I took a couple of days off and drove down to Esalen, to meet someone interesting. Anyway, it was a beautiful drive down the coast. Sunny day, with just enough clouds to decorate the sky, and the sun and surf on the side:



Here's me driving:



When I arrived, I found a truly lovely spot to immerse in nature and enjoy the ocean. I was drawn to this spot to do my I Chuan standing meditation. A friend, Diane Dobson, pointed out a pod of migrating whales, heading north. Truly a magnificent spot to sit for an hour and appreciate the beauty of life. Here's a pix of this magical location:



Eventually, I checked in for the night. Turns out that Esalen is so broke that any guest visiting any person HAS to stay at the lodge. It's not like a hotel or anything. You get a relatively comfortable bed in a communal room. Here's what my room looked like, with a loft to where I slept:



Finally, Esalen just renovated their hotsprings... to the tune of $6.5 million - which is why they're broke... and the baths are really quite architecturally striking. Here's a pic of the baths:



Anyway, the reason I went down was to meet Chungliang "Al" Huang, who is a new age luminary. He co-authored a book with Alan Watts (The Watercourse Way) which kicked off the Taoism movement, led an annual workshop with Joseph Campbell at Esalen starting 37 years ago, and was even on Carlos Castaneda's PhD thesis committee! He's quite a character, and is a Chinese philosopher, classicist and dancer. He started a movement around Tai Chi dance and philosophy, and wrote such bestsellers as Embracing the Tiger and Quantum Soup.
We had a fun time talking about China, Tai Chi, Taoism, poetry, life. We also went to breakfast at Deetjen's in Big Sur, where Henry Miller and Jack Kerouac used to hang out. It's touristy now, but still a nice place to have breakfast. Best Hollandaise sauce I've ever had!

He's a bit controversial in the fundamentalist Tai Chi camp, since his movement work is based on Tai Chi Chuan but really isn't a Chuan (Chuan means fist). It's more of an open hand, waving free, silhouetted by the sea... Anyway, if you think of Tai Chi as an artform, most practitioners today are realists with varying styles, but NOBODY is brave enough to be an abstract artist. The adaptation of the form (such as Cheng Man Ching's creation of the "short form" for Westerners), is usually met with derision. Anyway, Al Huang is the Jackson Pollock of Tai Chi because he pushes the boundaries, and makes people ask, "Is this really Tai Chi?" And you know, we're better for it. Also, some may ask, "so can he fight?" Well, my response is that he never promises that it's a form of pugilism, and besides, many Tai Chi practitioners today can't fight either. They may visualize themselves as fighters, but really, they're dancers. Put them in a ring with a Golden Gloves boxer, and see what happens. Only those with 20 years of Tai Chi experience have a shot at being good at fighting. At least Chungliang is absolutely honest about westernised Tai Chi as a dance form.

Personally, I love traditional martial arts, where you have to earn the respect of the Sifu, and you train hard enough to push yourself past your limitations. It's a very romantic practice, sort of like living in Crouching Tiger land. But at the same time, as a follower of Taoist philosophy, I can't help but respect the "out of the boxing" work and thought of Chungliang. After all, wouldn't a real Taoist be impressed by his use of formlessness, rather than the traditional rigid adherence to "the form"?

In the final analysis, Chungliang Al Huang is an artist. And his most important work is his calligraphy, which is explosive and breathtaking. He may be instrumental turning calligraphy into a collectible artform in the United States. Did you know that he was the original guy who pointed out that the Chinese character for risk is the combination of the pictograms for danger plus opportunity? No one remembers that he first revealed this in his book, Quantum Soup, but his legacy is real and he was instrumental in bringing Taoism to America. For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude.

Anyway, here's a photo of the two of us together, kidding around:


If you'd like to see Chungliang playing his flute during a class, click on the photo below to my Yahoo Briefcase, where you can download a short digital movie of him:




Well, I had a nice weekend. Thanks for reading!