With spiritual cultivation discussed in East and West, where did Taiwan's practices come from?

First recognize that the same term 'spiritual cultivation' may describe different practices. In usages I know, Western religions also speak of spiritual cultivation. Taiwanese folk usage, including visiting sacred mountains, often connects with Mother Goddess belief, meditation, and spontaneous spiritual movement. I am discussing my experience of this method, not establishing one definitive origin for every Eastern and Western tradition.

I encountered this method in the 1990s. Recalling religious developments then, I knew of increasing temple involvement around the 1970s and 1980s. This was my observation within that circle, together with stories from earlier practitioners. These approximate decades cannot become a claim that all spiritual cultivation began in a particular year.

When introducing Mother Goddess belief, I have recounted the Golden Mother of the Jade Pool manifesting in Hualien, accepting spiritual children, and later transmitting spontaneous movement. In the story, people initially meditated, then some stood to practice movements, dance, or sing, and the Mother Goddess explained the method's purpose. This is the faith lineage I introduced: nourishing and circulating spiritual energy through one's own practice rather than repeatedly asking deities for help. This lineage does not make spontaneous movement a guarantee of curing disease.

These beliefs and methods can begin an understanding of Taiwanese spiritual cultivation, while recognizing that teachers and temples have their own terms and experiences. I value whether practice increases self-understanding and wisdom and gradually settles body, mind, and spirit. The number of sacred mountains visited or commands received must be distinguished from what has actually been learned.

I have also encountered some New Age ideas through a supervisor at work, hearing about the higher self and the soul's learning. Within my limited understanding, it seemed a movement combining different ideas and emphasizing individual spiritual growth, with a background different from Taiwanese folk approaches involving Five Mothers belief and temple lineages. I felt some aspirations were close while expression and methods differed. This was a comparison based on my limited exposure then, not a claim that all foreign practice lacks religion or every Taiwanese person must follow one path.