Our Titles

Livia Kohn Meditation Works in the Daoist, Buddhist and Hindu Traditions.

Meditation is the inward focus of attention in a state of mind where ego-related concerns and critical evaluations are suspended in favor of perceiving a deeper,subtler, and possibly divine flow of consciousness. A method of communicating with hidden layers of the mind, it allows the subconscious to surface in memories, images, and thoughts while also influencing it with quietude,openness, and specific suggestions. It has an overall beneficial and often healing effect and has made major inroads in Western society, both in spiritual and healing contexts. Doctors increasingly recommend it for stress relief, pain management, and the alleviation of psycho-somatic conditions.

Livia Kohn, Daoist Mystical Philosophy

The Scripture of Western Ascension is a central text of medieval Daoist mysticism. Written by an unknown author, probably of the Northern Celestial Masters at Louguan, in the late fifth century C.E., it closely resembles the Daode jing in structure and contents. Edited and commented on several times until the twelfth century, the text played an important role in Tang religious thought.

Livia Kohn, ed. Daoist Body Cultivation.

Daoist Body Cultivation is a comprehensive volume by a group of dedicated scholar-practitioners that covers the key practices of medical healing, breathing techniques, diets and fasting, healing exercises,  sexual practices, Qigong, and Taiji quan. Each presentation places the practice in its historical and cultural context and relates its current application and efficaciousness. Ultimately aiming to energetically transform the person into a spiritual and trancendent being, Daoist cultivation techniques have proven beneficial for health time and again and can make an important contribution in the world today. Daoist Body Cultivation provides a deeper understanding of the practices in their cultural and historical contexts, bridging the gap between healing and religion and allowing both scholars and practitioner to reach a deeper understanding and appreciation.

Suzanne Cahill. Divine Traces of the Daoist Sisterhood.

Divine Traces of the Daoist Sisterhood presents unique materials on the lives and religious quests of Daoist women in medieval China. Translating and discussing religious women's biographies, the book explores the social context, ideals, and specific techniques of their practice, relating the stories to overall Daoist themes and contemporaneous political events. It elucidates the underlying threads of women's divine careers and brings out both the deep human interest and humor of the stories. Through Suzanne Cahill's efforts, the women of medieval Daoism receive a new and clear voice, to be heard across cultures and millennia.

Livia Kohn in cooperation with Stephen Jackowicz, Health and Long Life: The Chinese Way

A powerful presentation of Chinese health practices, this unique work brings together the wide variety of Chinese medical and spiritual methods in one integrated volume. It provides not only a basic description, but also discusses relationship of Chinese healing to contemporary Western science and religious Daoism.

Louis Komjathy, Title Index to Daoist Collections
Finally, a combined and standardized index for all collections of Daoist texts! Including a straightforward and easy-to-use numbering system for all collections beyond the Zhengtong daozang: the Dunhuang manuscripts, Daozang jiyao, Daozang jinghua, Daozang jinghua lu, Zangwai daoshu, and the Qigong yangsheng congshu.

The Index has two parts. First, it presents separate title indexes to the seven Daoist collections, listed in Chinese characters and arranged in the order of appearance and with consecutive numbers. Second, it has an alphabetical index to the titles in all collections, arranged by pinyin romanization and including also commonly used abbreviations.

Easy to use, the Index gives access to all Daoist texts collected over the centuries and provides a clear, standarized way of referring to them. Find your Daoist texts in an instant! A must-have for all engaged in the scholarly study of Daoism.

Livia Kohn, Daoism and Chinese Culture

A textbook for use in classes on Daoism, Chinese history, and world religions. Short and concise survey of the main forms, beliefs, practices, and developments of the Daoist religion, beginning with the ancient philosopher Laozi and ending with the practice of Daoism in the U.S. today. Arranged chronologically in four major parts focusing on ancient thought, religious communities, spiritual practices, and modernity. Includes discussion of overall historical developments, related features of Chinese religion and culture, as well as comparative issues in the study of religion. Illustrations, map, historical chart, index with glossary. More....

Catherine Despeux and Livia Kohn, Women in Daoism
Expanding on the authors' previous research, including the 1990 book Les immortelles de la Chine ancienne, this work outlines the status and roles of women in the Daoist tradition from its inception to the present day. It divides into three major parts-"Goddesses," "Immortals and Priestesses," and "The Female Body"-detailing the historical development and general role of Daoist women and focusing on the different ideals women stood for as much as on the religious practices they cultivated. Not only a thorough treatment of the tradition itself, the volume also contextualizes the position of women in Daoist in relation to that in Chinese culture and compares it to that in other religions. It emphasizes the degree to which women in Daoism were considered and treated as equal yet separate, matching the worldview of yin and yang in mainstream Chinese culture yet offering a valuable alternative to the family-centered path of women in the Confucian universe. The volume is comprehensive and highly informative; it provides a much needed addition to our understanding of women in traditional cultures and our view of the role and importance of the Daoist religion. More...

Livia Kohn, Chen Tuan: Discussions and Translations
Based on the author's dissertation on Chen Tuan (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1981) and on several articles, this presents materials only partly included in either. The work consists of three discussion essays on Chen Tuan as an immortal and his role in the legitimation of the Song dynasty, plus six translations of both biographical and religious materials associated with him.

Livia Kohn, Living with the Dao: Conceptual Issues in Daoist Practice
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 ideneity 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 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.

Livia Kohn, Supplement to Cosmos and Community
This presents translations of fifteen texts from the Daoist canon and supplementary materials containing precepts that have shaped the religious practice over the millennia. It begins with the Baopuzi and its rules for successful immortality, then has texts from the Celestial Masters, Highest Purity, and Numinous Treasure schools as well as the important collection "Precepts of the Three Primes." Among later works, it has specifically the precepts regarding ritual vestments, which appear both in a Tang text and in laterp precepts, and the "Precepts of Medium Ultimate" of Complete Perfection. More...