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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Non-Christian religions > Religions of Indic & Oriental origin > Oriental religions > Taoism
In this Tang Classic text from the 9th Century, Daoist practitioner
Shi Jianwu describes how through adapting our own breathing to the
breath of the universe and daily meditation, one can develop an
astral body and 'transcend earthly matters to walk in the divine'.
Richard Bertschinger offers the first annotated English language
translation of this text with practical guidance for Qigong,
meditative practice and personal development. With elements of
Daoist tradition and drawing on Mayahana Buddhist influences, this
ancient guide aims to bring to the fore perceptions and focus on a
natural form of breathing for pure meditation. Much of this Chinese
practice has been misunderstood and lost over the years, until now.
Richard's thoughtful translation and additional comments serve to
distribute Shi Jianwu's original message with open interpretations
for the individual reader.
Written by a leading authority on Chinese philosophy, Decoding Dao
uniquely focuses on the core texts in Daoist philosophy, providing
readers with a user-friendly introduction that unravels the
complexities of these seminal volumes. * Offers a detailed
introduction to the core texts in Daoist philosophy, the Dao De
Jing and the Zhuangzi, two of the most widely read and most
challenging texts in China s long literary history * Covers the
three main ways the texts can be read: as religious, mystical, and
philosophical works * Explores their historical context, origins,
authorship, and the reasons these seminal texts came into being,
along with the key terms and approaches they take * Examines the
core philosophical arguments made in the texts, as well as the many
ways in which they have been interpreted, both in China itself and
in the West * Provides readers with an unrivalled insight into the
multifaceted philosophy of Daoism and the principles underlying
much of Chinese culture informed by the very latest academic
scholarship
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The Book of Tea
(Paperback)
Kakuzo Okakura; Foreword by Anita B. Schafer
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R309
R253
Discovery Miles 2 530
Save R56 (18%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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The origins of modern Daoism can be traced to the Church of the
Heavenly Master (Tianshidao), reputedly established by the
formidable Zhang Daoling. In 142 CE, according to Daoist tradition,
Zhang was visited by the Lord on High, who named him his vicar on
Earth with the title Heavenly Master. The dispensation articulated
an eschatological vision of saving initiates-the pure, those
destined to become immortals- by enforcing a strict moral code.
Under evolving forms, Tianshidao has remained central to Chinese
society, and Daoist priests have upheld their spiritual allegiance
to Zhang, their now divinized founder. This book tells the story of
the longue duree evolution of the Heavenly Master leadership and
institution. Later hagiography credits Zhang Daoling's
great?grandson, putatively the fourth Heavenly Master, with
settling the family at Longhushan (Dragon and Tiger Mountain); in
time his descendants-down to the present contested sixty?fifth
Heavenly Master living in Taiwan- made the extraordinary claim of
being able to transmit hereditarily the function of the Heavenly
Master and the power to grant salvation. Over the next twelve
centuries, the Zhangs turned Longhushan into a major holy site and
a household name in the Chinese world, and constructed a large
administrative center for the bureaucratic management of Chinese
society. They gradually built the Heavenly Master institution,
which included a sacred site; a patriarchal line of successive
Heavenly Masters wielding vast monopolistic powers to ordain humans
and gods; a Zhang lineage that nurtured talent and accumulated
wealth; and a bureaucratic apparatus comprised of temples, training
centers, and a clerical hierarchy. So well?designed was this
institution that it remained stable for more than a millennium, far
outlasting the longest dynasties, and had ramifications for every
city and village in imperial China. In this ambitious work, Vincent
Goossaert traces the Heavenly Master bureaucracy from medieval
times to the modern Chinese nation?state as well as its expansion.
His in?depth portraits of influential Heavenly Masters are
skillfully embedded in a large?scale analysis of the institution
and its rules, ideology, and vision of society.
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