This book argues that the most profound and far-reaching effects of Buddhism on Chinese culture occurred at the level of practice, specifically in religious rituals designed to cure people of disease, demonic possession, and bad luck. This practice would leave its most lasting imprint on the liturgical tradition of Taoism. In focusing on religious practice, it provides a corrective to traditional studies of Chinese religion, which overemphasize metaphysics and spirituality.
A basic concern with healing characterizes the entire gamut of religious expression in East Asia. By concentrating on the medieval development of Chinese therapeutic ritual, the author discovers the germinal core of many still-current rituals across the social and doctrinal frontiers of Buddhism and Taoism, as well as outside the Buddhist or Taoist fold.
The book is based on close readings of liturgies written in classical Chinese. The author describes and translates many of them, analyzes their structure, and seeks out nonliturgical sources to shed further light on the politics involved in specific performances. Unlike the few previous studies of related rituals, this book combines a scholar's understanding of the structure and goals of these rites with a healthy suspicion of the practitioners' claims to uniqueness.

Taoist Wisdom to Inspire, Empower, and Lead in Sports & Life. In the world of athletics, an innovative breed of coaches is emerging--men and women who insist on fostering strong, healthy relationships with their players where respect and integrity are forged--and they are winning! In Coaching with Heart, recognized sports psychologist Dr. Jerry Lynch declares that the relationship game is the single most vital aspect of successful and productive coaching in sports. By creating more intimacy between coach and team, and recognizing that both team and coach can learn from each other, everyone can fulfill their mutual goals. Coaching With Heart is a provocative and practical 'game changer' in the shifting landscape of athletics and life coaching. Awaken to established techniques that empower and inspire not only yourself but also the players with whom you are building a relationship. Chapters within discuss various themes, including: The power of caring in having love in your heart The magic of being stronger by being softer The positive effects of a culture of unity and cohesion Tao Coaching, with the Taoist virtues of respect, trust, compassion, belief, and integrity. Dr. Lynch shares wisdom he has accrued in his more than thirty years 'in the trenches', where he has had the opportunity to work with some of the most respected and effective coaches of all time, such as Phil Jackson, Pat Summit, Dean Smith, Tara Vanderveer, Bill Walsh, Anson Dorrance, Cindy Timchal, Missy Foote, and many more. Coaching with Heart will assist you in stepping outside the box with your leadership endeavors whether as a coach, teacher, CEO, military officer, or parent, and implement Zen Coaching approaches to guide others to practice, play, and live with the heart of a champion.

Families of Virtue articulates the critical role of the parent-child relationship in the moral development of infants and children. Building on thinkers and scientists across time and disciplines, from ancient Greek and Chinese philosophers to contemporary feminist ethicists and attachment theorists, this book takes an effective approach for strengthening families and the character of children. Early Confucian philosophers argue that the general ethical sensibilities we develop during infancy and early childhood form the basis for nearly every virtue and that the parent-child relationship is the primary context within which this growth occurs. Joining these views with scientific work on early childhood, Families of Virtue shows how Western psychology can reinforce and renew the theoretical underpinnings of Confucian thought and how Confucian philosophers can affect positive social and political change in our time, particularly in such areas as paid parental leave, breastfeeding initiatives, marriage counseling, and family therapy.

Confucius is a key figure not only in Eastern thought and philosophy but in world history as well. The Analects, the sayings attributed to him, is a classic of world literature. Nonetheless there is a great dispute about how to approach and understand both him and his work. This is the first anthology of critical writings on this crucial and influential work. The contributors come to the Analects from a variety of perspectives - including philosophical, philological, and religious - and address a host of key topics. Rigorous yet highly accessible, the volume will also include a general introduction and an exhaustive bibliography on English-language works on Confucius.

Is Confucianism compatible with democracy? Ongoing debates among political theorists revolve around the question of whether the overarching goal of Confucianism - serving the people's moral and material well-being - is attainable in modern day politics without broad democratic participation and without relying on a "one person, one vote" system. One side of the debate - voiced by "traditional" Confucian meritocrats - argues that only certain people are equipped with the moral character needed to lead and ensure broad public well-being. They emphasize moral virtue over civic virtue and the family over the state as the quintessential public institution. Moreover, they believe that a system of rule headed by meritorious elites can better handle complex modern public affairs than representative democracy. The other side - voiced by Confucian democrats - argues that unless all citizens participate equally in the public sphere, the kind of moral growth Confucianism emphasizes cannot be fully attained. Despite notable differences in political orientation, scholars of both positions acknowledge that democracy is largely of instrumental value for realizing Confucian moral ends in modern society. It would seem that Confucians of both types have largely dismissed democracy as a political system that can mediate clashing values and political views - or even that Confucian democracy is a system marked by pluralism. In this book, Sungmoon Kim lays out a normative theory of Confucian democracy - pragmatic Confucian democracy - to address questions of the right to political participation, instrumental and intrinsic values of democracy, democratic procedure and substance, punishment and criminal justice, social and economic justice, and humanitarian intervention. As such, this project is not only relevant to the much debated topic of Confucian democracy as a cultural alternative to Western-style liberal democracy in East Asia, but it further investigates the philosophical implications of the idea and institution of Confucian democracy in normative democratic theory, criminal justice, distributive justice, and just war. Ultimately, Kim shows us that the question is not so much about the compatibility of Confucianism and democracy, but of how the two systems can benefit from each other.

This unique book explores how graphocentrism affects Chinese education and culture. It moves away from the contemporary educational practices in China of following the Western model of phonocentrism, to demonstrate that each perspective interacts and counteracts with each other, creating a dialogue between Eastern and Western thought. Chapters explore the consonances and dissonances between the two, problematizing the educational practices of Chinese tradition and proposing a dialectical thinking of post-graphocentrism, based on the concepts of Dao and deconstruction. The volume creates a unique area in the field of philosophy of education by questioning the writing/speaking relationship in Chinese tradition, complete with educational ideas and practices that consider the uniqueness of Chinese character writing. A pioneering study of its kind, Education between Speech and Writing provides a valuable source for students of philosophy of education, as well as students and academics in the field of Chinese Studies. The book will also appeal to anyone interested in dialogues between Chinese and Western thoughts, especially negotiating between Daoism and deconstruction.

The Secret of Everlasting Life is the first translation from the Chinese of the second-century Can Tong Qi. This ancient work, the earliest known text on transformation and immortality, echoes the wisdom and poetry of both the Tao Te Ching and I Ching. The Can Tong Qi is also the ancestral text of all Qi Gong exercises in China. This translation reveals for the first time the meditation methods practised for thousands of years by Taoist sages. Presented here with its original Chinese commentaries, the Can Tong Qi is full of practical information and advice about the process of human transformation and how to nurture and develop the natural life-energy within us. Richard Bertschinger's additional commentary explains the intricacies of Chinese allegory and symbolism for the Western reader. This book is an insightful read for anyone interested in Taoist thought, Chinese philosophy and culture, or Chinese medicine.

This book explores the long history in China of Chinese Muslims, known as the Hui people, and regarded as a minority, though in fact they are distinguished by religion rather than ethnicity. It shows how over time Chinese Muslims adopted Chinese practices as these evolved in wider Chinese society, practices such as constructing and recording patrilinear lineages, spreading genealogies, and propagating education and Confucian teaching, in the case of the Hui through the use of Chinese texts in the teaching of Islam at mosques. The book also examines much else, including the system of certification of mosques, the development of Sufi orders, the cultural adaptation of Islam at the local level, and relations between Islam and Confucianism, between the state and local communities, and between the educated Muslim elite and the Confucian literati. Overall, the book shows how extensively Chinese Muslims have been deeply integrated within a multi-cultural Chinese society.

This book represents an ambitious attempt to remove the stumbling blocks that stand in the way of a dialogue between Chinese and world philosophy. Hansen's main goal is to present a unified theory of Classical Chinese thought. What makes his attempt very different from innumerable previous efforts is that he uses Daoism, not Confucianism, as the central and unifying principle.

Revolutionizing received opinion of Taoism's origins in light of historic new discoveries, Harold D. Roth has uncovered China's oldest mystical text -- the original expression of Taoist philosophy -- and presents it here with a complete translation and commentary.

Over the past twenty-five years, documents recovered from the tombs of China's ancient elite have sparked a revolution in scholarship about early Chinese thought, in particular the origins of Taoist philosophy and religion. In "Original Tao, " Harold D. Roth exhumes the seminal text of Taoism -- "Inward Training (Nei-yeh)" -- not from a tomb but from the pages of the "Kuan Tzu, " a voluminous text on politics and economics in which this mystical tract had been "buried" for centuries.

"Inward Training" is composed of short poetic verses devoted to the practice of breath meditation, and to the insights about the nature of human beings and the form of the cosmos derived from this practice. In its poetic form and tone, the work closely resembles the "Tao-te Ching"; moreover, it clearly evokes Taoism's affinities to other mystical traditions, notably aspects of Hinduism and Buddhism.

Roth argues that "Inward Training" is the foundational text of early Taoism and traces the book to the mid-fourth century B.C. (the late Warring States period in China). These verses contain the oldest surviving expressions of a method for mystical "inner cultivation," which Roth identifies as the basis for all early Taoist texts, including the "Chuang Tzu" and the world-renowned "Tao-te Ching." With these historic discoveries, he reveals the possibility of a much deeper continuity between early "philosophical" Taoism and the later Taoist religion than scholars had previously suspected.

"Original Tao" contains an elegant and luminous complete translation of the original text. Roth's comprehensive analysis explains what "Inward Training" meant to the people who wrote it, how this work came to be "entombed" within the "Kuan Tzu, " and why the text was largely overlooked after the early Han period.

Although most historical and contemporary religions are governed by men, there are, scattered throughout the world, a handful of well-documented religions led by women. Most of these are marginal, subordinate, or secondary religions in the societies in which they are located. The one known exception to this rule is the indigenous religion of Okinawa, where women lead the official, mainstream religion of the society. In this fieldwork-based study, Susan Sered provides the first in-depth look at this unique religious tradition, exploring the intersection between religion and gender. In addition to providing important information on this remarkable and little-studied group, this book helps to overturn our mostly unexamined assumptions that male dominance of the religious sphere is universal, axiomatic, and necessary.

The fifteen studies presented inConfucian Academies in East Asia offer insight into the history and legacy of these unique institutions of knowledge and education. The contributions analyze origins, spread and development of Confucian academies across China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan from multiple perspectives. This edited volume is one of the first attempts to understand Confucian academies as a complex transnational, intellectual, and cultural phenomena that played an essential role in various areas of East Asian education, philosophy, religious practice, local economy, print industry, and even archery. The broad chronological range of essays allows it to demonstrate the role of Confucian academies as highly adaptable and active agents of cultural and intellectual change since the eighth century until today. An indispensable handbook for studies of Confucian culture and institutions since the eighth century until the present. Contributors are: Chien Iching, Chung Soon-woo, Deng Hongbo, Martin Gehlmann, Vladimir Glomb, Lan Jun, Lee Byoung-Hoon, Eun-Jeung Lee, Thomas H.C. Lee, Margaret Dorothea Mehl, Steven B. Miles, Hoyt Cleveland Tillman, Nguyen Tuan-Cuong, Linda Walton and Minamizawa Yoshihiko.

In this book, J.J. Clarke shows us how Taoist texts, ideas and practices have been assimilated within a whole range of Western ideas and agendas. We see how Chinese thinkers such as Lao-tzu and Chuang tzu, along with practices such as Feng Shui and Tai Chi, have been used as a key Western inspiration in religion, philosophy, ethics, politics, ecology and health.
The Tao of the West not only provides a fascinating introduction to Taoism, it also offers a timely insight into the history of the West's encounter with this ancient tradition, and into the issues arising from inter-cultural dialogue. Anyone interested in understanding the key influence Taoism has had on the West will welcome and embrace this book.

Explore the Amazing Bond Between Humans and Animals"Turtles have been a part of earth's natural balance for hundreds of millions of years...In this passionate, shining work, Yun Rou champions their cause and indicts our self-destructive relationship with Mother Earth." -William Holmstrom, Wildlife Conservation Society #1 New Release in Biology of Reptiles & Amphibians and Taoism Turtle lover and Daoist Monk Yun Rou shares a beautiful depiction of the wonders of the world-and a powerful plea for preserving our planet-in this fictional philosophical tale. Turtle Planet, a unique work of philosophical fact and fiction by ordained Daoist Monk Yun Rou, explores the wonders and suffering of the natural world through the eyes of eighteen exotic turtles. This beautifully written book deeply explores the intimate bond between humans and animals the wisdom they teach us, the wounds they can heal, and the role we play in their destruction. A call for environmental conservation and political and social justice. Daoist Monk Yun Rou received his academic education at Yale, Cornell, and the University of California and was ordained a Daoist monk at the Chun Yang (Pure Yang) Taoist Temple in Guangzhou, China. Drawing on fifty years of loving and husbanding turtles, from the car-sized giant Leatherback turtle to the Central Asian tortoise, Monk Yun Rou sounds the alarm of what climate change, global extinction, human intervention, and environmental devastation really mean to their worlds and to ours. See the world through the eyes of turtles. An informational glossary and description of each turtle at the end of the book is provided as a bonus gift to readers. If you have read and learned from books such as H is for Hawk, The Soul of an Octopus, or Ishmael; you will be moved by Turtle Planet, a must for any reader who loves nature, cherishes animals, and celebrates ideas. Also read Monk Yun Rou's Mad Monk Manifesto.

In the long river of human history, if one person can represent the civilization of a whole nation, it is perhaps Master Kong, better known as Confucius in the West. If there is one single book that can be upheld as the common code of a whole people, it is perhaps Lun Yu, or The Analects. Surely few individuals in history have shaped their country's civilization more profoundly than Master Kong. The great Han historiographer, Si-ma Qian, writing 2,100 years ago said, "He may be called the wisest indeed!" And, as recently as 1988, at a final session of the first international conference of Nobel prize-winners in Paris, the seventy-five participants, fifty-two of whom were scientists, concluded: "If mankind is to survive, it must go back twenty- five centuries in time to tap the wisdom of Confucius". This is a man whose influence in world history is truly incomparable. His sayings (and those of his disciples) form the basis of a distinct social, ethical, and intellectual system.They have retained their freshness and vigour for two and a half millennia, and are still admired in today's China. Compiled by pupils of Confucius's disciples half a century after the Master's death, The Analects of Confucius laid the foundation of his philosophy of humanity--a philosophy aimed at "cultivating the individual's moral conduct, achieving family harmony, bringing good order to the state and peace to the empire". Containing 501 very succinct chapters (the longest do not exceed fifteen lines and the shortest are less than one) and organized into twenty books, the collection comprises mostly dialogues between the Master and his disciples and contemporaries. The ethical tenets Confucius put forth not only became the norm of conduct for the officialdom and intelligentsia, but also had a profound impact on the behaviour of the common people.The great sage's unique integration of humanity and righteousness (love and reason) struck a powerful chord in all who attempted to understand his moral philosophy. As the translator Chichung Huang contends, "What ethical principle laid down by man could be more sensible that none which blends the best our heart can offer with the best our mind can offer as the guiding light for our conduct throughout our lives?". Ever timely, Confucius's teachings on humanity (family harmony in particular) and righteousness may well serve as a ready-made cure for today's ills in an era which human beings are blinded by force and lust, not unlike Confucius's own day. Far more literal than any English version still in circulation, this brilliant new rendition of The Analects helps the reader not only to acquire and accurate and lucid understanding of the original text, but also to appreciate the imagery, imagery, parallelism, and concision of its classical style.The translator Chichung Huang, a Chinese scholar born in a family of Confucian teachers and schooled in one of the last village Confucian schools in South China, brings to this treasure of world literature a sure voice that captures the power and subtleties of the original. Vivid, simple, and eminently readable, this illuminating work makes the golden teachings of the sage of the East readily available to anyone in search of them.

Now in its Second Edition, Introducing Japanese Religion is the ideal resource for undergraduate students. This edition features new material on folk and popular religion, including shamanism, festivals, and practices surrounding death and funerals. Robert Ellwood also updates the text to discuss recent events, such as religious responses to the Fukushima disaster. Introducing Japanese Religion includes illustrations, lively quotations from original sources, learning goals, summary boxes, questions for discussion, suggestions for further reading, and a glossary to aid study and revision. The accompanying website for this book is available at www.routledge.com/cw/ellwood.

The Inner Eye of Love offers a contemporary theology of mysticism that locates it at the very center of authentic religious experience. It provides as well a practical guide for meditation even as it maps out the oceanic experience toward which meditation points. Johnston begins with the mystical tradition itself, its roots and origins, its appearance and significance in the Gospels, the letters of Paul, and the early Church. He explains what mysticism is and is not, and how it is inextricably bound up with love. It is at the level of mysticism, he maintains, that the two traditions of East and West can at last understand one another and begin to work together to heal a broken world. The Inner Eye of Love escorts the reader through the stages of the mystical journey, from initial call to final enlightenment. Johnston compares and contrasts the Oriental and Christian experience, continually revealing new points of commonality The much discussed "dark night of the soul" is seen here in a positive way, as an emptying preliminary to the overbrimming of the soul with the knowledge and love of God. Finally, the author considers the often misunderstood relation between mysticism and practical action.

Introducing Chinese Religions is the ideal starting point for students exploring the fascinating religious traditions of China. This introduction covers the whole spectrum of Chinese religious history, from the multi-faceted religious heritage of pre-modern China, to the practice of different religions in China today, as well as the spread and influence of Chinese religions throughout the world. Mario Poceski, an experienced teacher of Chinese religions, explores the three main traditions of Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism, as well as the development of Western and popular religions in the region, such as Christianity and Islam. The book introduces students to the richness and diversity of Chinese religious life, pointing out mutual influences and intersections of the religions of the region, and how they interact with other elements of Chinese culture and society, including politics, literature and art. Illustrated throughout, the book also includes text boxes, summary charts, a glossary and a list of further reading to aid students' understanding and revision. The accompanying website for this book can be found at www.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415434065.

This is a comprehensive work on the religions of China. As such, it includes an introduction giving an overview of the subject, and the special themes treated in the book, as well as detailed chapters on ancient religions, Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Chinese Islam, Christianity in China as well as popular religion. Throughout the book, care is taken to present both the philosophical teachings as well as the religious practices of the religious traditions, and reflections are offered regarding their present situation and future prospects. Comparisons are offered with other religions, especially Christianity.

Sacred Heritage in Japan is the first volume to explicitly address the topics of Japanese religion and heritage preservation in connection with each other. The book examines what happens when places of worship and ritual practices are rebranded as national culture. It also considers the impact of being designated tangible or intangible cultural properties and, more recently, as UNESCO World or Intangible Heritage. Drawing on primary ethnographic and historical research, the contributions to this volume show the variety of ways in which different actors have contributed to, negotiated, and at times resisted the transformation of religious traditions into heritage. They analyse the conflicts that emerge about questions of signification and authority during these processes of transformation. The book provides important new perspectives on the local implications of UNESCO listings in the Japanese context and showcases the diversity of "sacred heritage" in present-day Japan. Combining perspectives from heritage studies, Japanese studies, religious studies, history, and social anthropology, the volume will be of interest to scholars and students who want to learn more about the diversity of local responses to heritage conservation in non-Western societies. It will also be of interest to scholars and students engaged in the study of Japanese religion, society, or cultural policies.

Well-being is topic of perennial concern. It has been of significant interest to scholars across disciplines, culture, and time. But like morality, conceptions of well-being are deeply shaped and influenced by one's particular social and cultural context. We ought to pursue, therefore, a cross-cultural understanding of well-being and moral psychology by taking seriously reflections from a variety of moral traditions. This book develops a Confucian account of well-being, considering contemporary accounts of ethics and virtue in light of early Confucian thought and philosophy. Its distinctive approach lies in the integration of Confucian moral philosophy, contemporary empirical psychology, and contemporary philosophical accounts of well-being. Richard Kim organizes the book around four main areas: the conception of virtues in early Confucianism and the way that they advance both individual and communal well-being; the role of Confucian ritual practices in familial and communal ties; the developmental structure of human life and its culmination in the achievement of sagehood; and the sense of joy that the early Confucians believed was central to the virtuous and happy life.

Understanding Eastern Philosophy provides an accessible critical introduction to how some of the key philosophies of the East compare with those in the West. Starting from a discussion of the problems of distinguishing between religions and philosophies, Ray Billington presents a clear picture of the key tenets behind Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism and Confucianism.
Moving on to compare the key themes of religious philosophy that cut across East and West, such as a belief in God, the soul, moral decision-making, nature and authority, Understanding Eastern Philosophy presents a fascinating and controversial picture of the contribution theistic religions have to make. With its belief in a personal God bestowing a particular version of 'truth', Ray Billington concludes that the universal mysticism characteristic of Eastern thought provides a more realistic and rewarding path than is commonly supposed in the West.
Understanding Eastern Philosophy assumes no prior knowledge of religion or philosophy.