Author: Livia Kohn

Daoist Dietetics: Food for Immortality

Daoist Dietetics provides an introductory overview of the main characteristics, historical developments, and recipes of the Daoist diet. It begins with two analytical parts: on medicinal diets and on they theory and history of Daoist nutrition. Beyond this, the book presents a number of translations of medieval documents on Daoist fasting. It concludes with a selection of recipes that can be easily used in a Western kitchen. An exciting new venture, Daoist Dietetics opens new insights into the longevity methods and religious technology of traditional China

Contents and Introduction

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Internal Alchemy for Everyone

This book makes the self-cultivation of Daoist internal alchemy available to everyone. Avoiding predetermined academic categories, it provides an outline of basic concepts in conjunction with evolutionary theory as well as easily accessible practice instructions. Done correctly, the practice provides numerous benefits, including freedom from disease, an extended life expectancy, increased wisdom, and more. This helps everyone! The work opens the powerful esoteric system of internal alchemy to a wide, general audience, lifting it out of obscurity and mystification while yet retaining a strong hold in historical sources. A must-read for anyone interested in traditional Chinese cosmology, Daoist practice, and the active pursuit of a healthier and longer life!

Contents and Introduction

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The Literati Path to Immortality: The Alchemical Teachings of Lu Xixing

The Literati Path explores the life and teachings of the Ming author and alchemist Lu Xixing (1520-1601), who embodied the literati tradition of self-cultivation, learning internal alchemy from books and through spirit-writing seances with Lü Dongbin and other immortals. After presenting his biography, the book expounds the cosmological doctrines at the foundation of internal alchemy then moves on to describe just how the practice serves to overcome destiny, modeling techniques on biological gestation and creating a new being deep within. It explains major alchemical concepts as applied by Lu Xixing and systematically describes his path to immortality, all the while questioning the validity of his reputation as a sexual alchemist. Shedding fascinating new light on the religious life of Ming literati and providing a first access to a unique take on internal alchemy in late imperial China, The Literati Path to Immortality is a must for anyone interested in traditional Chinese religion and culture!

Contents and Introduction

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Daoist Internal Mastery

This book translates Master Wang’s original practice instructions and discourses given during training seminars. His system of internal alchemy goes back to two ancient Daoist texts: the 13th-century Lingbao bifa, linked to the immortals Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin;and the 17th-century Taiyi jinhua zongzhi (Secret of the Golden Flower), also connected to Lü. Together they are known as the Lingbao tong zhineng neigong shu (Arts of Internal Mastery, Wisdom, and Potential, Based on Numinous Treasure). The texts outline the concoction of a golden elixir through the dual cultivation of inner nature and life-destiny. This book follows the classics and presents all different kinds of techniques—including walking, pacing, sleeping, circulating the five phases, absorbing tree energy, and capturing planetary essences—in a systematic format and with a great amount of instructional detail. It contains a wealth of information invaluable to anyone interested in genuine Daoist cultivation and elucidates numerous rather obscure concepts to contextualize each practice.   

Contents and Introduction

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Meditation Works: In the Hindu, Buddhist, and Daoist Traditions

Based on extensive cultural studies and long years of practice, Livia Kohn here creates a new typology of meditation based on six distinct ways of accessing the subconscious. In a special chapter on each type, she outlines the physiology, world view, and traditional practice as well as its modern medical adaptations and organizational settings. Providing a thorough theoretical framework combined with a comprehensive, analytical overview and extensive practical applications, the book greatly advances our understanding of meditation.

Contents and Introduction

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Sitting in Oblivion: The Heart of Daoist Meditation

Sitting in Oblivion outlines the history and intricacies of zuowang, an essential form of Daoist meditation. It divides into two parts. “Discussion” begins by placing the practice in the larger context of the phenomenology of meditation and Chinese religious history. It then discusses early forms, Tang developments, the Buddhist impact, and its role today. The part called “Translation” presents eight texts with ample annotation. Drawing on decades of Daoist scholarship and meditation experience, this book is the culmination of Kohn’s extensive, path-breaking work. It greatly enhances our understanding of the complex methods and concepts involved in attaining Dao.Based on extensive cultural studies and long years of practice, Livia Kohn here creates a new typology of meditation based on six distinct ways of accessing the subconscious. In a special chapter on each type, she outlines the physiology, world view, and traditional practice as well as its modern medical adaptations and organizational settings. Providing a thorough theoretical framework combined with a comprehensive, analytical overview and extensive practical applications, the book greatly advances our understanding of meditation.

Contents and Introduction

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The Zhong-Lü System of Internal Alchemy

This exciting new work translates two 12th-century texts associated with the legendary immortals Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin, founders of the Zhong Lü tradition of internal alchemy. First, the Zhong-Lü chuandao ji, in dialogue format, outlines the cosmological parameters of the practice, then describes various methods of attainment. Second, the Lingbao bifa, assembling various revealed sources and commentaries, presents similar concepts and adds more specific practices. In addition to the translations, The Zhong-Lü System provides a discussion in five chapters: Historical Unfolding, The Workings of the Universe, The Human Condition, Stages and Processes, and Key Practices. It makes both the underlying cosmology and the practical transformation accessible and understandable in plain, straightforward language. Beyond providing an in-depth understanding for modern practitioners, the work is essential for anyone concerned with Daoist history, cosmology, and internal alchemy.

Contents and Introduction

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Chen Tuan: Discussions and Translations

This book contains three essays and five translations on the Song Daoist saint and immortal Chen Tuan. It is based on the author’s dissertation (Leben und Legende des Chen Tuan, 1981), which focused on questions of legend development and the problem of what “immortality” meant as a religious ideal in the Song dynasty. Later she supplemented this work with materials on Chen Tuan as a physiognomist published in two articles and by editing a volume for Taoist Resources (1989). The collection includes all these and some additional materials.

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Declarations of the Perfected Part Two: Instructions on Shaping Destiny

Declarations of the Perfected is the first complete, annotated translation of Zhen’gao, Tao Hongjing’s (456-536) masterful compilation of the Shangqing or Higher Clarity revelations, setting the stage for the heyday of medieval Daoism. The present volume presents the Declarations’ second part (fasc. 5-8), which focuses on the various difficulties that Daoist practitioners are likely to encounter in a dangerous world, and how to overcome them. It begins with instructions of a more general nature, before moving on to problems faced specifically by Xu Mi (303-376) and his family and fellow officials. This volume also sheds much light on the history of its time—the kinds of moral and philosophical issues that were being debated, as well political intrigues in the Eastern Jin court.

Contents and Introduction

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Internal Alchemy: Self, Society, and the Quest for Immortality

Internal alchemy has been the dominant system of Daoist spiritual practice since the Song dynasty. Its practitioners transform body energies into subtle levels of spirit, hoping to find illumination by returning to the fundamental order of the cosmos and in the process reconcile physiological training with intellectual speculation. Bringing together the best work of leading scholars in the field, this book provides a thorough and easily accessible introduction to this important tradition. It describes the cultivation methods at the root of internal alchemy, presents its historical development and key concepts, and explores comparative dimensions, such as Kundalini Yoga and Hermeticism.

Contents and Introduction

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