Dream Trippers : Global Daoism and the Predicament of Modern Spirituality / David A. Palmer, Elijah Siegler.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Palmer, David A., author.

Siegler, Elijah, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Taoism.

Globalization--Religious aspects--Taoism.

Globalization.

Spirituality--Taoism.

Spirituality.

Pilgrims and pilgrimages--China--Hua Mountain (Shaanxi Sheng).

Pilgrims and pilgrimages.

Taoists--United States.

Taoists.

Taoists--China.

Taoism--United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (347 pages) : illustrations, map

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, [2017]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Over the past few decades, Daoism has become a recognizable part of Western "alternative" spiritual life. Now, that Westernized version of Daoism is going full circle, traveling back from America and Europe to influence Daoism in China. Dream Trippers draws on more than a decade of ethnographic work with Daoist monks and Western seekers to trace the spread of Westernized Daoism in contemporary China. David A. Palmer and Elijah Siegler take us into the daily life of the monastic community atop the mountain of Huashan and explore its relationship to the socialist state. They follow the international circuit of Daoist "energy tourism," which connects a number of sites throughout China, and examine the controversies around Western scholars who become practitioners and promoters of Daoism. Throughout are lively portrayals of encounters among the book's various characters-Chinese hermits and monks, Western seekers, and scholar-practitioners-as they interact with each other in obtuse, often humorous, and yet sometimes enlightening and transformative ways. Dream Trippers untangles the anxieties, confusions, and ambiguities that arise as Chinese and American practitioners balance cosmological attunement and radical spiritual individualism in their search for authenticity in a globalized world.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments / Palmer, David A. / Siegler, Elijah

1. The Subject

2. The Mountain

3. The Trippers

4. The Cloud Wanderers

5. The Encounters

6. The Scholar-Practitioners

7. The Predicament

Epilogue: The Cosmic Orgasms

Appendix: Methodological Issues

Notes

Glossary of Chinese Terms

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 22. Okt 2019)

ISBN:

9780226484983

022648498X

OCLC:

1005226419