Page 693 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

LIANXING

to the next. On the contrary, descent to Great Darkness is the way of return:
the adept obtains a rebirth, or "second birth," and comes back to the world
in a body that preserves itself indefinitely, so that he may continue his search
for a higher form of liberation. The final release from the world of form
may happen at any time, or at the conclusion of the cosrpic cycle in which he
lives.
"Refinement of the form" is not attainable only by living adepts. The *Ling-
bao corpus describes a rite that enables the dead to refine their forms in Great
Darkness and their celestial souls (*hun) in the Southern Palace (Nangong 1ti
'8); after some years, the refined body and the purified celestial souls reunite
for rebirth (Bokenkamp 1989). In *Shangqing Taoism, adepts delivered the
same benefit to their ancestors through meditation practices, thus allowing
them to bathe in the Water of Smelting Refinement (yelian zhi shui (Et~Z
7j(), refine their forms, and "receive a new embryo" (gengtai J!H€l; Robinet
1984, I: 170-73)·
Elsewhere, the Xiang'er (trl. Bokenkamp 1997, 89 and 92) criticizes those
who try to "refine the form" through visualization practices, believing that
the inner gods are forms taken by the Dao. Indeed, meditation on one's inner
gods is also described as "refining one's form" (*Baopu zi 5.Il1, 6.128). A passage
found in both the Outer and Inner versions of the *Huangtingjing (Scripture of
the Yellow Court) says that "hiding" oneself (fU 17:) in Great Darkness results
in "seeing one's own form" (jian wu xing 5i!. 1f%) or in "achieving one's own
form" (chengwuxing }j,lG1f%), that is, the "real form" (zhenxing ~%) beyond
one's material body.
Underlying these clifferent trends of thought and religious practice is the
view that achieving transcendence requires going beyond one's own body.
"Form" provides the necessary mediation in this task. As often occurs, neidan
in this instance inherits and develops ideas and customs that originated in vari-
ous contexts-specifically, Taoist thought, early cosmology, Han-Six Dynasties
religious traditions, and meditation practices.

Fabrizio PREGADIO
m Pregadio 2004; Robinet 1979b; Sakade Yoshinobu 1983b

* liandu;xing; neidan; DEATH AND AFTERLIFE; MEDITATION AND VISUALIZATION;
TAOIST VIEWS OF THE HUMAN BODY