On Sunday October 16th, 2022 I had the honor of formalizing my relationship with the Parting Clouds Daoist Temple Community in a guīyī (皈依) ceremony in New York City, becoming ordained into the Quan Zhen Long Men Dantai Bidong sect (Complete Reality Dragon Gate sect) as a 23rd generation Daoist priest.
Similar to the Commencement ceremonies for school graduates when we acknowledge the accomplishment of all prior learning at the same time recognizing the beginning of a journey, so too is Daoist ordination both a ritualized rite of passage and the commencement of a life-time spiritual commitment.
What then is beginning? To what am I committing? Exploring the meaning of guīyī helps in answering these questions.
Guīyī can be translated as turning to, converting, and to return. In the context of a religious path, this means taking refuge and in Daoism this alludes to taking refuge in the three treasures of Dao, Scripture and Teachers and initial precepts.
(Soon, in a section entitled "Pillars of Cultivation" currently being edited, you can read more about these three treasures and the precepts.)
Tracing the path I've traveled to arrive here brings me back to my late teens when I had the sense that my secular education was not the whole story and there was learning outside of the constructs of institutional academia and what was being dictated through societal expectations and cultural norms.
Over the course of several years I took to the forests and rivers of the east coast (backpacking, wilderness training, outdoor education) and explored the landscape of my own body through different dance forms and movement therapies. I began to meditate.
One step leads to another.
Through Shiatsu studies I became fully enthralled with the meridian system and had my first introduction to Chinese cosmology and felt like I'd arrived home. Seeking a greater understanding of the knowledge that had been missing all along, I went on to study acupuncture at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine where I had my first classes in Taiji and Qi Gong opening the way for a long and continuous path of martial arts training and teaching alongside of my work as a licensed acupuncturist and herbal medicine practitioner.
And what a path it is! With each day of practice the lessons keep arriving until living becomes the school itself.
Along the way, here are some markers in time:
Licensed Acupuncturist and Chinese Herbal Medicine Practitioner , State of Vermont, 2002 - present
Clinical Integration Course with Lonny Jarrett, Stockbridge, MA, 2005 - 2007
Masters of Science, Traditional Oriental Medicine, Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, New York City, 2001
Shiatsu Training 1997 -1998
Massage Therapy Certification, Vermont Institute of Massage, 1997
Bachelor of Arts, Economics, Brown University, 1989
I look forward to connecting with you!
Similar to the Commencement ceremonies for school graduates when we acknowledge the accomplishment of all prior learning at the same time recognizing the beginning of a journey, so too is Daoist ordination both a ritualized rite of passage and the commencement of a life-time spiritual commitment.
What then is beginning? To what am I committing? Exploring the meaning of guīyī helps in answering these questions.
Guīyī can be translated as turning to, converting, and to return. In the context of a religious path, this means taking refuge and in Daoism this alludes to taking refuge in the three treasures of Dao, Scripture and Teachers and initial precepts.
(Soon, in a section entitled "Pillars of Cultivation" currently being edited, you can read more about these three treasures and the precepts.)
Tracing the path I've traveled to arrive here brings me back to my late teens when I had the sense that my secular education was not the whole story and there was learning outside of the constructs of institutional academia and what was being dictated through societal expectations and cultural norms.
Over the course of several years I took to the forests and rivers of the east coast (backpacking, wilderness training, outdoor education) and explored the landscape of my own body through different dance forms and movement therapies. I began to meditate.
One step leads to another.
Through Shiatsu studies I became fully enthralled with the meridian system and had my first introduction to Chinese cosmology and felt like I'd arrived home. Seeking a greater understanding of the knowledge that had been missing all along, I went on to study acupuncture at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine where I had my first classes in Taiji and Qi Gong opening the way for a long and continuous path of martial arts training and teaching alongside of my work as a licensed acupuncturist and herbal medicine practitioner.
And what a path it is! With each day of practice the lessons keep arriving until living becomes the school itself.
Along the way, here are some markers in time:
Licensed Acupuncturist and Chinese Herbal Medicine Practitioner , State of Vermont, 2002 - present
Clinical Integration Course with Lonny Jarrett, Stockbridge, MA, 2005 - 2007
Masters of Science, Traditional Oriental Medicine, Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, New York City, 2001
Shiatsu Training 1997 -1998
Massage Therapy Certification, Vermont Institute of Massage, 1997
Bachelor of Arts, Economics, Brown University, 1989
I look forward to connecting with you!
Contact information:
802-355-9306
breathingin23@gmail.com
Resources
Parting Clouds Daoist Education
Purple Cloud Institute
Three Pines Press
Daoist Foundation
The Golden Elixir
Wudang White Horse - Internal Martial Arts and Healing
Tung Tai Chi Chuan Vermont
Falling Water School of Tai Chi Chuan
Daoist Gate - Wudang Arts
Imperial Tutor ~ Sabine Wilms
Spirit Path Press ~ Lonny Jarrett
Classical Chinese Medicine ~ Heiner Fruehauf, Ph.D., L.Ac.
Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallee
Brown University - Contemplative Studies Initiative