I remember Michael writing a few years ago that Taoist rituals look quite weird. That view could be complemented with words of Waysun Liao who said that "open"/"public" Taoism has lost a plot quite some time ago. It has transformed into a dead end.
For example, Chaper 21 of "Tao Te Ching" is ought to look like this:
The Great Te follows nothing but Tao,
Though Tao is elusive and subtle.
It seems subtle and elusive,
and yet within it is a form.
It appears vague and subtle,
and yet within it is an essence.
This essence is very real,
and therein lays a message.
From the very beginning until now,
its name has never been erased.
Thus I can see and perceive everything within creation.
How do I know everything within creation?
Because of this.
This verse is about Lao Zi's meditation when he connected with God/Tao. One can compare it to translations available on the web:
http://www.taoism.net/ttc/complete.htmThe appearance of great virtue
Follows only the Tao
The Tao, as a thing
Seems indistinct, seems unclear
So unclear, so indistinct
Within it there is image
So indistinct, so unclear
Within it there is substance
So deep, so profound
Within it there is essence
Its essence is supremely real
Within it there is faith
From ancient times to the present
Its name never departs
To observe the source of all things
How do I know the nature of the source?
With thisor
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/taote-v3.html#21The Master keeps her mind
always at one with the Tao;
that is what gives her her radiance.
The Tao is ungraspable.
How can her mind be at one with it?
Because she doesn't cling to ideas.
The Tao is dark and unfathomable.
How can it make her radiant?
Because she lets it.
Since before time and space were,
the Tao is.
It is beyond is and is not.
How do I know this is true?
I look inside myself and see.or
http://www.sacred-texts.com/tao/taote.htm:
The grandest forms of active force
From Tao come, their only source.
Who can of Tao the nature tell?
Our sight it flies, our touch as well.
Eluding sight, eluding touch,
The forms of things all in it crouch;
Eluding touch, eluding sight,
There are their semblances, all right.
Profound it is, dark and obscure;
Things' essences all there endure.
Those essences the truth enfold
Of what, when seen, shall then be told.
Now it is so; 'twas so of old.
Its name--what passes not away;
So, in their beautiful array,
Things form and never know decay.
How know I that it is so with all the beauties of existing things? By
this (nature of the Tao).By omitting the fact that "Te" is a God aspect within a human being, it all looks extremely confusing. Moreover, "Te" is, in fact, an
energy of extremely high frequency that resonates with the rest of Te that exists in the Tao. Human being is an energy bubble that has Te at its core and Chi around it. Te and Chi interact like numbers "1" and "0" in 1,000,000. Without Te, the Chi is meaningless. Omitting these facts, transforms "Tao Te Ching" into yet another cryptic Chinese thing, or a nice story that one cannot really act upon decisively, energy-wise, and in practical terms.
Thus, one may ask, what is this verbally transmitted and hidden tradition of Taoism about? The picture painted by Liao is quite extraordinary. According to him, the objective of Taoists is to clean and purfiy their energy to the extent that they are capable of merging with God during their lifetime - access silent knowledege, fully align with the intent Eagle/Universe/God - and preserve the highest aspect of their awareness (Te) upon death.
Human being could die in four different ways:
1) The lowest way to die is to be disintegrated upon death. Chi goes into a "recycle bin" from where incarnating beings take it and build their bodies of. (This is, by the way, the reason one needs to work 24/7 to clean one's energy/Chi as it contains all sorts of memories and crap from previous lives of various creatures). Te is separated and will keep going working its way towards Tao/God. Whatever made up "you", ceases.
2) The second level of death means having high enough frequency to know the time of one's death. It allows one to refine one's energy to the best of one's ability before passing over. Yet, the disintegration happens still.
3) The third level of passing over means choosing the time of departure. One's frequency has to be high enough to
see how to resolve all spiritual debts and outstanding issues before leaving. There is nothing holding one back and one is free to decide when to go. A step up the ladder is to achieve the ability to enter the higher spiritual realm at will during the lifetime. Then the death is just a step further during one's final meditation.
4) The highest level of leaving this world constitutes achieving a frequnecy so high that one can transform his full body into a pure energy and vanish. Taoists call it "daytime ascending".
The main Taoist tool for working with energy is Tai Chi. Most of its roots, essence and methods have been lost as well. Nowadays it is either health-orientated Chinese gymnastics or a martial art.
Only some hidden traditions have been preserving and cultivating the spiritual aspect of Tai Chi - and keeping the way it was designed - a tool for
complete transformation of a human being.
