Living with the Dao: Conceptual Issues in Daoist Practice
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Introduction
Daoist practice is often seen as a predominantly physical and meditational activity, where the alignment of the body and harmonization of qi bring about the transformation of the emotions and unfolding of the spirit. While this is entirely plausible, progress along the path in all cases also requires the rethinking and reformulation of one's basic ideas about the world, the adjustment of the mind and one's sense of identity to the flow of the Dao.
Little has been written on this subject, practitioners focusing largely on the presentation of techniques, while thinkers and scholars tend to concern themselves mainly with cosmological, philsophical, and historical issues. This 128 page collection is designed as a first step to fill this gap, and for this it presents ten papers on difference conceptual issues relevant to Daoist practice.
In conversations with practitioners, often questions arise in regard to the tradition's understanding of the mind, the emotions, and the self, its views on the origins and manifestations of evil and on the role of the various deities and otherwordly levels. The ten essays collected here provide some answers to these questions, especially as they emerge from Daoist materials of the middle ages.
The papers divide into three groups. The vast majority are articles written about fifteen years ago and published in journals or collections that are difficult to find and often already out of print. Some papers are more recent and appeared in more accessible venues, whose editors kindly agreed to allow this electronic redistribution. A third group has never appeared in English, but was written for presentation and/or publication in German.
Two futher papers on the same general subject matter could not be included because they are too new and are only just coming out or in preparation. Readers are accordingly referred to:
"The Sage in the World, the Perfected Without Feelings: Mysticism and Moral Reponsibility in Chinese Religion." In Crossing Boundaries: Essays on the Ethical Status of Mysticism, edited by G. William Barnard and Jeffrey J. Kripal (New York: Seven Bridges Press, 2001), 288-306.
"The Immoral Immortal or Why Practice the Precepts?" In Daoist Cultivation: Traditional Models and Contemporary Practices, edited by Louis Komjathy. In preparation. The collection here is geared primarily toward practitioners of Daoist techniques and self-cultivation. But it is also useful for students, scholars, and teachers who wish to have easy access to a concentrated selection of essays on the specific questions of body, mind, and self in the Daoist tradition.
Contents
Overcoming Evil
1. The Symbolism of Evil in Traditional China
2. Yin and Yang: The Natural Dimension of Evil
Transforming the self
3. Selfhood and Spontaneity in Ancient Chinese Thought
4. Transcending Personality: From Ordinary to Immortal Life
Understanding the Mind
5. Mind: Feeling, Thinking, Knowledge
6. Mind and Eyes: Sensory and Spiritual Experience in Daoist Mysticism
Cosmicizing the Body
7. Daoist Visions of the Body
8. Registered Immortals and Transferred Ancestors: The Otherworld in Medieval Daoism
Practicing Qigong
9. Quiet Sitting with Master Yinshi: The Beginnings of Qigong in Modern China
10. Levels of Qigong in Daoist Perspective
Reading More
11. Bibliography