Transcendental Illness

However, illness for many (even within privileged societies) is an everyday reality, particularly if there is no cure, or the case that medicines can only ‘control’ the situation for a time. Even in China where Daoism is an ancient medicalised spirituality, people who are ill keep themselves as ‘free’ of angst as possible, and seek to detach a ‘clear’ mind from an ill body as much as possible.

Daoist Master Liu Ming Rui (1839—1933)

In the 26th year of the rule of emperor Guangxu (光绪) – which corresponds to the Western year 1900 – after living for many years in cultivated seclusion at the ‘Secondary Canal Village’ (次渠村 – Ci Qu Qun) area of eastern Beijing, Liu Ming Rui attained complete transcendence of the physical body, and became a truly ‘non-knowing’ (无知 – Wu Zhi) person. He passed away at the age of 93 and is considered a 20th generation Grand Master of the Namo School.

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