Spring 2020 Newsletter
(April 2020)
Dear Living Tao friends,
I am writing this Spring newsletter during Easter Week at my home instead of being in Europe ready to teach our annual Swiss 9-day seminar in Winterthur. We are all feeling this unprecedented change of seasonal rhythm powerfully, with most of us now refraining from travel, abiding by the guidelines to “stay at home” and keep Social Distance from our family, loved ones and kindred friends who would ordinarily have been meeting and sharing many activities.
We were fortunately able to sustain another year of gathering at Evergreen College around the Chinese New Year.
And, we were able to follow up with the River House Winter Seminar—this year included several first timers, who came directly from the November/December Esalen Institute seminars.
But in late February, shortly after my return home to Illinois, the world turned abruptly to acknowledge the spread of the Coronavirus and began to make drastic changes——
First, came the decision to suspend then cancel the performance at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts of Gustav Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde”. This project of mine had been over two years in the planning. Up until the week before, the entire production team were harboring hope to find a way to keep going, even resorting to the possibility of giving the concert without a live audience to be Live streamed to an audience of so many disappointed ticket holders from around the world— including my own family, and dozens of our own international Living Tao friends, coming from as far as New Zealand. As a consoling gesture, many joined with Joanna Hunter and Gerry Bradley, to have a virtual Tai Ji gathering the Sunday morning after what would have been the March 28th concert. From that moment on, one by one our scheduled programs through Memorial Day had to be canceled. Future possibilities are still to be determined.
Suddenly, it is truly “CRISIS is Both Danger and Opportunity” for so many of us…I wrote to the Easter Week “would-be” seminarians with these words which I think applies to All the Living Tao friends who are missing the opportunities to gather in person for the foreseeable future. 
Dear Living Tao Easter Week “Would be” Seminarians:
I join you all to share this big disappointment that we cannot be together in Winterthur this Easter Week. But, compared to all the sufferings in the world, we can be very thankful and count our blessings to be relatively safe and well. It is the time of “Crisis” we must learn to face both “danger” 危 and “opportunity” 機. During this uncertain time of necessary lockdown at home, we shall learn to treasure this time to contemplate and meditate, to be in the NOW and find creative ways of being. It is also a time to reflect deeply on our lives, “So Far So Good”, in all the dimensions, as we wrap our arms in the Tai Ji gesture of “Embracing the Tiger”, to find solace in our personal well-being, and to re-assess and practice this centering process, “Returning to the Mountain”, again and again.
Let us whole-heartedly review what we have learned and practice what we know so far in our daily practice, tuning in with all our Tai Ji friends around the world, expanding our individual “A Grain of Sand” to the Wide-Open Beach of humanity.
Time to Learn 學習, Time to Change and Transform, 易易變 Time to Be who we truly ARE 真⼈人 。 A wonderful “Opportunity” indeed!
I recently re-discovered this personal philosophy on “Happiness” calligraphed in 2007 by my elder brother Chao-liang Huang.
I find it a timely work of art to meditate on and enclose it to share with you. Together with a bright colored “Ba Gua-Eight Trigrams” ⼋八掛 to brighten our days.
Please Keep Safe and Stay Healthy until we meet again in person.
I will miss those delicious Swiss Chocolate Easter bunnies and eggs this time! Much loving CHI-eers and a “Virtual Embrace” to wish you ALL a Very Happy Easter!
Chungliang