Tao Te Ching

Most ancient wisdom texts require a lot of effort. I love the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, the Buddhist Discourses, Dogen, Plato, Krishnamurti, and so on. But to read them, I have to take some time out of my day.

This book is a scroll of 81 aphorisms. I can pick any one, spend a little time with it, and get on with my day.

Plus, it starts with a bang: “The Way that you hear about is not the real Way.” I am invited to be confused! That takes all the pressure off me to figure it out. 

There’s a class of books sometimes called “ancient texts” or “accumulated wisdom.” The idea is that they represent distilled knowledge that was passed down orally for hundreds or thousands of years before the invention of writing froze them in their present forms. To represent this collection, I’ve chosen the Tao Te Ching. It’s short — 81 brief chapters — and talks about things that concern us today, like how to handle anxiety and how to lead groups of people. But a word of caution: These texts will repay serious study and contemplation, but don’t take them too seriously. For… show more.

This is a beautiful book that combines the esoteric with the practical. Lao Tsu, an older contemporary of Confucius, was the great teacher of Taoism, a major Chinese philosophy that deals with a spiritual way of being. The Tao Te Ching is a compilation of his teachings, which tries to capture the essence of Truth and illustrates how to live like the sage. The translation of the title: Simply be. This book tells us how.

This classic belongs on the bookshelf of every emotional and spiritual seeker, as its poetic passages encourage you to move beyond the classifications of “this or that” — and into a more holistic and curious view of things, which is an absolute necessity when approaching your own trauma. 

Perhaps the world’s first ecological vision, likely compiled between 600 and 300 BC, advocating direct communion with nature and a life lived by an environmental ethic. Taoism trusts and follows natural processes. Effective action starts with a sense of sacredness in the natural world. Legend tells us that the author, a revered sage, fled society for a life of contemplation in the wilderness. A mountain Pass Keeper begged him to record his philosophy, which he did in little more than a thousand characters. This book helps me avoid feeling depressed about the state of the world. My favorite English translations… show more.

The Tao Te Ching has been translated more than any book in the world except for the Bible and this is my favorite translation. Reading it is a Tao experience on many levels. Gia-Fu Feng’s translations are graceful, meaningful, and memorable, accompanied by his beautiful Chinese calligraphy of the 81 Tao Te Ching chapters. This new edition includes brief updates from the original translation and an introduction by Jacob Needleman. Complementing the text are Jane English’s evocative black and white nature photographs which capture the essence of Tao.

Rarely do I read a book more than once since I subscribe to the “so many books, so little time” school of thought. But this gem from ancient China is one of the most profound books of my lifetime, and I have been through it countless times in numerous translations. Since discovering it as a college freshman at the age of nineteen, it is hard to say if any book has had a greater impact on my life.

The book is only about 5,000 Chinese characters which translates to 9,000 words. Some say the Tao can be read in a… show more.