The Taoist Experience: An Anthology

SUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture

by Livia Kohn (Editor)

Containing sixty translations from a large variety of texts, this is an accessible yet thorough introduction to the major concepts, doctrines, and practices of Taoism. It presents the philosophy, rituals, and health techniques of the ancients as well as the practices and ideas of Taoists today. Divided into four sections, it follows the Taoist Path: The Tao, Long Life, Eternal Vision, and Immortality. It shows how the world of the Tao is perceived from within the tradition, what fervent Taoists did, and how practitioners saw their path and goals. The Taoist Experience is unique in that it presents the whole of Taoist tradition in the very words of its active practitioners. It conveys not only a sense of the depth of the Taoist religious experience but also of the underlying unity of the various schools and strands.

Livia Kohn is Assistant Professor of Religion at Boston University.

Genres: Philosophy, Taoism, Religion, China, Spirituality

408 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1993

About the author

Livia Kohn is Assistant Professor of Religion at Boston University.

Reviews

[Yun Rou · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a great fan of all of Professor Kohn's work, and am privileged to call her friend. Recently, she has published the preponderance of her work on her own imprint, Three Pines Press, but this book is an early work of scholarship from the State University of New York. If you want a sense of the flavor of the work, look no further than the list of sins against which Daoists must guard. It begins on p100 and continues for several pages. All of Dr. Kohn's work belongs in any good library on Daoism, as she is one of the most active and foremost Daoist scholars working in English today.