Simon Cox

Born in New York and raised in Texas, Simon Cox graduated from the University of Houston in 2008 with a degree in Classics. He relocated to Yuxu Temple on Wudang Mountain, where he lived for six years immersed in Daoist practices. He graduated from the intensive Daoist studies program at the Wudang Daoist Traditional Kung Fu Academy in 2014. Upon returning to Houston, he began his PhD at Rice University under Jeffrey J. Kripal and Anne Klein, focusing on Chinese and Tibetan mysticism. His dissertation, The Subtle Body: A Genealogy, was published by Oxford University Press in 2022 as part of the “Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism” series. After earning his PhD in 2019, he moved to Penticton, British Columbia, and founded Okanagan Valley Wudang, a martial arts and Qigong academy. Since 2025, he has served as a Research Fellow at the Esalen Center for Theory and Research.