The Tao Of The West Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle version is available to download in english. Read online anytime anywhere directly from your device. Click on the download button below to get a free pdf file of The Tao Of The West book. This book definitely worth reading, it is an incredibly well-written.
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.
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.
"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.
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.
The Second Book of the Tao by Stephen Mitchell Pdf
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:
The premise of The Tao of Zen is that Zen is really Taoism in the disguise of Buddhism—an assumption being made by more and more Zen scholars. This is the first Zen book that links the long-noted philosophical similarities of Taoism and Zen. The author traces the evolution of Ch'an The The Tao of Zen is a fascinating book that will be read and discussed by anyone interested in both Taoism and Zen
The Tao Is Silent Is Raymond Smullyan's beguiling and whimsical guide to the meaning and value of eastern philosophy to westerners. "To me," Writes Smullyan, "Taoism means a state of inner serenity combined with an intense aesthetic awareness. Neither alone is adequate; a purely passive serenity is kind of dull, and an anxiety-ridden awareness is not very appealing." This is more than a book on Chinese philosophy. It is a series of ideas inspired by Taoism that treats a wide variety of subjects about life in general. Smullyan sees the Taoist as "one who is not so much in search of something he hasn't, but who is enjoying what he has." Readers will be charmed and inspired by this witty, sophisticated, yet deeply religious author, whether he is discussing gardening, dogs, the art of napping, or computers who dream that they're human.
The acclaimed author explores the greatest travel writing by literary adventurers from Freya Stark and James Baldwin to Nabokov and Hemmingway. Paul Theroux celebrates fifty years of wandering the globe with this meditative journey through the books that shaped him as a reader and traveler. Part philosophical guide, part miscellany, part reminiscence, The Tao of Travel enumerates “The Contents of Some Travelers’ Bags” and exposes “Writers Who Wrote about Places They Never Visited”; tracks extreme journeys in “Travel as an Ordeal” and highlights some of “Travelers’ Favorite Places.” Excerpts from the best of Theroux’s own work are interspersed with selections from travelers both familiar and unexpected, including J.R.R. Tolkien, Samuel Johnson, Eudora Welty, Evelyn Waugh, Isak Dinesen, Charles Dickens, Henry David Thoreau, Pico Iyer, Mark Twain, Anton Chekhov, Bruce Chatwin, John McPhee, Peter Matthiessen, Graham Greene, Paul Bowles, and many more.
Drawing on ancient and modern sources, "a lucid discussion of Taoism and the Chinese language [that's] profound, reflective, and enlightening." —Boston Globe According to Deepak Chopra, "Watts was a spiritual polymatch, the first and possibly greatest." Watts treats the Chinese philosophy of Tao in much the same way as he did Zen Buddhism in his classic The Way of Zen. Critics agree that this last work stands as a perfect monument to the life and literature of Alan Watts. "Perhaps the foremost interpreter of Eastern disciplines for the contemporary West, . . . Watts begins with scholarship and intellect and proceeds with art and eloquence to the frontiers of the spirit."—Los Angeles Times
Presents a translation and commentary to the oldest known extant Taoist text, Inward Training (Nei-yeh), which is composed of short poetic verses devoted to the practice of breath meditation and its resultant insights about human nature and the cosmos. Roth argues that Inward Training is the basis of early Taoism, and suggests that there may be more continuity between early philosophical Taoism and later Taoist religion than scholars have thought.
First published in 1990, East of Existentialism was written to explore new perspectives on eternal questions such as ‘Who am I?’, ‘Why am I here?’, and ‘Where am I going?’. The book brings together insights from existentialism in the West and Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism in the East, and presents practical case studies throughout to show the student how apparently abstruse themes relate to real-life situations. Divided into three parts, the first considers major Western contributions to the themes of human nature and destiny. The central section examines the connection between existentialism in the West and dominant philosophical schools in India and China. The last three chapters explore the relevance of Eastern ideas to Western thought, not only to provide philosophical theory but also to offer a greater understanding of moral and social dilemmas and of practical living. A full glossary explains the technical terms used in the book. East of Existentialism will appeal to those with an interest in philosophy and religious studies.
