Abstract
How does one speak the unspeakable, say the unsayable, name the unnamable? How does one subvert the human tendency to become mired in intellectual constructs, philosophical rumination, and psychological confusion, especially with respect to matters of ultimate concern? This chapter examines Daoist uses of “apophatic discourse” and “grammars of ineffability,” or the way in which (apparent) negation is central to Daoist approaches. In addition to providing a foundational introduction to Daoism in general and the Zhuangzi (Book of Master Zhuang) in particular, I explore Daoist meditation and mystical experience, with attentiveness to representative modes of expression and description. In the process, I suggest that one must understand Daoist contemplative practice and mystical experience as the root of “Daoist philosophy.” Daoist apophatic discourse presupposes a contemplative and mystical perspective on being and sacrality. It is a praxis-based and experiential perspective. Daoist views of language in turn reveal alternative uses of linguistic expression, beyond mere communication and description. We may begin to imagine “soteriological linguistics.”
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Notes
- 1.
Unless otherwise indicated, all translations are my own. The standard translations of the Book of Master Zhuang include those of A.C. Graham (partial), Victor Mair (complete), and Burton Watson (complete). I have relied on Watson.
- 2.
Huizi is the philosophical foil for Zhuangzi throughout the text. See, e.g., chs. 1, 5, 18, 24, 26, and 27.
- 3.
Dao, Daoism, Daoist derive from the Pinyin Romanization system, while Tao, Taoism, Taoist derive from the earlier Wade-Giles system. Nonetheless, they are still pronounced with a “d” sound. In Wade-Giles, a “t” without an apostrophe is pronounced with a “d” sound, while a “t’” with an apostrophe is pronounced with a “t” sound.
- 4.
Although conventionally attributed to Laozi (Lao-tzu; Master Lao) and thus translated as the Book of Master Lao, the Laozi is, in fact, a multi-vocal anthology with a variety of historical and textual layers. I thus translate the title as the Book of Venerable Masters in order to indicate that it contains diverse teachings from various elders of the inner cultivation lineages of classical Daoism. See LaFargue 1992; Komjathy 2008, v. 2, 2013. Laozi, who is often misidentified as the “founder” of Daoism, is pseudo-historical, with his personage being an amalgam of various stories. See Graham 1998.
- 5.
How does one express the inexpressible and represent the unrepresentable? Like “silence” and “darkness,” these brackets are a placeholder for that which encompasses and transcends all names. However, as a contemplative and mystical (non)expression, perhaps the brackets inspire deeper inquiry: Which direction should the brackets face? I will return to this theological view in a subsequent section.
- 6.
Interestingly, “desirelessness” as well as various other principles derived from the Book of Venerable Masters became the basis for the “Nine Practices” of the early Tianshi 天師 (Celestial Masters) movement. This reveals an important connective strand between the earliest Daoist religious community and the earliest Daoist religious organization. See Komjathy 2013.
- 7.
From a comparative and cross-cultural perspective, there are examples of both forms of mysticism in different religious traditions. In terms of intra-religious diversity, “dark mysticism” characterizes classical Daoism, while one finds an example of “light mysticism” in early organized Daoism, specifically in the Shangqing 上清 (Highest Clarity) movement. See Robinet 1989, 1993; Miller 2008. One may, in turn, profitably analyze religious traditions based on the specific form of sensory perception that they emphasize.
- 8.
Here it is important to recognize that the cosmological concepts of yin-yang, the Five Phases, and qi are not specifically Daoist. They are best understood as “traditional Chinese cosmology” and part of “traditional Chinese culture.” See Komjathy 2013.
- 9.
Note that Burton Watson, in his highly influential and generally reliable rendering of the text, has mistranslated qi as “spirit.” In the texts of classical Daoism, it is clear that qi is central, although the contextual meaning of the term, whether subtle breath or physical respiration, is open to interpretation. Following Watson, most non-specialists misinterpret the passage as being primarily psychological, rather than energetic.
- 10.
There are five primary forms of Daoist meditation, each of which emerges in a specific historical context and most of which are associated with particular Daoist movements (see Komjathy 2013). They include apophatic meditation, ingestion (fuqi 服氣), visualization (cunxiang 存想), inner observation (neiguan 內觀), and internal alchemy (neidan 內丹). The most common name for Daoist apophatic meditation is “guarding the One” (shouyi 守一), although this term eventually becomes used for Daoist meditation more generally. In a modern context, parallel practices are usually referred to as “quiet sitting” (jingzuo 靜坐).
- 11.
In the case of Daoism, it appears that sitting on one’s heels was the earliest meditation posture, eventually followed by sitting on small stools, and then, under the influence of Buddhism, using the full-lotus posture. Comparatively speaking, one may thus consider the embodied, kinesthetic and material dimensions of human existence. In my own studies of contemplative practice, one thing that I like to consider, perhaps bizarrely, is the history of furniture. While we may take sitting in chairs, and specific kinds of chairs, for granted, there is a history to such material culture, and this also relates to meditation paraphernalia.
- 12.
- 13.
Harold Roth of Brown University has written extensive studies of classical Daoist apophatic meditation, including associated stages, states, and benefits.
- 14.
Technically speaking, from a Daoist perspective nothing is actually separated from the Dao; this is only apparently so. However, on an experiential level, there are varying degrees of connection. As the famous Daoist oral saying has it, “Human beings may be distant from the Dao, but the Dao is never distant from humans.” Recalling the above-mentioned “Joy of Fish” story,” here one also thinks of the following line: “Fish flourish in water; humans flourish in the Dao” (ch. 6).
- 15.
From my perspective, one important potential trajectory in the “philosophy of religion” involves a “philosophy of praxis,” that is, theoretical examination of praxis. The latter category includes the informing worldview, distinctive methods, related experiences, and projected goals of specific training regimens. See Komjathy 2007, 2015; also Schilbrack 2014.
- 16.
According to the text, “The fish trap exists because of the fish; once you’ve gotten the fish, you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit; once you’ve gotten the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words exist because of meaning; once you’ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find a person who has forgotten words so I can have a word with him?” (ch. 26; adapted from Watson 1968, p. 302). And “Horses and oxen have four feet—this is what I mean by the celestial. Putting a halter on the horse’s head, piercing the ox’s nose—this is what I mean by the human. So I say: do not let what is human wipe out what is celestial; do not let what is purposeful wipe out what is fated; do not let [the desire for] gain lead you after fame. Be cautious, guard it (shou 守), and do not lose it–this is what I mean by returning to authenticity (fanzhen 反真)” (ch. 17; adapted from Watson 1968, p. 183). For a discussion of animals in Daoism, with particular attention to the distinction between wildness and domestication, see Komjathy 2011c. In terms of language as a “fish-trap,” “rabbit-snare,” and “horse-bridle,” one also thinks of the discussion of “goblet-words” (zhiyan 卮言) in the Book of Master Zhuang (see chs. 27 and 33). See, e.g., Wang 2004, 2014.
- 17.
Liezi 列子 (Master Lie) appears throughout the text, including in chapters 1, 7, 18, 21, 28 and 32. He eventually became the inspiration for the pseudonymous Liezi (Book of Master Lie; DZ 733), which most likely dates to the third century CE. Like the Book of the Venerable Masters and Book of Master Zhuang, this text has received excessive attention on the part of philosophers. In the overall context of Daoist history, it is a relatively minor text. See Komjathy 2013.
- 18.
While shan 善 is often translated as “goodness,” in my praxis-based reading it refers to “accomplishment” beyond skillfulness. Chapter 8 of the Book of Venerable Masters goes on to discuss the seven aptitudes (qishan 七善). See Komjathy 2013.
- 19.
The text explicitly refers to yangsheng 養生 (“nourishing life”), here translated as “caring for life.” This technical term often designates health and longevity techniques. However, the dominant model in the Book of Master Zhuang is not life-prolongation, but cosmological attunement and acceptance of death, specifically participation in the Dao’s transformative process. There is also an explicit critique of health and longevity practice in chapter 15. See Komjathy 2013.
- 20.
In this respect, one also thinks of the “sword of no-sword” employed by Zhuangzi in Chap. 30.
- 21.
This chapter is titled “Qiwu lun” (On Making Things Equal). Like the principle of “carefree wandering” (xiaoyao you 逍遙遊; ch. 1), “making things equal” (qiwu 齊物) is both a classical Daoist practice and a quality of spiritual realization. Along these lines, it is interesting that in the above-mentioned story of the exchange between Gourd Master and the shaman Ji Xian, the latter comments that the former has “no stability” (buqi 不齊). The practice of “equalizing” leads to the state of formlessness, or mystical pervasion.
- 22.
Here and in the passages that follow, I have placed negational characters in bold font. These include bu 不 (“not”), fei 非 (“not”), wei 未 (“not yet”), and wu 無 (“without”).
- 23.
Along these lines one might also consider the character chi 痴, which consists of the chuang 疒 (“sickness”) radical with zhi 知 (“know”). In later Chinese history, this character was used to translate the Buddhist technical term avidyā, “ignorance” or “delusion,” which is one of the Three Poisons, with the other two being greed and anger. While Buddhists might see this “ignorance” as a failure to understand the nature of existence as characterized by suffering, impermanence, and no-self (anātman), classical Daoism might suggest that “ignorance” is rather the sickness of knowing.
- 24.
The Qingjing jing (Scripture on Clarity and Stillness) is an anonymous eighth-century Daoist text of unclear provenance. It is part of what I have labeled the Tang-dynasty “Clarity-and-Stillness literature.” See Komjathy 2008, vol. 4.
- 25.
Under modern feminist readings of Daoism, phrases like “mother” and “embracing the feminine” have been interpreted as “proto-feminist.” However, this is highly problematic, as the terms are only conventionally and mildly gendered. Read contextually, Dao as mother refers to that which generates and nourishes all beings without discrimination; it has no other “feminine” attributes (e.g., compassion). Similarly, “the feminine” is largely synonymous with yin, a cosmological principle in dynamic interaction with yang.
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Komjathy 康思奇, L. (2017). “Names Are the Guest of Reality”: Apophasis, Mysticism, and Soteriology in Daoist Perspective. In: Knepper, T., Kalmanson, L. (eds) Ineffability: An Exercise in Comparative Philosophy of Religion. Comparative Philosophy of Religion, vol 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64165-2_5
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