Reflections from Patrick

I met Stuart in 1992—more than thirty years ago. Like a lot of people, I wanted to learn Tai Chi. I had started studying with Jim Lodal, a student of Master Liang’s and Stuart’s in Duluth, MN.

Jim told me that Stuart, newly married to Lian Hua and with his son Lee, on the way, had just moved back to Minnesota and was starting the Institute of Internal Arts. So, I went to attend one of his classes in St. Paul.

Before class, I introduced myself and told him I had started learning from Jim. Stuart said he knew him, and we talked for a little bit. 

After class, he called me over and reached out to shake my hand, and as soon as our palms touched, I looked into his eyes, and my head lit up. It was like an electrical charge shot up my arm and the world was brighter. 

I knew right then I had found my teacher. He even told other students that I would be around forever. And I was. He couldn’t get rid of me.

Over the years, we connected not just through Tai Chi, Buddhism, and Taoism, but also through our work. He was an author, and I was an editor, and we made a good team.

I always felt my role with him was to help shape and present what he taught in the clearest way possible. Since the early 1990s, I’ve worked on every book, every DVD, every project he created—and I’ll continue working on the ones he left behind, because there are quite a few still in progress.

Together, we co-founded Valley Spirit Arts and later the Sanctuary of Tao with Lily, and then grew it with Suzanne’s help. And through everything we did, my intention was always the same: to make his teachings available in a way people could study, enjoy, and cultivate. Practice to make their own.

If you’ve ever read any of Stuart’s books, you know he liked to pack in a lot of information. He always sought to give you as many insights on a teaching as possible. As an editor, that sometimes drove me a little crazy, because I’m always trying to simplify things. But in truth, that was his gift—he gave us so much material, so much depth, that it’s going to take years, maybe generations, to fully absorb.

Stuart himself learned more traditionally, one-on-one from Master Liang. And he passed his knowledge on in the same way—directly and personally. 

Taoist practice is, at its heart, a very individual path. Each of us has to follow our own instincts, our own spirit. That’s one of the challenges of the Sanctuary of Tao: we’re kind of a community of hermits. But even hermits need each other. We all benefit from being around like-minded people who share the same love for these teachings.

With Stuart gone, that’s more important than ever. We can’t lean on him anymore, so we’re going to have to lean on each other.

My role, as his Da Shīxiōng—which means “Eldest Brother in the Way”—is to carry on what he taught, and do my best to shape it in a way that makes sense to people who are coming after us.

If I had to sum up his approach to these teachings, it’s this: find what you love, study it, practice it, and in so doing, you’ll immortalize your spirit. That’s what truly carries forward. Stuart always said it’s your intuitions, the things you’re drawn to, that last beyond this life.

That’s why we’re all here—we’ve been drawn to what he taught because it nourishes us and gives our lives meaning.

So the Sanctuary of Tao isn’t going to change direction. It will keep being what it has always been—a place where people who love Taoist and Buddhist teachings can come together, cultivate their spirits, and walk their path. That’s the thread that connects us to Stuart, and the thread that will carry on long after all of us are gone.

We all miss him, but the best way to honor him is to keep practicing, keep studying, and keep supporting one another—just as he’d want us to do.