Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy by Van Norden Bryan W

Author:Van Norden, Bryan W.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Published: 2011-07-22T04:00:00+00:00

5. Mysticism

Because it emphasizes a kind of knowledge that is nonlinguistic, the Daodejing may be classified as a mystical work. Broadly speaking, mysticism is the view that there is

1. a kind of knowledge

2. that cannot be adequately expressed in words

3. but is important to human life in general.viii

Every major religious tradition has mystical strands of thought, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam. In addition, many great philosophers have mystical elements in their thought, from Plato, the most seminal thinker in the Western tradition, to Martin Heidegger and Ludwig Wittgenstein, perhaps the two most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. Consequently, it would actually be quite surprising if there were not a significant mystical element in early Chinese thought. It might seem that, because they deny that the knowledge they seek can be expressed in words, all forms of mysticism are the same. However, traditions assign different roles to mystical experience, depending upon their overall philosophical framework. For example, in the classic Christian tradition (a) mystical knowledge is a sort of spiritual vision or feeling that (b) reveals a realm of existence (God) that transcends the ordinary world. This experience is intrinsically valuable and it may indirectly support being a good person, because it strengthens the faith, hope, and love needed for true virtue. However, Christian mystics generally insist that (c) the content of the experience neither adds to nor detracts from ordinary ethics. Part of what is so fascinating about Daoist mysticism (and the Daoist-influenced Buddhism of Zen) is that it denies each of these claims. For Daoists, (a′) mystical knowledge is embodied in certain practical activities that are (b′) performed in the everyday world. Furthermore, Daoists insist that (c′) the manifestation of mystical knowledge in practical action is the highest ethical activity.

Try to imagine watching someone who is having a mystical experience. If you have any preconceptions about this at all, you probably are envisioning something like a Christian nun kneeling in prayer or a Buddhist monk sitting cross-legged in the full lotus position. There is some truth to both images. “Quiet sitting” (zazen, as it is known in contemporary Zen) is a significant part of East Asian mysticism, and there is some evidence that it was practiced even in the era of the Daodejing. However, representative images of a Chinese mystic would include someone collecting kindling and gathering water, engaging in the calisthenics of tàijíquán (t’ai-chi ch’üan), or engaged in some other practical activity. In short, Daoism is a mysticism not through vision but through action, not of transcendence but of immanence.

The Daodejing hints at techniques for cultivating oneself; unsurprisingly, these are different from those of the Confucians. Kongzi’s key cultivation metaphor is to reshape oneself, “as if cut, as if polished; / as if carved, as if ground” (Analects 1.15), similar to the way that a piece of rough jade is made into a beautiful statue. Mengzi’s key metaphor is cultivating one’s heart as one would cultivate a sprout into a mature plant (Mengzi 2A6). This difference is reflected in their respective views on qi.

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