I-Kuan Tao (China/Taiwan), possibly a sect of Taoism?
I learned about this religion last year when a friend told me about her "Taoist" community and asked if I would like to join. Since I was looking for a Taoist community in order to deepen my understanding and practice, I jumped at the chance. When I attended the introductory meeting, however, it was clear that the community was not traditional Taoism, even tho they call themselves Taoists. What they taught during the two long meetings that I attended was a mixture of Chinese ancestral folk traditions, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. (They also have some knowledge of Christianity and Islam.) They claim that Lao Tse was the first human to receive the Tao from a lineage of mythical/historical figures, including HuangDi (Yellow Emperor). Lao Tse passed the Tao on to Confucius. Some time after Confucius the teachings got corrupted. However, it was ok, because the Buddha had received the Tao in India, and thus the true Tao was brought back to China (when Buddhism made it to China). After that, I-Kuan Tao claims the same patriarchal lineage as early Chinese Buddhism, and then goes on to claim that I-Kuan Tao's founder, Chang T'ien-jan, continued that lineage, which he has since passed on to someone else. The religion was started in 1930.
My take on the whole thing is that this is a new, syncretic religion that attempts to meld the various religious beliefs of which the founder was aware (Chinese folk traditions such as HuangDi, Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, along with some rudimentary knowledge of Christianity and Islam) and make them into a unified truth. I-Kuan Tao claims that all the world's major religions point to the same truth, which they call the Tao, and its members have no problem quoting from Jesus or Mohammed to make their case. Interestingly, its "theology" (for lack of a better term) and worldview are really more Buddhist, but it uses the nomenclature of Taoism, so followers will speak of the Tao but the way they see things is more (Chinese) Buddhist. (This kinda makes sense since they claim mainstream Taoism is actually corrupted and what the Buddha taught is the true Tao.) The folks I met were all very nice, if a bit too earnest to have me join. I did not get the impression that this is a weird cult or anything. They didn't ask me to fork over my life-savings. In fact, their message is loving and peaceful and basically encourages people to respect all religions. And I-Kuan Tao does have a large following in Taiwan; I think it's the third largest religion there. (But it wasn't for me.)
