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Michael Winn is an author and teacher most notable for his work with Mantak Chia

Mantak Chia

.Mantak Chia is a Taoist Master. He is best known for his teaching Taoist practices under the names of Healing Tao, Tao Yoga, Universal Healing Tao System and Qigong. Throughout decades of teaching, he has run numerous workshops, written a series of books, and published a number of training videos...

. He is also known for his occult writings focused on Western mysticism and Kabbalah

Kabbalah

Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...

, especially for his attempts to harmonize Taoist and Kabbalistic practices.

Association with Mantak Chia

Michael Winn, along with Eric Yudelove and Dennis Lewis, was part of a core group of Western esoteric students taught by Mantak Chia. Winn is the most notable of these students, going on to found the Healing Dao University in upstate New York

Upstate New York

Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...

and providing support for local centers in metropolitan areas throughout North America.

Seminars and teaching activity

Michael Winn adapted Chia's Healing Dao teachings with some differences in practice and philosophy. His annual summer retreat, which features Mantak Chia as an invited speaker, is very notable for the commercialized language in its brochure. The practices are promoted as helping to "profoundly improve sexual health" and claiming that practitioners "lose pounds permanently without dieting", for example.