GATHERINGS

IN PERSON

Ceremonial Qigong, Taiji & Gongfu

Intimate Practice Temple Experiences for Women

In the lands of the vast sky,

within temple walls protected by Dragon,

a small group of priestesses, warrior-hearted, are gathering.

The size of close friends reuniting,

this intimacy builds our connection strong.

We meet the day fully present in practice,

in ceremony, in devotion, with discipline, alive with feeling.

We begin in silence, sitting,

Tea is there, and we meet Her ceremonially;

and from the empty center, we move

in form mimicking the turning cosmos.

We walk the trails outside our temple gate, and

gazing out into the expanse we are met with our own breadth.

We harmonize our steps in time with the pulse of nature’s rhythm, and,

boundless, we vow our compassion and simplicity.

DRAGON AND THE PEARL

Ceremonial Qigong, Gongfu, and Taiji under the Warrior Priestess Way

20-24 MARCH 2024 | Santa Fe, New Mexico

*Open to those who identify as women, female/feminine, or are non-binary female-bodied

 THE DRAGON, THE PEARL, THE GODDESS

Quan Yin,

the One Who Hears and Tends to the Cries of the Suffering,

we call on you with reverent gratitude.

With honor and respect we call on Dragon

emissary of the One beyond the two of Yin & Yang,

protector of the Goddess,

diety of the waters,

master alchemist and great transmuter.

To these two ally guides we bow, and ask:

please teach us of the Pearl we swallowed before this form,

and the one we must take again in remembrance of our origin.

This is the Pearl of truth,

the Pearl of Light eternally radiant with Life Divine,

and in this Pearl we discover the power that resides within.

The Pearls of Our Disciplined Practice

THE FORM

A sample of our structure

Wednesday 20Mar - Sunday 24Mar

*We will be practicing Noble Silence

from Dinner on Day 2 through Tea Ceremony on Day 4, with Day 3 being our full day of silence.

Sometimes we just know this is exactly what we need.

THE LEGEND AND PRAYER

In times of great contrast within the ten-thousand forms between the Yin and the Yang,

we recall the story of the Dragon and the Pearl, which begins in China, with a child struggling to survive a severe drought.

So that he and his mother could eat, this little one’s role was to gather what limited grass he could find, for the land was desolate. He only hoped for one bundle a day, and this he sold for a single bowl of rice.

His foraging took him farther and farther each day, until the fateful day the child trekked a mountainous path more arduous than others would be willing to traverse.

There, hidden behind a circular rock outcropping, he found a patch of fertile ground with lush, green grass. With the prayer that this grass would buy his family the rice they needed to survive, the child carefully collected a patch to transplant near home,

and there, shimmering under the earth, was a great Pearl.

Though the grass died by next morning, their grief was swiftly dissolved by the sight of what the Pearl had created. There, in the rice sack where they had kept their treasure, the Pearl had doubled the grain.

They shared with their neighbors gladly, the prosperous abundance provided by the Pearl.

But when the emperor was informed, he sent men to collect the Pearl for his own use.

In desperation, the child swallowed the Pearl to keep it safe and was overcome by a great thirst. He drank what little water was left in the river.

As the villagers began to lament, the child transformed all at once—

scales formed on his skin, feathered wings from behind his heart, his body grew, and stretched, and lengthened to form a serpent’s tail and from his creature’s jaws with eyes glowing gold,

a great torrent of water flowed forth to fill the river and irrigate the fields.

This child turned dragon embraced his Dao, slid into the river, resting the Pearl there, within, to forever protect the water and guard the health of the land and those who were born of it.

“I am fresh from one of the best weeks of my life.”

“I knew this week probably would be magical. I had a feeling it would help me through a threshold of understanding and into an unknown so sparklingly alive and potent, the kind I have seen in the dome of the darkest ancient night sky.

And so … it’s no surprise that here I found those mythic realms are near and accessible to me. So near, I can touch them and be touched by them. Here I become the hero of my own story, holding up the cauldron of my mythic becoming alongside sisters clear and loving, courageous, vulnerable, willing and eager.

And now with this resounding nourishment, anything is possible. I am fortified.

What is it to live as a priestess and practice in a temple. In Brea’s generous realm, I found it is as simple as answering the call of my desire, asking to slip through the veil to meet my teachers, take off my mask, open my heart and listen, all the while praying for guides to illuminate my path.

If you are able and ready to commit to transformation, if you trust your heart to know it is right for you to be here, I can tell you with certainty, you will be changed.”

- Susan Bickford

I’m here if you have any questions at all. Send me a note to brea@quanyingongfu.com.

Happy to jump on a quick call to help you feel into this a little more clearly.