Chapter 9: Daoism "The Way of Flourishing"

lifelessness

flourishing

various methods designed to allow the practitioner to revert to the Dao, including meditation, visualization, internal alchemy, healthful eating, breathing exercises, and bureaucratic rituals

sages, immortals, and Perfected Persons

"Scripture on the Way and its Virtue"; is the most influential text in Daoist history and one of the world's most influential translated books

Dao is the ultimate reality and its manifestations in everyday life, the preexisting source of everything in the cosmos, and the process through which everything in it is transformed. Dao also means "path" and "way."

It means vital energy; breathing. the movement of qi is the practice of tai chi

are the ancient Chinese concept in which two complementary principles interact with one another to create individual, societal, and cosmic change

said to be dark, feminine, passive, and cold

is white, masculine, active, and warm

Chinese martial art that features slow, circular movements

"wind and water." initially a method for determining the best placement of a grave. this method is now used to find sites for homes and to place objects inside homes

1. Orthodoxy Unity (Zhengyi); emphasis in communal rituals, and has a tradition of householders

2. Complete Perfection (Quanzhen); emphasis on self-cultivation and has a monastic tradition

1. Laozi; the psuedohistorical sage credited with writing the Daodejing

2. Zhuangzi; Daoist sage and the author of the text called Zhuangzi. It is longer and more playful than the Daodejing

External Alchemy: attempted to create an elixir of immortality out of dangerous metals and minerals

Internal Alchemy: the elixir of immortality is manufactured inside the human body via meditation and visualization