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 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-

one will arrive in a jeep and bring you back to your home.

You recite from the Gongke everyday. There is no required amount of time you devote to reciting daily. It can be a few minutes if that is all the time you have, or it can be 15 minutes or longer. It is a good practice to devote more time to it on special days, like weekends, holidays, personal retreat days, and so on. Keep in mind that this is not the time for intellectual study; rather it is a sacred time to unite with the Daoist immortals and the ultimate Dao. When you want to study the content of the scriptures, you do that at other times. Think of it as going into the Daoist temple, chanting with other monks, and then leaving the temple. End of service.

How strict do you have to be in this daily practice? Very. Compared to the ancient Daoists or the followers of Wang Chongyang (Founder of Quanzhen Daoism), we as modern day practitioners are pretty weak in our spiritual efforts. So the rule is this: As long as you remember that you have to do your daily recitation, you are obligated to do it. The general rule is to have a special place where you practice/recite every day.

The Texts

The study and recitation of Daoist scriptures and invocations are an integral aspect of ADGL beliefs and practices. Our scriptures include the Daode jing, and others, like the Qingjing jing, Yinfu jing, Mind Seal Classic,

Neiye or Inward Training, Zuowang lun, Faith Mind Sutra, and Cultivation Poems and Discourses by Wang Zhe (Wang Chongyang) on Clarity and Purity, and more. Some of the invocations are Purifying the Spirit, Purifying the Mouth, Purifying the Body, Purifying Heaven and Earth, and other invocations. Sometimes I get enquiries on how a person can get a copy of these invocations. For one, I am seeing Daoist invocations showing up on Facebook. For a more reliable source I recommend a translation by Christina J. Barea, the Scriptures for the Morning & Evening Rites of the Orthodox Oneness.

The second treasure of the ADGL is the practice of Zuowang meditation. Zuowang is frequently translated as “sitting and forgetting.” Daoist scholar Livia Kohn translates Zuowang as “sitting in oblivion.” In either translation, the focus is on a deep meditative state whereby the mind undergoes a complete transformation of everyday experience, arriving at an ultimate unity with the Dao. ADGL members practice this form of meditation on a regular basis, and intensify their meditation efforts during certain intensive retreats.

Sometimes I get inquiries on what are our other practices of Daoist cultivation, beyond Zuowang, reciting scriptures, and intensive retreat practices. I usually respond by saying “Isn’t unification with the Dao enough?” I gently say, as not to offend their ego that perhaps they have not comprehended the depths of the Zuowang experience. It is said in the Daoist scriptures that the path is a long journey and it takes constant practice. Some ancient masters say to practice whether sitting, lying down, walking and even when sleeping. That’s intense practice, and not for the casual practitioner who thinks all they have to do is some energy work and stand stationary for 15 minutes, and read the Daode Jing. One of our practices, for instance, is a 24-hour meditation where the adept does nothing but sit in forgetting, recite scriptures, and practice brief Qigong circle walking. No breaks. No naps. No outside distractions. Let me go back to a fuller explanation of the Zuowang experience.

In Zuowang practice, the aim is to perform a very simple focus on the breath and the heart-mind. The emptier the heart-mind is, the more purified the heart becomes. And the method is simple. Sit in silence and focus the mind on the movement of the breath. Our main Daoist scripture for meditation guidance is the Zuowang Lun, written by eighth-century Daoist Master Sima Chengzhen. In reading this scripture you encounter numerous references to forgetting all distracting forms of the mind and body until you arrive at a place of absolute stillness. I was lucky to participate in a Daoist training a few years ago by one of the China Daoist Association’s senior priests. At some point in the training, I realized that the master was beginning to talk about Zuowang meditation. He said the key thing is to withdraw all your senses: seeing, hearing, smells, taste, touch and rest in a pure state of stillness. So when I encounter someone asking what else do we practice, I think to myself, go deep into your inner silence, clarity, and stillness and you’ll find the essence of Daoist practice.

The third treasure is to spend time in solitary retreat. I have been going on solitary retreats throughout most of my adult life. I’ve written about my passions for the monastic life, and sometimes the hermit life in my earlier writings, mainly my first book, A Daoist Practice Journal: Come Laugh with Me. I’ve carried this passion forward in the training of Daoist priests in the form of annual group retreats, as well as solitary retreats. During different phases of the ADGL training, priests-in-training go on their own solitary retreats. They are usually short 2-3 day retreats at different settings. The places of retreats can be at Catholic contemplative monasteries, or at non-denominational retreat centers, or Zen or yoga centers. And sometimes a member may simply rent a vacation cabin in the mountains or on a beach, and spend a few days alone.

While on retreat, members set up their own schedule for their practices. They will incorporate the other two treasures, that is, times when they will recite from the gongke, and their sitting meditation times. They will also schedule times for their qigong, tai chi practices or other martial arts practice time. I always encourage members to not be so rigid in their scheduling. Leave time for just being quiet in nature, and listening to all the natural sounds around them. It is interesting that we seek out these isolated places away from the noises and distractions of the cities, but when we get out in nature, we find it is full of its own noises.

And then there is the desert of the retreat. Many traditions of contemplative prayer or meditation speak of the dark night of the soul where the solitary practitioner is confronted with their own reality. There is nowhere to hide while on a solitary retreat, that is, if done properly. All of

your weaknesses, fears, anxieties, worries, and attachments will eventually come to the surface. This is called, knowing your self. One of our favorite Daoist guides calls these our “walking sticks.” These are the subtle spiritual attachments, like filling our mind up with all kinds of theories, principles, or expectations. And some of these attachments are of a grand nature, like the attachment to get enlightened, or perhaps, more modestly to become a calmer person. Nonetheless, they are all walking sticks that have to be forgotten, otherwise there is no genuine realization.

From my earlier hermit and monastic days, I learned that the place of special significance is our own room, the monastic cell. The scriptures are also full of this advice, go to your cell, sit and be still, and allow the Dao to return to you. We thus, go to the “cell” to experience our true self, wiped clean of obstacles. And we allow solitude to teach us things that we don’t always want to hear. In the ADGL training, the solitary training is where we sometimes lose candidates. A long time ago there was a member who was very bright in Chinese medicine and Daoist philosophy, but he never wanted to go on solitary retreats. He eventually withdrew from the training, perhaps fearing his own empty self. However, the majority of the priests-in-training passes through the trials of the solitary retreat, and come out the other end full of wonder and respect for the Three Treasures of the ADGL.

Conclusion

For present day Daoists of the American Dragon Gate Lineage, the ultimate concern is to return to the Source, which is the Dao. It is a path of emptying the self of distractions through spiritual disciplines leading to the direct experience of one’s true nature, which is identical to the essential nature of the Dao. The path is long, and requires constant practice. The following paragraph from the ADGL Platform Statement sums it all up.

“Entry through the Dragon Gate is like the ancient Daoist Quanzhen story about the gorge called the Dragon Gate gorge. It is said that if a carp could swim through this gorge, it would come out the other side as a dragon. This is what we have to do in our practices as Daoists, swim through the illusions of life and connect with the heavenly aspect of our being, symbolized by the dragon, the primordial Source of the Dao.”