Daoism, meditation, and the wonders of serenity : from the latter Han dynasty (25-220) to the Tang dynasty (618-907) / Stephen Eskildsen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Eskildsen, Stephen, 1963- author.

Series:

SUNY series in Chinese philosophy and culture.

SUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Meditation--Taoism.

Meditation.

Taoism--China--History--To 1500.

Taoism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (398 p.)

Place of Publication:

Albany, New York : State University of New York Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Stephen Eskildsen offers an overview of Daoist religious texts from the Latter Han (25–220) through Tang (618–907) periods, exploring passive meditation methods and their anticipated effects. These methods entailed observing the processes that unfold spontaneously within mind and body, rather than actively manipulating them by means common in medieval Daoist religion such as visualization, invocations, and the swallowing of breath or saliva. Through the resulting deep serenity, it was claimed, one could attain profound insights, experience visions, feel surges of vital force, overcome thirst and hunger, be cured of ailments, ascend the heavens, and gain eternal life.While the texts discussed follow the legacy of Warring States period Daoism such as the Laozi to a significant degree, they also draw upon medieval immortality methods and Buddhism. An understanding of the passive meditation literature provides important insights into the subsequent development of Neidan, or Internal Alchemy, meditation that emerged from the Song period onward.

Contents:

Contents; Acknowledgments; 1. Introduction; Opening Comments; The Ancient Precedents; The Laozi; The Zhuangzi; The Neiye; Overview; 2. The Earliest-Known Daoist Religious Movements; The Taiping Group Texts 太平經(the Great Peace, Gp Synopsis, Gp Instructions); The Laozi Xiang'er zhu 子想爾注 (Laozi-Xiang'er); 3. Dramatic Physical and Sensory Effects; Surges of Primal Qi: The Xiandao jing 經 (The Manifest Dao); The Rushi Si Chizi Fa 入室思 子法(Contemplating the Baby); The Taishang Hunyuan Zhenlu 太上混元真 (the True Record); 4. Integrating Buddhism: Earlier Phase

The Xisheng Jing 昇經 (the Western Ascension)The Xuwu Ziran Benqijing 無 然本 經 (the Original Arising); 5. Integrating Buddhism: Emptiness and the Twofold Mystery; The Benji Jing 本 經 (the Original Juncture); The Wuchu Jing 五廚經 (the Five Kitchens); The Qingjing Jing 清 經 (the Clarity and Calmness); 6. Serenity and the Reaffirmation of Physical Transformation; The Zuowang Lun 坐忘 (Sitting and Forgetting); The Dingguan Jing 定 經 (Stability and Observation); 7: Serenity, Primal Qi, and Embryonic Breathing; The Cunshen Lianqi Ming 存神 氣 (the Inscription); The Taixi jing zhu 息經 (Embryonic Breathing)

8: ConclusionNotes; Bibliography; Sources in English and French; Secondary Sources in Chinese and Japanese; Primary Sources in the Daoist Canon (Zhengtong Daozang 正統 [1445] and Xu Daozang 續 [1607] ; Primary Sources Outside the Taoist Canon; Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781438458243

143845824X

OCLC:

928387261