Chinese Daoism and Daoists
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Daoism (Taoism) is a Chinese religious tradition in the process of being transmitted and adapted to a global context. On the most basic level, "Daoism" refers to an indigenous Chinese religious tradition(s) in which reverence for and veneration of the Dao (Tao) µÀ , translatable as both the Way and a way, is a matter of ultimate concern. In contrast to adherents of other Chinese religious and cultural traditions, Daoists (Taoists) (daoren µÀÈË) understand the Dao as Source of all that is, unnamable mystery, all-pervading numinosity, and the cosmological process which is the universe. The Dao is impersonal and simultaneously immanent and transcendent. Broadly understood, the point of a Daoist way of life is to cultivate alignment and attunement with the Dao. Daoism is a Chinese religious tradition. Daoism is Chinese because it originates in Chinese culture and, in some sense, because it is most clearly understood through the Chinese language and views of being. Daoism is a "religion" because it involves an orientation towards and relationship with the sacred. Daoism is a "tradition" because it is a community of dedicated practitioners connected to each other as a historical and energetic continuum. At the same time, Daoism is now being transmitted and adapted to a global context. Daoism is no longer simply a Chinese religious tradition. It is now a global religious and cultural phenomenon(a), existing in Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Italy, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam and practiced by people of a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds. It is also slowly becoming established in the United States in various forms, with varying degrees of connection with the earlier Chinese religious tradition. Without an understanding of such historical precedents, Daoism in the West will simply be a fabrication, a fiction, and a fantasy. This does not mean that there should not be adaptation and modification; change necessarily occurs when a religious tradition enters a new cultural context and when religious practitioners have different concerns and motivations. But it does mean that without a connection and collective memory such "innovations" become meaningless names. The Daoist tradition is a community of practitioners connected to each other as a historical and energetic continuum. Daoists are those for whom cultivating the Dao is their most important orientation. The identity of Daoists derives from their being and presence. One is a Daoist based on the extent to which one is aligned with and embodies the Dao in its multi-layered numinosity. One is Daoist based on the extent to which one embodies Daoist principles and follows a Daoist way of life. Daoist identity does not come from some supposed "orthodoxy" associated with Zhang Daoling,the receipt of registers , "religious licenses", and/or some magico-ritual performance. This is the provenance of certain Daoist priests, which must be recognized as one way among many revealed by the historical contours of the Daoist tradition. The models of Daoist practice-realization, established, modified, and confirmed through some 2000 years of history, are many and varied. Daoists recognize the Dao as Source, all-pervading mystery, and immanent numinosity. The immanent numinosity of the Dao pervades one¡®s being; it is one¡®s innate nature and innate capacities. Throughout Daoist history, the Dao has become manifest through the revelations of specific deities and immortals, through their interaction with and self-disclosure to human beings. From the perspective of classical Daoist "theology", based on emanation and immanence, such divine beings are embodiments of the Dao. |
