Page 326 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

CUN

received by *Su Lin and Juanzi r~ r and adopted by the Shangqing school.
Other sections are apocryphal but their content matches the original revela-
tion. The text tries to harmonize the practices focused on the dongfang ~J
ffj- (the Cavern Chamber located in the brain) and the deities of the *Taidan
yinshu. It is closely related to the Dongfang neijing m ffj-I*J ~~ (Inner Scripture
of the Cavern Chamber; CT I33), which contains a later version of the dong-
fang method, and the Jinhua yujing ~~.:E.~~ (Jade Scripture of the Golden
Flower; CT 254), which contains part of the Ciyi jing itself.
The Ciyi jing is based on the "formula" of the * Dadong zhenjing and describes
methods that complement other scriptures, including the *Basu jingo At its
core is the dongfang method, which consists in a meditation on the Three
Pure Ladies and the chanting of hymns in their honor. The text also contains
a method to have one's name written in the registers of life by the Five Ancient
Lords, and a method to have one's mortal embryonic knots unraveled by the
Three Ladies, their sons, and the *bajing (Eight Effulgences; see Robinet I993,
I39-43)·
Isabelle ROBINET

ID Robinet 1993, I3I-38; Robinet 1984, I: 76-80 and 2: 261-83
* Shangqing

cun

visualization, actualization

The word cun is a verb that commonly means "to be," "to be present," "to
exist." In this sense it also denotes extreme longevity, as in the famous passage
of *Zhuangzi II, where *Guangcheng zi exclaims: wo du cun hu :fJt3911 :('Pf-, "I
alone survive!" (see trans. Watson 1968, 179).
In Taoist meditation, the word is used in its causative mode, in the sense
of "to cause to exist" or "to make present." It thus means that the meditator,
by an act of conscious concentration and focused intention, causes certain
energies to be present in certain parts of the body or makes specific deities
or scriptures appear before his or her mental eye. For this reason, the word is
most commonly rendered "to visualize" or, as a noun, "visualization." Since,
however, the basic meaning of cun is not just to see or be aware of but to be
actually present, the translation "to actualize" or "actualization" may at times
be correct if somewhat alien to the Western reader.