About the Resources and Authors

[Eva Libre]

Deborah Hart Yemm writes:

I will add some information in the comments section below about the resources and authors that are used for this study guide. Anyone adding content to this group is welcomed to add a section about their resources or the authors, as they wish.

[Eva Libre]

Deborah Hart Yemm writes:

I started with "Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life" - subtitle "Living the Wisdom of the Tao" by Dr Wayne W Dyer, as my inspiration to study the Tao Te Ching.  The "change" in the title was so much like the old Science of Mind slogan - "Change your thinking, change your life."

 

So, I built my own study guide around his work, and added in other author's similarly created works, to help expand upon the meaning of these ancient and enduring Chinese verses of basic wisdom.  Dyer states that his was a year long journey of research, contemplation and application.  Mine has now been almost 7 years.  He tells us that the Tao Te Ching has been translated more times, than any volume in the world, with the exception of the Christian Bible.

 

Dyer shares with us the legend of Lao-tzu - a keeper of the imperial archives in the ancient capital of Luoyang.  Seeing the continual decay during a period of warring states, Lao-tzu decided to ride westward into the desert.  At the Hanku Pass, a gatekeeper named Yin Shi, knowing of Lao-tzu's reputation for being a man of wisdom, begged him to record the essence of his teaching.  Thus, the Tao Te Ching was born out of 5,000 Chinese characters.

 

Dr Dyer augmented his own contemplations with 10 translations - five of which were quite old and five of which were more modern.  Here are those titles -

[1]  "The Essential Tao: An Initiation into the Heart of Taoism through the Authentic Tao Te Ching and the Inner Teachings of Chuang Tzu", translated and presented by Thomas Cleary.

[2]  "The Illustrated Tao Te Ching: A New Translation with Commentary", by Stephen Hodge.

[3]  "Tao Te Ching" by Lao Tsu; translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English.

[4]  "Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition, by Lao Tzu"; translation and commentary by Johnathan Star (who was actually a member of Living Metaphysics within the Zaadz community when I started sharing from his book, which feels kind of special to me).

[5]  "Tao Te Ching: A New English Version", by Stephen Mitchell (also one of our study guide sources). 

  

[6]  "Tao-Te-Ching: A New Translation, by Lao-Tzu"; translated by Derek Bryce and Leon Wieger

[7]  "Tao Te Ching: A New Translation, by Lao Tzu"; translated by Sam Hamill.

[8]  "Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu"; translated by John C H Wu.

[9]  "A Warrior Blends with Life: A Modern Tao", by Michael LaTorra.

[10] "The Way of Life According to Lao Tzu", translated by Witter Bynner.

 

Dr Dyer mentions that he felt called upon to write an essay for each verse.  I share that essay at the end of each study thread.  He describes this book as his personal interpretation of the Tao Te Ching.  He admits that his "verses" are a compilation of the 10 resources he used to study and that "these were pasted together from what I personally felt were the most useful aspects.  He enjoyed the irony and paradox he found in his study.

 

He is how Dr Dyer defines "the Tao" = "... the supreme reality, an all-pervasive Source of everything.  The Tao never begins or ends, does nothing, and yet animates everything in the world of form and boundaries, which is called 'the world of the 10,000 things'."  He further shares that commentaries on the Tao interpret Tao as "the Way", Te as "the shape and power" (how the Tao manifests) and Ching as "book".  He says that every translation he read capitalized "W" in way.  And that Te added light or color to the Way.

 

He found a personal synchronicity in his name - Wayne Dyer - and added that the meaning of dyer is "one who adds light or color".  He describes his method of study - he would wake for 4am, and meditate, consumer juices and supplements and then enter his sacred writing space.  On his table, he had framed images of Lao-tzu.  Then, he would read one verse.  He would jot down a few notes.  Then, for 3 days, he would absorb, integrate and contemplate that verse.  On the 4th morning, he would look into the eyes of his framed images and what felt to him like "automatic writing" occurred.  He describes himself afterwards as being "grateful, bewildered, astonished, and overjoyed".  Then, the next day, he would begin a 4-day journey with the next verse.

 

Originally, I had hoped to follow his example and get through one verse every 4 days.  It didn't happen.  I've been at it 7 years now.  I would have been finished with all 81 verses actually (in written digital format as I am sharing here at PFTS - but for losing at least half of them, I believe - when Gaiam closed our doors.  I thought they had been saved by one of the members in Living Metaphysics within the old community but eventually, it was revealed that they no longer existed nor were they retrievable.  So, I simply started over . . .  I did not mind.  I don't think a sincere student of the Tao ever finishes their "study" of it.  Life continues the teaching and the verse continue to inform the heart.

 

Dr Dyer definitely encourages students to "individualize the verse by writing, recording, drawing, or expressing yourself in whatever way you're called to do".  I hope to write a "Naturalist's" version someday - with verses and an essay - but not with any advice.  The Tao really is a personal study but different perspectives, "translations", insights add depth and greater meaning to this wisdom that is so ancient and yet enduring.

 

My favorite Taoist "teacher", Deng Ming-Dao is quoted by Dyer in his preface -

"If you spend a long period of time in study and self-cultivation, you will enter Tao.  By doing so, you also enter a world of extraordinary perceptions.  You experience unimaginable things, receive thoughts and learning as if from nowhere, perceive things that could be classified as prescient.  Yet if you try to communicate what you experience, there is no one to understand you, no one who will believe you.  The more you walk this road, the farther you are from the ordinary ways of society.  You may see the truth, but you will find that people would rather listen to politicians, performers, and charlatans."

"If you are known as a follower of Tao, people may seek you out, but they are seldom the ones who will truly understand Tao.  They are people who would exploit Tao as a crutch.  To speak to them of the wonders you have seen is often to engage in a futile bout of miscommunication.  That is why it is said that those who know do not speak."

"Why not simply stay quiet ?  Enjoy Tao as you will.  Let others think you are dumb, inside yourself, you will know the joy of Tao's mysteries.  If you meet someone who can profit by your experience, you should share.  But if you are merely a wanderer in a crowd of strangers, it is wisdom to be silent."

 

Dr Dyer recommended Deng's "365 Tao: Daily Meditations" and that was my third book on Tao.  I have shared the daily readings in Living Metaphysics now for 6 or 7 years.  It is the simplicity and the naturalness of the Tao Te Ching and Taoism that I am personally attracted to; and it harmonizes well with my other foundational spirituality - Ernest Holmes' Science of Mind.  Dr Dyer's advice is not to over-complicate a study of the Tao.  He says - "Stay in harmony with your nature, which can be trusted, if you just listen and act accordingly".

 

He shares this poem -

Of birds

I know that they

have wings to fly with,

of fish that they have fins to

swim with, of wild beasts that they

have feet to run with.  For feet there are traps,

for fins nets, for wings arrows.

But who knows how dragons

surmount wind and cloud

into heaven ?  This day I have seen

[Lao-tzu] and he is a dragon.

 

~ from The Way of Life According to Lao Tzu,

translated by Witter Bynner

 

Dr Dyer adds that this quote has been attributed to Confucius, after he visited the elder Lao-tzu to seek advice on points of ceremonial etiquette. 

[Eva Libre]

Deborah Hart Yemm writes:

Jonathan Star - "Tao Te Ching - The Definitive Edition"

Shortly after I started studying Wayne Dyer's Tao work in Living Metaphysics, in the old Zaadz/Gaian community, Jonathan Star joined my group.  He was a member of the community and so, it was very special to have even the most casual of acquaintance with him.  His book was one of Dyer's own selected "10" for personal study.

He has a beautiful dedication at the beginning of his book -

To the one

who shares her purity,

reveals her wonder,

and touches the moon in her dreams.

Jonathan tells us in his introduction that "The present form of the Tao Te Ching is an amalgam of the combined wisdom and insights of many Chinese sages, which took form between the seventh and second centuries BC".

And he shares a legend - "...during the time of Confucius (around 500 BC) Lao-tsu practiced Tao and Te (the Supreme Way and its Expression) and focused his teachings on humility and being nameless.  He was keeper of the royal archives in the state of Chou.  After he foresaw that the state would fall into decay, he packed his belongings and decided to leave through the Western gateway.  The gatekeeper, Yin-hsi, seeing that this great sage was about to leave the world said, 'Master, you are about to renounce this world, please compose a book for me.'  Thereupon the 'Old Master' came down from his oxcart, took out his pen and ink, and began to compose a book of two parts, discussing Tao and Te.  Several hours later, Lao-tsu handed the finished text of slightly more than five thousand characters to the gatekeeper and then departed toward the West." 

Star tells us that "This popular story, however implausible, holds a symbolic charm that is consistent with the spirit of the Tao Te Ching.  The verses were given to a gatekeeper -- which represents their power to open the gate of understanding; it also symbolize a turning point in one's life.  The entire book was given at a simple request -- which shows the generosity of the sage, and how he poured forth his knowledge at the first opening of a seek.  Lao-tsu wrote the book in a single sitting -- which is an example of the sage's one pointedness and perseverance.  The sage came down from his oxcart (a scene often depicted in Chinese art), demonstrating his humility.  He also "left toward the West", which symbolizes that the teachings of the Tao Te Ching are universal and meant for all people - a reality that we now see manifest."

Like more than one author who has written their own translation and commentary, Star shares his personal journey - He did not want to simply read someone else's interpretation.  So, he read dozens of commentaries, studied the Chinese text in detail, and compared different texts and interpretations.  But even when he felt that he had achieved some clarity, some sections still did not make sense and the insight came to him, that they were not supposed to.  He came to feel that the terse and mystical language of many of the verses serves as a marker, a hint suggesting a much larger meaning -- and believed that this meaning cannot be understood through the words of the text along, but through one's own contemplation, spiritual practice, and by opening one's heart to the "doorway of all mysteries".

I agree.

Star shares with us that "Some scholars (especially Martin Palmer, who worked on a translation of the Tao Te Ching in 1993) suggest that, initially, the Tao Te Ching may have been an oracle -- much like the I Ching -- consisting of many short, mystical "seed verses" or sutras.  Each see verse contained the essence, or seed, of some teaching or mystical view.  The meanings of these seed verses were mysterious and impenetrable by design, like Zen koans -- they were not meant to be grasped by the rational mind alone; their inner meanings were meant to be discovered through one's own insight and spiritual penetration.  These seed verses contained two to four lines, which ended with rhyming characters for easy memorization.  Many of these seed verses can still be found throughout the Tao Te Ching."

He says that "What we now have is a mixture of seed-like verses, which are short, cohesive, and mystical in nature -- combined with commentaries, which are more instructive, understandable, and logical in nature.  What may have begun as a structured, cohesive text is now more piecemeal and inconsistent.

For those interested in numerology - Star tells us that "The division of the Tao Te Ching into 81 verses may have first occurred in an original oracle, or it may have been imposed at a later date for numerological empowerment.  Anyone familiar with the significance of numbers will understand the power and mystical importance of 81 (3 x 3 x 3 x 3, or 9 x 9).  Nine, in ancient Chinese numerology, represented the divisions of earth, and came to mean completion, fulfillment, totality, and perfection.  Nine is considered a magical and "spiritual" number.  (The I Ching is based on the structure of 64 [8 x 8]; 8 representing the structure of things and the nature of the physical world.)

Jonathan Star's book has much more to it, than I share in this study guide.  (a) one possible translation [what I share here], (b) a verbatim translation with notes, (c) a commentary on verse 1, (d) a concordance and a list of characters according to their radicals.

He says "My goal in this translation was to capture the heart and spirit of the Tao Te Ching, preserve its poetic power, and make clear its teachings, while at the same time being true to the original text."

[Eva Libre]

Deborah Hart Yemm writes:

One of my own favorite study guides is "The Tao of Emerson" by Richard Grossman.

Mr Grossman is a psychotherapist and educator who has been studying Emerson for more than 40 years.  Ralph Waldo Emerson lived from 1803 to 1882.   Grossman notes that the Tao Te Ching was not translated into English until 1891 (nine years AFTER Emerson's death).  Emerson was a leading light in the American Transcendentalist movement and was born in Boston.  He graduated from Harvard University and Harvard Divinity School.  He wrote more than forty volumes of essays, poems, lectures, addresses, and personal journals.

By juxtaposing on facing pages the texts of Lao-Tse's Tao Te Ching with Emerson's writings, Richard Grossman illuminates how these two remarkable men, from opposite sides of the world and separated by 2,500 years, are united in an "inspired wisdom" and common spirit: to live simply and tranquilly; trust one's own intuition; seek out and appreciate the spiritual grace in the natural world; act without self-assertion; abjure violence; harmonize with the ebb and flow of nature and circumstances; and above all, assure that there is a place in the world for humility, yielding, gentleness, and serenity.

The Tao Te Ching version that Grossman uses is - the 1891 rendition of the eighty-one verses of the Tao Te Ching, credited to the sage known as Lao-Tse, which was translated by the British Sinologist James Legge.  Emerson never met Legge, though they were contemporaries.  Legge was a Scotch-Presbyterian minister, who first went to China in 1839, as a missionary.  He spent nearly 30 years living in various parts of China.  This translation of the Tao Te Ching by Legge is Vol 39 of a monumental series of 50 works published between 1879 and 1891, co-written with F Max Muller known as the "Sacred Books of the East".

On the facing page of Grossman's book, are words culled and organized based upon the Tao verse from the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Grossman's inspiration came from a note "all philosopy, of East and West, has the same centripetence", recorded by Emerson in his essay on Plato, written when he was 32 yrs old.  "Centripetence" refers to the tendency of energy to move or progress toward the center, to the essence of things.  Emerson later wrote - "the hero is he who is immovably centered", which as Lao Tse recorded similarly - "your inner being guard, and keep it free".  Emerson also called this "the infinitude of the human soul". 

Grossman feels that both works - venerate the depths and heights of the human soul blossoming into a credo for the conduct of life that elevates quietude, self-awareness, humility, and reverence for the natural world to such a level that it has captivated and inspired generations of human beings.  Grossman did not intend that his effort to relate the Tao Te Ching to the prose and poetry of Emerson result in the creation of no more than "some amusing word game" by his cutting and pasting phrases and passages from the works of Emerson, with which Grossman is so well familiar.

It was Grossman's hope to show the parallel that reveals a shared sense and spirit and philosophy expressed in each of these two men's very different lives.  For example, comparing Chapter/Verse 2 - the Taoist concept of yin/yan reminded Grossman of Emerson's essay on "Compensation" where he characterizes the universe as swaying between nonantagonistic, but opposite forces "as spirit, matter; man, woman; odd, even, motion, rest . . .".  And Grossman also remembered that Emerson explored this theme in his poem "Each and All" and in his address "The Method of Nature" as well as in his "Spiritual Laws" essay.

He also shares another example in Chapter/Verse 20 - when a phrase "I am a weed by the wall" in Emerson's essay "Circles" reminded him of the self-deprecating tone of Lao Tse  - "I alone seem listless and still . . .".  

So, Grossman's interest was less on similarities of verbal expression, than on the wonderful ways in which philosophical ideas appear and reappear throughout history and across cultures, and are enriched in each new incarnation.

[Eva Libre]

Deborah Hart Yemm writes:

I don't remember who told me about this version of the Tao, but I have long treasured it for its uniqueness.  The Tao of Motherhood by Vimala McClure.

In the Forward to this book, Sue Patton Thoele says - "How thankful I am to have discovered it (The Tao of Motherhood) even now when they (my four "outside hearts") are adults !  Reading it has helped honor my motherhood and mothering -- both the strengths and weaknesses -- and helped me relax into the flow of the new adventure of grandparenting.  The wisdom of the teachings still apply, for, as we all know, once a mother, forever a mother."

She goes on to say - "Over the years, I've come to believe that the act of parenting is a cleansing tempest in which our souls are given myriad opportunities to gain new strength, wisdom, and serenity.  The Tao of Motherhood is a discerning guide, a comforting companion, and a soul friend for those of us navigating the mysterious waters of motherhood.  In savoring this book, let it teach you to trust your intuition and to be gentle with yourself as you mother both your own inner child and the children given to your care.  I know in my heart that you will find treasures for your soul in Vimala's shared wisdom and in the inspiration of the remarkable Taoist teach, Lao Tzu."

In the Preface, Jody Wright, describes Vimala McClure this way - "During the first years I knew Vimala in Denver, we both worked in a large house filled with young people trying to guide a spiritual and social service organization.  I remember Vimala as a quiet but powerful soul who seemed to stay out of the battles, but always got what she needed.  Someone who sat back and watched what went on and then made the precise move needed to reestablish balance."

Ms Wright shares with us, some of Vimala McClure's interests and achievements - in 1977, she helped create the Caesarean Birth Education Group in Boulder CO.  Having seen infant massage when she worked in an orphanage in India, she used it with her colicky son; and then, began teaching it to others.  From her efforts was created The International Association of Infant Massage Instructors.  Among her literary accomplishments is A Woman's Guide to Tantra Yoga.  Though Vimala has struggled with poverty, health problems and abuse at different times in her life, she has been able to take these and mix them with deep thought, love and spiritual bliss and in turn created inspiration and learned the discipline necessary to manifest practical works.

As an aside, Joy Wright is the founder of Motherwear, a source of public friendly breastfeeding clothes for nursing mothers.  I wore many of her creations, during the years that I was one.

And now, some thoughts from Ms McClure herself.  She shares that parenting has been an important and integral part of her spiritual path, and I understand, for certainly it has been that for my own self as well.  In the midst of the chaos of pregnancy and young children, she was challenged to continue to find the stillness and quiet that had been her meditation practice before motherhood.  That led her to begin thinking about spirituality and its place in everyday life.

She describes applying madhuvidya (Sanskrit for "sweet knowledge") to infuse spirituality into every aspect of her daily life.  She describes that practice as "the conscious process of perceiving the unity of all things, of trying to understand deep within oneself that everything is sacred."  She describes that during the years that her children were growing up, "Everything I had learned about spirituality was tested.  Children are mirrors; they will always show you exactly what is going on inside of you.  Each phase of their growth is an opportunity to heal your own pain, to go deeper inside yourself and become more truly human."  She adds that she believes "our children, unknowingly and with innocent trickery, teach us the deeper knowledge of how to be a true human being." 

So beautiful, this woman - Vimala McClure - is.  She describes her book, The Tao of Motherhood, as having given her a chance to distil some of those lessons through the vehicle of the wonderful Taoist teachings of Lao Tzu.  She ends her "Introduction" with this blessing -

"I hope you find inspiration here, and that your journey with your child is a joyful one that teaches you what you came here to learn."

Without a doubt, that is what I have found in my "second" life a Mother at an advanced age, and the wonderful opportunity to compare so much about this time, with an earlier time in my late teens, when I became a mother for the very first time.  Both have given me huge opportunities for personal growth.  It is the hardest job that anyone will ever love.

Sincerely,

Deb

[Eva Libre]

Deborah Hart Yemm writes:

I found this book at my mother in law's after she died - Tao Te Ching - The Classic Book of Integrity and The Way by Lao-Tzu - A New Translation by Victor H Mair based on the recently discovered Ma-Wang-Tui Manuscripts.  I was surprised that she had it but I have enjoyed it.

 

An explanation of why there are so many translations of the Tao Te Ching is that it is first considered to be fundamental to both the philosophical and religious Taoism.  The Way is at the heart of the Tao Te Ching and it is also the centerpiece of ALL Chinese religion and thought.  Regardless of the different perspectives of a variety of schools or sects, all seem to hold the notion of a single, overarching Way that encompasses everything in the universe.  A belief of general relativity one might say.  The Tao Te Ching is also appreciated for it’s brevity.  The Tao Te Ching is considered deceptively simple with a paradoxical nature that can also make it difficult to fully comprehend.

 

That paradoxical nature and the difficulty of scholars of the Tao Te Ching to agree on what Lao-Tzu intended had inclined Victor Mair to vow for 20 years that he would never attempt to translate the Tao Te Ching.  However the discovery of two ancient manuscripts in China gave him the belief that it would be possible to produce a totally new translation that would be more accurate and reliable than previously attempted versions.  These manuscripts are believed to be at least a half a millennium older than what is commonly used for translations.

 

Mair felt that the newly discovered manuscripts made it possible to strip away the distortions and obfuscations of two millennia’s worth of attempts to “improve” the Tao Tel Ching with commentaries and interpretations, often with hidden religious, philosophical or political agendas.

 

These SILK manuscripts were discovered in late 1973 by Chinese archaeologists working at Ma-wang-tui in central China, about a hundred miles south of the Yangtze River along with an early version of the Book of Changes, among other items.  Mair uses an example from Verse (chapter) 77 in line 8 – saying in the Ma-wang-tui manuscripts it reads “To die but not be forgotten . . .”.  In previous editions of the Tao Te Ching, it had been rendered “To die but not perish . . .”.  Quite a different interpretation made possible.  Mair feels that the Ma-wang-tui manuscripts are much more intelligible than the old standard editions.

 

Mair views the core of the Tao Te Ching as having been derived from oral tradition (rather than from a single author).  The antiquity of the manuscripts preserves more faithfully the features of the oral wisdom on which it was based.  He spent two months arriving at a definition for “te” and settled on “integrity” as being the most plausible throughout the 44 occurrences of that word.  By integrity, Mair means “the totality of an individual including his or her moral stance, whether good or bad”.  The archaic forms of the Chinese character for “te” used in the manuscripts seemed to signify a holistic inner quality or character of a person.  The basic components of the character at the time of the writing of the Tao Te Ching were an eye looking straight ahead, and the heart, and a sign for movement or behavior.  Among the items discovered at the site were previously unknown texts dealing with metaphysical questions that included elaborate discussions of “te”.  Mair was also deeply guided by historical linguistics, as many of the characters are not to be found in any dictionary.

 

Victor Mair sought inspiration from the muse within, so that he could honor the poetic beauty of the Tao Te Ching.  He wanted to create an English version that was eminently readable and sinologically precise.  He laid out the words on the page, to reflect the linguistic structure of the classical Chinese text.  He paid attention to form, content, style, diction, and sound.  He felt that it was not enough to merely transfer the meaning of the original text; but that he needed to replicate its effects.  He found various "voices" speaking through the verses – the Taoist mystic, the political strategist, the utopian architect, the anti-Confucian philosopher, the clairvoyant poet, the meditative Yogin.

 

Because Mair does not believe this to be the work of a single author, he says that the real title should be something like “Sayings of the Old Masters”.  The author is also intimately familiar with the classic, Bhagavad Gita (having read both works in their original languages).  He believes these are connected in an essential way.  He finds similarities in Indian Yoga and Chinese Taoism.  He finds three possible explanations for this – [1] China borrowed the Yogic system and its attendant practices from India, [2]  India borrowed Taoism and its attendant practices from China or [3] BOTH India and China were the recipients of inspiration from a third source.  He believes the answer is not as important as recognizing that both are unique manifestations of a common human heritage.

 

It is interesting to note, that Victor Mair numbered his “chapters” or verses as I think of these, following their sequence in the Ma-wang-tui manuscripts.  These are different than the common expectations.  I have kept the “common” and put Mair’s numbering in parentheses below it.  He begins with chapter #1, "Te - Integrity", at what would commonly be found in Verse 38.  This section ends at Verse 79, which he numbers chapter # 44.  Then, he goes into "Tao - The Way" at Verse 1, his chapter # 45.  Chapter # 81, is more commonly that which is found in Verse 37.

Also, to avoid overemphasis on the masculine gender, he uses impersonal or feminine pronouns for the third person whenever possible.  When it is an entity, such as the “sage king”, he uses the traditional masculine form, partly because in ancient Chinese society that term would have always referred to a man.

[Eva Libre]

Deborah Hart Yemm writes:

This is the resource I love to hate.  It is always a lot of work to post.  Lots of visual formatting necessary.  But in many ways, I believe it is also the best, for a serious student of the Tao Te Ching.  There are the traditional verses, a commentary by Wang Bi (more about him below) and "notes" from the translator Richard John Lynn.  In this study, I identify this as "Lynn's - Daode jing of Laozi".  It's actual name is - "The Classic of the Way and Virtue - A New Translation of the Tao-te ching of Laozi as Interpreted by Wang Bi - Translated by Richard John Lynn".  And now you know why I chose to shorten that; and then, there is this note at the beginning of this resource, about the title - "This classic Chinese work is best known to Western readers in its Wade-Giles transliteration, the Tao-te ching of Lao-tzu.  In this book the translator refers to the Chinese author and text in contemporary pinyin as the "Daode jing of Laozi".

This is a comprehensive work, that I share the tiniest amount of.  There is a lot about the historical person Wang Bi.  There is Wang Bi's outline introduction to the Laozi and Commentary by him.  There is also a bibliography, glossary and list of proper nouns.  Slowly, in studying this work (my typing it up to share is my way of slowing it down and really absorbing the various translations) I am learning many Chinese words and their various meanings and interpretations.  That may be my favorite part of this studying this book.

In the Introduction to this resource, Lynn says that the "eighty-one short aphoristic 'sections'" (deb's note - which is what he calls the verses), "though self-contained, often refer to each other and as a whole present a consistent and integrated view of how the sage rules the world in accordance with the spontaneous way of the Natural (ziran zhi dao)".  Lynn notes that "Although the text is traditionally attributed to Li Er, a keeper of the archives of the state of Chu in southeast China, whose style name or family/personal name (zi) was Dan and who was supposedly a contemporary of Confucius (551-479 BCE), it is likely that it dates from sometime during the fourth century BCE and should be regarded as of anonymous, probably composite authorship.  The Daode jing might reflect a tradition of thought founded by someone called the 'Old Master', who might have lived as early as the time of Confucius, and this 'Old Master' might be identified with Li Er or Li Dan.  But there is no proving any of this."

Lynn also adds this information - "The Laozi, or Daode jing, is one of the two foundation texts of Daoist philosophy in China, the other being the Zhuangzi (Sayings of Master Zhuang), which preserves the tradition of thought associated with Zhuang Zhou (369-286 BCE).  The two texts have a very different emphasis, however: whereas the Laozi is primarily addressed to the ruler who would be a sage-king and is mainly concerned with achieving the good society through harmony with nature, the Zhuangzi is contemptuous of rulership -- in theory or practice -- and indifferent to social life in general and instead focuses almost exclusively on personal self-realization and the quest for happiness through the individual's integration with nature."  I think I would like to read the Zhuangzi some day.

In this vein, it is interesting to note this as well - "Yet although the naturalist ethos of the Laozi seems originally designed to provide advice to the prince, its message was also recognized as having important implications for the cultivation of personal life, and people regarded its advice to rulers as analogously applicable to understanding and solving the problems of individual human existence.  This approach, of course, characterizes the way the Laozi was usually read -- as a philosophical text - throughout the traditional era in China and how readers in the pre-modern Chinese cultural sphere of East Asia (Japan, Korea, and Vietnam) largely interpreted it to find wisdom and solace.  It also accounts for the popularity and fascination of the Laozi in the modern West.  This nonpolitical reading of the Laozi, however, seems to have been influenced by the sustained popularity of the Zhuangzi, which is an explicit philosophical guide to personal understanding and self-cultivation; that is, the Laozi, regardless of its original intent, came to be interpreted as the Zhuangzi was designed to be read."

Wang Bi

Wang Bi lived at a time of great social and political uncertainty and military strife, marked by rebellion, usurpation, civil war, invasion, and desperate economic conditions.  This was between the Han (206 BCE - 220 CE) and Tang (618-906) dynasties.  Wang Bi was not only in the middle of all this political and military turmoil, he was also right at the center of major intellectual trends that had been developing for at least the previous four or five generations.  Wang Bi was acutely aware that he lived in dangerous times, and it is quite possible to read his commentary to the Laozi, on one level at least, as a strategy for survival.  Though there are gaps, enough is known of the high official status and prestige the Wang family enjoyed in Wang Bi's own time and earlier to provide a context for understanding the development of his exegetical and philosophical writings, both of which exhibit a strong political slant that must be derived from his first-hand knowledge of his family's involvement in the government and politics of the late Han - early Wei period.  Wang Bi's simple, direct, and naturalistic approach to scholarship and exegesis was probably shaped by his knowledge of family members participation in the Jingzhou school of learning.

Wang Bi wrote a commentary to the Laozi, for which he provided a General Introduction [zhilue] marked by clear reasoning and systematic organization.  He also wrote a General Discussion of the Dao [Dao luelun] and a commentary to the Changes, both of which frequently exhibit lofty and beautiful language.  A contemporary, Wang Ji, prone to disparaging both the Laozi and Zhuangzi said, "When I saw Wang Bi's commentary of the Laozi, there was much that I became enlightened about !"

There's not much written by the translator, Richard John Lynn, about himself but enough said to know he is a very serious scholar who has spent a lot of time with the works that he references.  At the end of his own introductory notes he simple says - "Wang Bi's commentary and Outline Introduction together constitute a long and difficult text.  Despite all the help available from Chinese and Japanese traditions of exegesis and textual criticism and from modern Western scholarship, and despite my best efforts to overcome my own shortcomings, I am sure that some old problems still remain unsolved, while fresh errors may have crept in to this new translation.  In any event, this project has been an enriching experience, and I am grateful for all those difficult, splendid hours spent with Wang Bi and Laozi."

[Eva Libre]

Deborah Hart Yemm writes:

Stephen Mitchell and Byron Katie are a married couple.  Byron Katie uses snippets of verse from Stephen Mitchell's translation to illuminate her essays on each verse's topic.  Byron Katie's essays have been one of my more favorite aspects of studying the Tao Te Ching.

I'm not positive which book I had first but I suspect it was Stephen Mitchell's because I believe without looking it up that Dr Wayne Dyer used that book as one of his own 10 resources.  It may be the Byron Katie's book was being publicized about that same time; and so, I ordered it.  I was already familiar with her The Work by that time.

Stephen Mitchell's book is titled "tao te ching" - "A NEW ENGLISH VERSION".  At the back of his book is a Q & A conversation with him about it.  I'll share a few snippets with you.  He wrote his book between 1986-1987 and he says at that time, he had 7 yrs of heavy-duty Zen training behind him and another 6 or 7 yrs of informal practice.  He was actually married to a different women at that time, Vicki Chang, to whom he dedicates his book and he was "working" on an aversion to money.  Vicki had pointed out to him at that time, that an aversion to money is the flip side of greed (the same desire from a different direction).

During one particular period of 100 days of meditation between midnight and 3am (then normal life otherwise), the Yoda character from Star Wars came as a vivid manifestation.  3 times that happened.  Once the 100 days were over, he knew he would write a version of the Tao.  He thought he would title it "The Book of Force" and it would have notes by Yoda.  However, about half-way through the book George Lucas informed him that he did not want his character associated with any particular spiritual tradition.  At that point, he switched gears and used Tao instead of Force and Yoda's notes became his own and took on more of a Zen flavor.

Stephen Mitchell admits that he doesn't know a word of Chinese, yet he asserts that translation is simply the art of stepping out of the way with a certain transparence.  One wonders if it is a kind of channeling to him.  He admits to feeling an "umbilical connection" to Lao-tzu as he had actually discovered the Tao Te Ching BEFORE beginning Zen training (1973).  It took him 4 months to write his version of the Tao.  He describes the book he has written as the one that he always wanted to read.  He would go into a very still place, and the right words would arise by themselves.  He notes that by 1986, there were actually 102 translations of the Tao Te Ching into English alone.

What Mitchell tried to do with his own version was make the words more poetically sparkle.  He describes the language as having some of the dignity of formal verse, along with the spontaneity of colloquial English.  He notes that many translators are scholars or linguists but not clearly practitioners of the Tao.  He disagreed with the prevalence of "he" in translations and then learned that third-person singular pronouns in Chinese are gender-neutral.  He personally feels that of all the great spiritual texts, the Tao Te Ching is by far the most female, not only in spirit but also in language (deb's note - maybe that is why it so deeply appeals to me).  So, in his translation, he alternated between he and she from chapter (verse) to chapter (verse).

So, anyway, Mitchell admits that he is not really translating with his version and sometimes taking his own intuitive leap into the meaning that feels more "correct" to him personally.  That is why "translation" is not in his subtitle but "version".  He says that while he was often quite literal, he also paraphrased, expanded, contracted, interpreted, and did whatever it took to create a language that sounded "genuine" to his own inner ear.

"A Thousand Names For Joy" - "Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are" by Byron Katie (with Stephen Mitchell).  Her husband writes the Preface to her book.  He describes the essays as Bryon Katie's "response" to the Tao Te Ching.  He gives a bit of Byron Katie's well known experience with depression (and she elaborates on that in her essays as well).  He says "Katie doesn't know much about spiritual classics; in fact, before we met, she had never even heard of the Tao Te Ching."  He says, from Katie's point of view, Lao-tzu is a colleague.

Mitchell describes that when he met Bryon Katie he found in her a kind of transparence emanating from her openness of heart and her wisdom.  She knew nothing about Buddhism or Taoism or any other spiritual tradition for that matter.  He says wonderful insights would just pop out of her mouth, without any awareness on her part, that anyone (in a sutra or the Upanishad) had ever said something similar before.  So he began to read to her, from the great spiritual teachers (Lao-tzu, the Buddha, the Zen masters, Spinoza, etc).  He humorously shares that Katie would call these Stephen's "dead friends".

Often Katie would agree with what he read to her and sometimes, she would say "That's true, as far as it goes, but it's a little 'off'." and tell him how she'd say it.  Eventually, of course, he read to her his version of the Tao Te Ching and wrote down her responses.  These became the raw material for her book.  Along the way, sometimes he would ask her to refine or expand upon something.  And he admits that sometimes she seemed to have no reference for a question he'd ask and he felt like he was asking a fish what it's like to live in water.  She was delighted to learn the meaning of Tao "The Way" but balked when he described it as "ultimate reality".  She said "I don't understand concepts like 'ultimate'.  For me, reality is simple.  There's nothing behind it or above it, and it holds no secrets. ... When you argue with it, you lose."

In Katie's perspective, "...once your mind becomes clear, life begins to live itself through you, effortlessly, with the joy and kindness that Lao-tzu points us toward.  Though reality itself is unnamable, Katie says, there are a thousand names for joy, because nothing is separate, and joy, deep down, is what we all are."  He tells us that Katie's book is much more than another commentary on the Tao Te Ching.  It is a glimpse into the depths of being, and into the life of a woman who for twenty years had been living what Lao-tzu wrote".  He says that "The profound, lighthearted wisdom that it embodies is not theoretical; it is absolutely authentic."  I suppose that is why I appreciate Katie's perspective as I study each verse of the Tao.

[Eva Libre]

Deborah Hart Yemm wites:

Sharing Jeanne Marie's video here as well, since Stephen Mitchell is one of the authors we study here.

[Eva Libre]

Deborah Hart Yemm writes on August 31, 2015 at 9:04am

It was a shock for me to see that Dr Wayne Dyer passed away on Sat, Aug 29th, 2015.

 

I really didn't follow him closely as a "teacher" but he was my first stepping stone into the Tao Te Ching and became the foundational book for the study guide here.

 

I was shocked by his passing partly because at the end of July, I received a "personal" mass mailing purportedly from him (of course, I knew it wasn't THAT personal) inviting me to Celebrate Your Life in early November in Phoenix AZ where he was expected to be the General Session Keynote Lecturer to begin the Saturday workshops.  Certainly this must have them in a bit of a tizzy.  Though I note that their mother passed away only weeks before the June 2009 conference in Chicago that I attended and the daughters therefore had the most wonderful support for their early grieving in all those spiritualized persons presenting there.  The mother's energy was definitely strong throughout the conference that year.  So I'm certain having that experience under their belts the sisters will find their way through this one but the loss is bound to feel quite personal to them. 

 

In a video posted at the Mishka Productions Celebrate Your Life page, Dyer notes he has been doing Celebrate Your Life conferences in Arizona for 8 years, reaching back into the days when Ariel (the mom of the daughters who continue the business) was still involved.

 

It is said that Dyer was diagnosed with leukemia in 2012.  I heard Dyer also not too long ago in the Hay House World Summit recordings.  I know that he had overcome adversity in his early life. 

 

Dyer was featured on the cover of the Science of Mind magazine in July 2014 with the publication of his book "I Can See Clearly Now".  It was a departure from his usual "self-help" books.  He described it as a retrospective on what he considers the "turning points" of his own life upon a spiritual path.

 

Dyer felt that he was following a "blueprint" - a clear guideline as to what he was here on the planet to do.  He describes his own life purpose as being to "teach self-reliance and a positive loving approach to large numbers of people all over the globe".

 

His view on personal expression was described this way - "At the same moment that you're a protagonist in your own life and you're making choices, you're also the Spirit carrier or the extra in a much larger drama".

 

Dyer's advice when struggling to find clear direction in times of challenge is simple: Stop struggling !

 

"You know that the hills and valleys in our life are all part of what it takes to fulfill whatever dharma that we signed up for.  It's basically a question of alignment.  Whenever I find myself in one of those places of being confused or not knowing quite what it's all about, those are generally moments in which I am denying what is taking place or wishing that something else were happening.  Or I'm in a state of frustration over this valley that has now just shown up when I thought I was just going to stay on the hill for the rest of my life.  Those are the waves that make up life, they have an apex and they have a nadir."

 

There was also this in that article - Dyer calls "the downness" a key part of our journey.  He identifies 3 ways to reach enlightenment - [1] Through suffering, [2] Through being in the moment and [3] Through intuition.

 

I know of Dyer that he was a very giving person and very generous.  He was always giving away books to people.  Dyer’s attitude on life seems to mirror my own – he says of his daily routine . . .  “The first thing that I do when I wake up in the morning is say, ‘Thank you; thank you for this day.’  Then, my question is, ‘How may I serve ?  Who can I help today ?’  As you live from that perspective, you realize you are globally making a difference and you are individually making a difference, and that all of us are here just to love and stay aligned with our source of being.”

 

RIP Dr Wayne Dyer.  He was 75 at the time of his passing.