The Tao Of The West

In this book, J.J. Clarke shows us how Taoist texts, ideas, and practices have been assimilated within a whole range of Western ideas and agendas. We see how Chinese thinkers such as Lao-tzu and Chuang tzu, along with practices such as Feng Shui and Tai Chi, have been used as a key Western inspiration in religion, philosophy, ethics, politics, ecology and health. The Tao of the West not only provides a fascinating introduction to Taoism, it also offers a timely insight into the history of the West's encounter with this ancient tradition, and into the issues arising from inter-cultural dialogue. Anyone interested in understanding the key influence Taoism has had on the West will welcome and embrace this book.

This exciting study explores similarities between China's I Ching and the genetic code and concludes that the same structure found in DNA also exists in this ancient book of wisdom, as well as in spiders webs, sunflowers, and antique Indian rugs. This, Walter maintains, is evidence that a Master Plan exists in which the Divine is the all-encompassing pattern present in all life. Illustrations. Charts.

Embarking On The Way is especially designed to present the fascinating world of Taoist philosophy and practice to Western readers. Written in a simple and down-to-earth manner, it encompasses a wide range of Taoist studies -- from the classical teachings of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu to the Tat of sex and relationship. It is purposefully written in a non-scholarly fashion, to appeal to readers who are interested in non-religious Taoism and how it works for Western practitioners. Unlike other spiritual philosophies, there is nothing to join, no vows to take, no special diet to follow, and there is no need to let go of your own personal religion or spiritual path to benefit from the teachings and practices of Tao. Embarking On The Way offers the Taoist philosophy and then allows the reader to choose which parts of the program he or she wishes to follow.

"This book argues that Socrates, Athenian citizen in Classical Greece, was a Taoist sage and Zen master. His life was a work of art, rooted in the art of detached engagement: Taoist Wu-wei and Buddhist Madhyamaka. Socrates was the offspring of a philosophic tradition stretching back a century and a half, spread across the eastern Mediterranean. Schindler introduces these Presocratic thinkers, examines the life and teachings of Socrates, and explores Plato as a mythologizing philosopher. Taoism, Buddhism and Zen are introduced throughout the discourse, showing how Eastern Wisdom is reflected in The Birth of Western Philosophy. The adventure concludes with an exploration of the Greco-Buddhist insight that to be is to inter-be. The recovery of this idea overlaps with the quantum paradigm shift in contemporary physics, ecology and spirituality."--P. [4] of cover.

Examines liberal democracy and Confucianism as two value systems and argues for a future where both coexist as independent value systems in China.

The author investigates the metaphorical nature of poetic language, highlighting the central figures of reality and meaning in both Eastern and Western thought: the Tao and the Logos.

Enhanced by Stephen Mitchell’s illuminating commentary, the next volume of the classic manual on the art of living The most widely translated book in world literature after the Bible, Lao-tzu’s Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, is the classic manual on the art of living. Following the phenomenal success of his own version of the Tao Te Ching, renowned scholar and translator Stephen Mitchell has composed the innovative The Second Book of the Tao. Drawn from the work of Lao-tzu’s disciple Chuang-tzu and Confucius’s grandson Tzussu, The Second Book of the Tao offers Western readers a path into reality that has nothing to do with Taoism or Buddhism or old or new alone, but everything to do with truth. Mitchell has selected the freshest, clearest teachings from these two great students of the Tao and adapted them into versions that reveal the poetry, depth, and humor of the original texts with a thrilling new power. Alongside each adaptation, Mitchell includes his own commentary, at once explicating and complementing the text. This book is a twenty-first-century form of ancient wisdom, bringing a new, homemade sequel to the Tao Te Ching into the modern world. Mitchell’s renditions are radiantly lucid; they dig out the vision that’s hiding beneath the words; they grab the text by the scruff of the neck—by its heart, really—and let its essential meanings fall out. The book introduces us to a cast of vivid characters, most of them humble artisans or servants, who show us what it means to be in harmony with the way things are. Its wisdom provides a psychological and moral acuity as deep as the Tao Te Ching itself. The Second Book of the Tao is a gift to contemporary readers, granting us access to our own fundamental wisdom. Mitchell’s meditations and risky reimagining of the original texts are brilliant and liberating, not least because they keep catching us off-guard, opening up the heavens where before we saw a roof. He makes the ancient teachings at once modern, relevant, and timeless. Listen to a special podcast with Stephen Mitchell: