

Sincere thanks to everyone who is working together to make this happen.

– Denise, Ontario

Master Moy often encouraged us to talk about the International aspect of our organization, and to think of ourselves as a family. Being part of the Saturday chanting sessions and hearing the discussions, reminds me that wherever we are, we are not alone, and that we are all supported by each other’s practice.

– Chris, Ontario

I am so grateful to you all for the chanting that has such a beneficial vibrational resonance and for the wonderful and enlightening discussions following.”

– Maureen, Ontario

To the Senior Leadership of FLK Taoist Tai Chi, please pass on my sincere gratitude for all that they are doing to assist with our individual journeys to a deeper level of Taoist Tai Chi® practice.

In the last several months I have certainly found a deepening of my own Tai Chi and a clearer understanding that of course it is not primarily about the physical effects .I am so grateful to you all for all this work you continue to do; for the chanting that has such a beneficial vibrational resonance and for the wonderful and enlightening discussions following.

It has all contributed to our success in weathering this continuing pandemic storm we are all experiencing.

On that note , as a retired Critical Care Nurse who has spent decades caring for critically ill patients on ventilators, I am well aware of the potentially lethal consequences of not respecting this SARS-CoV2 virus as it burns a huge swath through humanity. I am so grateful for your wise and responsible decision to forgo any in person gatherings of FLK Taoist Tai Chi for the foreseeable future.The reality is ,it will probably be about 18 months before that can safely happen . And so, our weekly gatherings along with our own practice, both the physical as well as the journeying to our centre will sustain us over the coming months. In the end we will come out of this stronger, more centred and more aware that it is us as individuals who can grow our personal depth of the body,mind spirit connection .

Thank you and be well all

– Maureen, Canada