Taoismo

Un elemento de la doctrina marxiana que obstaculiza la realización del proyecto ecomunista es su implícito economismo. Aunque hacia el final de su vida Engels declaró que el motor del "progreso" no era la economía sino "las necesidades de desarrollo del espíritu humano," el marxismo concibió la pirámide en la que la infraestructura determina la superestructura, vio en la supuesta necesidad de superar la penuria y la escasez el motor de las transformaciones económicas, y transformó en ley absoluta la doctrina según la cual las repetidas substituciones de un sistema económico por otro se debían a la incapacidad del sistema vigente para manejar un volumen de bienes y riqueza mayor que el que le era inherente. , en particular, llevó tan lejos el economismo marxista como para afirmar que el comunismo primitivo estaba caracterizado por la penuria y la escasez:

The complex and long genesis of the Daodejing is widely known. Whether it was originally composed by a single author, the legendary Laozi, or whether it emerged over time as a sort of collective anthology of ancient sayings, the text underwent countless changes made by copyists and commentators over the centuries, and the Daodejing extensively published today is clearly something different from its first (and second) versions. For this reason, as well as for the nature of Chinese thought itself, it seems inappropriate to search for a philosophical “system” in the Daodejing. Nonetheless, the text can shed light on the view of nature permeating classical China. The paper will focus on three issues. The first is the ontological non-individualization of the Dao, which is the counterpart to the epistemological individualization of the human and social world. The second is the kind of metaphysics that can frame these features: a metaphysics of diachronic events, processes, and emergences, rather than a synchronic metaphysics of objects, substances, and monadic properties. The third, finally, is the fragmenting power of language, which through naming and knowledge creates that individualization that splits the undivided unity of the Dao.

The Wenzi is a Chinese philosophical text that enjoyed considerable prestige in the centuries following its creation, over two-thousand years ago. When questions regarding its authenticity arose, the text was branded a forgery and consigned to near oblivion. The discovery of an age-old Wenzi manuscript, inked on strips of bamboo, refueled interest in the text. In this combined study of the bamboo manuscript and the received text, Van Els argues that they belong to two distinct text traditions as he studies the date, authorship, and philosophy of each tradition, as well as the reception history of the received text. This study sheds light on text production and reception in Chinese history, with its changing views on authorship, originality, authenticity, and forgery, both past and present.

Many Daoist traditions and lineages of masters formed over its 2000 years of development as a historical community. Which of them, represented by whom, arrived in Latin Amercia when? Are there any empirical or academic studies about them? The following outlines the development of Daoist traditions as they arrived and grew in various Latin American countries. The study goes back to research beginning in 2011, originally focusing on Brazil and from there expanding through the continent.

Daoism is a religion of Chinese origins that since the 19th century started to have contact with the Brazilian culture, beneath the Orientalism force. Since the second half of the 20th century, we see a second wave of Daoism spread, albeit indirectly. In the 1970s the Wǔ family – Wu Jyh Cherng within them (Wǔ Zhìchéng) – migrates from Taiwan to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the 1990s, this Taiwanese naturalized Brazilian priest of the  Way of the Celestial Masters founded the Daoist Society of Brazil (Sociedade Taoísta do Brasil - STB) along Brazilians, and later the Daoist Society in São Paulo (Sociedade Taoísta SP - ST-SP), which is our object of study. The goal here was to analyze the Daoism transplant process in Brazil through the STB and ST-SP. In addition to a systematization of the authors regarding the transplantation of religions theory, we were based on the theory of cultural hybridization, and a set of interpreters of Brazilian culture and Brazilian religion. We created the central hypothesis that in the STB and ST-SP the Daoism would be increasingly a hybrid result of the Brazilian religious matrix and an ideal model of Daoist linked to China. Methodologically, we conducted an extensive and constant literature review, and we refer to primary printed sources, virtual and audiovisual sources, participatory research, semi-structured interviews and informal conversations. With these data, we performed an analysis using the theoretical framework, which allowed us to confirm the central hypothesis. We also wove systematic contributions on: the presence and the type of Daoism entry in Brazil, identification of socio-historical phases of STB and ST-SP, and several observations about the process and results of transplantation of this Daoist group, such as the accommodation of the Brazilian religious demands on the liturgical rituals of these institutions

Rosemarie Anderson, Ph.D. is an author, artist, Professor Emerita of Psychology, and an Episcopal priest. With permission from the publisher Inner Traditions, www.InnerTraditions.com, this article quotes from her forthcoming book, The Divine Feminine Tao Te Ching: A New Translation and Commentary.  Contact her at https://rosemarieanderson.com/. 
Preordering is available at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KRLGBD1/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i3.

The present article discusses the aspects pertaining to the analysis of the concepts of the after-life in early Taoist religion. The focus of attention of the paper is one of the earliest Taoist codes of laws and regulations among those that have survived up till now – “Jiu zhen ming ke” 九真明科, aka “The Bright Code of the Perfected [Kings] from the Nine [Heavens]”. The three chapters of the Code are connected with one another, both thematically and logically. Chapter 1 enumerates the existing Taoist scriptures and talismans; conveys their brief characteristic features and explains the rites of their transmission. Chapter 2 recounts the rules and laws that Taoist practitioners ought to adhere to unequivocally if they are to cognize the ultimate truth through these scriptures. Chapter 3 expli-cates the rituals which allow to atone for the crimes and misdeeds (enumerated in Chapter 2) so that to resume the path of self-perfecting and enhancement, the true path of Dao. The Code serves as a profound and abundant source of information which allows to distinguish the most essential peculiarities of the Taoist concepts pertaining to the afterlife; it enables for the delineation of the most promising vectors of search for their genesis and origins.
Key words: China, Taoism, religious worldview, concepts of the afterlife, Jiu Zhen Ming Ke九真明科, The Nine Rivers九河, The Nine Sources九泉, The Water Palace水宮.

Sergey Filonov. “Images of the Netherworld in Early Taoist Religious Tradition: Some Issues and Estimations (Based on the Taoist Code ‘Jiu zhen ming ke’ 九真明科),” in The Humanities and Social Studies in the Far East. 2 (2018): 225 – 236.

A través de siete apartados se analiza la cronología de Star Wars, el contexto histórico-social que la determina y cómo se evidencia en la saga. También por qué se puede considerar Star Wars como un mito moderno y cómo refleja el viaje del héroe. Son estudiados aspectos religiosos que gira alrededor del concepto de la Fuerza, los aprendizajes biopedagógicos, la interculturalidad manifiesta en la saga y los elementos que ésta posee para que se desarrolle un nuevo camino espiritual llamado jedismo.
Abstract Through seven sections the chronology of Star Wars, the historical and social context that determines it and how is evident in the saga are analyzed. Also in which way Star Wars is a modern myth and how the hero's journey is reflected. Eeligious aspects that revolves around the concept of the Force, the biopedagogy learning, interculturalism manifested in the saga and the elements that this series of films has to develop a new spiritual path called jedism are studied.

La presente investigación tiene como objetivo principal definir el origen de los fundamentos teóricos de la tradición alquímica interna taoísta. Como segundo objetivo, se pretende establecer puntos en común entre la antigua tradición alquímica taoísta y la alquimia medieval hispana. Este trabajo se enmarca, por tanto, en los campos de estudio de la sinología y de la historia de la alquimia.

La hipótesis de partida de este estudio es que las bases de la tradición alquímica interna taoísta se comenzaron a forjar durante el periodo de los Reinos Combatientes (475-221 a. e. c.) y que se encuentran principalmente en los dos textos fundamentales del taoísmo: el Daodejing 道德經  y el Zhuangzi 莊子. En concreto, se parte de una doble conjetura. Por un lado, que estas obras no son propiamente de naturaleza alquímica, sino que acuñan principios y contenidos de la práctica del cultivo personal que serán utilizados en la tradición alquimista posterior. Y por otro lado, que el sentido originario y cabal de muchas de sus secciones debe ser interpretado desde la perspectiva de la alquimia interior para una mayor comprensión del mismo.

The laboratory ‘The body of relationship’ presents some Eastern mind body practices useful for physicians and introduces their philosophical background. Through Suzuki’s zen teaching we can understand how important is for medical professions to keep a mind always open and aware like a ‘beginner mind’; from Traditional Chinese Medicine we can learn how illness is not an enemy for physicians, but something important to know
and merge in the patients’ life; from the Greek philosopher Parmenides we can understand how the opposites, like health and disease, are so strongly related to be necessary one to another. The practices of sitting zen meditation with empty mind, and of a balance exercise taken from Tai Chi Chuan, help to realize these teachings. Eastern and Greek philosophies found the practices and are an interesting fi eld of study for all physicians, however
daily practice is the only way to keep day by day openmindedness, reception and balance in medical professions.

Neste artigo, o autor investiga elementos da Geografia da Religião na religiosidade chinesa a partir de um vislumbre do uso metafórico da água em escritos confucionistas e taoístas. O objetivo é mostrar como elementos ambientais podem ter contribuído de forma decisiva para a gênese das religiões chinesas e para o pensamento religioso chinês.

ESPAÑOL
El punto de partida de este trabajo es el objetivo general de explorar las resonancias conceptuales entre la filosofía de Deleuze y Guattari y el pensamiento oriental. Este artículo desarrolla dos series de figuras del Oriente presentes en Mil mesetas, explicitando sus conexiones con diversos temas deleuziano-guattarianos. La primera serie comprende juegos y artes marciales que los autores utilizan para ejemplificar los conceptos “espacio liso” y “máquina de guerra”; la segunda comprende las prácticas sexuales taoístas como un caso, entre otros, de la libre circulación del deseo en un cuerpo sin órganos. El énfasis está puesto en aclarar cómo operan estas figuras del Oriente en el texto de Mil mesetas, así como en exponer algunas fuentes que Deleuze y Guattari suelen dejar en las sombras. Por último, se adelantará el trasfondo (punto de resonancia) sobre el cual el pensamiento oriental y la filosofía de Deleuze y Guattari tejen sus “perturbadoras afinidades”.

ENGLISH
The starting point for this work is a general aim to explore the conceptual resonances between Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophy and the Eastern thought. This paper develops two series of figures from the East that appear in A Thousand Plateaus and brings out their connection with various Deleuzian-Guattarian themes. The first series includes some games and martial arts used by the authors as examples for the concepts “smooth space” and “war machine”. The second series includes some Taoist sexual practices as one of many cases for the free circulation of desire within a body without organs. The emphasis is laid on clarifying the role these figures from the East play in A Thousand Plateaus, as well as on unveiling some sources the authors usually leave hidden behind. Finally, I figure out the background (point of resonance) against which the Eastern thought and Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophy weave their ‘disturbing affinities’.

En este trabajo, en base a textos originales de la tradición tibetana Bön que ha presentado al Occidente el estudioso y maestro de dzogchén Chöguîal Namkhai Norbu, se postula e investiga la tesis según la cual el daoísmo podría haber tenido su origen en las enseñanzas dzogchén (rdzogs chen) que habría dictado el tönpa Shenrab Miwoche al pie del Monte Kailash en 1800 (o 16000) AEC, y se discuten los posibles desarrollos que habrían dado lugar a las distintas formas de daoísmo surgidas con el paso de los años (entre las cuales se consideran tres grupos de enseñanzas y maestros).