Growing in a small town, Rene J. Navarro was raised in the shadow of the western mountain ranges of Luzon, the biggest island in the Philipines. His grandfather, Ingkong Poli, a raconteur and farmer and artisan, was the greatest influence in his early life. Ingkong Poli told him stories of powerful beings, warriors, monsters, fairies, from legends and corridos. It was in this idyllic world that Rene was first exposed to nature, storytelling, native herbs, craftsmanship, martial arts, poetry, and the mystical.
In high school, he began to write and participate in oratorical contests.
His poetry has been published in anthologies including, among others: Flippin’ — Filipinos on America edited by Luis Francia and Eric Gamalinda; Asian Pacific American Journal edited by Eileen Tabios; NuyorAsian Anthology: Writings about New York City edited by Bino Realuyo; and ErosPinoy: an anthology of Philippine contemporary erotic art and poetry edited by Alfred Yuson and Ramon Sunico. His essay “After the Hsih Hua” is included in the anthology Pinoy Poetics edited by Nick Carbo (Meritage Press: California 2004).
Rene holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, a Bachelor of Law, a diploma in acupuncture and a certificate in classical Chinese herbs. In an earlier incarnation, he worked as a lawyer for indigent clients. He has taught in four continents, including the countries of Egypt, Cyprus, UK, Philippines, Thailand, US and Turkey.
Following the interview below is a more extensive bio for Rene who also is a master martial arts artist (he is featured in Masters of Arnis, Kali and Escrima by Edgar Sulite (Socorro Publications: 1994)) and graduate from the New England School of Acupuncture where as a faculty member, he pioneered a course in chi-kung/qigong including Tai chi, meditation, and Buddha Palm.
The Halo Halo Review is pleased to share an interview with Rene about his activities in donating books from his extensive library to the Carlos P. Romulo Memorial Library and Museum. At the time of this 2025 interview, Rene is 84 years old. The following photo features him in 2020 at the Carlos P. Romulo Library and Museum.
The Halo Halo Review (HHR): How did you get the idea of donating books to the library? Did you visit and have that discussion with librarian, or?
Rene: I’ve donated Filipiniana books to a couple of Philippine Centers in Hawaii and the Northeast US before, and to the UP Writers Club sometime in the 1990s because a friend asked me. As I got older (I’m 84 now) I decided to donate the bulk of my collection to the library in my hometown Tarlac. Edna Quiballo, the former chief librarian at the Carlos P. Romulo Memorial Library and Museum (CPRMLM), me told that they needed books. I have also donated books to INAM Philippines, an acupuncture and healing center where I taught Tai chi chuan, Chi Nei Tsang internal organs massage, meditation, Qigong, internal alchemy and other healing arts. I’ve given away other things — swords, paintings, statues, bells, pendants, rings, scrolls, artifacts — to students, friends and relatives. You know the expression, You cannot take it with you. I am actually looking for students I could give my knowledge to but it is more difficult than giving away “objects”!
HHR: Please share about the books you’re donating. About how many books? How many years collecting them? What type of books—you mentioned mostly hardcover, for instance.
Rene: I do not know how many books I have donated to CPRMLM. Probably 2000-3000 so far. Eventually, most of my books will go to the CPRMLM in Tarlac City where I grew up. A selection of books and CDs on healing arts like meditation, qigong, acupuncture, martial arts, herbs, will go to INAM PHILIPPINES. I spent a lot of time in the library in my hometown during my teenaged years. I do not know how many years it took to collect the materials. Probably since the early 1960s. The local library in Easton, PA, where I Iive, through the generosity of the librarians Jennifer Long and Mary Horvath, has also made donations during its book sales.
I remember that there is a wide assortment of materials — from children’s books to YA to adult; there’s also the complete volumes of Will Durant’s The Story of Civilization, the complete Oxford English Dictionary (with a few supplements), the books of Amy Tan, Hemingway, the poetry and plays of Shakespeare. There are biographies and memoirs, novels, short story and essay collections, plays. There are also books on food and recipes. Most of them are hard cover because paper backs do not last long.
I donated a scanner so that the library could make copies of their old books. My brother Roland and I are also planning to donate a CD and DVD player to go with the CDs and DVDs that I will donate. I have a collection of music (Beethoven, Bach, Schubert, Mozart, Berlioz, piano, violin, cello, gamelan, drums, chants, etc.), performances (by Dupre, Horowitz, Heifetz, Gilels, Yoyo Ma, Wang) and readings (Dylan Thomas, Jeremy Irons reading the complete poetry of TS Eliot, Paul Scofield, Laurence Olivier, etc.). There are also Chinese language lessons and dictionaries (French, Greek, German, Latin). There are also the Eastern classics: Dao De Jing, Gita, Mahabharata, Upanishads, Heart Sutra, Lotus Sutra, Diamond Sutra, I Ching.
HHR: What would you consider the strength of your library donations—for example, are there groups of books on particular topics that are represented?
Rene: There are materials (books and CDs) on writing: How to read and write novels, poetry, memoirs, essays. There are also books on healing: acupuncture, martial arts, Chinese healing arts, meditation, fengshui, inner alchemy. There are books on western and eastern culture.
HHR: What is your hope for how your books will be used/treated by Philippine readers?
Rene: I honestly do not know how these books will be treated by the Philippine readers. When I was growing up in Tarlac, I spent a lot of time in the library. But times and the culture have changed. With the availability of the internet and access to computers and games and other modern distractions, it is difficult to predict how the community in general and students in particular will respond to this collection. The important thing is to make these books (and later the CDs and DVDs) available to the community. You could lead the horse to the water…
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Rene J. Navarro: A senior instructor of the Healing Tao (now Universal Healing Tao) he wrote “Greatest Enlightenment of Kan and Li" and edited "Sealing of the Five Senses," manuals in the high Taoist spiritual practice of Neidan/internal alchemy, "Chi Nei Tsang Internal Organs Chi Massage," the master guide on abdominal manipulation, and "Dao-In," the book on meridian activation and muscle stretching.
His training in Chinese arts started 60 years ago with Dragon-Tiger Fujian Temple Kung-Fu as closed-door disciple of Master Johnny Chiuten and the legendary Grandmaster Lao Kim of the Philippines, studying such rare Buddhist forms as: Number 10 Fist, Plum Blossom Fist, Red Boy Praying to the Goddess of Compassion Kuanyin, Dragon Tiger Fist, Broadsword, Staff, Spear, Sword, Kuandao, 5 Sectional Whip and Hoe.
Although he has also studied Pa-Kua Chuan and Hsing-I Chuan, two of the 3 Wudang/Taoist systems, Rene has focused on the curriculum of Classical Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan, including Solo Form (108), Dao/Saber (2 sets), Jian/Sword (2 sets), Staff-Spear, Sanshou/2-Man Sparring Set, Tai chi chuan Chang Chuan/Long Fist, Fajing/Discharge of Jing and Push hands under Masters Gin Soon Chu (second disciple of Yang Sau-Cheung) and Vincent Chu, lineage teachers of the system.
The other teachers he has studied with are: Kiiko Matsumoto (Japanese acupuncture); Mantak Chia (Healing Tao, Kan/Water and Li/Fire internal alchemy and CNT); Yao Zang (Chinese herbology); Taoist priest Jeffrey Yuen (Chinese medical classics and healing); Lao Cang Wen (Tiandijiao/Heaven and Earth qiqong); and David Verdesi (Chinese qigong and Lei Shan Dao).
He was featured in "Masters of Arnis, Kali and Escrima" by Edgar Sulite (Socorro Publications: 1994). Rene was honored with the Hiyas Na Tanglaw Award by INAM Philippines in 2023 for teaching and integrating healing modalities in his . quarter century of seminars in the Philippines. Rene has published 2 books: “Ascension and Return: Poetry of a Village Daoist”and “Of Fire and Water: Alchemy and Transformation”, both by Tambuli Media. In an earlier incarnation, he worked as a lawyer for indigent clients. He has taught in four continents. Rene lives in semi-rustication in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. For more information, go to: www.renenavarro.org. Comment from a student: "Rene J. Navarro is an amazingly powerful, gentle and magical being."
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