A Few Words About Rituals and Altars

A lot of Westerners talk about "Daoism" as a philosophy as opposed to a religion. They read the Dao De Jing and Zhuangzi, but don't know very much about or have any interest in anything else that comes under the heading. I have a lot of sympathy for this position, as I believed much the same thing for many years. But I eventually came to change my viewpoint and began to have growing respect for the idea of ritual and other elements of formal religious practice.

Having said this, I'm not much of an expert on Daoist ritual, nor do I do much on a regular basis. One thing I have done for many years is have an altar to the Land God and which I "open" and "close" just about every day.



What I do is light a stick of incense, bow to the little altar, and ring a bell the when I first step out the door in the morning, and, when I step into the house for the last time at night. This is a ritual that we always practiced at the Daoist retreat centre I lived at many years ago. What it does for me (other than have my neighbours think I am nuts) is that it quiets my passionate soul and reminds me to think about the world around and within me---and what I owe it.


I also have an altar in my study which I have tried to develop a formal practice around, but which never seemed to "fit". So it has become more of a piece of sculture than an actual working shrine. Maybe at a future time it will become more important. Oddly enough, I had a film crew come in and shoot me offering incense to it as part of a legal battle I had with Walmart to protect a Jesuit retreat centre.



This isn't a very traditional altar, and I freely admit that I don't know much about this sort of thing. The three cloth paintings are supposed to depict some pretty key characters in my religious worldview: Chang San Feng, Laozi and Gandhi. Unfortunately, the artist I commissioned didn't check with me before she started the work, and as a result, she painted Chang San Feng (the founder of the internal alchemy school) riding an ox, which is a common way of depicting Laozi (or Lao tsu.) Gandhi isn't a tradition Daoist "Immortal", but he is an big influence on my life and he was known as a "Mahatma", or "great-souled one", which is pretty close to my understanding of Daoist "Xian". Moreover, there are lots of examples of non-Daoist deities in Daoist shrines, so it is pretty fair for him to be there.

Underneath the cloth banners I have a mantle with a "Hotei" (the laughing buddha.) He is traditionally known as an incarnation of Maitreya Buddha (the future Buddha) and is known for his sense of humour and patience---both things I am sorely lacking. The middle figure is a Guanyin, or Goddess of Mercy. Guanyin is also a Buddhist figure and is probably the most common figure on Chinese altars. She is very important to me as I believe that I have been repeatedly blessed with a visitation by her. The last figure is a Confucius, whom I also honour because even though I have never been a teacher, I am a scholar to my very bones.



Finally, underneathe my altar are the weapons I use in my taijiquan practice: a spear, straight sword (gim), sabre and dao. By putting them under my altar, I remember that my martial spirit must always be subservient to the teachings of religion. By the same token, they are there to ensure that I always wed my philosophy with action; and that I remember my responsibility to defend justice and Mother Nature.