by Ming-dao Deng
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Product Description
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 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.
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Average Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 An Epiphany, 2007-12-21
This book was an epiphany for me.
The author explains Taoism in a way that modern Western readers can understand. I found the historical and philosophical sections of the book the most valuable, probably just because history and philosophy are two of my personal interests. I got less out of the sections on meditation and herbs, but others with different interests probably will benefit more from them.
The central theme of the book, and the part that struck the most resonant chord with me (because it explained Taoist ideas I'd encountered before, but in a new way) was the concept of the Scholar-Warrior as an ideal. The goal, to paraphrase the author, is to maximize versatility - learn many different skills that use intellect and body, mind and spirit. Master both violent and peaceful arts. That is what defines a scholar-warrior -- being equally adept at such seemingly contradictory things as athletics, fighting, strategy, music, art, poetry, and many more. It is only by mastering such disparate things that one begins to see that it's all connected, and one begins to find balance.
This versatility is particularly rare in today's world, which has become in many ways the age of the specialist. (One can't help but wonder how many of our modern mental afflictions stem from this unnatural specialization.) Most cultures, if you go back to pre-modern times, had some version of this ideal of versatility - in Western culture, Plato's Guardians (see his REPUBLIC) or the archetypical `Renaissance Man' also are along these lines. These were all things I'd encountered before, but Deng Ming-Dao does an excellent job of providing a different interpretation of this concept linked to Chinese history and Taoism.
I will say, though, that it helps if you already have some prior knowledge and experience of Taoism before reading this book. For a start, find some good translations of the TAO TE CHING (Lao Tzu), THE WAY OF CHUANG TZU, and THE ANALECTS (Confucius - often considered opposed to Taoism, but really they're two sides of the same coin, like yin & yang) and branch out from there into other works, both ancient and modern.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Gets Close, 2007-09-07
I am a Westerner of very small understanding regarding this ancient tradition and my lifetime of spiritual quest brought me into a few dead end or dangerous paths; So my understanding is Western and limited.
In my intellectual wanderings I understand that the Taoist tradition is something akin to shamanism in that there is an exceedingly long apprenticeship regarding ceremonial care in a community sense. Births, deaths, seasonal crop changes, weather, bad luck, possessions, illness etc., were all attended to by Taoist priests who acted within the context of the culture of China (I-Ching, Prayers, Chinese medicine, Kung-fu). Think of it as a spiritual /physical /medicinal /feng-shui apprenticeship lasting 20 years.
There are some of these masters practicing today in China and perhaps even in the USA. They won't advertise it. You have to find them. And there are many people who have studied or mastered ASPECTS of the Taoist tradition (Feng-shui, Kung-Fu, Chi-Kung,).
There are very, very few Westerners who can become true Taoist priests or who deeply understand the dangers and pitfalls of a power path. It takes a master teacher to guide one in daily contact over a period of decades. Most of us are dabblers who pick and choose the things which we can squeeze into our busy, materialistic lives, which is OK as long as we don't try to deceive ourselves into thinking we are Taoist priests! A Taoist priest is a highly focussed, physically super-human person of towering mental, physical, and spiritual accomplishments who also can be martially fearsome.
Having had my say, I will recommend this book as a guide to some of the self-culture practices from the Chinese esoteric tradition.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
It really should be called Taoism for dummies, 2007-04-14
No, this is not the Tao Te Ching, or Chuang Tzu. The beauty of this book is that it gives practical advice at how to live life in the healhiest fashion, spirituall, mentally and physically. However, this is not a "Taoist" book per se. It simply gives a look on ways to make life easier in some way or another. Even in modern China where this philosophy is not practiced by the population as a whole, they still use the same health practices that you can read from in this book. Example: drink black tea in the winter, and green tea in the summer.
Another aspect about the book is that it's not "pure Taoism". Deng Ming-dao may not be Chinese (i've yet to meet him) but he shows one important aspect of Chinese culture and that is of tolerance and flexibility. If you read essays from both the Song and Ming dynasties, you will see how many philosophers of old uses many methods and practices in their daily lives; i.e. filial piety of Confucius, qigong from Taoism, meditation from Buddhism. This book has a good understanding of the flexibile and practical nature of Chinese philosophy and spirituality.
He is also very practical in his prose. He doesn't massage egos or promises magic powers from fairy tales or make you go out in the street chanting and dancing the whole day. My favorite quote from him about qigong, "If qingong cured everything, there would be no cancer in China (41)."
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Superb primer on Taoist PRACTICE, 2006-10-14
This is the best book I have seen yet (in English) about Taoist PRACTICE.
And, yes, Tao IS a practice---and is above all PRACTICAL.
Most of the "Taoism" we have been fed in the West are translations of Taoist texts, usually written by people who have never engaged in any type of Taoist practice. And most Chinese commentaries on Taoist works were written by Confucian scholars, who adopted a scholarly, not a real-life approach to the texts.
It is certainly inspiring to read Lao Tze, Chuang Tze, and the other Taoist classics, but in reality these books served as a philosophical basis for actual TRAINING within a native (Chinese) Taoist context.
And training is a huge part of Tao.
Although many western readers of Taoist texts see Taoism as a kind of "mellow," laissez-faire approach to life, based on their interpretation of wu wei, a little research into Chinese history will reveal that Taoists were scholars, alchemists, physicians, and warriors. Many of their discoveries in medicine and healing (herbal formulas, forms of qigong, etc) are actively used even today.
Deng's book is very well organized, starting with the basic theme of wen wu he yi---or "equal cultivation of cultural and martial [aspects of life.] Thus the title "Scholar Warrior." The fully rounded person was expected to be an artist, healer, painter, calligrapher, or even a master chef, as well as having martial skills.
Deng discusses the basic energetic levels of the human body ("Three Treasures") and how to cultivate each with nutrition, herbal usage, and physical disciplines including qigong and martial arts.
There is some excellent basic information about herbal formulas, elementary qigong sets, etc., as well as a real treasure--the "Golden Light Meditation."
Beyond all that the book describes a path through a long, healthy, and wise life, wherein youthful prowess and energy is eventually transmuted into ultimate knowing, returning to Tao, or "the Source."
It is important to remember that to the Chinese of old, traditions were not so compartmentalized as in the West today. That is, a Taoist would be fully versed in "Confucian" codes of respect and etiquette in daily life. And Taoists frequently shared information about martial arts and meditation wth Buddhist practitioners. So, notwithstanding the critique of Confucians in some Taoist classics such as Chuang Tze and Lieh Tze, in actual fact Taoists of old functioned IN SOCIETY using Confucian principles.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone seeking a very well researched and rounded introduction to Taoist training, as contrasted with abstract Taoist philosophy.
It also provides some excellent guidance on how to find a genuine teacher of Taoist practices.
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
 Great Chi Kung Pictures!, 2005-06-30
Although the immortal Taoist studies may be a little beyond what most readers are looking for, this book has a wonderful collection of Qigong exercises with very effective action-comic style pictures. Those plus the fascinating food section (with very nice b&w photos) together assure that it is a beautiful book.
As a student of Taijiquan and internal martial arts, I find this book a great resource.
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