The Daoist Mystical Body
Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks 2011 DOI: 10.1057/9780230339767_5 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 4 |
| Key points | Argues that in certain Daoist movements the body is understood as a sacred locale with subtle, esoteric dimensions activated through religious praxis, making it the means by which the Dao manifests and is experienced as numinous presences. This "Daoist mystical body" is multidimensional, not reducible to the anatomical and physiological body of contemporary biomedicine. |
Abstract
Specific Daoist adherents and communities emphasize the importance of corporeality and physicality, specifically one’s body as the Dao as sacred locale. But the “Daoist body,” as those who are familiar with the work of such influential scholars as Kristofer Schipper, Livia Kohn, and Catherine Despeux know, is multidimensional. It is not simply the anatomical and physiological given of contemporary biomedicine. In the case of certain Daoist movements, one’s body is understood to have subtle, esoteric dimensions that become activated through Daoist religious praxis. Here the body itself becomes the means through which the Dao manifests its own self- unfolding, and the means by which the Daoist adept experiences the Dao as numinous presences. This is what I mean by the “Daoist mystical body.” These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.