I first heard of David Cheng about 1974 from my first Tai Chi teacher, Vaunda Carter. David had been her teacher. When Vaunda moved out of town several years later, I took classes from Huang Wen Chi, a former head instructor at a martial arts college in China. When Professor Huang moved to Seattle, another student and I opened a martial arts school, called the Wu Chi School, and we were able to entice David to move from San Francisco to Portland to teach Tai Chi for us. We were blessed to have him teach us some of the finer points of Tai Chi and Taoism for about 5 years. Tragically, he fell off his roof and died after 2 years in a coma. A group of students created a booklet remembering and honoring him. The following was my contribution.
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Dear David,
Even though you have moved to another dimension, I’d like to express my appreciation for the many ways you have touched my life.
Thank you for the courage you demonstrated when confronted with physical challenges in your youth and later in life with relapses.
Thank you for studying and practicing the arts with such consistency, care and awareness that we were able to learn from a Master, showing us and that it’s ok that even a Master can make a mistake.
Thank you for drinking in the fullness of Taoist culture and sharing it with us in the stories you told and by the way you responded to the world and its foibles.
Thank you for the phrases describing wu-wei: “doing by not doing”, “using minimum effort” and “inch-energy”.
Thank you for always extending your hand in warm greeting, calling my name, smiling and showing genuine concern.
Thank you for always being ready for a good laugh. Thank you for making it clear that “meditation is the only way” to spiritually progress.
Thank you for being the bell that is silent until it is rung. Thank you for being a soul so gentle that a wild bird will feel safe sitting on your hand.
Thank you for allowing me to be your assistant in class, trusting me to lead and allowing me to grow in your absence.
Thank you for saying, “Whatever you do, do it with awareness”.
Thank you for pointing out flaws in my execution of the form and saying that the student who respects the teacher corrects the mistake by the next class. Thank you for the lesson of saying it only once.
Thank you for sharing your home and sumptuous meals with the class.
Thank you for the humor when you called my wife “Phyllip”, not knowing it was “Phyllis”, and the implied lesson that “name” is not “essence”.
Thank you for your even-temperedness and your common, balanced response: “It’s ok”.
It has been a pleasure, an honor and a joy knowing you. By being yourself you have made my life richer. I love you, David.
