COMMUNITY
Community is the pulse of the Daoist Foundation. We provide a number of ways for people to participate and to further a sense of community and connection with the Daoist tradition. Some of our current offerings include seminary training, scholarly seminars and research projects, as well as retreats and formal talks.
American Daoist Seminary
The American Daoist Seminary 美國道教學院 (ADS; a.k.a. American Daoist Academy [ADA]) is our formal Daoist school and program intended to provide deeper and more complete Daoist religious training. The full program consists of two years, with an optional third year. The 2024-2025 cohort, the Aspen Group, consists of eight seminarians who began their training in September. The next application period will commence in June of 2025, with the next cohort being accepted in autumn of the corresponding year. The program is beginning as a remote offering in order to accommodate people from different geographical regions. However, we hope eventually to have a residential option. For more information, please visit our American Daoist Seminary page.
Center for Daoist Studies
The Center for Daoist Studies 道學中心 (CDS) is the education and research branch of the Daoist Foundation. It also houses the Daoist Studies Archive 道學檔案館 (DSA). It is under the direction of Dr. Louis Komjathy 康思奇 (Ph.D., Religious Studies; Boston University), the founding Co-director, Chóngxuán 重玄 Chair, and Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at the Foundation. The Center has a variety of projects underway, including collecting, cataloguing, indexing, and translating Daoist materials. We also plan to host and sponsor public talks on Daoism. We are further working to establish a formal Scholars-in-Residence (SIR) program for Daoist researchers and translators. Read CDS Approach to Daoist Studies.
Clarity-and-Stillness Order
The Clarity-and-Stillness Order 清靜道 (CSO), also referred to as the Order of Daoist Contemplatives (ODC), is a Daoist mountain contemplative and New Monastic order established by Louis Komjathy 修靜 and Kate Townsend 抱靜, the founding Co-directors and senior teachers at the Foundation. It is specifically inspired by the anonymous eighth-century Qīngjìng jīng 清靜經 (Scripture on Clarity and Stillness; HDP #4). Individuals who complete investiture training through our American Daoist Seminary 美國道教學院 (ADS) will receive ordination in both the Huàshān 華山 (Mount Hua) lineage and the Clarity-and-Stillness Order.
Daoist Associations
Our primary headquarters is located outside of Chicago, IL. Our Midwest Daoist Association is maintained through the Red Bird Lodge where we provide seasonal classes and outreach. One of our oldest associatains was established in the Pacific Northwest through the Gallagher Cove Daoist Association 葛灣會 (GCDA); Olympia, Washington. The community elders and caretakers of GCDA are in the process of relocating to Montana, where we hope to establish a new association. We also are in the process of reactivating our Floating Bridge Daoist Association 浮橋會 (FBDA), which is the name for our traveling retreat community. We recently have begun accepting networking and facilitation requests from individuals outside the United States to establish study and practice groups based on our Daoist approach, teachings, and materials.
Moving forward, our search for a Daoist Retreat center continues as the need to house more formal Daoist practice, retreats and community events grows. In keeping with the Daoist Foundation's mission to foster authentic Daoist study and practice, we remain committed to finding land/infrastructure to create a Daoist sanctuary that honors our ethos and celebrates Daoist community. We appreciate your patience and support as we hone our search.
*Note that, following early Quánzhēn 全眞 (Complete Perfection) Daoism, we use dàohuì 道會 (lit., “meeting of the Dao”), or “Way-Gathering” for short. This stands in contrast to the modern dàojiào xiéhuì 道教協會 (lit., “Daoism society”), which technically is a mainland Chinese bureaucratic designation indicating supervision by the Bureau of Religious Affairs 國家宗教事務局 and thus affiliation with the Chinese Communist state.
