Personally, I learned a lot about the way you think and act, which I tried to apply to myself. It took me a long while to finish this book, but I don't think it was because it was "bad" really.
This commentary on the I Ching stands as a major contribution to the elucidation of Chinese spiritual genius.
In his attempt to lift the veil of mystery from the esoteric language of the I Ching, he employs the terminology of psychology, sociology, history, myth, and religion. Well versed in Buddhism and Confucianism as well as Taoism, Liu I-ming intended his work to be read as a guide to comprehensive self-realization while living an ordinary life in the world.
In total, the book illuminates the Taoist inner teachings as practiced in the School of Complete Reality. The second part is Liu I-ming's commentary on the two sections added to the I Ching by earlier commentators, believed to be members of the original Confucian school these two sections are known as the Overall Images and the Mixed Hexagrams.
#Taoist i ching plus#
This first part of the present volume is the text of the I Ching proper-the sixty-four hexagrams plus sayings on the hexagrams and their lines-with the commentary composed by Liu I-ming, a Taoist adept, in 1796. It has been considered a book of fundamental principles by philosophers, politicians, mystics, alchemists, yogins, diviners, sorcerers, and more recently by scientists and mathematicians. Containing several layers of text and given numerous levels of interpretation, it has captured continuous attention for well over two thousand years. Here are five eye-opening passages from the "Tao Te Ching" that offer a way to maintain a sense of harmony and balance in an often-chaotic world, courtesy of the legendary Taoist master Lao-tzu.The I Ching, or "Book of Change," is considered the oldest of the Chinese classics and has throughout history commanded unsurpassed prestige and popularity. There is an underlying nature to everything that is organic, simple and easy, and the way to find it is through calmness and quiet intuition, not through ambitious and aggressive tactics. Lao-tzu's message, then and now, is that the human urge to dominate and alter the world to fit our desires is ultimately foolish. It was a very messy time that they lived in." "The 'Tao Te Ching' was written in a political climate where people were doing just what they're doing today," says Livia Kohn, professor emerita of Daoist Studies at Boston University and author of " Daoism and Chinese Culture." "They were destroying the environment and there were all of these power mongers waging war on people. But that's because it was written at the turn of the Iron Age, when new technologies fueled a population explosion and ensuing conflicts over land and resources. Reading the "Tao Te Ching" today, it feels like Lao-tzu is directly addressing 21st-century problems: runaway consumerism, overdevelopment, the single-minded pursuit of profit and growth at the expense of the environment, and disregard for the poor and marginalized. Eventually, what started out as a philosophy called Taoism (or Daoism) soon became a religion with Lao-tzu as the earthly personification of the Tao - the ultimate power that gives order to the universe. Modern scholars disagree on whether an historical figure named Lao-tzu ever existed, or whether he and his writings were a compilation of Chinese wisdom passed down over the centuries. Legend has it that the border guard dutifully copied down the words of Lao-tzu in the "Tao Te Ching," which means "The Book of the Way and Its Power." Lao-tzu refused to write down his teachings, but when he decided to leave his homeland for India, he was pressed by a border guard to share his wisdom. The author of the "Tao Te Ching" is Lao-tzu (also written as Laozi), an honorific title that means "Old Master." According to biographies written centuries later, Lao-tzu (pronounced lao-zuh) was a sage-like archivist in the Zhou court who served as an early teacher of Confucius. In 81 stanzas, the "Tao Te Ching" pushes back against the all-too-human desire for "more" - more money, more status, more power, more things - and focuses instead on simplicity, harmony and a return to Tao or "the way." The slim text was written in ancient China during the Warring States period, a three-century period of incessant warfare between various Chinese states. The " Tao Te Ching" was compiled around 300 to 250 B.C.E, but its wisdom resonates as powerfully today as it did more than two millennia ago. Legend says this is where Lao Tzu descended from the heavens. The statue of Lao-tzu is displayed at the Palace of Heaven in Qingdao city.
0 kommentar(er)
