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deci belle

Complete Reality Booklist

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I'm hoping HE will update this list as he seems to be more on top of the situation than I.❤

 

It's actually quite possible there won't be a Complete Reality section as well as the Contributed Articles section from what I'm hearing…

 

Anyway, these titles have served me well over the last 20 years~ I've actually worn out the Taoist I Ching, The Book of Balance and Harmony, and if Thunder in the Sky weren't hardback, it would have been replaced already~ haha!!

 

 

I have a very tiny collection of books (about 50cm wide on my little shelf)

 

The Taoist Body (only the last four chapters 7~10) by Kristopher Schipper. trans from the French by Karen C. Duval

 

Red Pine's Taoteching and Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma

 

Thomas Cleary's collection of translations culled from the teachings of the Complete Reality school of Taoism in the Taoist canon: I only have a few of the many Shambhala titles.

 

The Taoist I Ching by Liu I-ming (1796)

The Buddhist I Ching by Chih-hsu Ou-i (17th century)

The Complete I Ching by Alfred Huang

 

Kuei-ku-Tzu (4th century BC)

Tung ling chen ching by Keng-sang Chu

these two volumes appear in the translation titled Thunder in the Sky

 

The Secret of the Golden Flower (T'ai i chin hua tsung chih) by Lu Tung-pin

 

400 Words on the Gold Elixir (Chin tan ssu pai tzu chieh) aka: Inner Teachings of Taoism

Understanding Reality (Wu chen p'ien)

these two preceding volumes were written by Chang Po-tuan ca. 11th century CE

 

Immortal Sisters: Secret Teachings of Taoist Women (Sun Bu-er and others)

 

Huai-nan Tzu (122 BC)

 

Chung ho chi by Li Tao-ch'un (The Book of Balance and Harmony) 13th century CE

 

Sun-tsu ping fa (The Art of War) 6th century BC

 

Vitality Energy Spirit: a Taoist sourcebook

 

Cultivating the Empty Field by Hongzhi (12th century) translated by Taigen Daniel Leighton

 

The Unborn by Bankei translated by Norman Waddell

 

Flowers Fall (with commentary on Dogen's Genjokoan) by Hakuun Yasutani trans: Paul Jaffe

 

Avatsakam Sutra (The Flower Ornament Scripture)

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Deci,

 

Have you read 'Awakening to the Tao' [iSBN:1-59030-344-X] by Lui-i-ming, translated by Cleary?

 

Can you update with above post with the ISBN numbers of your copies? Thanks

 

P

 

Edit: added ISBN number

Edited by PGawley

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hi PG❤ Awakening to the Tao lies in the dim mists of high mountain air. It is a lovely primer I recommend highly. My dharma pal and (don't climb any more) former climbing partner and long-time initiate associated in one Bay Area Tibetan lineage, would bring that when we'd go climb rock+ice in the Sierras. I was shown proper meditation posture and have me sit while throwing rocks at my knees— I forget why that was necessary, but I never once forgot to say OUCH!

 

These books were written before ISBN numbers— just be glad they have titles in English and do some digging!! heehee!!❤

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Deci,

 

Have you read 'Awakening to the Tao' by Lui-i-ming, translated by Cleary?

 

Can you update with above post with the ISBN numbers of your copies? Thanks

 

P

 

Don't forget to list that book's ISBN while you're at it P, it's a good one!

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Great list deci belle, thanks for posting it.

These two books, to me, are the most accessible and understandable for anyone starting out.

I would also add 'Bankei Zen' by Peter Haskel. I like it better than the Waddell version. More poetic.

Cultivating the Empty Field by Hongzhi (12th century) translated by Taigen Daniel Leighton

 

The Unborn by Bankei translated by Norman Waddell

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hi PG❤ Awakening to the Tao lies in the dim mists of high mountain air. It is a lovely primer I recommend highly. My dharma pal and (don't climb any more) former climbing partner and long-time initiate associated in one Bay Area Tibetan lineage, would bring that when we'd go climb rock+ice in the Sierras. I was shown proper meditation posture and have me sit while throwing rocks at my knees— I forget why that was necessary, but I never once forgot to say OUCH!

 

These books were written before ISBN numbers— just be glad they have titles in English and do some digging!! heehee!!❤

I'll keep digging,thank you. I added the ISBN number to my post.

 

I was keen to know what you thought you the book (Awakening to the Tao) as I rate it very highly. Its very accesible, probably due to the fact that its relatively modern (18th CE). I agree it is a great primer. My reading is a loop of....

 

Awakening To The Tao

The Secret of the Golden Flower [iSBN: 978-0-06-250193-6]

and Volume 2 of Cleary's 'The Taoist Classics' [iSBN:978-1-57062-906-8]

 

I also dip into Cleary's translation of 'The Art Of War' [iSBN: 0-87773-452-6] and his translation of 'The Taoist I Ching' [iSBN: 1-59030-260-5] with commentary by Lui-I-Ming.

 

Having said that, reading is one thing, practice is another. Any advice on approach would be most welcome. Actually any advice on reading approach would be great i.e. how to read if you know what I mean.

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Ya P~ I had been into the gnarlier Complete Reality stuff when I got turned on to Liu's Awakening book, so I never bought it even though I'd love to have it on my little shelf. I could still fit a couple more volumes on it (2~3) haha!!

 

Anyone who studies this stuff is indebted to Liu I-ming for his utter command of the subject matter and clarity in elucidating it for those who have the will to see their essential nature and enter the tao in reality.

 

What works are in Taoist Classics Volume 2? All of Shambhala's titles in that series have been compiled and re-packaged into fat hardcovers since I've been using them. I'll bet other bums might like to know as well.

 

I find The Sun Tzu indispensable in terms of gaining a sense of the psychological terrain in ordinary affairs and therefore saving huge amounts of energy.

 

Thanks for all those ISBNs!!

I really value the Taoist I Ching because it helps one to strip one's analysis of the times of events of intellectual and emotional content and bring it down to the bare abstract medicinal or energy level for ascertaining the gravity and degree of potential in terms of the firing process: i.e., advancing or withdrawing the fire and yin convergence.

 

As far as reading goes, I can burn through a couple paragraphs in as many days if I'm not too careful about gazing off into space… hahahaa!!❤ I absolutely do not ever try to understand this stuff. People must remember that this is not about intellect.

 

Self-refinement is a matter of refining yourself away completely— which is a natural affair when you empty the mind and fill the belly. It is intellect that fears this process because essence and life is not about thinking. This is a matter of unbending intent without regard to length of time. Eventually, it will crap out. It will go p00fs!! yahaa!!❤❤

 

Do not apply intellect as a matter of practice itself. If you do, it's like telling your mortal enemy all your secrets …baaaaad!! When you cease to exist and realize what has been there glowing all along it is because you succeeded in forgetting words. Words prop up intellect. Intellect is the seat of identity. Identity is the fallacy at the root of the karmic compulsion to act— which is what perpetuates itself. Empty the mind by not using it. Avoid Vmarco's brand of hodge-podge (collage) creative intellectualism~ if only because complete reality isn't thinking. Similarly, using the classics as speculative recreational philosophy that isn't grounded in your intimate situation to find out what it does, then you can transcend meaning and image. It is only when you succeed in blowing a gaping hole right through the written word to do begin to gain a sense of entry into reality itself.

 

That and constant reflection on the situations I'm dealing with at any given time as I read. Application of the teachings in real time is fundamentally the way to go without a doubt …otherwise, why bother? Of course, that's just me. I just relate the teachings I'm reminded of while reading/reflecting to what is actually going on in my life at the moment.

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Thanks Deci, thats very helpful.

 

Volume 2 of Cleary's 'The Taoist Classics' contains...

  • Understanding Reality (Chang Po-Tuan with commentary by Liu I-Ming)
  • The Inner Teachings of Taoism (Chang Po-Tuan with commentary by Liu I-Ming)
  • The Book of Balance and Harmony (13th Century Anthology of the School of Complete Reality)
  • Practical Taoism (a collection of quotations and practical explanations from the Northern School of Complete Reality)

It also contains an excellent and very helpful foreward by Cleary. Its a nice bundle and I'd highly recommend it.

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Please excuse my lateness to this thread.

 

I think the easiest thing to do is simply search by the translators at amazon.com

 

There are a number by Eva Wong not yet mentioned here

Also search: Fabrizio Predagio, Louis Komjathy, Henry Balfour, Livia Kohn,

 

There are 4 compilations in the Cleary's Taoist classics series.

Also by Cleary: "Taoist Meditation" and "Sex, Health, and Longevity" which are both compilations, the latter attributed to the Yellow Emperor. "Treatise on Abiding in Forgetfulness" by Ssu-ma Ch'eng-chen, (trans. Cleary) might appear in one of Cleary's compilations but I'm not sure which one.

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