REL-2350 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Zhang Daoling, Numen, Gnosis
Document Summary
The inner cultivation tradition of early daosim harold roth. Early daoism in terms of three distinct phases, each represented by extant texts, that can. Concerned with cosmology and the inner transformation of the individual leading to the attainment of mystical gnosis . Presence of cosmology and philosophy of self-transformation as in other phases, now commended to the ruler as an arcanum of government; Emphasis on precise coordination of political and cosmic orders by the ruler, and. A syncretic social and political philosophy that borrows relevant ideas from earlier schools such as the legalist and confucian while retaining the. The cosmology and self-transformation of the prior phase are present, but added is apolitical and social philosophy that recommends the return to a more primitive and simple life style associated with small farming communities. These elements carry over to later daoist religion and help us see a significant aspect of continuity in an otherwise heterogeneous tradition.
