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This is not an "Ah Huh!" book -- it's an "Oh yeah!" book that simply and readily reminds you how to be here on this earth in the best possible way. For fellow neurotics out there, this cuts through the fluff and gets to the centre. Just pick a page, any page, and you'll recognise truth in it.

After years of trying to find truth in Western Philosophy and Psychoanaysis -- this seems to be the most accessible, simple, and true description/advice on being human.

Lao Tzu and Chang Tzu are both wonderful Taoist pantheists.
From Lao Tzu I always remember the aphorism
" The superior man enters the water and makes not a ripple." An admirable way of being.

I recommend the Shambhala Library or Dover editions.

I found the Stephen Mitchell translation to be very accessible. I highly recommend it.

I have to admit to being a collector of Tao Te Ching translations and have been for over forty years. There are many of them out there. The range from the very spritual-poetic versions (Mitchell) to the more technical (Lafargue). Although I am as much of an atheist/secular/anti-spiritualist/naturalist as is possible, I have always been attracted to the book. In recent years, I have been more attracted to the more technical translations. My latest purchase is Dao De Jing: Making This Life Significant - A Philosophical Translation. (Ames & Hall). The translator/commentators are both well respected sinologists. I expect to read it shortly.

Although there is much to be found in the book, which, by the way, was originally written as a manual for public servants (mandarins to kings) to guide them in their work,the most important theme for me, reduced to my own aphorism: "Go with the flow, but take your own paddle".

Tao Te Ching I carried this book with me everyday for one year. Each day, focusing on one "thought." Not only did my mental attitude change but spiritual growth was immense!

What a great idea, Rhonda! It's been several years since I've read this book, but I instantly fell in love with it when I read it. I studied it for several months as well.
Another book I immensely enjoy is "Back to Beginnings" by Huanchu Daoren. Very profound and beautiful, much like the Tao. It is another I studied for an extended period.

RK-ique wrote: "Go with the flow, but take your own paddle"

That's a very good one!

I start my everyday with a reading and find it very helpful, I have been doing so for about 6 months, it has become part of my morning ritual.

This branch of literature has always been my fetish as well. Its becoming more necessary than ever--as stupid modern society gradually creeps closer and closer into one's personal life, adding utterly needless complexity--to shore up one's defenses with classics like this.

Got turned on by Robert Pirsig's book around age 11 I think. Also was an early reader of Carlos Castaneda. Then became addicted to Herman Hesse around age 13. Lao Tzu--definitely a landmark in one's personal development.

All this probably helped me avoid the trap of drug use, too.

Excellent idea for a thread and look forward to more contributions.

Feliks wrote: "This branch of literature has always been my fetish as well. Its becoming more necessary than ever--as stupid modern society gradually creeps closer and closer into one's personal life, adding utte..."

Four months later--but never too late. I think a great many of us followed a similar path to you in getting into this stuff. I have to add Jack Kerouac, especially "On the Road" and Martin Buber, "I and Thou" to that list.

In my case, I got off the drugs because I couldn't concentrate enough to read. They were getting in the way.

I'm now reading "Dao De Jing: Making This Life Significant - A Philosophical Translation" by Ames and Hall. I'm just reading the Philosophical Introduction and find it to be extremely enlightening - in a non-spiritual sense. The Dao De Jing in not about some other-worldly, transcendental, spiritual existence. It is about living in this world.

The first line of this introduction is: "We will argue that the defining purpose of the Daodejing is bringing into focus and sustaining a productive disposition that allows for the fullest appreciation of those specific things and events that constitute one's field of experience." Being a leftover from the 60s kinda guy, the word 'experience' gets me going. It is being able to experience life and feel and become a part of those experiences, to have them encompass me, that has always been my quest.

A Silent Knowing
Every time I read Tao Te Ching, the book feels new again, fresh, as if only just discovered. It feels natural to embrace the simplicity of the words and meanings. To deeply connected to them, and be carried along in a timeless experience.

Reading Lao Tzu is like looking into a mirror and seeing the reflection of the universe there. A state of peace and happiness is often felt as I read through the pages, and a deep inner connection is constantly renewed.

A primordial balance existing between the world and ourselves is the essence of this spiritual masterpiece. An inspiring read.