Page 347 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

308 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A-L

beyond ourselves. But the reality is that Taoism, from Han times to today, has
not only tolerated a rich array of theistic beliefs, but has cherished them. And
to Taoists, Laozi was often a powerful and revered divine being, Lord Lao,
who periodically descends into the human world to reveal correct practices or
establish a sanctified sociopolitical order (Lagerwey 1987C, 23; Schipper 1993,
II3-24; Kohn 1998b; Kohn 1998g).
Still, while untrained visitors to Taoist temples may imagine the beings
enshrined there as deities to be worshipped, such establishments have usu-
ally been staffed by practitioners who understand such deities as emanations
(or even symbolizations) of the universal Dao. For them, the core of Taoist
life has always been personal self-cultivation: that life requires them to labor
productively-through moral elevation and through meditation and/ or
ritual-to ascend to such a level that he / she participates fully in the reality of
the "transcendentar Dao. Ultimately, therefore, Dao is not truly "impersonal,"
though it does transcend the limitary boundaries that individuals generally
ascribe to their personal reality. In senses that are thus impossible in Western
religions, Taoists could-and indeed were expected to-effectively become the
Dao, and to act in this world as its living embodiment. In those senses, the
liturgical activities (*jiao, *zhai) of the Taoist priest (*daoshi) always constituted
a meditative / ritual embodiment of the divine power of the Dao (Schipper
1978; Lagerwey 1987C; Schipper 1993). So in the liturgical traditions, as in the
meditative and monastic traditions, the authentic Dao of the Taoists-from
classical times to the present-is a spiritual reality that is attained and embodied
by conscientious practitioners of traditional religious practices.

"Dao"; The matrix of spiritual transformation. Taoist usages of the term dao
thus had various focuses, whose interrelationship has often been difficult for
modern minds to perceive. Perhaps more importantly, modern philosophers
and spiritual seekers alike-including some in modern China-sometimes
unconsciously translate dao into terms with which they are more comfort-
able, finding in it something pleasing that they do not find within their own
society's accepted range of ideas. Such re readings inevitably oversimplify,
and sometimes falsifY, such terms' meanings, for the act of interpreting it for
today's mind strips it of connotations that modems dislike, and preserve only
those that modern interpreters can accept.
A particular problem in this regard is that modems-heirs of the Western
Enlightenment-tend to read Dao only as a transcendental Absolute, which
can be accessed only by the solitary mystic. Modems-in China and the West
alike-have been indoctrinated to disregard, or even denounce, elements of
"religion" that take place outside the "enlightened person's" individualized
pursuit of truth. Taoism's rich array of spiritual models does feature an an-
cient tradition of ideas and practices that harmonizes well with such pursuits: