Daoist Apophatic Meditation: Selections from the Classical Daoist Textual Corpus

"Daoist Apophatic Meditation: Selections from the Classical Daoist Textual Corpus" by Harold D. Roth is available here in PDF format.

Description:
The selections in the present chapter derive from a variety of texts associated with classical Daoism, that is, the earliest communities of the Daoist religious tradition dating between the fourth and second centuries BCE (see Komjathy 2013b). Specifically, this chapter contains selections on classical Daoist apophatic meditation derived from the Neiye (Inward Training) and Xinshu shang (Techniques of the Mind I) works contained in the Guanzi (Book of Master Guan), Laozi (Book of Venerable Masters), Zhuangzi (Book of Master Zhuang), and Huainanzi (Book of the Huainan Masters). Written in classical Chinese and deriving from the mostly anonymous teachings of various elders of the inner cultivation lineages (see Roth 1999a, 1999b), these works primarily describe an emptiness-based form of meditation that leads to transformative experiences that have a foundational dimension of being contentless, nonconceptual, and nondualistic. The texts advocate a form of “inward training” or “inner cultivation” in which practitioners enter a state of stillness, a state that some identify as one’s innate nature, as the Dao manifesting in one’s being. The texts are, in turn, addressed to a variety of audiences: from members of the classical Daoist inner cultivation lineages to contemporaneous political leaders and projected Daoist sage-kings. The Laozi and Zhuangzi, in turn, became foundational scriptures of the Daoist tradition, wherein they are recognized as the Daode jing (Scripture on the Way and Inner Power) and Nanhua zhenjing (Perfect Scripture of Master Nanhua), respectively. Some of the sayings and all of the practices from the Neiye were influential on later Daoist texts and movements. In certain cases, classical Daoist contemplative perspectives also influenced some of the Chinese Buddhist schools, especially that of Chan (Jpn.: Zen).