 Learn a Taoist
Blessing Ceremony For Purifying Your Space
A practical workshop with Nam Singh, $165
San Francisco: Thursday, March 12, 10-4pm
Booking: Denise 1-866-983-6868
New York: SUNDAY APRIL 26, 10-6pm
includes visit to Tao Temple Chinatown
Booking: info@fengshuiseminars.com
There is a long tradition in performing rituals
of many types in all schools of Taoism. In this practical workshop
you will learn an authentic blessing ceremony that has been done
for thousands of years in Taoist homes.
 Download our brochure with complete details. Under 1
MB.
What You Will Learn
- Ritual Bathing
- The Use of a Ritual Hand Bell
- Hand Seal and Talisman Writing
- How to Bless Water
- The Use of Incense, Paper Offerings and Food Offerings
- Envisioning and Incantations
Once you have selected a specific space, you must
ensure that the energy is sufficiently pure (jing). To be safe,
everyone should perform an energetic cleansing on his or her space.
Nam Singh is a Tao priest in the Zheng-Yi sect
and a priest in training in orthodox Taoism. He is a member of the Ching Chung Taoist Association
of America in San Francisco California’s Chinatown and the founder
of the Celestial Canyon Taoist Association, teaching Taoist nutrition,
meditation and Chinese tea culture.
Note: For those who wish to join
us for a visit and tour of a Taoist Temple in Chinatown (know as a
Daotan Hereditary Temple) on Sunday afternoon (april 26) we depart
at 4pm for Chinatown (close to teaching venue) and finish at 6pm, then
join us for an optional dinner.
What is a Daotan Hereditary Temple
 Taoism is an indigenous traditional religion of
China. It is generally
believed that Taoist organizations were formally established 1900 years
ago by Celestial master Zhang-Dao ling during the reign (CE 126-144)
of Emperor Shudi of the Eastern Han Dynasty. However, the original
sources of Taoist doctrines can be traced back to the spring and autumn
period and the warring states period (770-221 BCE). Thus, there
is the common reference to the “Three Ancestors that alludes
to the Yellow Emperor, Lao Zi and Celestial Master Zhang.”
For the greater part of the history of Taoism in
China religious practices were inspired and maintained by family/clans
(the Liu, Zhang and Li clans, to name a few). These clans maintained daotan (hereditary temples)
throughout rural and urban China as places of worship and community administration. They
consisted of private chapels (tan) for religious ritual (maintained by
a team of ordained [often married] priests [both men and women]) and
clan halls (tang) which served as community educational and meeting facilities. The
chapel was the spiritual center of the clan and the clan hall served
as a place for activities as diverse as funerals, scheduling harvests,
negotiating business, tax collecting and public literacy education. This
combination of spiritual and worldly activity co-habiting the same
space reminded every clan/community member of the universality of religion
and ethics in daily life.
 The actual ownership and management of a daotan
was divided between the head priest’s family and the clan (represented by the elders)
village. It is called hereditary for two reasons. First,
because the head priest’s ownership was passed on to his most capable
child or adopted disciple - called a ‘successor’. Secondly,
it was called hereditary because it represented the continuity of life
(qi) in the clan’s collective body - a conduit for the continuous
benefit that is derived from the clan’s ancestors (representing
Dao itself).
In all matters decisions were made by consensus
using the elders’ ordinary
negotiating skills and the priests’ extraordinary means (divination). Business
contracts were witnessed by priests and religious rites and education
were sponsored by the clan. Through the collective activities
of the daotan the healthy circulation of community qi was maintained.
The design and maintenance of the architecture
and grounds of the daotan were based on the ancient principles and
details of feng shui (Chinese geomancy). The chapels were the community heart (the spirit within
the body). The clan halls, public and open on a courtyard at the
front, were like the community stomach/spleen absorbing nutrients for
the community’s smooth digestion. The building itself was
a collective body (a daily visit recharged your qi battery). Each
individual parishioner was an inspired qi satellite. Daotan networked
throughout China and in the 12th century were acknowledged by the imperial
government of the Song dynasty as the true historical basis for national
unity, peace and prosperity.
 The unique Taoist notion that what religious/spiritual
about life is, is not necessarily the exercise of religion itself. In a Taoist
community the priests practiced rites and meditation as their particular
tao; fishermen followed the tao of fishing, businessmen the tao of commerce,
seamstresses the tao of sewing, etc. Priests ate fish, wore tailored
vestments and advised businessmen astrologically. Businessmen made
donations to the temple, bought fish and tailored clothes. It was
the community interconnectedness that gave fullness and immortality to
life rather than the individual experience of personal revelation. For
the Taoist transcendence was, in a sense, acceptance not escape.
Incantation to Lü Dongbin
 Lü Dongbin is the most famous of the Eight Immortals. He
is regarded as one of the Five Northern Patriarchs of Complete Perfection
Taoism (one of the largest active sects in China). The most common
historical tale claims that Lü Dongbin was a mortal in the Tang
Dynasty from China’s Shanxi Province. He was a failed candidate
for government service and was unaccomplished until he was 64. At
that time he met the Taoist Immortal Han Zhongli, who explained Taoism
to him. From that time he dedicated himself to Taoist cultivation
and eventually became an Immortal. Among his many disciples are
Liu Haichan and Wang Chongyang. Despite his relatively high status
in the Taoist hierarchy, Lü Dongbin is almost always depicted wearing
a hat that is flat and slopes downward past his forehead. He usually
carries a double-edged sword, and sometimes a shield, with which he can
capture and tame all evil spirits if he is correctly invoked. Lü often
carries a flywhisk, the symbol of one who can fly at will. His
birthday is generally celebrated on the 14th day of the 4th lunar month.
Offerings to the Earth Guardian Spirit (T’u-di
Kung)
 Is not looked upon as a powerful or fearsome deity spirit. He
is a Celestial deity spirit, the lowest ranking official in the bureaucracy
of the Celestial pantheon, and is the tutelary deity spirit of one
sector of a large village or suburb; the protector of the well-being
of both town and country dwellers. His name means the earth god of
wealth and merit. In China, every village had a shrine to Tu Di Gong.
Virtually every temple and certainly every community
has an altar dedicated to the Earth Guardian Spirit. Legends almost always describe him
as a former human, now a local spirit still possessing human attributes
and aspirations. One of the most common claims is that he was a
servant who preserved his master’s money from thieves, lost his
life in the process, and was deified as the Earth Guardian Spirit.
Today, he is still worshiped by most Chinese, with many housing small
shrines with his image, commonly located under the main altar, or below
the house door.
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Download BOOKING FORM
How to do a Taoist Blessing Ritual and Ceremony
One day workshop
SAN FRANCISCO
Thursday March 12, 10-4pm
Hotel Triton, Chinatown
$165
Book with Denise 1-866-983-6868
denise@sanfranciscoschooloffengshui.com
NEW YORK
Sunday April 26, 10 AM-6 PM
Central Manhattan
US $165
Includes tour to Chinatown Temple then optional dinner.
Enquires: info@fengshuiseminars.com
Payment method: cash, check, visa, mc.
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