When I was 16, I met a Japanese woman and her Chinese husband who introduced to me to Taoism for the first time.  Eventually, after many visits to their home, I was invited to assist in polishing their religious incense holders, and then on the next visit I was met by some man in robes I'd never met before, and they led me to their holy room and I was involved in an initiation ceremony that I really didn't understand, but it seemed like something akin to a baptism, except it involved burning some paper in a fire, and chanting along with Chinese that I didn't understand... Many years later, after a lot of spiritual exploration, I've find myself coming back around to the Tao.  Even though I'm not sure I necessarily follow the same Taoism that they initiated me into, and I had no idea what was happening at that time, I feel strangely grateful for the experience now.

This cleared up a question I'd been carrying for a while. The three tiers here (believer, priest, ritual priest) don't measure how deep someone's practice is — they measure who is authorized to serve others. Chuan Du makes you a disciple of a lineage; the register licenses ritual office. Private cultivation never required either one. I think that's why many of us outside China can walk this path seriously — the classics and the seasonal cycle already make a complete lay practice. The gate stands where the office begins, not where the Way begins.

Being in America it's not easy to find a sect. I can do my best to learn and follow.  I'm happy with that. 🙏🙏🙏

The problem is, if you are in the United States, there just are no lineages represented here to join.  The only people claiming to be Daoist priests here, that I have found, are highly dubious and very culty.  The question on everyone's mind who listens to your very excellent informational videos is, when are y'all gonna make such a path  for us?  I am sure you are testing the waters and biding your time.  Understandably.  We await your decision.

Nearing 50yrs ☯️💖

I am an ex-Christian fundamentalist who has been studying and practicing a blend of Taoist and Stoic philosophy for several decades now. (The two are amazingly similar in many ways.) My religious "history" left me utterly uninterested in ritual, authoritarian dictates or, for that matter, faith. As an example, I do not believe in the Tao any more than I believe in gravity. "Tao" and "gravity" are just human labels for how the universe unfolds, its fundamental principles of being, its evolutionary history, There is nothing to believe, only things to understand. Then comes the daily practice of acting in harmony, in balance, with those fundamental principles of being. Every action, every decision, every human interaction made in this moment is balanced (?) if you will, by inevitable and unavoidable consequences that will unfold in accordance with the Tao in the following moments. Those consequences will define the actions and decisions that can be made in the moment(s) after that. Such is (to me) both the definition and the limit of "free will"; acting in various degrees of harmony or dissonance with those fundamental principles of being. Principles that include morality and wisdom when applied to decisions made by self aware, conscious beings like us humans. That is (to me) the "Tao" for the Taoist and the "Logos" for the Stoic.  The Tao De Ching and Zhuangzi are regular reference texts for the Taoism part of my working world view. I read a chapter of the Tao De Ching each morning, along with a Stoic teaching from a multitude of Stoic philosophers. Then I muse on the meaning and guidance for the rest of the day during my morning work out. (I'm allergic to the word "meditate". I know it is a harmless word but it smacks of a bit of hubris I find uncomfortable. It is just me, an average human being, trying to figure things out.) I have looked into the In Ching but it gets too close to "the whoo" for my comforts. "Whoo" being my word for spiritualism or mysticism of any kind...visions, angles, gods, spirit critters of any size, shape or form. Things that can be helpful if understood as mythology but become misleading if taken as fact. Is that enough to make me a "Taoist"? Don't know. Don't really care. "Taoist" is just another human label. But I liked your approach and content and, if I haven't offended the gathered, will drop by to learn what I can.

Like all religions, a good concept got hijacked by the powerful/power-seeking.

Thank you for this presentation.

ID card ?

Thank you for your precious teachings 🙏🏼❤

道大☯️🙏

That's right 👍🏻
Thanks a lot! 🙏🏻

There is the Tao and there is Taoism. The Tao is a path of personal practice influenced by one's conditioning, values, and psychological needs. Taoism is social, the messy part with  "doctrine", "authority", and self-appointed overseers who have competing interests to protect. This is the way of all people of any kind of "belief" system. For myself, a Westerner having abandoned Catholicism and the world of Abrahamic faiths, I do my best to understand and practice the aspects of Buddhism that make good intuitive sense for my inner world, and now the Tao for the world I inhabit. So far, so good. Should this become harmful, I'll try something else. Life is too big, rich, and ever changing to be so fettered to one view.

Thank you very much.

Are there an reputable online schools that teach the path to be priest? Most I have found are either extremely expense or of questable behavior and quality. Thanks

Joel s Goldsmith

Zan Zhang Jing Zhuo...could you please teach as the 1st 3 levels of 72???

I am in British Columbia, Canada (Vancouver Island).  Are there lineages or organizations here, or accessible online, that I could explore with the intent of joining as a believer?
Is Shengxuan Daoism one of them?

I somewhat experienced Qi, does that count?

Do daoists have a special diat?