Alex Anatole

Grand Master Alex Anatole was born in Moscow, Russia. At a young age, he was introduced to Master Lu Yang Tai, the "Enlightened One," a Taoist sage with genealogical lineage extending to the ancient origins of Taoism. From the age of eight, Alex was his only disciple, learning all aspects of the Great Art — philosophy, healing, martial arts, astrology, and religious procedures. After twenty years he was ordained as a Taoist priest, building several underground Taoist temples in Russia — hidden from the religious persecution of Soviet times. Eventually his spiritual activities became known to the authorities and he fled to the United States.

In 1976 Grand Master Anatole immigrated to the United States. Near Boston, he built the Center of Traditional Taoist Studies and its Temple of Original Simplicity, recognized as one of the few authentic Taoist temples outside China. It maintains close ties to the few surviving temples in Shanghai. Master Anatole continues the tradition of imparting Taoism through a classical program of philosophy, religion, meditation, and Chi Quong. Motivated by a desire to preserve ancient Taoism in its purest form, he writes and lectures throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.

Grand Master Alex Anatole and his Temple of Original Simplicity have been profiled in numerous studies, including Harvard's Pluralism Project. He is the author of Truth of Tao, Essence of Tao and Tao of Celestial Foxes.

The Temple houses a wide collection of Taoist deities, as well as, perhaps, the only Hall of Celestial Foxes (Chinese: hu li jing,) in the United States.

The Temple offers traditional Taoist teachings including the philosophical teachings of the Tao Te Ching, meditation, Chi Quong, as well as the esoteric disciplines of The Celestial Fox Creed.

• The Truth of Tao (Center for Traditional Taoist Studies, Weston, Massachusetts, 2005), an analysis and application of the Taoist philosophy to life in the western world.[1]
• The Essence of Tao (Center for Traditional Taoist Studies, Weston, Massachusetts, 2009) A lineage master's interpretation of the core chapters of the Tao Te Ching.
• The Tao of Celestial Foxes-The Way to Immortality Vol. I, II, III (Center for Traditional Taoist Studies, Weston, Massachusetts, 2015, 2016, 2017) A Fox Master's explanation of the Fox Creed.

• "Tracing the Contours of Daoism in North America" by Louis Komjathy Nova Religion November 2004, Vol. 8, No. 2, Pages 5–27 (university of California Press)

• Official website
• Profile at Harvard University's Pluralism Project
• List of Daoist teachers in North America compiled by Professor Louis Komjathy of Pacific Lutheran University