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Asceticism In Early Taoist Religion
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Book Synopsis Asceticism in Early Taoist Religion by : Stephen Eskildsen
Download or read book Asceticism in Early Taoist Religion written by Stephen Eskildsen and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 1998-10-01 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using a wide variety of original sources, this book brings to light how and why asceticism was carried out by Taoists during the first six centuries of the common era. It examines the practices of fasting, celibacy, self-imposed poverty, wilderness seclusion, and sleep-avoidance, and it discusses the beliefs and attitudes that motivated and justified such drastic actions. Asceticism in Early Taoist Religion demonstrates that although Taoist ascetics pursued austerities that were extremely rigorous, they did not seek to mortify the flesh. Through their austerities, they almost always sought to improve their physical strength and health, because they aspired toward physical longevity as well as spiritual perfection. Even though they sometimes taxed their bodies severely, they believed that their strength and health would eventually be restored if they persevered. The highest goal was to ascend to divine realms in an immortal body. However, certain beliefs that emerged during this period—particularly those influenced by Buddhism—may have caused some Taoist ascetics to virtually abandon their concern with longevity, and to focus disproportionately upon the perfection of the spirit. Such ascetics were more likely to purposely harm and neglect their bodies, contradictory as this may have been to the cherished ideals of the Taoist religion. Eskildsen traces how this problem may have emerged, and how it was viewed and dealt with by those who maintained the ideal of longevity.
Book Synopsis Asceticism in Early Taoist Religion by : Stephen Eskildsen
Download or read book Asceticism in Early Taoist Religion written by Stephen Eskildsen and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1998-10-01 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using a wide variety of original sources, this book examines how and why early Taoists carried out such ascetic practices as fasting, celibacy, sleep deprivation, and wilderness seclusion.
Book Synopsis The Teachings and Practices of the Early Quanzhen Taoist Masters by : Stephen Eskildsen
Download or read book The Teachings and Practices of the Early Quanzhen Taoist Masters written by Stephen Eskildsen and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the religion developed by the Quanzhen Taoists, who sought to cultivate the mind not only through seated meditation, but also throughout the daily activities of life.
Book Synopsis Making Transcendents by : Robert Ford Campany
Download or read book Making Transcendents written by Robert Ford Campany and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the middle of the third century B.C.E. in China there were individuals who sought to become transcendents (xian) - deathless, godlike beings endowed with supernormal powers. This quest for transcendence became a major form of religious expression and helped lay the foundation on which the first Daoist religion was built. Both xian and those who aspired to this exalted status in the centuries leading up to 350 C.E. have traditionally been portrayed as secretive and hermit-like figures. This groundbreaking study offers a very different view of xian-seekers in late classical and early medieval China.
Book Synopsis Daoism, Meditation, and the Wonders of Serenity by : Stephen Eskildsen
Download or read book Daoism, Meditation, and the Wonders of Serenity written by Stephen Eskildsen and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2015-11-04 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An overview of Daoist texts on passive meditation from the Latter Han through Tang periods. 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. Stephen Eskildsen is North Callahan Distinguished Professor of Religion at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the author of Asceticism in Early Taoist Religion and The Teachings and Practices of the Early Quanzhen Taoist Masters, both also published by SUNY Press.
Book Synopsis Asceticism and Its Critics by : Oliver Freiberger
Download or read book Asceticism and Its Critics written by Oliver Freiberger and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2006-10-19 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scholars of religion have always been fascinated by asceticism. Some have even regarded this radical way of life-- the withdrawal from the world, combined with practices that seriously affect basic bodily needs, up to extreme forms of self-mortification --as the ultimate form of a true religious quest. This view is rooted in hagiographic descriptions of prominent ascetics and in other literary accounts that praise the ascetic life-style. Scholars have often overlooked, however, that in the history of religions ascetic beliefs and practices have also been strongly criticized, by followers of the same religious tradition as well as by outsiders. The respective sources provide sufficient evidence of such critical strands but surprisingly as yet no attempt has been made to analyze this criticism of asceticism systematically. This book is a first attempt of filling this gap. Ten studies present cases from both Asian and European traditions: classical and medieval Hinduism, early and contemporary Buddhism in South and East Asia, European antiquity, early and medieval Christianity, and 19th/20th century Aryan religion. Focusing on the critics of asceticism, their motives, their arguments, and the targets of their critique, these studies provide a broad range of issues for comparison. They suggest that the critique of asceticism is based on a worldview differing from and competing with the ascetic worldview, often in one and the same historical context. The book demonstrates that examining the critics of asceticism helps understand better the complexity of religious traditions and their cultural contexts. The comparative analysis, moreover, shows that the criticism of asceticism reflects a religious worldview as significant and widespread in the history of religions as asceticism itself is.
Book Synopsis The Two Sources of Indian Asceticism by : Johannes Bronkhorst
Download or read book The Two Sources of Indian Asceticism written by Johannes Bronkhorst and published by Motilal Banarsidass Publ.. This book was released on 1998 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: how spiritual healing works and how colours, tones, crystals and massage
Book Synopsis Making Transcendents by : Robert Ford Campany
Download or read book Making Transcendents written by Robert Ford Campany and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2009-02-18 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Honorable Mention, Joseph Levenson Prize (pre-1900 category), Association for Asian Studies By the middle of the third century B.C.E. in China there were individuals who sought to become transcendents (xian)—deathless, godlike beings endowed with supernormal powers. This quest for transcendence became a major form of religious expression and helped lay the foundation on which the first Daoist religion was built. Both xian and those who aspired to this exalted status in the centuries leading up to 350 C.E. have traditionally been portrayed as secretive and hermit-like figures. This groundbreaking study offers a very different view of xian-seekers in late classical and early medieval China. It suggests that transcendence did not involve a withdrawal from society but rather should be seen as a religious role situated among other social roles and conceived in contrast to them. Robert Campany argues that the much-discussed secrecy surrounding ascetic disciplines was actually one important way in which practitioners presented themselves to others. He contends, moreover, that many adepts were not socially isolated at all but were much sought after for their power to heal the sick, divine the future, and narrate their exotic experiences. The book moves from a description of the roles of xian and xian-seekers to an account of how individuals filled these roles, whether by their own agency or by others’—or, often, by both. Campany summarizes the repertoire of features that constituted xian roles and presents a detailed example of what analyses of those cultural repertoires look like. He charts the functions of a basic dialectic in the self-presentations of adepts and examines their narratives and relations with others, including family members and officials. Finally, he looks at hagiographies as attempts to persuade readers as to the identities and reputations of past individuals. His interpretation of these stories allows us to see how reputations were shaped and even co-opted—sometimes quite surprisingly—into the ranks of xian. Making Transcendents provides a nuanced discussion that draws on a sophisticated grasp of diverse theoretical sources while being thoroughly grounded in traditional Chinese hagiographical, historiographical, and scriptural texts. The picture it presents of the quest for transcendence as a social phenomenon in early medieval China is original and provocative, as is the paradigm it offers for understanding the roles of holy persons in other societies.
Book Synopsis Rules and Regulations of Brahmanical Asceticism by : Patrick Olivelle
Download or read book Rules and Regulations of Brahmanical Asceticism written by Patrick Olivelle and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 1994-10-28 with total page 478 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rules and Regulations of Brahmanical Asceticism is the critical edition and translation of a twelfth-century Sanskrit text written by Yadava Prakasaa, whose life and activities are of historical interest because, according to tradition, he was the teacher of the great Vais'n'ava theologian Ramanuja. This text is the oldest and most comprehensive example of medieval Sanskrit literature devoted to examining the duties of ascetics. Yadava Prakasaa is the only one who explicitly examines the thorny question of whether asceticism is a legitimate way of life for Brahmins. His topics include the people qualified to become ascetics; the rite for becoming an ascetic; the clothes and belongings of an ascetic; techniques of meditation; daily routines such as bathing, divine worship, and begging; proper conduct and etiquette; the manner of wandering; residence during the rains; expiatory penances; and the funeral. In his introduction, Patrick Olivelle examines the place of Yadava's text within the literary and institutional history of Brahman'ical asceticism. He discusses the origins of asceticism in India; its incorporation into the Brahman'ical mainstream; and its variations within Hindu sects, as well as in Buddhist and Jain traditions.
Book Synopsis Ascetic Practices in Japanese Religion by : Tullio Federico Lobetti
Download or read book Ascetic Practices in Japanese Religion written by Tullio Federico Lobetti and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-11 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ascetic practices are a common feature of religion in Japan, practiced by different religious traditions. This book looks at these ascetic practices in an inter-sectarian and inter-doctrinal fashion, in order to highlight the underlying themes common to all forms of asceticism. It does so by employing a multidisciplinary methodology, which integrates participant fieldwork – the author himself engaged extensively in ascetic practices – with a hermeneutical interpretation of the body as the primary locus of transmission of the ascetic ‘embodied tradition’. By unlocking this ‘bodily data’, the book unveils the human body as the main tool and text of ascetic practice. This book includes discussion of the many extraordinary rituals practiced by Japanese ascetics.
Book Synopsis Taoism Under the T'ang by : Timothy Hugh Barrett
Download or read book Taoism Under the T'ang written by Timothy Hugh Barrett and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Knowledge of the history of religion under the T'ang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907) has until now been limited at best. This scholarly work fills important gaps in general knowledge of Taoism ("China's own higher religion"), and its roles in China's social and political life during the T'ang Dynasty period, the golden age of Chinese history.
Book Synopsis Atonement and Comparative Theology by : Catherine Cornille
Download or read book Atonement and Comparative Theology written by Catherine Cornille and published by Fordham University Press. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The central Christian belief in salvation through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ remains one of the most intractable mysteries of Christian faith. Throughout history, it has given rise to various theories of atonement, many of which have been subject to critique as they no longer speak to contemporary notions of evil and sin or to current conceptions of justice. One of the important challenges for contemporary Christian theology thus involves exploring new ways of understanding the salvific meaning of the cross. In Atonement and Comparative Theology, Christian theologians with expertise in Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, and African Religions reflect on how engagement with these traditions sheds new light on the Christian understanding of atonement by pointing to analogous structures of sin and salvation, drawing attention to the scandal of the cross as seen by the religious other, and re-interpreting aspects of the Christian understanding of atonement. Together, they illustrate the possibilities for comparative theology to deepen and enrich Christian theological reflection.
Book Synopsis The Taoist Experience by : Livia Kohn
Download or read book The Taoist Experience written by Livia Kohn and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 1993-10-05 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Containing sixty translations from a large variety of texts, this is an accessible yet thorough introduction to the major concepts, doctrines, and practices of Taoism. It presents the philosophy, rituals, and health techniques of the ancients as well as the practices and ideas of Taoists today. Divided into four sections, it follows the Taoist Path: The Tao, Long Life, Eternal Vision, and Immortality. It shows how the world of the Tao is perceived from within the tradition, what fervent Taoists did, and how practitioners saw their path and goals. The Taoist Experience is unique in that it presents the whole of Taoist tradition in the very words of its active practitioners. It conveys not only a sense of the depth of the Taoist religious experience but also of the underlying unity of the various schools and strands.
Book Synopsis Bibliography on East Asian Religion and Philosophy by :
Download or read book Bibliography on East Asian Religion and Philosophy written by and published by Edwin Mellen Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 876 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive research bibliography compiles, annotates, indexes and cross-references resources in the principal Western languages which focus on China, Japan, and Korea in the areas of philosophy and religious studies, supporting resources in theology, history, culture, and related social sciences. A notable additional feature is the inclusion of extensive Internet-based resources, such as a wide variety of web-sites, discussion lists, electronic texts, virtual libraries, online journals and related material.
Book Synopsis The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Chinese Religions by : Randall L. Nadeau
Download or read book The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Chinese Religions written by Randall L. Nadeau and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-03-12 with total page 513 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comprising the most up-to-date, interdisciplinary research on the study of Chinese religious beliefs and cultural practices, this volume explores the rich and complex religious and philosophical traditions that have developed and flourished in one of the world's oldest civilizations. Covers the main Chinese traditions of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism as well as Christianity and Islam Features a unique organizational structure, with groups of readings focused on historical, traditions-based, and topical elements of Chinese religion Explores a number of contemporary religious topics, including gender, nature, asceticism, material culture, and gods and spirits Brings together a team of authors who are experts in their sub-fields, providing readers with the latest research in a rapidly growing discipline
Download or read book The Way of Complete Perfection written by and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2013-06-01 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An anthology of English translations of primary texts of the Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) school of Daoism.
Book Synopsis Martyrdom, Self-sacrifice, and Self-immolation by : Margo Kitts
Download or read book Martyrdom, Self-sacrifice, and Self-immolation written by Margo Kitts and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Suicide in the forms of martyrdom, self-sacrifice, or self-immolation is perennially controversial: Should it rightly be termed suicide? Does religion sanction it? Should it be celebrated or anathematized? At least some idealization of such self-chosen deaths is found in every religious tradition treated in this volume, from ascetic heroes who conquer their passions to save others by dying, to righteous warriors who suffer and die valiantly while challenging the status quo. At the same time, there are persistent disputes about the concepts used to justify these deaths, such as altruism, heroism, and religion itself. In this volume, renowned scholars bring their literary and historical expertise to bear on the contested issue of religiously sanctioned suicide. Three examine contemporary movements with disputed classical roots, while eleven look at classical religious literatures which variously laud and disparage figures who invite self-harm to the point of death. Overall, the volume offers an important scholarly corrective to the axiom that religious traditions simply and always embrace life at any cost.
