Michael Lawrence McGrath

My Daoist practices began in 1993 with Master Wei Lun Huang in Boston. I studied his Yang Style Taiji with him and one of his disciples for a number of years before I moved for work to various places ourside of Massachusetts. I began teaching in 2006, but fearing my practice was becoming stale and wanting to deepen it, I decided to seek another Master.

I belonged to a Zen Buddhist Monastery for several years, but my practices remained Daoist. So, I went in search of a new Daoist Master, and decided that China would be the best place for that search. I packed a toothbrush and a change of underwear and went to the other side of the world to the Wudang Mountains. That is where I found the Five Immortals Temple, on White Horse Mountain, in Hubei Province.

My journals with daily entries for my first year in China provided the recollections I recount in my first book, Along The Way To Wudang. It is the story of my temple stay that first year - - why I went, what I did, what I thought I had learned. By the way, that was in 2015, and I was 65 years old. The book ended with a question: Could these ancient truths be lived in the modern world?

My second book, "The Stillness of The Blue Heron," is the answer. Born from the quiet of the Northern Berkshires, this collection of 60 essays and original poetry serves as a map for building a sanctuary within the “Red Dust” of daily life. Drawing from over three decades of Taiji, Qigong, and Daoist practice, I share how to navigate the tumult of humankind while maintaining an even keel.

I live now in those Northern Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts, where I teach and write. I also continue to maintain my Daoist Longevity Practice of daily meditation, Qigong, and Taiji