Jotika_99

Thanks for your reply. Linnell provides not just any glossary, but a glossary for the understanding the Neiye. Another glossary might include gas, air, smell, weather, to make angry, to annoy, to get angry, etc. for translating Qi which would be irrelevant to usage in the Neiye. What the Neiye is saying, or what Linnell thinks it is saying, is given in his specific glossary for Qi. So that when reading Qi in his text, the reader would be expected to refer to its definition as he gives it – which is various. So the reader then is left with the option of filling in “Qi” with one of these definitions which he has listed or use all of them (=the consolidated view). And “breath” is among the meanings for Qi which a reader may choose.

Although Linnell does not use “breath” for “Qi” and leaves it untranslated, in his introduction to his Neiye, he says that it can also refer to breath. Apparently, he may be undecided because of its broad meaning but sees that it also includes breath. He, like Eno, do not commit themselves to any specific meaning. Perhaps as an indication that either they are unsure of about the context or because they see that here ch'i/qi applies at different levels: to be consolidated as physical energy, biological energy, as cognitive force, as vital breath, etc. Linnell: 氣 “Qi” (Ch'i): vitality, life force, life energy, vital energy; it can also refer to the breath; here, it is needed for life and dwells in the heart/mind, and is also left untranslated.

A synthesis of the first line by Reid and Yueya might capture the sense a little better. Since a concentrated ch'i/qi 氣 is ching/jing 精 which when stabilized leads to shen 神 (=numinous), which also implies shenming 神明 (=numinous illumination). So a combined rewording would look like this: 1 - By concentrating your qi, (and becoming) numinous,

I gather from the work of H. Ross (Nei-yeh; 1999) that there was a type of early Daoist meditation practiced that was distinct from the kind we later find in Buddhism (e.g., Vipassana). But L. Kohn, in her book “Sitting in Oblivion” (2010) appears to think that Taoist meditation is essentially a version of Buddhism type of meditation, not unlike what is nowadays called “mindfulness.” So a question arises: If there was an early form of Taoist meditation, distinct from Vipassana-like types, what were the steps? A preliminary sketch of two early Taoist mediational systems that appear to have been in place, without apparent Buddhist influence, is as follows (but how they were reconciled is unknown): 1- Neiguan內觀 (inner observation; passive meditation) involves a general openness to all sorts of sensory stimuli and encourages a sense of free-flowing awareness with detached observation. It encourages the appreciation of life as a flow [=rhythm of the Dao]. In noticing this series of exhalation and inhalation patterns, one becomes directly aware of the "dynamisms of Heaven and Earth" through ascending and descending breath. 2- Jing靜 (tranquility) and qing 清 (clarity) produced by the practice of neiguan after dingxin 定心 (stabilizing the mind) has been achieved. Is associated with acute hearing and clear vision, and generating jing 精 "vital essence". 3- Ming 明(radiance/brightness): produced after neiguan has been established. 4- Xu 虛 (emptiness; fasting of the mind): making the mind empty like air (qi 氣) so that the Dao can gather in it and one can “apprehend things more accurately and respond more effectively than when it relies on rational thinking or ordinary sense perception.” II. 1- Zhiguan 止觀: is an active concentrative exercise that uses one-pointedness that applies insight to the subject of meditation after neiguan has been established (=access concentration; where hindrances are encountered) and Insights were applied, e.g.: Rhythm vs irregularity Balance vs imbalance Unity vs opposition Correspondence [eg, heaven and earth] Coherence vs incoherence 2- Zhi止 (full concentration) [=dhyana] where meditational hindrances have been overcome 3- Shouyi 守一 (Guarding the one): maintaining oneness" involving concentrative meditation on a single point (=ding). 3- Ding 定: samadhi [samapatti] the union of subject and object (non-dual awareness)