Personal and Societal Alchemy in Early Daoist Scriptures

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document in english

humanities/philosophy

school essay

published 02/10/2007

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The principle of interconnectedness pervades the worldviews of the Daoist and Buddhist religions originating from India and China. It is fitting that the traditions themselves are historically and textually interconnected in a way that finds traditions intermingling by borrowing teachings and practices and combining them into unique syncretisms. The often syncretic nature of religion is nowhere more apparent than in Han-period Daoist scriptures. Daoism is by no means a monolithic entity, and its many schools vary greatly in text and practice.

The principle of interconnectedness pervades the worldviews of the Daoist and Buddhist religions originating from India and China.
Stephen Bokenkamp indicates that for the Celestial Masters of the Song dynasty
In their treatment of salvation, The Upper Scripture of Purple Texts Inscribed by the Spirits uniquely exemplify the Buddhist influence on the Shangqing.
The Sage Lord of the Purple Texts is an example of the perfected man (zhenren) who has attained such status by following the practical prescriptions contained within the text itself.
While the Shangqing text clearly shares philosophical ground with Buddhism, the Celestial Masters text Inner Explanations of the Upper Heavens is a polemic against the Indian religion.
In line with the politically charged nature of this Daoist polemic, the utopian undertone of The Inner Explanations seeks to cast the blame for the period's cultural upheaval on the Buddhist insurgence into the Han dynasty.
No matter which school is being discussed, the object of all Daoist practice is long life.
Both the Purple Texts Inscribed by the Spirits and the Inner Explanations of the Upper Heavens involve, to different degrees, the cosmic wanderings of Daoist sages.
The interiorization of Daoist practice is also apparent in the Celestial Masters text of Inner Explanations.
Those aspects of Buddhism that have been either subsumed into or rejected by particular Daoist schools reflect the underlying conceptual flow of the traditions of Daoism.