Inhaling tradition, exhaling innovation: controlled breathing as medicine in Tiantai Buddhism
Studies in Chinese Religions April 2, 2024 Dixuan Chen
ABSTRACT This research investigates the breath-centered therapeutic concepts and methods advocated by Zhiyi 智顗 (538–597), a distinguished Chinese Buddhist scholar-monk. It focuses on two significant changes he initiated. First, it studies Zhiyi’s reinterpretation of traditional Buddhist concepts of breath, highlighting its transition from a tool for concentration to a diagnostic device. Second,...