Author : Louis Komjathy
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780231181266
Total Pages : 241 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (812 download)
Book Synopsis Taming the Wild Horse by : Louis Komjathy
Download or read book Taming the Wild Horse written by Louis Komjathy and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In thirteenth-century China, a Daoist monk named Gao Daokuan (1195-1277) composed a series of illustrated poems and accompanying verse commentary known as the Daoist Horse Taming Pictures. In this annotated translation and study, Louis Komjathy argues that this virtually unknown text offers unique insights into the transformative effects of Daoist contemplative practice. Taming the Wild Horse examines Gao's illustrated poems in terms of monasticism and contemplative practice, as well as the multivalent meaning of the "horse" in traditional Chinese culture and the consequences for both human and nonhuman animals. The Horse Taming Pictures consist of twelve poems, ten of which are equine-centered. They develop the metaphor of a "wild" or "untamed" horse to represent ordinary consciousness, which must be reined in and harnessed through sustained self-cultivation, especially meditation. The compositions describe stages on the Daoist contemplative path. Komjathy provides opportunities for reflection on contemplative practice in general and Daoist meditation in particular, which may lead to a transpersonal way of perceiving and being.