Tao Te Ching

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Of an ancient Chinese philosopher, perhaps, or of a nineteenth-century Oxford don who was enchanted by little girls. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others.

Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu - The Library Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu - The Library

This version irritates me a lot, largely because of Stephen Mitchell's arrogance in writing it (I'll go into that in a bit). The necessity of pausing and reflecting makes reading this material fulfilling, especially when I felt I moved closer to understanding.With his adoption of the concepts from Zen Buddhism and his borrowing of ideas from Christianity, Mitchell’s version of the Tao Te Ching is not a scholarly faithful translation but rather a spiritual interpretation that is heavily improvised. Lao Tzu also likes to comment on the dangers of wealth and living beyond ones most basic needs, as well as expressing his opinions on governance and anti-violence sentiments. A modern princess—of England, say, or Monaco— serves the purpose of being an adornment in the fantasy life of the public. When all is said and done we will be walking along the path and no matter what we see, think or do there is only the way.

Tao Te Ching by Stephen Mitchell | Waterstones

His books for young readers include The Wishing Bone, winner of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award as the best book of poetry for children published in the United States in 2003, and Jesus: What He Really Said and Did, which was chosen by the American Library Association’s Booklist as one of the top ten religious books for children in 2002. Stephen Mitchell was born to a Jewish family, educated at Amherst College, [2] the University of Paris, [2] and Yale University, [2] and "de-educated" through intensive Zen practice. That any scholar would think that ancient Chinese philosophy could easily fit these convenient contemporary cultural touchstones in only a few sentences is baffling, and offensive. With Taoism, even if you don’t believe in the Force-like nature of the Tao—and in case there’s any question, I don’t—you can still consider yourself a Taoist. Instead, the contents of the Tao Te Ching seem to be a distillation and compilation of early Daoist thought.In the question-and-answer section located in the back of the book, the querent says: "But it's one thing to translate Rilke and the Book of Job when you read German and Hebrew; it's quite another to translate books like the Tao Te Ching, the Bhagavad Gita, or Gilgamesh without any knowledge of the original languages. C.Lau and I listened to multiple audio versions, driving to and from work, but still, I feel I only received just the barest glimpse into the depth of Lao Tzu’s words. There was only a passion for the genuine, a fascination with words, and a constant awareness that the ancient Masters are alive and well in the mind that doesn’t know a thing. I have often been fairly literal — or as literal as one can be with such a subtle, kaleidoscopic book as the Tao Te Ching. The original Wang Bi character in question is 爭, or zhēng, which means "dispute," "strive," "contend," "fight," etc.

Tao Te Ching, English by Stephen Mitchell, Terebess Asia

Yet the way is revered and virtue honoured not because this is decreed by any authority but because it is natural for them to be treated so”. There is no greater illusion than fear, no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself, no greater misfortune than having an enemy. while I like the spare sensitivity of the language in this version, what makes this version extra special are the added bonuses: an engagingly detailed introduction exploring the life of Lao Tzu, what amounts to an original thesis on the very meaning of “tao”, and commentaries (on specific lines, even specific words) appended to each of the 81 entries that have been culled from centuries upon centuries of critical commentary, by scholars and eccentric mystics alike. The oldest excavated portion dates back to the late 4th century BC, but modern scholarship dates other parts of the text as having been written—or at least compiled—later than the earliest portions of the Zhuangzi. But if you’re an intelligent person, and if you have a little time to spare and an interest in philosophy, give this a try and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.It would be easy to be skeptical to think that anyone could follow up on Lao Tzu's masterpiece with a gem of their own but The Second Book of the Tao manages to do just that! Tao Te Ching, HarperCollins, 1988, hardcover ISBN 0-06-016001-2, paperback ISBN 0-06-016001-2, ISBN paperback P. Enigmas and apparent contradictions appear frequently, which compelled me to pause to contemplate what Laozi was trying to convey. The Tao Te Ching clarifies the concepts of Taoism, an ancient school of philosophy that continues to be relevant today. Taoism seeks harmony by freeing the individual from the caustic effects of judgmental thinking, desire, and greed, and its fulcrum is the concept of “non-action,” or literally “doing not-doing.

Tao Te Ching by Stephen Mitchell, Lao Tzu - Ebook | Scribd Tao Te Ching by Stephen Mitchell, Lao Tzu - Ebook | Scribd

Mitchell arbitrarily splits them into sixty-four "chapters", turns most of them to poetry despite the source, and then makes every single facing page a commentary of his own on his own translation. In 81 short, poetic chapters, the book looks at the basic predicament of being alive and teaches how to work for the good with the effortless skill that comes from being in accord with the Tao, or the basic principle of the universe.Sun Tzu’s ‘Art of War’, Lao Tzu’s ‘Tao Te Ching’ and Bruce Lee’s ‘Tao of Jeet Kune Do’, each time given slight variation in its implication and, I love it! However, while The Tao Te Ching was originally written as poetry, these texts were originally prose. INSIDE, IN THE CORE OF YOUR BEING, IN EVERY CELL OF YOUR BODY, IN EVERY OUNCE OF THE UNIVERSE, THERE IS LOVE.