Ni Hua-Ching’s Americanization of the “Eternal Breath of Dao”

Abstract

177 Ni Hua-Ching’s Americanization of the “Eternal Breath of Dao” MARK JOHNSON1 Being one of the first Westerners initiated by Daoist master Ni Hua‑ Ching 倪化清 in Taiwan in the winter of 1975, and having spent another eight years with him in this country, I was an intrinsic witness to the Americanization of his particular lineage as it evolved in the USA. Be‑ cause our training in Taiwan was rather orthodox, Master Ni never in‑ tended to simply “transplant” his sect into U.S. soil, but rather thought of it as being a “skin graft” onto the tree of Daoism already growing here. Still, the skin graft was fast and came with continuous changes in content and teaching style. The most active center of Daoism in the U.S. in the early 1970s was the Taoist Sanctuary in Los Angeles. I joined them in 1972 and trained there until the winter of 1974. Eastern philosophy and religion were not new to me, for I had lived in an Advaita Vedanta Ashram in Florida from 1962 to 1970 and afterwards spent a year sitting with Suzuki Rishi in his Zen Center in Tassajara. Only later did I realize that my training at those centers and especially at the Taoist Sanctuary, were in stark con‑ trast to my later, more intense and formal training in Taiwan. Our daily regimen in Taiwan continued for a short time in the U.S., but within months, things started to change. 1 This article is based on a longer and more detailed presentation found in my new book, Life Is Divine Play (Amazon ‑ iUniverse Publisher 2009). 178 / Journal of Daoist Studies 3 (2010) The Taoist Sanctuary The Sanctuary was housed in a rented section of a Protestant church in North Hollywood. No one actually lived there, and the various Daoist groups would come and go during the week with very little contact. There was no daily routine, nor did we adhere to any common standards or sets of shared values. We all called ourselves Daoists, but in fact our taiji quan faction thought the gongfu students were uncivilized brutes and they thought the taiji guys were wimps. Somehow we kept from strangling each other, and over time, we learned mutual respect. Khigh Dhiegh (Ph.D in psychology) was the principal instructor at the Sanctuary. He was considered a major Yijing (Book of Changes) scholar and had written an impressive book titled The Eleventh Wing: An Exposition of the Dynamics of I Ching for Now (1972). He made his living as an actor, staring as Wo Fat in the “Hawaii Five O” series. He often char‑ acterized himself as an actor taking on the role of Yijing scholar. Another actor, Chao Li Chi, taught classical Chinese as we translated the Daode jing in its transmitted form and in the newly discovered manuscripts. In addition, there were June Yu’er who taught taiji quan in the lineage of Master Guo from San Francisco, and Share K. Lew who instructed in martial arts. The entire set‑up was quite chaotic and we were an unruly bunch. I enjoyed every minute of it and it wasn’t until I decided to go to Taiwan to study acupuncture that I discovered the more formal and dis‑ ciplined aspects of Daoism. Training in Taiwan In late 1974, I went to Kaohsiung in Taiwan with a couple from the Tao‑ ist sanctuary. They had been studying with an herbal master from there for years and invited anyone from the Sanctuary to join them. I was bored with my life as a graphic designer and was interested in becoming an herbalist or acupuncturist so I went with them. After a few weeks of playing “catch up,” I decided that I needed a teacher of my own. After a series of incredible synchronicities, I stumbled upon Master Ni, then known as a medical practitioner and author of books on Daoism under the name of Ni Ching‑Huh 倪清和. He agreed that if we helped him translate the sacred scriptures of his lineage, he would teach us acupunc‑ Johnson, “Ni Hua‑Ching’s Americanization” / 179 ture. So we did. We worked on the project ten hours...