Positive Health Online

With his books and weekly newspaper column, the Barefoot Doctor has made the esoteric world of Daoist thought totally accessible – if not down right cool – whilst his witty and wise words have helped his readers to help themselves. Daoist philosophy is full of down to earth wisdom and Barefoot draws on this once again in his latest book Manifesto: the Internal Revolution.

In this entertaining and insightful book the Doctor tells us that we can choose to let go of our negative patterns of thinking and take control of our health and well being. He suggests that we are often our own worst enemies as we fail to believe in ourselves as powerful beings seeing ourselves instead as restricted and limited.

Barefoot says " If you lived in a police state, your freedom of choice would be far more limited, far more underground than it is now. But even in liberal societies, we have a habit of restricting our own range of choices by refusing to use our imaginations properly. This in turn limits the range of experience at our disposal, which is a major cause of the endemic scourge of depression afflicting our society these days – ironic at a time when it would appear the range of experiences on offer has never been so great."He suggests that we can expand our range of experience but first we need to understand that "if you buy the premise that you create your own reality, that your external conditions are a direct result of the beliefs in your mind, then it's fairly obvious that what you've got here and now is precisely what you want, even if it sucks. If you don't accept that, then you don't believe you create your own reality and if you don't believe that then you won't be able to get what you want from here on in, because you'll not be in a position of power. So you have to accept that what you've got is what you want in order for it to be changed or improved from this point on, according to your changing wants."

To change your reality you need to believe with one hundred per cent confidence that you are truly, deeply deserving of such changes. Furthermore, Daoists say – you need to learn to use and prefer the inner to the outer eye.

The Barefoot Doctor explains in his book how 'the inner eye' can help us to attain the life we know we deserve. Through our inner vision we can create a picture of how we would like to be and he suggests we combine this with the Daoist internal exercise – the internal revolution – also known as the microcosmic orbit, to produce a potent practice that will start in motion the changes that will bring us what we want. And he says to "visualise yourself now as a someone who knows they have absolute freedom of choice – see how it sits on your features, how it animates your body and gives timbre to your voice. See yourself with the whole world at your feet here and now." With this sense of confidence and faith in life you will find the path becomes filled with opportunities.

I am not sure that we have total control over everything that has happened to us. For many of us it may feel harsh to have to bear total responsibility for an often challenging external reality. I think the Doctor has hit the nail on the head though when he affirms the Daoist view that we can have total control over our attitude toward external conditions. Certainly he seems to emphasize the central importance of attitude when he says;" by allowing myself to enjoy what's going on, what's going on changes of itself and becomes far more enjoyable."

By changing our perspective and surrendering to what is happening seeing it as enjoyable, by creating a reality filled with Daoist exercises, visualizations and affirmations we will find that even the most challenging conditions gradually, sometimes suddenly, transform. The crucial factor as Barefoot points out is that it is the practising of exercises, visualizations and affirmations themselves that will become our source of joy and fulfilment, rather than fixating on any end result. In fact the end result is an illusion and "being where you are, here and now, there and then, is the only valid reality there is – everything else is mere fantasy until it comes to pass."

Furthermore as he says in his own personal Daoist style, "Remember also, the result doesn't give you anything much more than results; its all about enjoying dancing with the Dinner Lady." The Universal Dinner Lady is the Doctor's name for the spirit of the Dao;" the Ineffable Suchness, generating, permeating, animating, connecting, and informing the entirety of creation." She is ready to give you anything and everything you want as long as you enjoy the dance – however challenging it may be.

Manifesto shows us how to relax and see setbacks as opportunities affirming "I no longer need to manifest anything to validate my existence. It's perfectly OK and desirable for me to relax into the role of being nobody with nothing from time to time as long as I do this with a happy heart." Read this upbeat book and I guarantee it will help you to enjoy the reality of the dance with an inspired and happy heart.