Sifu Deng Ming-Dao is a Chinese American author, artist, philosopher, teacher, and martial artist who, from a young age, has studied Taoist internal arts such as Qigong and Kung-Fu.

He is the author of nearly a dozen books, including Lunar Tao, The Living I Ching, 365 Tao, Scholar Warrior, and Chronicles of Tao. he studied qigong, philosophy, meditation, and internal martial arts for 13 years with Taoist master Kwan Saihung.

Deng Sifu is a graphic designer and fine artist whose work is in several collections, including those of the Brooklyn Museum.

This is Deng Ming-Dao’s second appearance on Transformations and here we discuss an entirely different set of topics, including: why Daoism, gender identity, the role of a teacher, the ego trap, self-cultivation, acquiring and maintaining skills, jazz, tai chi and why one shouldn’t emulate their teachers, and more.

I hope you enjoy listening to my conversation with Deng Ming Dao as much as I enjoyed having it.

0:00 introduction

4:57 Why Taoism?

8:29 Identifying What’s Natural and a True Purpose

11:18 The Role of a Teacher in Living Traditions

14:01 Mentors, Ego Traps, and Achieving Standards

24:27 Self-Cultivation, Journeys, Destinations, Purpose and Peeking Too Soon

30:05 What is a Practice?

34:03 The Natural Self and Relational Reality

38:34 Acquiring and Maintaining Skills

52:42 A Dip into Jazz and Not Emulating Teachers

1:00:07 Progress and Development of New Skills and Methods

1:05:29 Tai Chi as an Embodied Practice of Taoism

1:08:47 The Parallel Virtue of Painting and Tai Chi

1:12:56 How to Become a Superior Person

1:17:42 Closing Remarks

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