Many Paths, One Center

In approaching the translation of the Dàodéjīng from this perspective, a worldview is revealed that forms the basis for all the Body/Mind/Spirit healing that was discovered in ancient China and that still has the enormous potential for being applied today. This application exists on the lower symptomatic level, the middle preventive level, and the higher level of Fulfilling Inner Potential. According to the worldview of the Dàodéjīng, if we are able to Fulfill this Potential, we will never get sick and if we don’t Fulfill this Potential, we will get sick no matter what else we do. Moreover, fulfilling this potential is also the foundation for world peace and sustainability. Therefore, this worldview connects individual healing with the healing of society as a whole. This unique perspective is desperately needed in the world today and this book provides the principles through which it can be attained.

Many Paths, One Center is a massive and impressive magnum opus on all things Dàodéjīng.There are over 800 commentaries on Laozi, but this one is truly unique —a lifetime labor of love and brilliant research that sets a new standard in this field.

Its primary focus is how Lǎozi’s Great Dào is embedded within acupuncture and Chinese medicine, but goes much further. It compares how other paths—Confucian classics, Tibetan and Chan Buddhism, Hindu Upanishads, Christianity, fields of philosophy, psychology, dietetics (macrobiotics), inner alchemy, Qìgōng/Tàijí, Yìjīng, and meditation deal with issues raised within the Dàodéjīng. This perspective gives a breathtaking overview of the historical and thematic context of Lǎozi’s classic that cannot be found elsewhere.

Of great strength in this work are detailed translations from other Chinese classics like the Zhuāngzǐ and obscure Daoist texts that Willmont juxtaposes with masterful ease. He peers under the hood of Daoist cosmology and shines his light into little or wholly misunderstood corners such as the true meaning of virtue ( Dé), how the “ten eyes” of its ideogram relate to medical and spiritual health, the difference between faith and belief, the root causes of suffering, and the drivers of good and evil.

Readers can expect to spend years browsing its breadth (divided into convenient short sections, with dozens of helpful diagrams), and probing its depths to find the pearls most useful on one’s path. I own dozens of translations and commentaries on Lǎozi yet was surprised by how much I did not know despite my decades of study. Every lover of Dào should give themselves this gift of re-discovering Lǎozi.

—Michael Winn, author of ten courses on Daoist Inner Alchemy & Qìgōng, editorial board member of the Journal of Daoist Studies, and founder of HealingTaoUSA.com.

Features

Table of Contents

Introduction 13

Overview 13

Defining the Terms of the Thematic Context 14

Worldview as a Path towards Restoring Humanity 16

Defining Dào and Dé 17

Manifestation of the World 18

Defining Human Nature 21

Fragmentation 23

Fragmentation through Human Action 23

Fragmentation through the Five Phases 24

Authority and Force 25

The Healing Aspect of Empowerment in the Dàodéjīng 26

Restoration: Healing Male and Female Imbalance 27

The Thematic Context 31

Dào: A Definition 31

Dào as Source 35

Source 35

Emptiness (Xū 虛) 39

Mystery (Xuán 玄) 41

Subtle (Miào 妙) 42

Profound (Wēi 微) 43

Profoundly Subtle and Mysterious (Wēimiào Xuán 微妙玄) 43

Non-Being (Wú 無) 44

Wú 無: Non-Being 44

Wúyǒu 無有: Non-Being 44

No-Thingness (Wúwù 無物) 45

Oneness (Yī 一) 46

Dào as Path or Way 53

Definition 53

The Way of Heaven (Tiān Zhī Dào 天之道) 53

The Way of Man (Rén Zhī Dào 人之道) 55

Dào as Path in Daoism 56

Dào as Path in Buddhism 57

Other Japanese and Korean Expressions 59

Hub (Gǔ 轂) 59

Manifestation of Dào into the World 63

Manifestation in the Thematic Context 63

Manifestation (Shēng 生) as an Individual Term 64

The Beginning 69

Great Beginning (Dàshùn 大順) 69

Beginning 70

Beginning of All Things 71

Pre-Polarized State (Wújí 無極) 72

Primal Chaos (Hùndùn 渾沌) 73

Vague and Elusive (Hūhuǎng 惚恍) 77

Chaotic and Unformed (Dùndùn 沌沌) 78

Dark and Concealed (Hūnhūn 昏昏) 78

Pattern/Template or Image (Xiàng 象) 78

Images and Elephants 78

Yìjīng 80

Number Symbolism 82

Model (Shì 式) 87

Four Stages 88

Prior Heaven Sequence of the Trigrams 90

Ancient Times (Gǔ 古, Xī 昔) 90

Former Heaven (Xiāntiān 先天)/Latter Heaven (Hòutiān 後天) 91

Deities 92

Ancestors (Zōng 宗) 92

God (Dì 帝) 95

Motion 103

Non-Action (Wúwèi 無為) 103

Non-Action in the Human Realm 104

A Deeper Level of Understanding 107

Attainment 109

Methods 111

Cosmogony 112

Natural Spontaneity/That Which is So of Itself (Zìrán 自然) 115

Action (Wèi 爲) 119

Connection 120

Heaven and Earth (Tiāndì 天地) 120

The Whirling Vortex (Chōng 沖) 121

The World (Chén 塵) 121

Below Heaven or World (Tiān xià 天下) 122

Frontier (Yù 域) 123

Ten Thousand Things or All Things (Wànwù 萬物) 123

Being (Yǒu 有) 124

Dé/Virtue and the Psycho-Spiritual Nature of Humanity 127

Heart/MIND (Xīn 心) 127

True Nature (Xìng 性) 128

Dé/Virtue 德 130

Mysterious Virtue (Xuándé 玄德) 140

Virtue/Protection 142

Virtue as a Natural Aspect of Manifestation 142

The Polarization Cycle of Virtue 142

Transformation, Self-Reflection, and Unification 143

The Development of Virtue through Sacred Geometry 144

The “Mystery” of Mysterious Virtue 147

The Higher Virtues or Five Constant Virtues (Wǔcháng 五常) 149

Definition 149

High and Low Virtue 153

Yin-Yang and the Five Constant Virtues 157

The Five Constant Virtues in Buddhism 158

Xìn/Accountability (信) 161

Zhì/Wisdom (智) 169

Yì/Righteousness (義) 176

Rén/Humanity (仁) 179

The Lower Virtues: The Five Psycho-Emotional Reactions and Responses 184

Emotion 185

Mind: The Five Spirits 189

Summary 197

Psychological Perspectives 197

Acupuncture 197

Inner Alchemy 200

The Fragmentation of Dào and the Division into the Sacred and Mundane 201

Confusion and Disorder (Luàn 亂) 201

Being Uprooted From Dào (Bá 拔) 212

Good and Evil 212

Loss 216

Misfortune 219

Calamities (Yóu 尤) 220

Retribution 221

Sickness (Bìng 病) 223

Suffering 227

A Buddhist Approach 227

A Daoist Approach 227

Suffering in the Dàodéjīng 227

Worldly Gain (Qǔ 取) 230

Sensuality 231

Desire (Yù 欲) 231

Abundance (Fēng 豐) 237

Value and Prestige (Guì 貴) 240

Profit/Advantage and Personal Gain (Lì 利) 242

Selfishness 245

Cleverness 246

The Naming Process: Míng 名 247

Personal Agendas (Shì 事) 251

Contention 252

Arrogance 256

Harm (Shāng 傷) 257

Force 259

General Force 259

Military Force 263

Political or Governmental Force 273

Ideological Force 286

When the Lord/Emperor and the Lord/God are One 286

Authority Figures from a Classical Acupuncture Perspective 288

The Deification Myth and the Foundation of Authority 295

Gods, Goddesses, and the Fabrication of Worldview 303

Embracing Dào 309

General Principles 309

Return 309

Primal Simplicity (Sùpǔ 素樸) 321

Smallness (Xiǎo 小) 334

Infant 335

The Feminine Principle 342

Yin Attributes 355

Water (Shuǐ 水) 355

Water/River (Jiāng 江) 358

Streams (Chuān 川) 358

River (Sì 汜) 359

Deep Whirlpool/Abyss (Yuān 淵) 359

Depths (Zhàn 湛) 360

Ocean/Sea (Hǎi 海) 361

Water and the Ruling of the Nation 361

Action and Non-Action Revisited 364

Knowledge (Zhī 知) 364

Epistemology and the Knowledge of the West 367

Rational Knowledge 370

Emotional Knowledge 373

Wisdom Knowledge 374

Intuitive Knowledge 374

Yin-Yang Opposition and Balance 375

Self-Knowledge 377

Mystical Knowledge 378

Practical Use 380

Destiny (Mìng 命) 382

An Historical Perspective 382

Separation 384

Restoration 385

Remaining Terms 389

Restoration and Healing 395

Healing 395

Regulate/Govern/Heal (Zhì 治) 396

Nourish (Yǎng 養) 398

Preventive Medicine (Zǎofú 早服) 398

Protection 399

Dependability/Orderliness/Constancy (Cháng 常) 400

Interpretations from Other Traditions 403

Constancy 403

The Order of the Universe 406

Attainments 410

Violations 410

Yīnyáng 陰陽 411

Yin-Yang Balance 411

Yin-Yang Polarity in Christianity 427

Meditation 428

The Introspection of the Inner Self 431

Peace, Clarity, and Purity (Qīng 清) 432

Quietude (Jìng 靜) 433

Stillness (Qīngjìng 清靜) 435

Embracing the One (Bàoyī 抱一) 437

Guarding the Center (Shǒuzhōng 守中) 437

Tàijíquán (太極拳) 438

History 438

General Principles 439

Softness and Yielding 441

Water 442

Investing in Loss 443

Invisibility 443

Silk Reeling 445

Alchemy 448

(Self) Realization (Chéng 成) 451

Enlightenment (Míng 明) 452

The Sage (Shèng Rén 聖人) 454

Longevity/Immortality 463

Long Life (Chángshēng 長生) 463

Old Age (Cháng 長) 463

Longevity (Shòu 壽) 464

Immortality 465

The Thematic Context and Worldview of the Dàodéjīng 472

Thematic Context 472

Dào as Both Source and Path 472

The Manifestation of Dào into the World 473

Human Nature and the Psycho-Spiritual Dimension of Humanity 473

The Fragmentation of Dào and the Origin of Suffering 475

Embracing Dào for the Restoration of Humanity 481

Worldview 492

A Definition 492

The Development of Worldview 492

The Hunter-Gatherer Age 494

The Agricultural Age 494

The Pre-Industrial Age 494

The Industrial Age 494

The Post-Industrial Age 494

Worldview in the Dàodéjīng 496

Inclusivity or Exclusivity 496

Normal and Abnormal Polarizations of the Five Phase Cycle 502

Ideological Judgment and Worldview 511

Final Summary 515

Appendix 521

Index 526

Bibliography 531

Endnotes 537