Notes and References

All Material, Unless Otherwise Noted, Copyright Donald Lockwood 2007- 2009

Glossary

Chi

Ching

Chun-tzu(junzi) Originally the son, tzu, of a nobleman, chun, who was studying the arts of rulership, the term eventually came to mean any  person studying the subjects deemed necessary for a ruler which came to include poetry, music, the Chinese Classics etc.  Its common translation a “the Superior Man” is in contrast to “the Inferior Man” or Hsiao Jen (xiaojen), taken together have some serious negative connotations, thus the preferred rendering in Inner Sage Tao is exemplary person which brings out one of the most important aspects of the Chun tzu, that the Chun tzu ‘s character, attitudes and conduct should at all times be of the highest nature and thus serve as both an example and more importantly an inspiration to everyone the Chun  tzu meets.

Confucianism

Daemon Originally a daemon was a spiritual being midway between a god and a mortal, thus in Plato Socrates has a “guardian daemon” and in Socrates recounting of the teachings of the Priestess Diotima in the Symposium, Eros is represented as a daemon and not a god, without however, any connotation of evil.  Starting with Xenocrates, one of Plato’s pupils and second successor as head of the Academy, a usage developed which expanded during the Hellenistic period to differentiate Agathodaemon or “good demon” and Cacodaemon or “evil demon”, roughly the equivalent of the Chinese Shen and Kwei.  In the late Hellenistic period agathodaemon tended to be replaced by angel and the cacodaemon simply became demon, see Iamblichus On the Mysteries for an interesting discussion of this expanded hierarchy.

Good,  the The Good is the desirable, this, however, should not be confused with the desired.  The desired is what is believed to be good and it is desired simply because it is believed to be good.  Because ones judgements about the genuine goodness of something can be wrong one needs to be careful to discriminate between what is genuinely good and what only seems to be good.  Such an ability is the hallmark of wisdom.  For a discussion relating The Good and Wisdom see the authors On Wisdom and Happiness.

Happiness

Hsin

Hsin shu

Huang-Lao

Legalism

Macrocosm

Microcosm

Microcosm/Macrocosm

Mohism

Neo-Confucianism

Neo-Platonism

Numinous Mind

Platonism

Psyche The Greek for soul.  It is used on this site as a term for the soul in the Platonic/Plotinian sense, the soul as a complete microcosm of the all and not merely for the individual consciousness of the person.

Ru Tao

Self-realization

Shen Shen has multiple meanings, originally a Shen was a heavenly spirit, contrasted to a Kwei or ghost or earthly spirit.  Later in the physiological tradition it became a refined energy, one of the Three Treasures, and might be rendered as “consciousness potential”, the more shen an individual has the more they can expand their awareness into higher dimensions of existence, when shen is deficient one is bound to the mortal animal life.  Recent work indicates a transitional period in the Fourth Century B.C.E. , documented by the Nei-yeh in which Shen becomes a hidden part of the individual, a “mind within the mind”.  Roth calls it “numinous mind”,  a very satisfactory rendering.

Sincerity

Stoicism

Tao

Taoism

Three Treasures

Wisdom

 

This site is under construction.  More general information will be found on the Home and Introduction pages.  For a discussion of the Sincerity Mandala in the upper left of this page Please see The Sincerity Mandala.