Daoism (Taoism) 道教

I read a copy of the Tao Te Ching and it spoke to me.

We did a gloss of the Tao Te Ching for an intro course in my major, way back in undergrad.

In the immediate wake of the first Star Wars film I was soaking up everything I could about the film and its influences. Taoism was mentioned in relation to 'the force' of course and that sent me straight to a three volume Readers Digest encyclopedia that we had on the shelves, which had a brief but informative entry on it. I didn't go a lot further for a good many years, but it was the first spark.

The fiction of Ursula K Le Guin was my first introduction. She's used a couple quotes from time to time, as intros to stories or whatever, and her work is heavily influenced by the philosophy.

I had other vectors as well, qigong as a health practice for instance, but she was the first and still one of my favorites.

Hello! I think the entry point for me as a kid was Yoda in Star Wars, I just didn't know it at the time. As I continued to research, explore, and ultimately adopt many eastern philosophies and spiritual practices, Taoism consistently rose to the top as a framework for understanding how the universe works. It, Buddhism, and yoga have come to form somewhat of a trinity for my own spiritual and philosophical practices and perspectives. I read 365 Tao: Daily Meditations nightly and regularly share the passages that resonate with me with this community. Best wishes for your continued spiritual journey.

I don't even remember exactly. It's likely that I saw a quote from the Tao Te Ching somewhere, thought it seemed interesting and picked up a copy. From there it's just been a gradual encounter with various sources and just observing nature to confirm what I picked up.

My dad was a Tai Chi instructor when I was quite little. Something stuck with me then. I still don’t really know what it means to “be Taoist” but I try to follow the Tao anyways.