Ordination Registry

Ordination Registry of the Clarity and Stillness Order

The Clarity and Stillness Order (Qingjing dao 清靜道; C.S.O.) is an American Daoist religious order. There are three stages of entry into the Clarity and Stillness Order. Each stage involves increasing levels of adherence, commitment and responsibility.

Postulancy is a preliminary inquiry into formal Daoist religious practice; postulants are candidates for the novitiate. Postulancy is open to members of our religious community. This stage rougly corresponds to that of "initial perfection" (chuzhen 初真) in the Longmen ordination system.

The novitiate is the period of training and preparation prior to full ordination; novices are prospectives for ordination. Novices take preliminary and provisional vows as well as adhere to foundational Quanzhen Daoist religious commitments, including sexual propriety, vegetarianism, and abstinence from intoxicants. In addition, novices learn about Daoist religious practice from a Quanzhen and Huashan-based perspective. Novitiate training clarifies potential ordinands' intentions and motivations, their affinity, suitability and steadfastness in relation to the priesthood, as well as the realities of complete religious adherence. This stage rougly corresponds to that of "medium ultimate" (zhongji 中極) in the Longmen ordination system.

Ordination is the culmination of formal Daoist religious training. Potential ordinands receive long-term investiture and seminary training. Following ordination, they are the ordained clergy and spiritual leaders of the religious community. In addition to taking life-long religious vows and maintaing consistent self-cultivation, C.S.O. ordinands serve as spiritual directors and transmitters of Daoist religious culture. They facilitate communal rituals and ensure the preservation and flourishing of the religious community. In the context of our religious community, only full ordinands wear Daoist vestments, the full significance of which becomes understood during invesiture training. This stage rougly corresponds to that of "celestial immortality" (tianxian 天仙) in the Longmen ordination system.

Founding Teachers and Ordination Masters

Louis Komjathy Kate Townsend

Ordinands

Novices

Postulants