Coming to Terms with Timelessness: Daoist Time in Comparative Perspective - Paperback

by Livia Kohn (Editor)

Time, and in particular timelessness, plays a key role in Daoism, both in its more speculative and practical dimensions. This book explores this in comparison with other philosophies and religions. It alternates presentations of a more theoretical, speculative nature with those that focus on concrete life situations, examining the psychological potentials of time perception, the nature of situations, Daoism's holistic worldview, similarities between Laozi and Plotinus, and Daoist versus Greek geometric models of the cosmos. They further study the role of Daoist notions in New Wave Taiwanese cinema, relate Daoist ideas to modern thinkers and its cultivation techniques to Zen Buddhism, trace the relevance of the Yijing to the Jungian concept of synchronicity, and explore the problem of boredom and predictability in prolongevity and immortality.
The book offers a wide range of topics and perspectives, engaging with new materials while stimulating innovative insights and opening new avenues of exploration. A must for all interested in the nature of Daoism, issues of time, and comparative philosophy.

Author Biography

Livia Kohn, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita of Religion and East Asian Studies at Boston University. The author or editor of close to sixty books (including the annual Journal of Daoist Studies), she spent ten years in Kyoto doing research. She currently serves as the executive editor of Three Pines Press as well as the Journal of Daoist Studies, runs international conferences, and guides study tours to Japan.