Gateway to a Vast World [Paperback]

Deng Ming-Dao (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1989

This third volume in the Chronicles of Tao trilogy continues the story of the Taoist Kwan Saihung. Told by his teacher, the Grand Master of Huashan, to leave China and not return until he has discovered the true meaning of his life's purpose. Kwan embarks on a vivid and adventurous journey to America as China itself experiences the upheaval of revolution, modernization, and the loss of its ancient traditions. As a waiter in Pittsburgh, a Golden Gloves boxer in New York, and later a martial arts instructor in San Francisco, Kwan struggles to lead a spiritual life in an alien world while seeking the fulfillment of his unique destiny. --- from book's back cover

Product Details

• Paperback: 229 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins (April 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062502301
• ISBN-13: 978-0062502308
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,339,128 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Deng Ming-Dao is the author of eight books, including 365 Tao, Everyday Tao, Scholar Warrior, and Chronicles of Tao. His books have been translated into fifteen languages. He studied qigong, philosophy, meditation, and internal martial arts with Taoist master Kwan Saihung for thirteen years, and studied with two other masters before that. He is an award-winning graphic designer and fine artist whose work is in several collections, including those of the Brooklyn Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book is awesome! And, yes, I have a copy., August 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Gateway to a Vast World (Paperback)

This is a book that is a real inspirer, one that chronicles the extraordinary life of a wandering taoist- a misfit, a recluse, one who struggled with how the world was changing and becoming modern, but a person that had cultivated such immense power inside his self. This book would appeal to those who appreciate reading about the possibilies we all have through proper discipline, practice, patience, motivation, and most of all guidance. Yet, another aspect that always becomes a factor in my own experience is how these disciplines will surface and interact in the real world. Thus, it is inspiring to hear the tales of successes and failures and to be able to read the story of another's spiritual cultivation and quest, gaining an understanding and appreciation for each discipline. I got a lot out of this book- Did you read about the gifts he received in the first book? This, the third and final book of the Wandering Taoist trilogy, is a fine end to a good series!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The End of Huashan, December 14, 2004

By 

OAKSHAMAN "oakshaman" (Algoma, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Gateway to a Vast World (Paperback)

This final volume of the _Chronicles of the Tao Trilogy_ sees the end of ancient traditions rooted in the Tao- and the planting of old seeds in a new land.

Saihung has returned to the great mountain monastery of Haushan. After participating briefly in the new Communist government, he has found that he has no use for the game playing, ruthlessness, and mercilessness of politics. Once again, he has grown world-weary and returned to the life of the renunciate. Only this time the Grand Master refuses to let him stay. With a sense of impending urgency, he tells his youngest student to wander the world in search of experience- and his own destiny.

This is how Saihung came to find himself in the America of the 1950's. He had chosen that place because of what he had read in the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Pledge of Allegiance. It hit his idealism hard when he found that these ideals didn't apply to people of other races, the poor, the outsiders. Yet, he still stayed on in this strange new land. He found that working in a restaurant wasn't all that different from the daily life in a monastery- if one kept one's interior life centered and focused. He found that this was not always easy in a land so full of violence, hate, and greed. Then, one day the call came from the Grand Master to return to Huashan. When he arrived, he found the monasteries in ruins, the monks scattered, the practice of Taoism outlawed....

This is the story of one man's experience on the Way. It is a story of touching on the Source only to have it torn away by the constantly changing currents of the world. Yet, inspite of all the trials, the darkness, and the change, the Way and its lessons remain for the serious seeker to rediscover. One has only to persevere to the edge of oblivion itself....