Become Taoist Priest?

[Dr_D]

We perform rituals all the time. We may not call it that, but we all have are own specific rituals that we do throughout our day. We bring the value to any ritual in our lives, whether it is our morning routine or an elaborate Daoist ceremony.

 

No matter how big or small, how elaborated, or how simple, the most important thing is for us to be aligned with the Dao. Any activity can be an opportunity to dedicate ourselves to deeper work and benefiting others.

 

Eventually, when you deepen your understanding in Daoism and choose Daoism as your main road to the Divine, you will learn specific rituals. Like any Wudang system, in the beginning, things are "complicated" then they become simpler only to get complicated again and so on.

 

Dr.D

[blim]

I'm curious - is it easy to find daoist temples in the US?

 

When you say "priest", do you mean learning under a master and then becoming one yourself? That seems like many years of learning and practice and also requiresone to follow strict disciplines?

 

[ChiDragon]

blim.....
Are you Chinese living in Hong Kong.....???

A Taoist Priest is a 道長 which is higher than a 道士(Taoist). A Taoist Priest is cultivated on his own by reaching different levels to become one.

Edited August 12, 2013 by ChiDragon

[blim]

Oh I see ChiDragon! Thanks!

[henro]

Any more thoughts on this from OP? Curious what you found...

 

There seems to be a few programs here in the states.

[Jezzerisin]

Humm, I have doubts about Jerry Alan Johnstone..

I found his school to be seriously flawed (When it was under his personal control, it may have changed under Bernard Shannon)

The information was peerless, the heart seemed really flawed.

I'd think twice about following Jerry or anybody trained by him.

Make sure that money and Ego are not the drivers.

I'm also prepared to accept that everything changes, so having double-checked the truth of the teacher, if you decide that the heart is really clear, then enjoy the teachings and the path to it's fullest!

[Starjumper]

Does anyone know of like a place/person who would accept student to become a Taoist Priest? You know its funny I thought I had this religion thing sorted out. I thought I was a Taoist then a buddhist but now I am leaning more to Taoism again. It is funny.

 

I don't know if this has been covered in this thread yet, probably has, but a Traditional Taoist priest is different than a Christian one, and I think the OP really was concerned mainly about spreading religious bullshit, like the christian counterparts do. The only thing Christian pastors exercise is their jaw, while from what I've heard Taoist priests have a lot of psychic power and can communicate with the other side of the veil. People raised in the West are unlikely to get past their conditioning that tells them all this stuff is impossible along with their atrophied pineal glands.

 

I've been told that to qualify for being a Taoist priest a person must have a lot of energy beaming out of the top of their head, while the majority of christian priests would say that is the work of the devil. Coincidentally, I have a lot of energy beaming out the top of my head, but I ain't no priest and I have no interest in such things.

 

In other words, if you want to be a real Taoist priest find a real nei kung system first hahahaha. Next the nei kung fairies come out of the wood work selling their watered down tripe.

Edited December 9, 2013 by Starjumper

[zerostao]

yeah some want to become Taoist priests and what do some Taoist priest want to become?

i wont mention the school where the priests came from. but it was in Tian Hou Gong, in Nan Jing .China.the Taoist priests became Tao Yu of Xiao Yao Pai. and it is not religious. and it didnt cost money either. you will notice the XYP GM is wearing the clothes of the layman that is remaining hidden and not broadcasting 'I am a Taoist'. to repeat XYP is not selling anything.

and Taoist priest from a well known school saw the benefit of becoming initiated into XYP

 

[Dolokhov]

From what I understand about Taoist priestly ordination, there are very few schools which can actually certify priests. One of them is on Mount Tianshi in China, which acts like the Vatican of Taoism:

 

 

In the past, only Tianshi Mansion could certify a Taoist priest and ritual master. All Taoist priests were required to be students of Tianshi Mansion, and only those who received shoulu, the imparting of Taoist instruction, there could perform Taoist services in Taoist rituals. [Today, other Taoist temples are allowed by the government to certify Taoist priests.]

It wasn't until Taoist temples started to be re-established in the 1980s that shoulu gradually resumed. However, the scale and frequency of shoulu have been restricted by the State Administration of Religious Affairs. Since 1989, authorities have approved fewer than 20 shoulu rituals, and in each of them about 200 people could be imparted a register by Tianshi Mansion and become formal Taoist priests.

 

Source: http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1214105/taoist-priest-spreads-ancient-wisdom

 

I'd guess that most organizations in America certifying Taoist "priests" might not be the real deal, but I don't know how it works. I could be wrong.

[ChiDragon]

IMO A true Taoist is manifested by one's cultivated behavior but not by certification. Certification means to buy a piece of paper with money where some people make a profit out of it.