Text C Cuivating Reality（第1页）

TextC“gReality”

RussellKirkland

[1]AsissoofteheissueofdeathanditstranscerevealsthattheTaoisttraditiondidnottypiulateatespecifis，nordemaoonpositionsasabership”in“Taoism”。Thosewhowereattraseemtohavebeenthosewhowereedinlabtodetermierorworse，muchless“correct”，waysofceptualizilife。Rather，theyseemtohavebeenthosewhowouldgladlydrawuponanybinationoftraditionalandporaryculturalelementstofacilitatetheirefforttolivetheTaoistlifeasfullyaspossible。

[2]Suchwastheregardtopracticeaswellasbelief。Whatthetraditiondid，fromthefifthward，wastodpreserveallthemodelsofauallifethatanyoed。Praerswouldthenfollowthemodelthatheldthemostappealtothem，withofcoursewhatevermodifisoresseemedappropriateinlightoftrealities。

[3]Yet，itwtosurmisethatallthosemanymodelsofauallifehadnohattheysharedalperspectivesregardingwhatlifeisandhowoneshouldliveit。Itispossibletoidentify，onverybroadterms，elementsofaon“Taoistellasaitant“Taoistethos”，whiedandstimulatedTaoistpraallitsmanyforms，aswellasTaoistmodesofehotherelementsofesedsociety。

[4]AtthemostbasiptionontoTaoistsofmostperiodsisthatmostpeoplelivefuallyurueherealitywithinwhichtheirlivestakeplace。Asace，mostpeoplelivetheirlivesoarenotinaccordwiththetrueheirowheirlivesarethereforeilyflawedandultimatelyfruitless。And，forsuchpeople，thereishinggoodtoeheirbiologicalexisteheirlivesareessentially>

[5]However，iruenature”ofpeople’srealityisologicallyaliesomething“outthere”thatissomehowotherthantheirowhestartingpourlivesintowhattheyshouldbeislearningtodisatebetweenafruitlessexistence—meresurvival，theh—ontheonehand，andafoherhand—livinginaccordwithwhatreallyis，andengaginginafruitfulprocessofspiritualdevelopment。Thatlearningproeversimplyamatterofthihoughtsaboutlifeandtryingtoputthemintoa。Thatapproachwouldbeasfruitlessaslivingwithardforlife’srealities。Rather，theTaoistlifesistsiisfoaexperientialawareness。

&sofotherAsiantraditions，particularlyHinduismandBuddhism，beginwithverysimilarassumptions。Intime，a’sTaoistsenteredformsofBuddhisminwhichtheyfparallels。And，duriainperiods，TaoistsadaptedBuddhistideas，furtherenrigthediversityofTaoistmodelsofauallife。Yet，theyoftenfoundthatsomeBuddhistassumptionsdidnotfullyaccordwiththeirown。Forisgenerallydidheidea—eformsof—thatthedesiredtransformatioialawareypicallyamatterofasudde。SomeilyassumethatTaoistsandBuddhistshavealwaysbeenthinkinganddoihing。ButbythetimeofSsu-mag-，atleast，Taoistshadpohefullrangeofspiritualmodelsloodecidethatidealssuchas“suddenleseaoistterms。AswewillseemorefullybelolaryelderreportedlytaughtHog，“Oadvaly，butmusttakeyieldiastheprime[This]islikerefusing[toaccept]ahaway。”ThoughTaoistsinlateragesdidsometimesappropriatetermssuchaswu，“aewexperientialawareermmostfamiliartostudesJapanesepronun，satori）TaoistsalwaysiermsintoaTaoistperspelife。

[7]Likewise，TaoistsdidnotfiheBuddhistassumptionthatspiritualtransformationcouldtakeplacemerelyasaone’sess，withoutaoone’sphysicallifeortothesubtleprocessesatworkintheworldaroundus。Taoiststypicallybelievedthatpersonaltransformatioiation，atransformationofalltheirbeing—ingwhatothertraditioendistinguishedasmind，body，andspirit—inaccordwiththemostsubtleandsublimeprocessesatworkinthehichwelive。

[8]Intheyear2000，ascholarofesereligion，DohatTaoismisaboutpersonaltransformationwithiissetupforsuation。ItmightbefairtosaythatthecoreofTaoistpracticlassicaltimesdow—hasiiceofself-cultivationwithinaprisedofsubtlylinkedforces。

[9]Wemustbewareofmisiaoistprasofmodernindividualism。Taoisttheorydidanydiizationof“self”from“other”。trarytesofitscritionga’ssandamoeraoist“self-cultivation”hasneverbeengroundedieabeinghasae，endividualized“self”thatismoreworthyofvalueahanwhatisoutsidesuclosures。Rather，Taoistsgenerallyassumethatone’s“self”otbeuoodorfulfilledwithoutrefereherpersons，andtothebroadersetofrealitiesinersourallyandproperlyembedded。ItisthisfuallyholisticperspectivethatsetsTaoistideasandpracticesapartfrommostofwhatistaughtiionsofaorthoseofotherlands，inAsiaorelsewhere。

Notes

&exRussellKirkland’sbookTaoism:TheEnduringTradition，PartV—TheCultivatedLife。

2。RussellKirkland:HereceivedhisB。A。inReligiousStudiesandM。A。inAsianHistoryfromBrowyin1976，andanM。A。inReligiousStudies（1982）andPh。D。iAsianLanguagesandCultures（1986）fromIndiay。HetlyservesoiveboardoftheSocietyfortheStudyofeseReligioeeringitteeoftheAmeriAcademyion’seseReligionsgroup，andtheboardofdirectorsoftheU。S。TaoistAsso。

3。Ssu-mag-（司马承帧）（647-735）:HewasaTaoistinTangDynastyandalsolivedasahermitinMouai。

4。Hog（贺知章）（about659-about744）:apoetinTangDynasty。

ForFun

WorkstoRead

1。MomentinPekingbyLinYutang

ItwasahistoriinallywritteninEnglish。Intheprefawritesthat“[Thisnovel]ismerelyastoryof。。。howhabitsoflivingandwaysofthinkingareformedandhow，aboveall，[methemselvestothethisearthlylifewheremegodsrule。”LinYutangwasheNobelPrizeiurewiththisbookin1975。

2。KwaidanGhostStoriesaalesofOldJapanbyKozumiYakumo

Itwasaofhauntialesandinsightfulessaysouralworld。

3。TheBookofTeabyKakuzoOkakura

Itublishedin1906，andhassinrepublishedmahebook，KakuzoiermTeaismandhowTeahasaffeearlyeveryaspectofJapaure，thought，andlife。

&oSee

1。MadameButterfly（1996）

Pui’sclassicoperawomanandhowherlicallybetrayedestothesthisfaithfulfilmadaptation。

2。gTiger，HiddenDragon（2000）

Itisanepi-aasetagaiakinglandscapesofaa。Thefilmledtoaboostinpopularityofesewuxiafilmsiernworld，wheretheywerepreviouslylittleknown。

3。TheLastSamurai（2003）

Itgivesepiatestoryofculturesatacrossroads。AtormentedCivilt。Nathaoleareandadoptthesamuraicode，switgsidesforaclimacticbattlethatwillputeveryone’shoetest。

4。Memeisha（2005）

&hestoryofayounggirl，otleasageishatofiheprogalotofenemies。

[1]FromPriles’stranslation，gTzu（Quatri），letetranslationofgtse’sworks。