Although we all owe Proff Livia Kohn a great deal of debt on opening up.daoism for the west, concepts like Xingming in daoist practice are not as personal as she makes them out to be in nearly all texts. The proff. Interpretation is very much rooted in modernism, which then isn't wrong in that context, but is used in a much more generalized context in the past. Although our dictionaries translate Xing as nature, it also translate as form. In cultivation the cultivation of form of our life and our bodyform supercedes our personal inner experience as she describes. If anything the self cultivation process moves you away from the personal. Likewise Ming then is not the personal.ming but the shared Ming between people such as going to die or becoming an immortal. Nonetheless it is always interesting to hear her talk.
There are a lot of religious scholars who could provide some background if you actually wanted to compare Taoism to Christianity. It’s not as simple as “anyone who claims they’re a Christian is a Christian.” There are criteria. Many, depending upon the group, but there are criteria.
Professor Kohn's publishing company:
threepinespress.com/catalog/
My biggest respect for Livia! Sittin in oblivion is my favorite book of her.
Although we all owe Proff Livia Kohn a great deal of debt on opening up.daoism for the west, concepts like Xingming in daoist practice are not as personal as she makes them out to be in nearly all texts. The proff. Interpretation is very much rooted in modernism, which then isn't wrong in that context, but is used in a much more generalized context in the past. Although our dictionaries translate Xing as nature, it also translate as form. In cultivation the cultivation of form of our life and our bodyform supercedes our personal inner experience as she describes. If anything the self cultivation process moves you away from the personal. Likewise Ming then is not the personal.ming but the shared Ming between people such as going to die or becoming an immortal.
Nonetheless it is always interesting to hear her talk.
There are a lot of religious scholars who could provide some background if you actually wanted to compare Taoism to Christianity. It’s not as simple as “anyone who claims they’re a Christian is a Christian.” There are criteria. Many, depending upon the group, but there are criteria.