Q&A for How to Become a Taoist

From a certain point of view, yes. Taoists believe life goes on even after death. They believe after death they keep living in a new world.

Yes, Taoism can be followed in a philosophical way. There is religion path in Taoism as well, but you are free to choose whatever religion you want to follow.

Not in the standard sense. It is based on the power and energy of nature, so it really depends on how you look at it.

No. You can merely adopt it as a lifestyle and retain whatever religion you are currently in, but you can if you want.

Yes. There are many Taoist philosophers all over the world.

You can find them at most bookstores, and even your local library. I purchased mine online.

No, you do not need to be Chinese in order to become a Taoist.

Taoism says that there are good parts of your soul and bad parts, which are sometimes personified as being spirits and demons, and that the consumption of those specific food types (as well as over-indulging in food, overeating in general, over-indulging in general) fuels the bad parts of your soul (referred to as "demons") which as a result causes feelings of anxiety and restlessness to breed within you. Also, food energy isn't the same kind of spiritual esoteric energy that Taoism talks about.

Yes. Taoism is humans' correct relationship to the earth, Confucianism is humans' correct relationship to one another.

Yes, you can still follow the philosophical lifestyle as long as you still believe in God.

China, Taiwan, Vietnam and other places within China's sphere of influence.

Anyone can be a Taoist at any age.

Yes, there are Taoist monasteries for women. There are some in Europe.

No, it's not required. A lot of Taoists in the modern day eats rice, grains and meat!

They can eat them. As the above article mentions, you don't have to avoid beans and grains to be a Taoist, although some Taoists do avoid them.

Yes. They are written with D respective T because China has different dialects.

Yes, you can find most or all of the Taoist texts online for free on Wikisource, Sacred Texts, and other websites.

Taoism helps people get past their sense of self-centeredness and recognize the interconnectivity among themselves, those around them, nature and the universe, leading to a more fulfilling existence.

Taoists are allowed to eat grain, it is just a preference for some Taoists not to.

Your answer to that question lies in the gratitude you carry. Of course it's hard to be grateful for unfortunate events or predicaments you find yourself in but other people will still have it worse somewhere, people who wish they had the chance to experience what you may not even realize you have. When Taoism says to accept your life the way it is. it's another way of saying to be grateful for the little things you experience today. Whether good or bad, mundane or exciting, you don't have the best life, neither do you have the worst life, once you understand that, it'll be a lot easier to accept your life the way it is.

No, this doesn't mean you just need to accept it; you have to look for opportunities to improve yourself and your situation.

There's no particular diet that you need to conform to in order to feel like you're practicing taoism correctly; although some taoists choose to go vegetarian/vegan, following in the taoist theme of not harming or bringing harm onto other living things, respecting them etc. Also this is somewhat unrelated but you might want to abstain from alcohol; because that is another lesson in taoism, about not valuing worldly indulgences because they aren't spiritually fulfilling.