Interview questions

[dhubs]

Hey everyone I am trying to interview someone or many who practices Daoism, it is for a class. I do not know much of Daoism but have recently become interested with it's practices. Because of my very little knowledge the questions are not complex at all just very generic. If you want to answer but do not want to post your answers you can always message me. Thank you in advanced.

 

Q1 - What drew you to Daoism? 

 

Q2 - I've read the term inner alchemy but have become confused about it. Can you elaborate what exactly inner alchemy is?

 

Q3 - What has Daoism changed in your life and yourself? Have you noticed any different, have you and your life become more peacefully, less stressful?

 

Q4- How often do you meditate? What have you personally achieved/felt through meditation?

 

Q5- Has Daoism enlightened your spiritual self? What does enlightenment mean to you? 

 

Again any help would be really appreciated. Thank you again. 

Edited January 24, 2016 by dhubs

[Taoist Texts]

Q2 - I've read the term inner alchemy but have become confused about it. Can you elaborate what exactly inner alchemy is?

There are 2 of them.

 

One is an ancient Chinese art of gaining eternal youth and enlightenment, as  a timeless secret for a chosen few.

The other one is a modern western fantasy of a health practice, marketed to everybody by youngish charlatans.

[Brian]

Hey everyone I am trying to interview someone or many who practices Daoism, it is for a class. I do not know much of Daoism but have recently become interested with it's practices. Because of my very little knowledge the questions are not complex at all just very generic. If you want to answer but do not want to post your answers you can always message me. Thank you in advanced.

 

Q1 - What made you decide to get into Daoism?

 

Q2 - I've read the term inner alchemy but have become confused about it. Can you elaborate what exactly inner alchemy is?

 

Q3 - What has Daoism changed in your life and yourself? Have you noticed any different, have you and your life become more peacefully, less stressful?

 

Q4- How often do you meditate? What have you personally achieved/felt through meditation?

 

Q5- Has Daoism enlightened your spiritual self? What does enlightenment mean to you?

 

Again any help would be really appreciated. Thank you again.

What is the class and what is the specific assignment? This information might be helpful.

 

First suggestion would be to reword the first question to, "What drew you to Daoism?" The distinction may seem subtle but it is significant.

[Wu Ming Jen]

Lao Tzu’s Conception of Ultimate Reality: A Comparative Study By Sung-peng Hsu Originally published in International Philosophical Quarterly, June, 1976 Collected in Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism (Gale Research Inc., 1991), Volume 7, pp.182-190 

 

This is way to long to post but may help with your paper.

 

I have practised Taoist arts for long time because it has benefited me personally in every facet of my life. In my view it is a very healthy way to see your relationship with everything around us meaning we are everything around us. At the same time there is many twisted roads and byways influenced by buddhist and new age "translations". what is important are the principles IE what works.

 

Meditation is one of many combined methods then everything becomes meditation even in crisis or in a flurry of activity or peacefully still.

 

enlightenment is a buddhist term and not a "thing" to achieve. When we discover that we are all complete and interconnected with all things the profound effect is the beginning without end.

Edited January 22, 2016 by Wu Ming Jen

[Bearded Dragon]

Q1) I don't practice Daoism but I was drawn to it because the basic principles agreed with how I naturally was already.

 

Q2) Not sure what other people classify it as but for me it's 2 steps. You're like muddy water. You let the mud separate and settle to the bottom. You at some point become self-realised and see yourself as the water. Then the 2nd step is to release the mud until just the water is left. The real internal alchemy is to do with the 2nd step.

 

Q3) As I already mentioned I've already got a natural thing going where I don't really do too much and gradually become less fixed/rigid/tense/etc. I just see it as growing up because it feels not too much different.

 

Q4) Never. You don't need to meditate to be a practicing Daoist (not that I am one anyway, although the truest Daoist probably wouldn't call himself Daoist either). Meditation is a waste of time for some people, beneficial for others, and a trap for those who are too scared to face the world directly.

 

Q5) As you become less interested in outcomes (neither yin nor yang is a preference) you become more open. You become fluid like water and have the ability to easily adapt. You have an idea of who you are initially, but over many years you break that down and realise you are none of that and the only reason you are who you are is because you decided for it to be that way. Then you just decide to be nothing in particular and over time your body catches up to that idea. Enlightenment is a pointless thing to think about. You just stick to the process of opening up, so possibly a better word is Enlightening. A verb rather than a noun. It's a process that is set in motion rather than a goal. Of course there are those who report what I call "Fireworks" experiences, but even though the experiences may be beautiful they are still just experiences and experiences are not the main game.

[dhubs]

Brian I made the change you suggested, and the class is for a world religion class. 

 

Sorry for some way I worded my questions, again I don't know too much about Daoism. Thank you for your responses!

[Silent Answers]

You seem like a nice kid:

 

1) There was a time I had many out of body experiences and caught a glimpse of something more, beyond this level of physical reality. That , plus previous experiences of things I couldn't explain led me to seek answers outside of science. Daoism felt like a good fit for me as a way of life, without all the dogma associated with most religion.

 

2) You may get many different answers on this, and that's because inner alchemy relates to many different things. As above, so below. It is a mental process, as well as a physical and metaphysical one. However, they are all related.

 

3) I'm still working on aspects of my life, and perhaps will be for a while longer; the first step is to realise what must be worked on. In the early stages it's like a new world has been revealed to you. This sensation repeats as you peel back the first few layers. Then, the uglier side shows its face. It can feel as if you've gone off track. There's suddenly too much to cope with, and changing aspects of yourself which are rooted deep into your ego seem impossible at times. Later, it settles and you regain control. The journey teaches you many things about yourself and life in general; peacefulness comes easier as does seeing through stressful situations.

 

4) For a few years I meditated 2 hours a day. It brought me peace and many realizations. However, my current situation doesn't allow much time to meditate in the traditional sense. Instead, I try to be in an open meditative state while still getting life done. As for the realizations, some were personal while others were greater truths relative to all.

 

5) I don't like to use the word enlightened as it suggests an end. Those that claim to be are often fooling themselves, or are using the word in a different context. Many use the word to describe the peeling back of those first few layers, before having to deal with deeper issues. Getting through this period is still not an end. EnlightenING is maybe a better word.

 

Sorry I don't go into much specific detail, that often only confuses things more. Good luck on your project and curiosity into the Dao.

[Rara]

Hey everyone I am trying to interview someone or many who practices Daoism, it is for a class. I do not know much of Daoism but have recently become interested with it's practices. Because of my very little knowledge the questions are not complex at all just very generic. If you want to answer but do not want to post your answers you can always message me. Thank you in advanced.

 

Q1 - What drew you to Daoism?

 

Q2 - I've read the term inner alchemy but have become confused about it. Can you elaborate what exactly inner alchemy is?

 

Q3 - What has Daoism changed in your life and yourself? Have you noticed any different, have you and your life become more peacefully, less stressful?

 

Q4- How often do you meditate? What have you personally achieved/felt through meditation?

 

Q5- Has Daoism enlightened your spiritual self? What does enlightenment mean to you?

 

Again any help would be really appreciated. Thank you again.

Am I too late? I'll answer anyway as I love talking about myself XD

 

Q1) The word "Tao" kept appearing in media I was watching, reading and listening to. It resonated with me so I looked it up and eventually bought TTC (I had been practicing Kung Fu for a year at this point too and it was a text I was advised to read)

 

Suddenly I realised that it was a philosophy I really followed already, and Taoism was merely an expansion and guidence for me.

 

Q2) The transmutation of mental and physical (organ) health. We don't realise how sick we are until we meditate.

 

Q3) Both haha. You can't escape the stresses but the solutions are always there. I have been stressed during practice but this was down to my training - for example, it's hard for me to not get angry, and if I struggle when training, I get angry! Funny that. But once the answer has been found, and there is no more anger, there is only peace

 

Q4) When it's appropriate. I still live a fairly conventional life - job, fiancèe, car, socialising. Once upon a time, I meditated as a ritual but realised I was making myself unhappy because my natural preference is to have little-to-no strict schedule to my day. So now I meditate when needed. Don't forget that we can meditate whenever we want during the day, even when cooking and cleaning. Mindfulness when doing tasks is what I mean - so in that case, several times a day!

 

Q5) I don't concern myself with enlightenment - anything "goal" orientated seems somewhat contradictory to the Tao. Yet we were born "enlightened"...we can breathe the air, enjoy a walk in the park, live heaven on earth So perhaps if I am to answer this question literally, enlightenment means working back to the simplicity of what life really is. Live in the present moment and don't take things so seriously...otherwise before you know it, life has flown by and you will wonder where it went.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Rara

[Rara]

@Bearded Dragon ... nice answers. One day we should sit with tea

[Rara]

@Silent Answers Another cool read. Seems like you've had some similar experiences to myself although sometimes I wonder if it's my brain or whether it's reality....or if there is a difference at all?! (referring mainly to answers 1 and 3)

 

Perhaps we should sit down with tea one day too