Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Taoist

12th Century

China
(East Asia)

Sun Buer

Timeline (1124 - 1182?)

Poems by Sun Buer
Books - Links

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Sun Buer (Sun Bu-er, Sun Pu-erh) is one of a group of female Taoist masters collectively referred to as The Immortal Sisters. While many legendary stories have accumulated around these figures, Sun Buer is clearly a historical individual.

Sun Buer was married and had three children, taking up Taoist practice only when she was 51 years old. Her husband had been studying with the Taoist master Wang Zhe for several years before Sun Buer. The following story is told of how she began her discipleship:

Wang Zhe, feigning drunkenness, barged into Sun Buer's bedroom and collapsed in an apparent stupor. Sun Buer was so shocked that she had the doors to her bedroom locked, trapping Wang Zhe inside, and sent a servant to fetch her husband. When her husband arrived, he said it was impossible for Wang Zhe to be locked in the room because he himself had just been speaking with the Taoist master. They opened the locked door to Sun Buer's room and found it empty.

After this incident, Sun Buer also became a student of Wang Zhe, attaining realization of the Way.

Many of Sun Buer's poems focus on Taoist practices of inner alchemy, using a precise, yet highly metaphoric language in reference to sacred energies and the subtle anatomy, calling to mind the devoutly technical works of Tantra and other forms of Yoga.

Poems by Sun Buer

	Cut brambles long enough,
	Gathering the Mind
	Precious Treatise on Preservataion of Unity on the Great Way
	Refining the Spirit
	Spirit and energy should be clear as the night air;
	The beginning of the sustenance of life

Recommended Books

Immortal Sisters: Secret Teachings of Taoist Women, Edited by Thomas Cleary

Amazon.com

The Shambhala Anthology of Women's Spiritual Poetry, Edited by Aliki Barnstone

Amazon.com

Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women, Edited by Jane Hirshfield

Amazon.com

Related Links:

	Excerpts from the Historical Legend of Sun Bu-er http://womensearlyart.net/immortals/buer.html Several brief legendary stories from the life of Sun Bu-er
	Sun Buer http://www.eng.taoism.org.hk/general-daoism/eminent-philosophers&accomplished-daoists/pg1-4-28-7.asp A brief biography of Sun Buer and introduction to her teachings on inner alchemy.
	Sun Bu-er http://home.infionline.net/~ddisse/sunbuer.html Brief biography, several poems, and web resources.
	The On Line Journal of the I Ching, Yi Jing - Hexagram 57 http://www.fortunecity.com/business/influence/1805/eldest_daughter.htm This page contains several anecdotes from the life of Sun Pu-erh.
	Chinese Zen-Taoist Immortal Women Poets http://www.womensearlyart.net/immortals/immortals.html Shows severl poems by Sun Buer.
	The Way of the Ultimate Tao http://www.dhushara.com/book/tao/tao.htm This extended page contains a detailed legend from the life of Sun Buer that touches on elements of Taoist sexuality.

Please support the Poetry Chaikhana, as well as the authors and publishers of sacred poetry, by purchasing some of the recommended books through the links on this site. Thank you!

Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Sun Buer

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Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World