Taoist Sanctuary of San Diego圣迭戈道教精舍

Type

Overseas Daoist Temples

Location

United States · California · San Diego · 4229 Park Boulevard, San Diego, CA 92103

Coordinates

32.75463, -117.14606 Map ↗

First built

1975 · Established in 1975; its predecessor can be traced to the Taoist Sanctuary registered in Los Angeles in 1970, one of the earliest legally registered Daoist organizations in the United States

Overview

The Taoist Sanctuary of San Diego is one of the earliest religious corporations in the United States registered under the name 'Daoist,' established in 1975; its current director is the Daoist priest, practitioner of Chinese medicine, and martial artist Bill Helm. Unlike the incense-and-altar temples of Chinese immigrant communities, institutions of this kind are a product of the reception of Daoism among native-born white intellectual circles in the United States in the latter half of the twentieth century: their core content is taijiquan, qigong, Daoist meditation, Daoist philosophy, and Chinese medicine, together with some purification rites and seasonal-festival ceremonies, rather than a focus on image worship and divination. Bill and Allison Helm are twentieth-generation inner-chamber disciples of Chen Xiaowang, the nineteenth-generation transmitter of Chen-style taijiquan, and in 2011 passed the sixth-duan examination of the Chinese Wushu Association at Chenjiagou. The institution publicly emphasizes that it sets no barrier of belief for participation, and is registered as a 501(c) nonprofit organization. This entry is included to present another strand of North American Daoism — the practice of 'Western Daoism' detached from ethnic Chinese communities.

Highlights

• One of the earliest legally registered Daoist organizations in the United States
• Centered on taijiquan, qigong, Daoist meditation, and Chinese medicine
• Part of the Chen Xiaowang lineage of Chen-style taijiquan
• A representative of 'Western Daoism' outside the ethnic Chinese community