The Dao Of Madness

"Chapter One lays out the dominant views of self, agency, and moral responsibility in early Chinese Philosophy. The reason for this is that these views inform the ways early Chinese thinkers approach mental illness, as well as the role they see it playing in self-cultivation as a whole (whether they view it as problematic or beneficial, for example). In this chapter I offer a view of a number of dominant conceptions of mind, body, and agency in early Chinese thought, through a number of philosophical and medical texts"--

Different Beasts explores conceptions of animality and humanity as they emerge in the writings of Spinoza and in the ancient Chinese text known as the Zhuangzi. The project thus brings together works from distant and different pasts to bear on debates regarding the human-animal binary in its many constructions. It also investigates what is at stake in the formation of responsible comparison--one that is contextually grounded and refined in detail--to understand how the complex machinery behind the human-animal binary operates in different philosophical systems.

Contemporary scholars of Chinese philosophy often presuppose that early China possessed a naturalistic worldview, devoid of any non-natural concepts, such as transcendence. Challenging this presupposition head-on, Joshua R. Brown and Alexus McLeod argue that non-naturalism and transcendence have a robust and significant place in early Chinese thought. This book reveals that non-naturalist positions can be found in early Chinese texts, in topics including conceptions of the divine, cosmogony, and apophatic philosophy. Moreover, by closely examining a range of early Chinese texts, and providing comparative readings of a number of Western texts and thinkers, the book offers a way of reading early Chinese Philosophy as consistent with the religious philosophy of the East and West, including the Abrahamic and the Brahmanistic religions. Co-written by a philosopher and theologian, this book draws out unique insights into early Chinese thought, highlighting in particular new ways to consider a range of Chinese concepts, including tian, dao, li, and you/wu.

The Inner Man vs The Mythical King With a scholarÕs mind and an Elvis-fanÕs heart, eminent psychiatrist and Jungian analyst Dr David H. Rosen illuminates both the inner Elvis and the myth of Elvis. Forty-two chapters representing the forty-two years of ElvisÕs life contain perceptive and inspiring quotations from the worldÕs most perceptive thinkers, as well as from the people who knew Elvis best. In a most readable fashion, Rosen unites the varied voices into each chapterÕs theme, such as: ÒSpirit, Soul and Religion,Ó ÒTranscendence & Transformation,Ó ÒDarkness, Sorrow, and Sadness,Ó ÒAlone and Loneliness,Ó and ÒLove.Ó An inspirational, perceptive, personal and truly innovative exploration of Elvis, which includes essays by two New York Times Best-Selling Authors: Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life, contributes a foreword in which he asks pivotal questions about the parallel destinies of Elvis and America. Clarissa Pinkola EstŽs, author of Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype, has contributed a free-wheeling afterword passionately expressing how ElvisÕs Òbeautiful flame of lifeÓ rocked the post-war world, and rocks her still. The Tao of Elvis is fully illustrated with Chinese papercut-inspired artwork by Diane Katz, author and illustrator of On All My Holy Mountain: A Modern Fraktur and Apples Dipped in Honey: A Jewish ABC.

During the ancient era, trillions of races coexisted!And today, a hundred thousand races were dancing together!Each race had their own divine ability!

This volume provides selected translations from the writings of Lu Xiangshan; Wang Yangming; and the Platform Sutra, a work which had profound influence on neo-Confucian thought. Each of these three sections is preceded by an introduction that sketches important features of the history, biography, and philosophy of the author and explores some of the main features and characteristics of his work. The range of genres represented--letters, recorded sayings, essays, meditations and poetry--provide the reader with insights into the philosophical and stylistic themes of this fascinating and influential branch of neo-Confucian thought.

Over the course of 66 days in 1967, more than 4.000 'class enemies' were murdered in Daoxian, a county in China's Hunan province. The killings spread to surrounding counties, resulting in a combined death toll of more than 9.000. Commonly known as the Daoxian massacre, the killings were one of many acts of so-called mass dictatorship and armed factional conflict that rocked China during the Cultural Revolution. Years after the massacre, journalist Tan Hecheng was sent to Daoxian to report on an official investigation into the killings

Is there a Buddhist discourse on sex? In this innovative study, Bernard Faure reveals Buddhism's paradoxical attitudes toward sexuality. His remarkably broad range covers the entire geography of this religion, and its long evolution from the time of its founder, Xvkyamuni, to the premodern age. The author's anthropological approach uncovers the inherent discrepancies between the normative teachings of Buddhism and what its followers practice. Framing his discussion on some of the most prominent Western thinkers of sexuality--Georges Bataille and Michel Foucault--Faure draws from different reservoirs of writings, such as the orthodox and heterodox "doctrines" of Buddhism, and its monastic codes. Virtually untapped mythological as well as legal sources are also used. The dialectics inherent in Mahvyvna Buddhism, in particular in the Tantric and Chan/Zen traditions, seemed to allow for greater laxity and even encouraged breaking of taboos. Faure also offers a history of Buddhist monastic life, which has been buffeted by anticlerical attitudes, and by attempts to regulate sexual behavior from both within and beyond the monastery. In two chapters devoted to Buddhist homosexuality, he examines the way in which this sexual behavior was simultaneously condemned and idealized in medieval Japan. This book will appeal especially to those interested in the cultural history of Buddhism and in premodern Japanese culture. But the story of how one of the world's oldest religions has faced one of life's greatest problems makes fascinating reading for all.