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UBC Theses and Dissertations

The Huiming Jing : a translation and discussion Nicholson, James Michael

Abstract

This thesis consists primarily of a translation of the Huiming Jing [Chinese characters], a text written by Liu Huayang [Chinese characters] in 1794 that incorporates Taoist inner alchemical training with Buddhist language and concepts. In addition to the translation, the thesis discusses Liu's claim that in the text that he reveals the secrets that allowed the Buddhas and patriarchs to achieve enlightenment. For him, to reveal the secrets seems to mean primarily to explain Buddhist and Taoist terminology and concepts in terms of the circulation and interaction of energies within the body. He also emphasizes that this work of energies has clear stages that must be followed in sequence. However, while it is possible to discern broad stages in the work that Liu describes, on close examination, the obscurity and contradictions in the language seriously hinder attempts to decode, translate or render them fully coherent or intelligible. In the end, it is an ever-shifting play between order and disorder that characterizes our text, and can itself ultimately be understood as a tool intended to allow the adept to move beyond the world of words that can never fully reflect reality into a state of enlightenment.

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