Getting some Qingjing out of your Zuowang

A book review of;

“Daoist Meditation”

by 司馬承禎 (Sīmǎ Chéngzhēn),

trl. Wu Jyh Cherng (Pub.: Singing Dragon)

I don’t normally do book reviews but when I do… I like to give you something special.

Meditation lies at the heart of Daoism and if you want to take your internal martial arts deeper, mental focus and spiritual clarity is an area worthy of your research time. When Singing Dragon publishers asked me to review “Daoist Meditation” I couldn’t believe my luck. I had been trying to find out more specifically about the Daoist approach to meditation but was struggling through a host of overly-academic works and bad translations.

Before my copy arrived I looked into who 司馬承禎 (Sīmǎ Chéngzhēn) was because this volume was said to mostly focus on a particular work of his: 坐忘論 (Zuòwàng Lùn) - “Theory of Sitting & Forgetting”. It turns out Sima Chengzhen was one of the top Daoist priests of the 上清 (Shàngqīng) lineage during China’s Tang dynasty who rose to become the grand master of that lineage and an advisor to the royal court. The ruling Tang family liked Daoism so much that they built many Daoist temples and over the course of the dynasty, eleven of their princesses became Daoist nuns.

The “Theory of Sitting & Forgetting” was written at a time when the Buddhist influence was being heavily felt throughout China. Especially during the reign of China’s only Empress regnant, the infamous Empress Wu (武則天 (Wǔ Zétiān)) who was noted to favour Buddhism. Consequently Buddhism had a great influence on Daoist thinkers of the time.

The translator of “Daoist Meditation” was Mr. Wu Jyh Cherng, a Taiwanese Daoist High Priest who moved to Rio de Janeiro and founded the Daoist Society of Brazil. Despite his commentary being transcribed from recordings of lectures he gave in Brazilian-Portuguese, the book hangs together as if written by a native English speaker, so great respect should also go to the Portuguese-to-English translators as well.

Mr. Cherng has navigated these tricky translating waters with deft aplomb. After having read two other other versions of the Zuowang Lun in preparation for this review I found discovering Mr. Cherng’s translation with its practical and insightful commentary akin to finding the holy grail. The commentary really opened up this historical text. Even today the Chinese language is ripe with metaphor but add religious symbolism on top of that and this book could have been a nightmare to draw anything helpful on the subject from.

A good translation with insightful commentary is not easy to find

Although the original text is profound, the translation and commentary drew me into a world of reflection. I actually had a tough time finishing it because I found I was quite happy to put it down to reflect on what I had just read. In fact I am in the process of re-reading it because I really don’t feel that once is enough to fully take advantage of all this book has to offer. Maybe it will take a lifetime to get there and I know a book can never make up for a teacher but at least now I have something to help me take the next step towards increased 清靜 (Qīngjìng) - Clarity and Stillness.

My only negative criticism of this book is that the switch between the commentary and the quotes from the Zuowang Lun were not more heavily distinguished. The commentary and quotes are in fairly similar fonts and practically the same colour (black and dark grey). This means the reader had to be mindful of the switch between the two in order to not confuse them. It wasn’t a big problem and the reader soon gets used to it but it caught me enough times that I would have appreciated marking the quotes out with clearer distinction.

There is a Daoist saying; “未有神仙不讀書” (Wèiyǒu shénxiān bù dúshū) which translates as “There has never been a Daoist immortal who hasn’t read a book.”  Now I’m not saying that this book will grant immortality or enlightenment but to quote chapter 64 of the 道德經 (Dàodéjīng) “千里之行，始於足下。” (Qiān lǐ zhī xíng, shǐ yú zú xià.) - The journey of a thousand miles begins under your feet. Immortality or enlightenment is going to be tough for most of us that can’t commit their lives to full-time spiritual study / practice but this book is very sympathetic to the modern Western lifestyle. I enjoyed it immensely and thoroughly recommend it. I have provided a link to the book at Amazon.com for your convenience but it is available through all good bookshops and online book sellers.

And finally a big thank you to Singing Dragon Publishers for sending me a copy to review.

Stay mindful my friends.

Photo credits

1. Meme of Dos Equis’ most interesting man in the world. Original courtesy of Dos Equis

2. Parody of Holy Grail. Original screenshot courtesy of Monty Python’s Flying Circus

3. Terry Neil / Daoist Fighting Arts