Published by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.
Copyright© 2020 Thomas Cleary.
Original text entitled Da Dao Xing (in Chinese)
Copyright© Chen Kaiguo and Zheng Shunchao.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher.
Library of Congress publication data is in progress.
ISBN: 978-1-4629-2189-8
Printed in Malaysia 2004VP
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CONTENTS
Chapter 1 The Teachers’ Search
Chapter 3 Concentrating the Vital Spirit
Chapter 4 Cultivating the Triple World
Chapter 8 Roaming the Four Directions
Chapter 10 Transcending Time and Space
Chapter 11 Deliberate Dreaming and Refinement of Spirit
Chapter 12 A Mountain Treasure Hunt
Chapter 13 Skies Beyond the Sky
Chapter 14 The Dream of the Universe
Chapter 15 The Way Follows Nature
Chapter 17 Teachers and Disciple Part
Chapter 18 Transcending Sagehood to Enter the Ordinary
Chapter 19 Emerging on a Mission
Chapter 20 Shouldering a Heavy Responsibility
Chapter 21 Returning to the Source
Translator’s Introduction
This book is a translation of the authorized biography of Wang Liping, a living Taoist master, written by two of his longtime disciples. Wang Liping is an eighteenth-generation Transmitter of the Longmen or Dragon Gate branch of Taoism, which traces its spiritual lineage back over eight hundred years. In his childhood, Wang Liping was chosen for special training as a Transmitter by three elderly masters of Dragon Gate Taoism.
The practice of bringing up specially chosen individuals as holders and Transmitters of esoteric teachings is practiced by Tibetan Buddhists and Khajagan Sufis as well as Dragon Gate Taoists.
After being located by the elderly Dragon Gate masters, Wang Liping was subsequently educated and trained in Taoist practices for a period of fifteen years. Now he is himself a teacher. This is the story of his early life and esoteric training, based on his own recollections.
The Dragon Gate branch is a sect of the powerful Complete Reality school of Taoism, which integrated Buddhism and Confucianism into a comprehensive new form of Taoism. Complete Reality Taoism eventually spread all over China during the Middle Ages, and still continues in existence today. Numerous classics and texts of this