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Daoists on the Planet Earth

A French Woman Daoist

25 Aril 2007

Her name is 景秀(Jinxiu), which obviously isn’t the one given by her French parents. In the Daoist and Chinese Buddhist practice, there is always a special character to mark a whole generation, and in this particular case, it is Jin to be assigned to identify the 32th generation of lineage bearers for the Complete Reality’s Dragon Gate (全真龙门) sect. So it makes her a 32th generation inheritor of the Gate which was initially installed by legendary Daoist Qiu Chuji (丘处机) about 800 years ago.  

A meditating Jinxiu

以自然无为为法要,
以修身治国为旨归,
以天人合一为境界
..

But she wasn’t always a Gate keeper. Six years ago she worked as a medical practitioner at Briton with a Ph.D in medical sciences from the University of Paris. By then her name was Karine Martin.

One day in 2001, she joined a recreational meditation class in where she had her first contact with Daodejing. The profound connection she thereafter experienced to inner self and beyond allowed another part of her consciousness, previously buried deep within, going all the way out to the surface. And that changed her life forever.

The further study after the course under the guidance of British Daoist Shijin (世景) and visiting Chinese Daoist Shizhen (世真) eventually led her to leave behind her job and boyfriend and take a journey east in pursuing the eternal Way of Dao.

Six years on, while probing the hidden secret of life, she lives in a compromised existence in the material sense. But she thinks it’s all worthwhile. “In China, there is a culture, a philosophy, that can be of a help to the modern society and lead us to a world of peace and harmony,” she says.

Spanish Daoists

Who are these guys in the traditional Han Chinese clothing? With a prominent presence in the middle of their face, they don’t look very Han. Sure they are not. They are Spanish Daoists attending the International Forum on Daodeling (道德经).

A 5-day forum opened on Sunday night in China’s ancient capital Xian, joined by professional and ameteur Daoists from all over the world.

Chinese Daoists

Three grand Daoist masters praying for the world peace at the sacred site of the Terrace View

On Monday, 300 members attending the forum visited the sacred Daoist building site, the Terrace View (楼观台), in Zhouzhi County (周至县) of Shaanxi Province (陕西). It is where Laozi allegedly wrote his Daodejing, a book that becomes known as one of the theoretical foundations of the Chinese culture.

A typical scene in the magical sacred Daoist sites

According to the figure released by the Daoist association in 2004, there were 25 thousand officially ordained Daoists and Daoistresses in China by then, with over 1,500 Daoist temples and institutions across the country, many of them congregated in four most sacred Daoist mountains, namely Mt. Wudang (武当山) in Hubei, Mt. Dragon and Tiger (龙虎山) in Jiangxi,  Mt. Green Town (青城山) in Sichuan and Mt. Reaching Clouds (齐云山) in Anhui.

和谐世界,以道相通

Let Dao guide the way to a harmonious world

Pre: Touchdown | Next: Chinese, Mind Your Steps

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