The Psycho-somatic Mysticism in Wu Shouyang’s Internal Alchemy
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Speaker: Mr LEE Chung Ta 李忠達 (NTU): d00121003@ntu.edu.tw / budistdada@gmail.com
This paper is a study of Wu Shouyang’s internal alchemy. Wu, the founder of Wu Liu Daoism in the Ming, was an especially influential figure, whose theory has been widely practiced until today. Since Daoism has long emphasized the corporeal dimension, specifically the human body as an everlasting entity, Wu’s theory continued this tradition and further systematized it. Wu introduced a three layer system of body-mind cultivation that transformed human body and mind into a numinous unity in a step by step fashion. By practicing internal alchemy, one can experience the sacred in/as/through one’s own body; in addition, one also purges one’s own mind along the process. The final goal of this religious praxis is to reunite body and mind formerly separated by secular vexations and to become a mystical being united with the ultimate Dao. Few researchers have fully investigated the development of internal alchemy in Ming and Qing dynasty and revealed the philosophical meaning of Wu’s theory. Therefore, this paper argues that Wu’s internal alchemy represents a psycho-somatic mysticism that emphasizes not only the physical but also the psychological dimension, broadening our understanding of mystical experience and Daoist tradition.
Keywords: Wu Shouyang, internal alchemy, Daoism, mysticism