American Dragon Gate Lineage By Shifu Michael Rinaldini
Part 2: The practices of the lineage members. In a previous issue of The Empty Vessel, my article on the origins and history of the American Dragon Gate Lineage (ADGL) mentions some of the practices of the ADGL. These practices include the daily reciting of scriptures and going on solitary retreats. The other practice of the ADGL is Daoist meditation. As a whole, these three practices are referred to as The Three Lineage Treasures of The ADGL: Meditation, Scripture Reciting, and Solitary Retreats. The rest of this article will examine each of these treasures in detail.
The Daily Reciting of Scriptures To begin, the entire training period for members who wish to eventually become ordained priests is called the 1,000 Day Training. During the 1,000 days, there are numerous areas of study. These include general studies in the history of Daoism, with specific history studies on the Quanzhen (Complete Perfection Sect of Daoism) tradition. Two of the key texts that members study are The Teachings and Practices Of The Early Quanzhen Taoist Masters, and Daoism, Meditation, And The Wonders of Serenity, both from Daoist scholar Stephen Eskildsen. However, the one practice The Empty Vessel — Page 22
that ties everything together is the daily practice of reciting scriptures and invocations from a collection of Daoist texts known as the Gongke. The ADGL Gongke is a modification of the Daoist Morning and Evening Services of the Quanzhen Order that is recited daily in Daoist temples and monasteries throughout China. For 1,000 consecutive days, the ADGL priests-in-training recite texts from this collection. Upon
beginning the training, members are given the general guidelines for this daily practice.
The ADGL Gongke: Rules and Guidelines Imagine yourself going away to a remote hermitage where you and an old novice master will practice together for the next 1,000 days. At the end of this period, some-
