M antak Chia has used his numerous books in many languages, his retreat in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and his classes around the globe, to establish himself as perhaps the leading figure in disseminating the wisdom of Daoist health therapies to the world beyond East Asia.
     The book Sexual Reflexology: Activating the Taoist Points of Love captures the significance of this at the beginning of the second chapter with the following sentence:
     “The exercises for sexual energy developed in the Daoist teachings are much more sophisticated and focused than in the West, where sexual cultivation is not very advanced and there are no real techniques for developing or understanding the sexual energy.”
     The above statement on sexual energy highlights the need for the cultivation of a much deeper understanding of human needs and dynamics in so-called advanced societies.
     Mantak Chia and William U. Wei note early in the book that Daoists regard the use of sexual energy not as a moral but as a health issue. They explore and explain the yin and yang of the sexes that leaves so many confused and dismayed.
     In passing, they highlight the desensitised and desiccated character of the West’s egalitarian and homogenised thinking and the inadequacy of common approaches to sex.
     The opening of the book presents a sympathetic and insightful exploration of the physical and psychological differences that often set male and female (yang & yin) on contrasting pathways of experience.
     This is conveyed with an easy and mature authority that can prompt one to reflect on whether the West’s aggressive self promotion of its medicine, science and technology over the past two hundred years has been any more disciplined and refined than its approach to sexual relations.
     In all these areas there has been a robust style of exuberant confidence that has often been insensitive to harm and damage inflicted along the way and that often has only been recognised after a vast accumulation of errors.
     From the beginning, Sexual Reflexology: Activating the Taoist Points of Love leaves little doubt that it offers an erudite treatment of its subject:
     “The Daoists have written and taught on the subject of sexual energy for the last five thousand years. This book is part of a series written to pass on some of this precious information, and to shed light on how to create positive fulfilling relationships in your life.”
     It goes into great depth about physiological aspects of reflexology, sexual exercise and general compatibility, and details a range of practices and postures that address the health and general well being of sexual partners.
     Like almost all Daoist physical therapies, the promises are enticing, the disciplines are demanding, and the achievements come only after long commitment, experience and practice.
     Yet, even in the midst of slow progress, frustration and repeated questioning, the exercises and disciplines can be felt to be steadily transforming one’s physical and spiritual awareness, confidence and self-possession.
     Speaking from a personal perspective, I first read Mantak Chia’s books, including those on sexual energy, almost ten years ago, but never mastered any of his disciplines thoroughly, however my life seems only to have been enhanced by what little has been mastered.
     The demands of Sexual Reflexology go beyond physical and spiritual dimensions and reach into the language we use to describe sexual organs and activity, explaining that Daoists used poetic rather than derogatory language.
     This included celestial palace, valley of solitude and cinnabar cave for the vagina, jade stalk and ambassador for the penis, precious pearl and jade terrace for the clitoris, and high tide for orgasm. While such words may initially seem flowery and awkward, they soon exert a powerful influence that has the capacity to transform feelings and behaviour.
     Most of the book is given to outlining the practical activity and understanding that transforms sexual intercourse. The pairing of sexual partners becomes a profound, informed and disciplined interaction between a man and a woman who have committed themselves to mutual engagement in a most serious way. The contrasting needs of each partner are understood and the man has undergone extensive and disciplined physical training to ensure both that his actions work to fulfil his partner and that his efforts work to enhance the health of both parties.
     Of course, the management of male ejaculation can present a substantial physical and psychological challenge to many Western men, but like many Daoist therapeutic ideas it requires serious study.
     Chapters on Sexual Healing Positions, Sexual Energising Postures, Sexercises, Secret Art of the Jade Chamber, and Romancing the Moon Grotto, provide the type of practical, detailed instruction that characterises all of Mantak Chia’s works.
     As is also typical with Mantak Chia’s books, Sexual Reflexology deepens one’s familiarity with and understanding of one’s own body and its functioning, and highlights failings in familiar Western approaches to physical health, spiritual understanding and inter-personal relations.
     Moreover, again typical of Chia, there is no escaping the reality that success and achievement in sexual reflexology will only be given to those prepared to study seriously, practice arduously and reflect profoundly as they work to master the product of five thousand years of wisdom accumulated by Daoist Masters.