A Daoist Practice Journal: Interreligious Dialogue: Daoism & Christianity, Extraordinary Vessels & Daoist Cultivation

A Daoist Practice Journal: Interreligious Dialogue: Daoism & Christianity, Extraordinary Vessels & Daoist Cultivation is a modern-day western Daoist priest’s practice-oriented guidelines for being a Daoist. Its primary focus stems from the three core practices of the American Dragon Gate Lineage, of which Abbot Rinaldini (Lichangdao) has been the founder since 2003. These three core practices are scripture reciting and study, zuowang meditation method of sitting and forgetting, and solitary or group intensive retreats. Overall, the Daoist orientation that shifu Michael resides in is the Longmen Quanzhen tradition, as a 22nd ordained Longmen priest. Most of shifu Michael’s references to Daoist practice come from the Quanzhen movement starting (12th century) with Wang Chongyang and his first-generation disciples like Qiu Chuji, Ma Danyang, or female disciple Sun Buer. This book also investigates two other areas: the application of the extraordinary vessels in the internal cultivation tradition and the interreligious studies of Daoism and Christianity from the apophatic mystical traditions. Shifu Michael writes from his practical experiences of living a contemplative life for most of his adult years. His quest for spiritual wisdom originates in his youth as a seeker in the contemplative Catholic monasteries throughout the United States, as well in Vedanta and Buddhist practices. In his 40s, he became interested in qigong and Traditional Chinese Medicine, eventually becoming a highly qualified qigong teacher. Eventually he was ordained as a Daoist priest, and presently he lives and works full time as a professional qigong teacher and Daoist priest, living in Sebastopol, California. Read more