Applying Taoism in modern life

[Karolina]

I'm relatively new to Taoism in that I've spent my life on a spiritual journey researching world religions and considering conversion to several over the years. Once I figured out that I was asking the wrong God question (namely, "who" is God, rather than starting more basically with "what" God is), I landed yet again in Taoism.

I have several questions regarding the practice of Taoism in modern life.
Is it common for modern Taoists to combine beliefs or practices with other faith traditions?
Are there generally any meetings for philosophical (not religious) Taoists in the Western world?
Do Taoists brought up with Taoism consider people who come to call themselves Taoists as adults as frauds?
Is modern day Taoism discernibly different from the pan-new-age spirituality?

Thank you to anyone willing to tackle any of these for me!

 

[Straw Dog]

Even after all these years, I’m still profoundly influenced by a Zhuangzi style Taoism. It is important to understand that there are many schools of ‘Taoism’ and that the original ‘Taoists’ probably didn’t think of themselves in these terms at all. In some ways, I would feel calling myself a ‘Taoist’ an act of cultural appropriation. In other ways, I am still kind of a philosophical Taoist. Nonetheless, many of the concepts that have been translated and been comprehended in a modern context can be applied. I don’t know about being a professional Taoist. You’ll have to ask someone else.

Philosophically, it’s approaching life as a balancing act within a cosmic flow that transcends the act of conceptualization itself. So for your initial inquiry, what is god? God is beyond human comprehension. To seek the incomprehensible with limited human knowledge and time is foolish. This context of awareness focuses upon the ordinary life rather than the metaphysical.