Ming-Dao Deng

I won’t try to describe the poetry, although it’s good.

There’s something in the book —Alcoholics Anonymous—that I’d like to expand on, (I guess it’s in Epictetus, too)—life as a play. (And, obviously, Shakespeare, lol.) It’s not about the role we’re assigned in the play, since we’re not in charge of it. God is the Director, not us. And if we say, you know, It’s just a play, so I won’t bring reverence to it, and do what is proper for an actor, well, then are we still actors? We should, ideally or whatever, find another line of work, but we cannot know that other lines of work are hiring: all we know is that we have a role in this play.

I think, myself, that there are four things: we must act in accordance with the our own role or part in the play, and we must mind or feel out our relationships with the other actors, and we must acknowledge the Director, and the theme—or the Theme—of the play. Theistic paths place importance on the Director, the personal God, but the way of the Tao, the way it is in this book, is more about the impersonal Theme.

It is different, and yet even in the Bible, God has a Law; I don’t think He sits around saying, Well, who will I damn next, you know. (You, what’s your name? —Well, my enemy’s name is Joe Blow; let’s go with that.) I guess the other way is that She is Director of the play because of how well She knows the Theme.

I don’t know. I think that there are more true and less true ways of thinking about God, but I don’t know if there’s One Perfect Formula for a bumper sticker, you know. (God is Judge Weevil—and socialism is evil!!!)

…. I wrote that a long time ago—and it’ll be a long time before I’m done, I shelved this book for a long time. It’s a pretty good book though, and what I wrote is okay, even though I wouldn’t have written it now, in a lot of ways.

Anyway, Deng seems cool; he’s unique. Although certainly a philosopher, he’s more plugged into the “real world” as opposed to the absolute world than an Eckhart Tolle or a Buddha, right. Although he doesn’t mention names; he does obliquely say that there are gods out there to meet, even if he doesn’t introduce us, which is different from some of the (absolute reality/oneness) spiritual philosophers.

And the poetry is great.

…. There’s also a sort of quasi-skepticism in the philosophy of the book, or belief-lite that’s hard for me to give the sense of, but which is kinda like: “You think you know the gods, but you don’t know them. You assume you know the meaning, even though the meaning is hidden.” That’s how I see it, anyway. Or maybe it’s not that everything comes from heaven or the gods, you know. The main part of that aspect is about not making assumptions, even though that can feel quite automatic, even deceptively good’, you know.

…. “When in the arena,
Yield not to an aggressor.
When outside the arena,
Affirm compassion.”

When I review, I’m in the arena. 😉

…. Over the long period I’ve read this book my opinions have surely drifted.

He does seem to give precedence to the Absolute, the Totally Real, the non-dual. Personally, I know believe that it is prudent to give some attention to the world of dualism. You shouldn’t be poor, sick, and isolated, if you can be wealthy, healthy, and socially connected. The average person thinks this, but then denies it, and anyway gets terrible results because of their self-hatred and illnesses. But sometimes being a ‘pure’ philosopher isn’t prudent. Although it is true you should understand that prudence is relative, not absolute, as the average person thinks, and that it will pass away and die, eventually, as people I guess know but repress. But actually, I think that the prudent/the relative reappears after it disappears. It is true that, especially in times when things are chaotic or ‘bad’, or at especially ‘spiritual’ times, we should keep in mind what is impermanent (practically everything), and what is beyond ordinary human prudence. But I don’t think we’re meant to live with an obsession about the Otherworld in this world, even in religious matters.

…. He does kinda come across as being kinda super-male and officious, you know. Sometimes.

…. “Though heaven may know the ultimate,
Joy and sorrow is our own will.”

😋

…. A lot of the points are good, but just way too…. extreme. Like the divine realm is beautiful, planet Earth…. (waves hands dismissively).

Ironically, lol:

—(Taoist master dialect converted by universal translator) The city is…. Fucked…. Fuck…. the city….
—I live in a city.
—Fuck…. You….
—The KKK ran me out of the countryside. We had to move to the city to survive; I’m trying to survive.
—(ignores him; begins to levitate)

It’s wow…. I mean, fuck ~you~, right…. I’m sorry, almost, but, yeah….

…. It’s not always as bad as that; it’s not usually as bad as that, right. It’s just, extreme…. “The true Good Boy desires to, know….” (little alien toys from the Toy Story movies) Oh…. Books! Wow, Ok! Good idea! But why do the atheists on Threads have that meme that religious people never read books because only chemists read books? “Because Threads is fucked.” Oh….!

👌

…. “What is the difference between eroticism and spirituality? Both refer to ecstasy. Both lead to transcendence of the self. Both lead to unification with a larger order. Both are vulnerable to the excesses of perversion, lust, sadism, obsession, and madness. Eroticism and spirituality—the two deepest endeavors of humanity are twins.”

There are times when he gets it: including the things that he doesn’t get. Can’t say fairer than that, I suppose.

…. The truly wise are called silly. The goal is to have enough happiness and not too much sorrow; it is not the acclaim of a mad world.

…. “Tribal” society vs “splintered” society

Asian male spiritual teachers tend to be more nostalgic than I am, at least the more traditional ones—ie not Deepak Chopra, who is popular largely because he ~isn’t~ representative; he’s the Asian version of that thing we all want to be nowadays, where he has his own independent source of values, right; nobody decides for Deepak; he doesn’t have to ask people for permission, right: he doesn’t have to go to the hierarchy and ask permission…. Which isn’t the same as being isolated, at least in his case, and he has written about social false consciousness vs individual false consciousness, and how difficult it is to resolve that issue; actually in writing Deepak and his friends mostly write about ego as being the individual false consciousness, simply because they discount authoritarian group structures so habitually, right…. But yeah, they are probably perceived, Deepak and his friends, as being chaotic and weird, right—I mean, sometimes people write off not bragging about shooting dogs left and right as being a ‘coastal elite’ aberration, you know; you wouldn’t even have to be Deepak to get swept up in that police raid, you know: just be part of bragging about supposed compassion (or practicing it, who knew!) instead of bragging about shooting dogs, right…. But yeah, the culture is still hierarchical in like its ideal form, and that hierarchy is very colonial and weird in the West, and also weird outside the West, too, and maybe somewhat colonial everywhere, nowadays, right…. But yeah, and then the hierarchy isn’t really enforced anymore, it’s just an ideal, albeit an influential one; and people who take life serious who aren’t hierarchical dominators tend to be pretty much a scattered subculture, and then that kinda equates to a certain splintering, right, (and also sometimes does attract socially splintered-off people, like in the sense of being contrarian, some of whom are less healthy than others), and also the great bulk that no way take life serious or care about Deepak and his friends, also just kinda drift through life sometimes without too much loyalty or community, just kinda grabbing and scamming, right: both on big and small scales, as the case may be, right….

But yeah, trad male Asian spiritual teachers like Tao 365 man here, tend to be more nostalgic than I am, but I can kinda get the ‘tribal’ vs ‘splintered’ thing, with society in the past thinking more collectively and thereby making life simpler for the individual, right; I guess the way that I would put it is, society today allows—and perhaps that means ‘expects’—the individual to think for themselves, but the 49th percentile person is in no way prepared for that: really in no way trained for that, too; society is very ambivalent, you know: there’s basically factory education for a splintered reality; it’s very weird…. But yeah, society is set up today so that very high levels of achievement and awareness are in fact possible, but it no sense is the individual trained, or even not-tricked, so that she or he can…. You know, it’s just a mess. The ordinary person is in no sense prepared to manage the world that society just indifferently assumes that he or she will be ready for, you know. I mean, it’s the opposite: there are doors open to everyone, in a sense, although very few people are given accurate maps of where the doors are and where they lead; and some doors have bears and tigers and shit behind them; and anyway: it’s like you have to prove to society that you deserve training or whatever—if you fail the first test or anytime along the way, it’s like, society punishes you by denying you the opportunity to not get punished again, basically. It’s not necessarily a society of rules or structures all of the time: but it is a society of punishment and chaos, you know: which isn’t quite how the nostalgic spiritual teacher usually frames things, although there are surely things he gets right, you know.

…. “You are the prince of darkness. You are also the prince of light.”

…. “If we could simply acknowledge the mystery of night and the glory of morning, we would need neither civilization nor spirituality.”

…. But yeah: I like how the reverence for nature seems very pro-‘pagan’—ie magical, is the term I prefer—and the poem about sex, which for some reason I didn’t include in the review at the time, (that was a LONG time ago, lol!), was great:

“Nocturnal downpour
Wakes the lovers,
Floods the valley.”

And the commentary:

“What we put into love determines what we get out of it.”

At its simplest it’s a release of energy; at its worst it’s an affirmation that we are not loved; at its best…. Well, you’ve seen romantic movies, right? 😸….

It can actually mean several different things really, even among good things.… (altro)

In this beautifully illustrated offering of ancient wisdom, the author shares the secrets of the spiritual path handed down to him by Kwan Sailing, his Taoist master, as well as by herbalists, martial artists, and other practitioners of the ancient arts. He shows how Taoist philosophy and practice may be integrated into contemporary Western lifestyles for complete physical, mental, and spiritual health. He provides an abundance of philosophical and practical information about hygiene, diet, sexuality, physical exercise, meditation, medicine, finding one's purpose in life, finding the right teacher, death, and transcendence.… (altro)

The way of the scholar warrior is to unite wisdom with action. The hero makes the era. The era makes the hero.

'Deng Ming-Dao skillfully trranslates timeless Taoist wisdom which combines mind and heart, reflecting a sound spiritual tradition.'-Dan Millman, author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior

In this beautifully illustrated offering of ancient wisdom, Deng Ming-Dao shares the secrets of the spiritual path handed down to him by Kwan Saihung, his Taoist master, as well as by herbalists, martial artists, and other practitioners of the ancient arts. Deng shows how Taoist philosophy and practice may be integrated into contemporary Western lifestyles for complete physical , mental, and spiritual health. He provides an abundance of philosphical and practical information about hygiene, diet, sexuality, physical exercise, meditation, medicine, finding one's purpose in life, finding the right teacher, death, and transcendence.

Deng MingDao is the author of the Chronicles of Tao, a trilogy of biographical novels about his master, Kwan Saihung. They include The Wandering Taoist, Seven Bamboo Tablets of the Coudy Satchel, and Gateway to a Vast World.

Contents

Preface Introduciton
Book I Beginnings
1 Scholar warrior: Maximizing versatility
2 Three treasures: The basis for personal health
3 The marrow washing classic: A complete approach to stretching and exercise
4 Northern star qigong: Cultivating internal energy
5 Herbs: The secret of dietary transformation
Book II Philosophy and issues
6 Tao: Grounding yourself philosophically
7 Masters and students: The advantages and problems of study
8 Resolving doubts: Confronting controversy
Book III Meditation and transcendence
9 Daoyin: The bridge from exercise to meditation
10 Meditation: The heart of Taoism
11 Withdrawal: The opportunity to be spiritual
12 Returning to the source: The ultimate wisdom
Annotated bibliography
Index… (altro)