What brought you to your current path?

[Shadao]

As in, what made you interested in what you learned/are learning in regards to the main subjects of this forum?

 

I know, I know, basic question, but one that I consider interesting nonetheless.

 

Well, in my case I have known of Taoism/Daoism(still unsure if there is a difference that isn't just one letter only) for a while but it was always in the "fringe" of my interests.

 

Until one day I decided to learn a bit more and found that "Taoism/Daoism's creed" seemed to aling quite well with what I think and believe.So I decided to enter this path, but honestly it was a half-hearted attempt, just so I could "call myself something" and not feel as lost.

Ironically what REALLY made me want to learn properly about it(and Qi too) were those novels and comics about cultivation.

 

Yes, works of fiction made me interested in it all, the stories of characters striving for literal immortality and becoming powerful enough to go against their peers and later against godsand demons made me go "Well...it COULD be real".

 

Worry not though, because while my imagination(and sometimes hopes) might run wild, I also have a healthy dose of skepticism.So while I might let myself open to a chance of something being real, I won't take it as such until shown(or experiencing) evidence of such.

 

But yeah,those fictional works of Wuxia and Xianxia made me get really interested in learning.What about you?

What made you want to walk the path you did/currently do?

[RiverSnake]

Got my first Chi Kung dvd....practiced the movements for about an hour....felt the effects of it and knew for certain i wanted to do it for the ret of my life.

[Wilhelm]

I was a delusional young man who thought X-Men was real and cultivating was about having superpowers and probably lots of sex.  Luckily there were a few people in the forum who shared this view, and a few with a bit more sense who gave an alternative viewpoint!

[Scholar]

Dragon Ball

[thelerner]

meditation to mysticism.  that got a little too out there, went for grounding in the martial arts, moved to softer martial arts, back to meditation, swerving every now and then into esoteric energy practices.  

[ilumairen]

Short answer:

 

Life.

[skyblue]

Crazy set of coincidences. 

1. Xianxia stuff

2. Desire to escape from my then plight (qi stagnation in head, resulting in constant exploding pains in the whole of head region including the face, college entrance exams were in my face and I hadn't prepared one bit because of my webnovel addiction, and so on. It seemed hell back then. Almost wanted to try getting hit by a train do that I could be at peace in another world)

3. A sudden awakening

4. Creation, a Dao bums member

5. Damo Mitchell, Sadhguru

[freakyqi]

To answer one question, Tao and Dao are exactly the same. "Dao" is how they spelled it in the older system of translating Chinese (Wades-Giles), and "Tao" is the current way (pinyin). "Tao" is more accurate these days, but no one is wrong for using "Dao"; it's going to be found in older writings, so it will probably never go away. I lived in Beijing for 2years and learned Chinese kinda decently, so here are a few other bonus words that are exactly the same. In each example I'll put pinyin (the official modern way) first, and alternate older ways after:
qi = chi = energy (ki is Korean)
gong = kung
taijiquan = tai chi chuan = grand ultimate fist (most people leave off the quan/chuan; note "chi" is not the word "qi" in this phrase)
doufu = tofu (the food)

As for how I got to know Taoism, I was 18, across the country in Golden Gate Park at dawn, and saw a tiny guy in black doing taiji through the morning mist in front of the botanical gardens. It looked very much like the little guy at the top of this page! I watched from a distance and thought, "That looks like it feels good to do it". A few years later an opportunity came up to take an affordable 8 week class, and before long I was teaching that very same class! That was in the mid 90's, and I've been doing it and teaching it on & off ever since. Mostly "off" since covid started. Don't be impressed; time does not equal excellence, lol! I know a lot and have a lot to teach, but I lack discipline when it comes to myself.


 

[Taomeow]

5 hours ago, freakyqi said:

To answer one question, Tao and Dao are exactly the same. "Dao" is how they spelled it in the older system of translating Chinese (Wades-Giles), and "Tao" is the current way (pinyin). "Tao" is more accurate these days, but no one is wrong for using "Dao"; it's going to be found in older writings, so it will probably never go away.

 

It's the other way around.  Dao is the new (pinyin) way, Tao is the old (Wade-Giles) way.  Incidentally, this site used to be called The Taobums, abbreviated TTB, for many years, till the owner decided to change the name to reflect the newer spelling.  I, being Taomeow in my online incarnations since before the inception of this hoary forum, still use tao preferentially, however.  Even though nearly every other Romanization I use is pinyin (taijiquan, qigong, etc.).  Besides tao, I make some exceptions for some names -- e.g. Sun Tzu (rather than Sunzi), but those are few (and usually justified.)  Generally I find pinyin superior -- I especially like the way it ended the ridiculous practice of splitting all Chinese words and names into stand-alone syllables.  I don't call myself Ta O Me Ow and don't address my neighbor Debby Deb By, or her dog Banksy Bank Sy.  Why would anyone want to do this to Chinese names for so long is a linguistic enigma.  

[Zorro Dantes]

Literally ancient toddler curiosity and a Dr. Evil upbringing... a family Lineage of failed and mildly successful rocket scientists and casino bandits. My great grandfather helped Russia build the first metal burning furnace, and once he escaped back to Finland, moved to the united states and helped Von Brom build rockets for NASA. My father helped work on the infamous Challenger ship that blew up. My other father figure was a brilliant leader in my tribe whose career was sabotaged by jealous charlatans, however, this gentleman was versed in magic, and during his illustriously spectacular fall from grace. In his desperate plight, he developed a pension for robbing gambling establishments moreover He would go about doing things like pee on a police officer's boots and get into a high-speed pursuits drive to various cliffs...and jump off them and escape, apart from scratches and the occasional loss of expensive shoes...he would come back home unscathed, my mom thought he was possessed by demons and left him and that really broke me, cause he was like the nicest guy I'd ever met when I was kid, ultimate dad, dudes one of my forever dads for sure. I'll always remember the bizarre things he would say about the inverted truths of Hollywood.

"We shoot John Wayne and laugh!" I think the most profound quotes I got from him was while I was like five years old and he caught me watching Shaolin vs Lama and got horribly irritated over the equivalency of Indians in westerns and Tibetans in Kung fu movies. After that, I was like "WOW Tibetans are an oppressed nation of outlaws just like Indians". Of course, I didn't have any idea there was even such a thing as Anuttarayoga tantra/outlaw tantra at the time either lol... I remember he always liked to dress like he was a "made" guy, like in the mafia lol that's one way I try to honor him. He said his spirits wanted him to dress cool. Truly a guy I try to embody by way of fashion, but also got me into looking/thinking about warrior traditions from a  fairly young age as Daoism...Tibetan Buddhism as I understand them are also certified warrior traditions.

Edited March 30, 2021 by Zorro Dantes