The Sky Beyond the Walls - A Chinese Philosophy of the Way

265 Pages·2020·3.205 MB·English

by  Antón Bousquet

The philosophical tradition of ancient China is both extremely rich and varied, A
n
offering mankind different visions of the universe, which complement the other t
ó
traditions that arose in other lands and other eras. One of these is the “philosophy n The Sky Beyond the Walls
B
of the way,” which focuses on leading man to live in accordance with the “way of the o
u
sky,” which is the course of the heavens, the path taken by the flow of nature. An- sq
u
other, which has been heavily influenced by the first, is the Chinese Chan tradition, e
t
bwpaostnfehai ttdninthlW eaode rtrss u ehoobkrlapteineegtht.o rwiteowihcrenesnies, n ompeb fhiy m,tt i hthlihaoteesnrse owiJ traaph apnrheyoad y nroo eoetrtl hs firBg eeew iu pnowadruayedhms sho oe“eifflnDse: etm Z aronose,fa ni bitssnu.um aBrat”t a ofu platt rahprhet ah ,fh otri tolfwoho mtfasah otls e imp bisdsheeye, ir trheathishavts,ivee obae dnnaa o sfldflrfte-r oddeoemn nomocg nb tomth emhaeeane npsw ,t ea ahorxsseisrpsnlikieongg rcogsiiio feat snstthkihectaydyeet. T A Chinese Philosophy of the Way
h
Things of the earth, the materials things that man accumulates, often enslave him. e S
They form a wall that becomes a prison, and his life is devoted to its edification and k
y
protection. Things of the world, that is, the products of man’s mind, can also be B
e
y
part of this wall, leading him to think that the lens through which he sees nature o
n
represents nature itself. Finally, things of the sky, that is, the way he represents the d
t
essence of the whole of nature and being as “spiritual things” transcending his own h
e
experience: “gods,” “spirits,” or “Buddhas,” may lift man up and give him a better W
a
view of the whole of the sky, but they may also hide it from him. Man must there- lls
fore cease to hold on to these things to experience the truth of nature and embrace : A
the way of the sky. Ch
in
The present book represents a roadmap, based on the work of the philosophers es
e
of the way and the Chinese Chan tradition, meant to lead to an awareness of the P
h
nature of the yoke of things and liberation from it. Not meant to be a theoretical ilo
treatise on Eastern philosophy, it rather represents an invitation to a practice: a s
o
transformation of man’s relationship with the things that are part of his life and an p
h
y
experience of the way of the sky. o
f t
h
About the author: e
W
a
Antón Bousquet is an independent researcher specialized in the y
philosophy of language, the philosophy of religion, and compar-
ative cultural studies. He holds a Master’s degree in Linguistics
from the University of Grenoble III in France and a Ph.D. in
Comparative Literature and Intercultural Studies from Fujen
Catholic University in Taiwan. A former teacher of French as a 牆外的天空
foreign language, he has worked in different parts of Europe, the
Middle-East, and Asia.
一種中國「道」哲學的詮釋
Printed by:
Antón Bousquet
The philosophical tradition of ancient China is both extremely rich and varied, A
n
offering mankind different visions of the universe, which complement the other t
ó
traditions that arose in other lands and other eras. One of these is the “philosophy n The Sky Beyond the Walls
B
of the way,” which focuses on leading man to live in accordance with the “way of the o
u
sky,” which is the course of the heavens, the path taken by the flow of nature. An- sq
u
other, which has been heavily influenced by the first, is the Chinese Chan tradition, e
t
bwpaostnfehai ttdninthlW eaode rtrss u ehoobkrlapteineegtht.o rwiteowihcrenesnies, n ompeb fhiy m,tt i hthlihaoteesnrse owiJ traaph apnrheyoad y nroo eoetrtl hs firBg eeew iu pnowadruayedhms sho oe“eifflnDse: etm Z aronose,fa ni bitssnu.um aBrat”t a ofu platt rahprhet ah ,fh otri tolfwoho mtfasah otls e imp bisdsheeye, ir trheathishavts,ivee obae dnnaa o sfldflrfte-r oddeoemn nomocg nb tomth emhaeeane npsw ,t ea ahorxsseisrpsnlikieongg rcogsiiio feat snstthkihectaydyeet. T A Chinese Philosophy of the Way
h
Things of the earth, the materials things that man accumulates, often enslave him. e S
They form a wall that becomes a prison, and his life is devoted to its edification and k
y
protection. Things of the world, that is, the products of man’s mind, can also be B
e
y
part of this wall, leading him to think that the lens through which he sees nature o
n
represents nature itself. Finally, things of the sky, that is, the way he represents the d
t
essence of the whole of nature and being as “spiritual things” transcending his own h
e
experience: “gods,” “spirits,” or “Buddhas,” may lift man up and give him a better W
a
view of the whole of the sky, but they may also hide it from him. Man must there- lls
fore cease to hold on to these things to experience the truth of nature and embrace : A
the way of the sky. Ch
in
The present book represents a roadmap, based on the work of the philosophers es
e
of the way and the Chinese Chan tradition, meant to lead to an awareness of the P
h
nature of the yoke of things and liberation from it. Not meant to be a theoretical ilo
treatise on Eastern philosophy, it rather represents an invitation to a practice: a s
o
transformation of man’s relationship with the things that are part of his life and an p
h
y
experience of the way of the sky. o
f t
h
About the author: e
W
a
Antón Bousquet is an independent researcher specialized in the y
philosophy of language, the philosophy of religion, and compar-
ative cultural studies. He holds a Master’s degree in Linguistics
from the University of Grenoble III in France and a Ph.D. in
Comparative Literature and Intercultural Studies from Fujen
Catholic University in Taiwan. A former teacher of French as a 牆外的天空
foreign language, he has worked in different parts of Europe, the
Middle-East, and Asia.
一種中國「道」哲學的詮釋
Printed by:
Antón Bousquet
If you received this book free of charge and enjoyed its content, you
can support the author and allow him to devote more of his time to
writing by making a donation:
Paypal: paypal.me/antonbousquet
Bitcoin: 1GdQ1RRxEpLgdt1DdfykZ1L7zujgArgxT1
You can also support the author by buying a paperback copy or by
recommending his books to your library. Paperback versions can be
bought on the following websites (click on the link to see a list of all
the books currently available):
Amazon US 
Amazon UK
Amazon Canada
Amazon France
Amazon Japan
Amazon Germany
Amazon Spain
Amazon Italia
.
The Sky
Beyond the Walls
....A Chinese Philosophy of the Way
牆外的天空
一種中國「道」哲學的詮釋
Antón Bousquet
2020
Copyright © 2020 Antón Bousquet (Antoine Bousquet).
Allrightsreserved. Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinany
form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including informa-
tion storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing
from the publisher.
Cover picture from: Pixabay.
Illustrations by Yushan Gu and the author.
ISBN: 9798654865137 (Paperback)
Other books by the author:
A (Hi)story of Language and Being in the Bible – An
Interpretation Based on Heidegger and Dürckheim
The Man in the House of Being – A Story of Language
and Being in the Bible
The World of the Gauls – Foundation(s) of a Celtic
Philosophy
Between the Twilights – An Interlinear Translation of
the Syriac Orthodox Breviary
Printed by:
koadig.wordpress.com

Table of Contents
Contents
Table of Contents
Abbreviations
Introduction 1
1 The Things of the Earth 13
1.1 The Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.2 Awareness of the Things of the Earth . . . . . . . . 21
1.3 Examination of the Things of the Earth . . . . . . 35
1.4 The Course of the Things of the Earth . . . . . . . 55
1.5 The Release of the Things of the Earth . . . . . . 69
1.6 Playing with the Things of the Earth . . . . . . . . 89
2 The Things of the World 113
2.1 The World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
2.1.1 The Nature of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
2.1.2 The Myriad of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
2.2 Awareness of the Things of the World . . . . . . . 129
2.3 Examination of the Things of the World . . . . . . 139
2.4 The Release of the Things of the World . . . . . . 155
CONTENTS
2.5 Playing with the Things of the World . . . . . . . 184
3 The Things of the Sky 203
3.1 The Sky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
3.2 Awareness of the Things of the Sky . . . . . . . . . 212
3.3 Examination of the Things of the Sky . . . . . . . 220
3.4 The Release of the Things of the Sky . . . . . . . . 224
3.5 Playing with the Things of the Sky . . . . . . . . . 236
Conclusion 245
Bibliography 251
Abbreviations
Ch. Chapter.
TBA. Translation by the author.