Common questions

Start small. Join a free introduction or Foundation Class, receive a blessing at a Healing Day, or practice with the group online. If you like to read first, start with two free books, Greatest Love and Greatest Forgiveness. If you would like help choosing, a guide can talk it through with you.

See the journey · See the calendar · Talk to a guide

Tao Hands is a spiritual healing modality created by Dr. and Master Sha. Through a workshop with an authorized teacher, you receive the ability to offer blessings to yourself and to others. It is the first formal step on the healer’s pathway.

Learn more on the official Tao Hands page.

Tao Movement, Tao Sound, Tao Dance and Tao Calligraphy are different doorways into the same healing. Some people love to move, some to sing, some to write. Each is offered as a one-day workshop you can use for yourself straight away. The practitioner pathway brings them together in service of others.

No. The daily practices and Foundation Classes are online. Workshops, introductions and Healing Days are in person.

The daily group practices and the Foundation Classes are held on Zoom. When a link is posted, a “Join on Zoom” button appears beside each practice on the Daily Practice page.

No button yet? Contact Dr. Pauline at 0915 973 3111 and she will send you the link. You will need the free Zoom app on your phone, or a computer with a browser.

Wear comfortable clothes you can sit and move in. For in-person workshops, bring water to stay hydrated, as the flyers ask, and a notebook if you like taking notes. For online sessions, find a quiet spot where you can sit upright and won’t be interrupted.

A little, every day, beats a lot now and then. Master Sha’s books suggest starting with about ten minutes at a time, at least three times a day, and add that there is no upper limit: the more you practice, the better. Joining one of the daily group sessions (30 to 45 minutes) is an easy way to begin.

For chronic or serious conditions, the books suggest practicing two hours or more a day in total. You don’t need to do it in one sitting: add up several shorter sessions through the day. Practice always goes alongside, never instead of, your medical care.

Sources: Greatest Love, chapter 4; Greatest Forgiveness, chapter 3.

A simple order to follow, so nothing is forgotten. Use the words and steps from your own training wherever they differ.

1. Settle. Sit comfortably with your back straight. Place one palm on your lower abdomen, and the other over the area that needs blessing, or over your heart.
2. Say hello and call on the light. Greet God, the Divine and Tao Source, and your own soul, heart, mind and body, with love. Ask for help.
3. Turn on your treasures. Turn on your Tao Hands and all the treasures you received in your training, as your teacher showed you.
4. Do forgiveness practice. Ask forgiveness for the harm you and your ancestors have caused, and offer forgiveness to all who have harmed you. Chant: “I forgive you unconditionally. You forgive me unconditionally. Bring love, peace, and harmony.”
5. Ask for the blessing. Chant again and again: “Tao Hands, please bless and heal me”, or “Tao Hands, please bless and heal this situation”, naming the person or situation. Let Soul Language flow too, if it comes.
6. Picture the light. See golden light shining in the area you are blessing.
7. Close with thanks. “Hao, hao, hao. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Gong song, gong song, gong song.”

See also how long to practice, and the meanings of Hao and Gong song.

Every person’s experience is different. People come to the practice for healing of an illness, for help with emotional, relational or financial blocks, for more energy and vitality, for spiritual growth, or simply out of curiosity.

What the practices share is a way to support yourself every day — and, as you grow, to help others too.

Experiences differ. Many describe warmth, tingling or vibration, deep calm, emotional release, or simply feeling lighter. Some notice changes in their health over time, alongside their medical care. Some feel very little at first and notice more with steady practice.

Read stories from our community →

No. Tao practices are spiritual practices. They are offered alongside, never instead of, proper medical care. Please keep seeing your doctor, keep taking prescribed medication, and follow the advice of qualified health professionals.

Many practitioners find the practices support their well-being while they continue their treatment. Some of our practitioners are health professionals, including a medical doctor, an osteopath and an acupuncturist.

Both. We don’t ask you to believe anything first: try it, practice steadily, and notice what changes for you.

The science side. In Master Sha’s teaching, everyone and everything carries frequency and vibration. Each part of the practice raises yours in a different way: sound (chanting), movement, breath, the mind (visualizing light) and tracing Tao Calligraphy. He teaches that a higher, purer frequency supports healthier cells and organs. Other well-known teachers, such as Dr. Joe Dispenza, who writes about meditation and the mind–body connection, and Dolores Cannon, who wrote about energy and vibration, describe similar ideas in their own ways; they are not connected with Master Sha. Research on related practices keeps growing: Greatest Forgiveness summarizes studies on meditation, forgiveness and calligraphy.

The spiritual side. Tao practice is not a religion, and you don’t leave your own faith to do it. People in our community are Catholic, Christian, Buddhist and Hindu, and they bring these practices into their own prayer life. For many of us the key is God’s light: like gravity, it is real even though we can’t see it. Calling on that light, and staying connected to it, is at the heart of every practice. More on faith and practice →

To go deeper, read Tao Science, the book Master Sha wrote with physicist Dr. Rulin Xiu, which describes Tao Science as unifying science with spirituality.

Everyone is welcome at the free daily practices, whatever their age. Full-day workshops run from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM Manila time with a long lunch break. If you are bringing a child or an older family member, or you have a health condition, talk to Dr. Pauline first so she can help you choose what suits you.

Tao practice is open to people of every faith, and of none. You are never asked to give up your religion, change your beliefs or replace your prayers. Many people bring their own faith with them into practice.

We are a community of practitioners and cannot speak for any religion. If you have questions about your own tradition, please talk them through with your own faith leader. Read more on faith and practice →

Many in our community are practicing Catholics and Christians — people who go to Mass, pray the rosary, and bring their faith with them into practice. One of our guides is a medical doctor from a devout Catholic family.

The practice does not ask you to give up your beliefs or replace your prayers. When you practice, you are welcome to call on spiritual support within your own faith. Many people simply experience it as a way of praying for healing — for themselves and for others.

We are not aware of any Church statement on Tao Hands specifically. The Second Vatican Council taught that the Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in other religions (Nostra Aetate, no. 2). Read the full answer, with references →

We cannot judge your heart — only God can. The Church asks us to follow a well-formed conscience (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1776). Catholics in our community direct every prayer to God and see Him as the source of all healing, which is very different from seeking hidden powers, which the Church rejects (Catechism, no. 2117).

If you feel uneasy, bring it to Confession or a spiritual director, and feel free to step back. More on faith and practice, with references →

Within the line: praying to God and asking the saints to intercede; seeing God as the source of healing; forgiveness, love and gratitude; continuing the sacraments and your medical care.

Over the line: calling on spirits or the dead, trying to control people or events through hidden powers, or treating objects as charms (Catechism, nos. 2111–2117); and replacing the sacraments or your prayer life. See the side-by-side →

No. The practice is not a religion and does not replace your personal faith. People of many backgrounds practice together, and you are encouraged to remain rooted in your own beliefs.

Many activities are free: the daily group practices, Foundation Classes online, most introductions, Qi Gong and Healing Days. (Introduction to Tao Dance is ₱1,000.) One-day workshops, the Foundations Intensive and the practitioner workshop have fees, paid through Master Sha’s official registration channels. Each item in the calendar shows whether it is free.

We respect faith healers — many are called to serve without a set fee, and are often supported by the gifts of those they help. Even then, most of us still leave a sobre.

The honor fee is not the price of healing; no one can sell or promise that. Just as with a doctor, dentist or physical therapist, it honors the practitioner’s training (which they paid for themselves), their time, and their service, and it keeps that service sustainable. In our community we see giving and receiving as one circle that keeps the exchange in balance.

And you never have to pay on faith: daily practice, Healing Days and Foundation Classes are free. Read more about the honor exchange →

Paid programs are registered and paid through Master Sha’s official channels, not through this site. A guide can tell you how to register and pay for each one: contact Dr. Pauline at 0915 973 3111. One-on-one consultations with Teacher Henderson are booked on Master Sha’s official store (details).

You shouldn’t have to take it on faith. Start with something free — daily group practice, a Healing Day or a Foundations Class — and see for yourself. Meet our guides and practitioners, who are named on this site with the places they serve.

We will never pressure you, promise a cure, ask you to stop seeing your doctor, or ask you to leave your faith. Fees are always stated upfront. Read our promise →

A volunteer community of Tao practitioners in the Philippines. It is an informational site, not a business. For official programs and teachings, please visit drsha.com and mastersha.com.