Page 94 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

54 T H E ENCYCLOPE DI A OF TAOISM VOL . I
, *wuxing patterns, but adds a divine dimension to this
~ system. The cosmos is an imaginary world where "spirits
are embodied and bodies are spiritualized" (see *xiang).
0 ..ft. Even more than deities, cosmology therefore provides
,&;.. -k the necessary mediation between the Absolute and the
.t,/1 11 human beings. Accordingly, many Taoist practices aim
rJ at fashioning a material or ideal microcosm: the ritual
altar, the alchemical laboratory, and the human body
~ itself are tools to know the cosmos, stride along it, and
~ finally go beyond it.
~7\~
~~..I Taoist alchemists further state that a parcel of the
Original Pneuma (*yuanqi), a sparkle of light that ante-
t dates the formation of the world, lies within each and
et: every thing and being (see *dianhua). The way Taoists
.. travel in the world thus runs in two directions, unlike

.i:..
the way of the cosmologists: not only from the Dao to
r~\ multiplicity, following the unfolding of the world (shun
-j Jilit lit., "continuation"), but also from multiplicity to
the Dao, in a reverse order (ni ~ , lit., "inversion") that
Fig. 8. The cosmogonic
Taoism calls "return" (*fan).
sequence of the Five
The foundation and source of the world is the One
Greats (wutai JiJ::):
Great Simplicity, Great (*yi), an aspect of the Dao or the Original Pneuma. The
Beginning, Great Corn· world consequently has internal coherence and adheres
mencement, Great to general laws and rhythms. These patterns regulate
Plainness, and Great
various systems which, despite their differences, resonate
Ultimate. *Daofa hui-
with each other with respect to these laws. Moreover,
yual1 (Corpus of Taoist
Ritual; CT 1220) , J.9b. the world is a continuum: although the human mind
perceives divisions and reference points in the world,
they only have a conventional and provisional value. Taoists emphasize this
point more often and more strongly than the cosmologists. Various means
are available to reconcile the unity of the world with the multiplicity of its
aspects. One stresses the "fluidity" of the Dao or the Original Pneuma, which
can take all forms because it has none; another focuses on the circulation of
the Original Pneuma which, like a whirlwind, spins the cosmos around and
bestows a specific virtue or character to each of its sectors; while another
offers a dynamic view of a constantly changing world, whose mutations
happen in a way akin to birth or to a seed that grows into a tree, without any
disruption.
But the world cannot appear without taking form, which means that it
requires outlines that delineate things and separate them from one another.
This occurs through a long process of parturition from the indeterminate