{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Deng Ming-Dao Interview (#2) | Why Taoism? Gender Identity, Naturalism, Purpose, Cultivation","description":"  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\u2019s 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\u2019t 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\u2019s 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  Brought to you by Tambuli Media  View the video on our  YouTube channel ","author_name":"Transformations with Mark V. Wiley","author_url":"https:\/\/sites.libsyn.com\/477525","html":"<iframe title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/29031598\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/88AA3C\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"600\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/assets.libsyn.com\/secure\/content\/164934673"}