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Author: Obed Simon Johnson
Publisher: Martino Publishing
ISBN: 9781578986828
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 178
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Book Description
Reprint. Paperback.156p. In China as elsewhere, alchemy is a doctrine aiming to afford an understanding of the principles underlying the formation and functioning of the cosmos. The alchemist overcomes the limits of individuality, and ascends to higher states of being; he becomes, in Chinese terms, a zhenren or Authentic Man. Chinese alchemy went through a complex and not yet entirely understood development along its twenty centuries of documented history. The two main traditions are conventionally known as waidan or "external alchemy" and neidan or "internal alchemy". The bulk of the Chinese alchemical sources is found in the Daozang (Taoist Canon), the largest collection of Taoist texts. The cosmos as we know it is conceived of as the final stage in a series of spontaneous transmutations stemming from original non-existence. This process entails the apparent separation of primeval Unity into the two complementary principles, yin and yang. Their re-union generates the cosmos. When the process is completed, the cosmos is subject to the laws of cosmology. The alchemist's task is to retrace this process backwards. Alchemy, whether "external" or "internal," providessupport to the adept, leading one to the point when, as some texts put it, "Heaven spontaneously reveals its secrets." Its practice must be performed under the close supervision of a master, who provides the "oral instructions" (koujue) necessary to an understanding of the processes that the adept performs with minerals and metals, or undergoes within himself. Modern study of the alchemical literature began in the present century, after the Canon was reprinted and made widely available in 1926. Johnson's work, originally published in 1928, remains one of the full book length treatises in English on the subject.
Author: Obed Simon Johnson
Publisher: Martino Publishing
ISBN: 9781578986828
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 178
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Book Description
Reprint. Paperback.156p. In China as elsewhere, alchemy is a doctrine aiming to afford an understanding of the principles underlying the formation and functioning of the cosmos. The alchemist overcomes the limits of individuality, and ascends to higher states of being; he becomes, in Chinese terms, a zhenren or Authentic Man. Chinese alchemy went through a complex and not yet entirely understood development along its twenty centuries of documented history. The two main traditions are conventionally known as waidan or "external alchemy" and neidan or "internal alchemy". The bulk of the Chinese alchemical sources is found in the Daozang (Taoist Canon), the largest collection of Taoist texts. The cosmos as we know it is conceived of as the final stage in a series of spontaneous transmutations stemming from original non-existence. This process entails the apparent separation of primeval Unity into the two complementary principles, yin and yang. Their re-union generates the cosmos. When the process is completed, the cosmos is subject to the laws of cosmology. The alchemist's task is to retrace this process backwards. Alchemy, whether "external" or "internal," providessupport to the adept, leading one to the point when, as some texts put it, "Heaven spontaneously reveals its secrets." Its practice must be performed under the close supervision of a master, who provides the "oral instructions" (koujue) necessary to an understanding of the processes that the adept performs with minerals and metals, or undergoes within himself. Modern study of the alchemical literature began in the present century, after the Canon was reprinted and made widely available in 1926. Johnson's work, originally published in 1928, remains one of the full book length treatises in English on the subject.
Author: Fabrizio Pregadio
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804767734
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 405
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Book Description
This is the first book to examine extensively the religious aspects of Chinese alchemy. Its main focus is the relation of alchemy to the Daoist traditions of the early medieval period (third to sixth centuries). It shows how alchemy contributed to and was tightly integrated into the elaborate body of doctrines and practices that Daoists built at that time, from which Daoism as we know it today evolved. The book also clarifies the origins of Chinese alchemy and the respective roles of alchemy and meditation in self-cultivation practices. It contains full translations of three important medieval texts, all of them accompanied by running commentaries, making available for the first time in English the gist of the early Chinese alchemical corpus.
Author: Jean Cooper
Publisher: Weiser Books
ISBN: 1609259823
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 170
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Book Description
Here in one slender volume is a basic introduction to Chinese alchemy—a tradition that dates back 5,000 years. Chinese alchemy, largely associated with Taoism, has a recorded history of more than 2,000 years, but traditionally it goes back even further to nearly 3000 BC and the time of the Yellow Emperor. While Western alchemy was concerned with the search for spiritual and material gold, classic Taoist alchemy was a mystical quest for immortality with its aim being union with the Absolute. Jean Cooper describes the history and development of Taoist alchemy, compares it to similar traditions in India and Turkistan, and gives it context by contrasting it with the rationale of the Western hermetic tradition. As she writes in her concluding chapter: The whole work of alchemy is summed up in the phrase "To make of the body a spirit and of the spirit a body". . . . The goal of the Taoist alchemist-mystic was transformation, or perhaps more correctly, transfiguration, of the whole body until it ceases to "be" and is absorbed into and becomes the Tao. This is an essential guide for anyone interested in Chinese legend and lore, Chinese magic and medicine, and Taoism.
Author: Mu Wang
Publisher: Golden Elixir Press
ISBN: 0984308253
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 156
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Book Description
Originally written for Chinese readers, this book provides a clear description of the Taoist practice of Internal Alchemy, or Neidan. The author outlines the four stages of the alchemical practice and clarifies several relevant terms and notions, including Essence, Breath, and Spirit; the Cinnabar Fields; the "Fire Times"; and the Embryo. The book is based on the system of the Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Reality), one of the main sources of Internal Alchemy, and contains about two hundred quotations from original Taoist texts. Table of Contents Foreword, vii INTRODUCTION, 1 The Basis: Essence and Spirit, 3 STAGES OF THE ALCHEMICAL PRACTICE IN AWAKENING TO REALITY, 11 The Four Stages, 13 "Laying the Foundations," 15 Main Points in the Practice of "Laying the Foundations," 20 The Functions of Essence, Breath, and Spirit, 36 Terms Related to the "Coagulation of the Three Treasures," 52 Conclusion of the Stage of "Laying the Foundations," 63 "Refining Essence to Transmute it into Breath," 65 "Refining Breath to Transmute it into Spirit," 99 "Refining Spirit to Return to Emptiness," 109 CONCLUSION, 119 The "Arts of the Way," 121 Tables, 123 Glossary of Chinese Characters, 133
Author: Catherine Despeux
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 900438345X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 311
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Book Description
Catherine Despeux’s book Taoism and Self Knowledge is a study of the Internal Alchemical text "Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection." It begins with an analysis of pictographic and symbolic representation of the body in early Taoism after which the author examines different extant versions of the "Chart" as it was transmitted among Quanzhen groups in the Qing dynasty. The book is comprised of four main parts: the principal parts of the body and their nomenclature in Internal Alchemy, the spirits in the human body, and the alchemical processes and procedures used in thunder rituals and self-cultivation. This is a revised, expanded edition of the original French edition Taoïsme et connaissance de soi. La carte de la culture de la perfection (Xiuzhen tu) Paris, 2012.
Author: Peter Levenda
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 0826428509
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 274
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Book Description
The idea of heavenly ascent, while popularized in Jewish mysticism, is neither a unique nor recent one. Expertly tracing its origins back to the ancient Middle East, Levenda unearths ascent literature in Africa, India, and China, discerns a common connection in the heavens themselves, and determines that this connection has been sorely neglected in contemporary scholarship. Because scholars treat the "heavens" as metaphorical, it is necessary to recreate the physical context of the culture under discussion in order to better understand it. For the benefit of the reader, Levenda offers two useful concepts for his investigative journey: a "map," whereby he means the cosmological system to better understand the mystical technologies of each culture investigated, and a "vehicle," the method by which the individual equipped with special knowledge is able to navigate the culture's particular cosmology. With these two tools, Levenda travels from the worlds of ancient Egypt and Babylon to the Hebrew Bible, to Jewish and Christian kabbalists, to Daoists in ancient China, to Hindu Tantra and Haitian Vodoun, and, finally, to nineteenth and twentieth century European occult societies.
Author: Fabrizio Pregadio
Publisher: Golden Elixir Press
ISBN: 0984308210
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 114
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Book Description
Awakening to Reality (Wuzhen pian) is one of the most important and best-known Taoist alchemical texts. Written in the eleventh century, it describes in a poetical form, and in a typically cryptic and allusive language, several facets of Neidan, or internal alchemy. The present book presents the first part of the text, consisting of sixteen poems, which contain a concise but comprehensive exposition of Neidan. In addition to notes that intend to clarify the meaning of the more obscure points, the book also contains selections from a commentary dating from the late eighteenth century, which is distinguished by the use of a lucid and plain language. ⿿ Fabrizio Pregadio has taught at the University of Venice (1996-97), the Technical University of Berlin (1998-2001), and Stanford University (2001-08). He is the author of Great Clarity: Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China (Stanford University Press, 2006) and the editor of The Encyclopedia of Taoism (Routledge, 2008).
Author: Nathan Brine
Publisher: Taoist Alchemy of Wang Lip
ISBN: 9781777046804
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 218
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Book Description
For centuries, high up in the mountains of China, spiritual adepts explored the essence of being human. Known as Taoist alchemists, these practitioners developed and refined systems of energetic practice that allow us to experience our true nature. The Taoist Alchemy of Wang Liping: Vol. 1 introduces a traditional system of Taoist self-transformation known as internal alchemy or neidan, outlining the core curriculum and instruction methods designed to awaken consciousness and the mind-body connection. Wang Liping is the current transmitter of the Dragon Gate Lineage, a Taoist lineage that for centuries has been synonymous with the practice of neidan. The first in a series, Volume One briefly details Nathan's training with Wang Liping before presenting the core practices of the first alchemical phase: how to build foundation, and refine jing, the lower frequency of energy associated with our physical body, into a more rarified form of energy called qi. Numerous methods, rituals, and techniques are included, as well as a clear framework for the practice. Wang Liping is responsible for passing on the ancient knowledge of the Dragon Gate Lineage of Taoist practice, as a mentor and teacher for the next generation of students. Wang Liping's lineage is a traditional Mountain Taoist lineage. These Taoists are fully engaged in self-transformation and the pursuit of transcendence. Born in China's northeast in 1949, Wang Liping was chosen by three masters of the Dragon Gate Lineage to become the 18th heir, holder and transmitter of the lineage. Wang Liping's arduous training was described in the book Opening the Dragon Gate: The Making of a Modern Taoist Wizard. Wang Liping began teaching publicly in 1985. Since then, he has trained many students throughout China and abroad. He continues to live in China and teach. Nathan has been teaching Chinese internal arts for over twenty years. He began Taoist practice in 1997, immersing himself in Taoist temple arts, martial arts, meditation, internal work (neigong), energy work (qigong), and internal alchemy. For several years Nathan lived in China and trained full-time with a number of masters, as well as learning Mandarin Chinese. After China, Nathan returned to Canada to pursue academic study of Taoism, where he received a BA in Asian Languages and Culture and worked towards an MA at the University of British Columbia, extending his knowledge of Classical Chinese and the Taoist canon. After meeting Wang Liping, Nathan left graduate school and devoted himself wholly to learning Taoist alchemy. Wang Liping authorized Nathan to teach in 2015. Nathan now leads regular workshops in Vancouver, Canada, as well as internationally.
Author: Titus Burckhardt
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781887752114
Category : Alchemy
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Spiritual attainment has frequently been described as a transformation whereby a human's leaden, dull nature is returned to its golden state. This wonderfully insightful volume introduces some of the metaphors useful for establishing attitudes required for the soul's advancement: trust, confidence, hope, and detachment. It is a reminder that when any substance or entity undergoes dissolution, it must eventually be resolved or re-crystalized in a new, possibly higher and more noble form.
Author: Livia Kohn
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1931483221
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304
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Book Description
People today live longer than in any time in history and they want to stay young and active for many years to come. The Chinese have successfully practiced longevity techniques for millennia, working with process-oriented and energy-based methods. Their literature is full of essential insights and practical guidelines to longer, healthier, and happier lives. This is the first comprehensive collection of traditional longevity sources in English translation. Arranged chronologically, it presents materials from ancient medical manuscripts through medieval manuals and Daoist scriptures to late imperial works that specifically focus on women. Well organized and illustrated, it provides easy access to a treasure trove of information, fascinating to scholars, practitioners, and lay readers alike.
