Dream Trippers Global Daoism and the Predicament of Modern Spirituality
Synopsis
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.
Book details
- Author:
- David A. Palmer, Elijah Siegler
- ISBN:
- 9780226484983
- Related ISBNs:
- 9780226481760, 9780226484846
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- Pages:
- 352
- Reading age:
- Not specified
- Includes images:
- Yes
- Date of addition:
- 2020-10-31
- Usage restrictions:
- Copyright
- Copyright date:
- 2017
- Copyright by:
- The University of Chicago Press
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Categories:
- History, Nonfiction, Religion and Spirituality, Social Studies