A new presentation of the classic spiritual work places its eighty-one verses in an accessible format for both casual and serious students, in a new translation that seeks to illuminate the timeless relevance of its message. Original.

Zusatztext "It would be hard to find a fresh approach to a text that ranks only behind the Bible as the most widely translated book in the world! but Star achieves that goal. . . . As fascinating to the casual scholar as it is for the serious student." - NAPRA ReView "Jonathan Star's Tao Te Ching achieves the essential: It clarifies the meaning of the text without in the slightest reducing its mystery." -Jacob Needleman Informationen zum Autor Lao Tzu Klappentext In the hands of Jonathan Star, the eighty-one verses of the Tao Te Ching resound with the elegant, simple images and all-penetrating ideas that have made this ancient work a cornerstone of the world's wisdom literature. 1 Gateway to All Marvels The Tao that can be Told Is not the True Tao; Names that can be Named Are not True Names. The Origin of Heaven and Earth Has no Name. The Mother of the Myriad Things Has a Name. Free from Desire, Contemplate the Inner Marvel; With Desire, Observe the Outer Radiance. These issue from One Source, But have different Names. They are both a Mystery. Mystery of Mysteries, Gateway to All Marvels. The River Master The Tao that can be Told is the mundane Tao of the Art of Government, as opposed to the True Tao of Nature, of the So-of-Itself, of Long Life, of Self-Cultivation through Non-Action. This is the Deep Tao, which cannot be Told in Words, which cannot be Named. The Names that can be Named are such worldly things as Wealth, Pomp, Glory, Fame, and Rank. The Ineffable Tao Emulates the Wordless Infant, It resembles The Unhatched Egg, The Bright Pearl within the Oyster, The Beauteous Jade amongst Pebbles. It cannot be Named. The Taoist glows with Inner Light, but seems outwardly dull and foolish. The Tao itself has no Form, it can never be Named. The Root of the Tao Proceeds from Void, From Non-Being, It is the Origin, The Source of Heaven and Earth, Mother of the Myriad Things, Nurturing All-under-Heaven, As a Mother Nurtures her Children. Magister Liu The single word Tao is the very Core of this entire Classic, its lifeblood. Its Five Thousand Words speak of this Tao and of nothing else. The Tao itself Can never be Seen. We can but witness it Inwardly, Its Origin, Mother of the Myriad Things. The Tao itself can never be Named, It cannot be Told. And yet we resort to Words, such as Origin, Mother, and Source. Every Marvel Contemplated, Every Radiance Observed, Issues from this One Source. They go by different Names, But are part of the same Greater Mystery, The One Tao, the Origin, the Mother. In freedom from Desire, We look within And Contemplate The Inner Marvel, Not with eyes But inwardly By the Light of Spirit. We look outward With the eyes of Desire, And Observe The Outer Radiance. Desire itself, in its first Inklings, in the embryonic Springs of Thought, is born within the Heart-and-Mind. Outer Radiance is perceived through Desire, in the World, in the opening and closing of the Doors of Yin and Yang. This is the Named, the Visible, these are the Myriad Things. Thus, both with and without Desire, we draw near to the Mystery of Mysteries, to the Gateway that leads to all Marvels, to the Tao.

Autorentext

Lao Tzu

Klappentext

In the hands of Jonathan Star, the eighty-one verses of the Tao Te Ching resound with the elegant, simple images and all-penetrating ideas that have made this ancient work a cornerstone of the world's wisdom literature.

Leseprobe

1
 
Gateway to All Marvels
 
The Tao that can be Told
 
Is not the True Tao;
 
Names that can be Named
 
Are not True Names.
 
The Origin of Heaven and Earth
 
Has no Name.
 
The Mother of the Myriad Things
 
Has a Name.
 
Free from Desire,
 
Contemplate the Inner Marvel;
 
With Desire,
 
Observe the Outer Radiance.
 
These issue from One Source,
 
But have different Names.
 
They are both a Mystery.
 
Mystery of Mysteries,
 
Gateway to All Marvels.
 
 
 
 
The River Master
 
The Tao that can be Told is the mundane Tao of the Art of Government, as opposed to the True Tao of Nature, of the So-of-Itself, of Long Life, of Self-Cultivation through Non-Action. This is the Deep Tao, which cannot be Told in Words, which cannot be Named. The Names that can be Named are such worldly things as Wealth, Pomp, Glory, Fame, and Rank.
 
The Ineffable Tao
 
Emulates the Wordless Infant,
 
It resembles
 
The Unhatched Egg,
 
The Bright Pearl within the Oyster,
 
The Beauteous Jade amongst Pebbles.
 
It cannot be Named.
 
The Taoist glows with Inner Light, but seems outwardly dull and foolish. The Tao itself has no Form, it can never be Named.
 
The Root of the Tao
 
Proceeds from Void,
 
From Non-Being,
 
It is the Origin,
 
The Source of Heaven and Earth,
 
Mother of the Myriad Things,
 
Nurturing All-under-Heaven,
 
As a Mother Nurtures her Children.
 
 
 
 
Magister Liu
 
The single word Tao is the very Core of this entire Classic, its lifeblood. Its Five Thousand Words speak of this Tao and of nothing else.
 
The Tao itself
 
Can never be
 
Seen.
 
We can but witness it
 
Inwardly,
 
Its Origin,
 
Mother of the Myriad Things.
 
The Tao itself can never be
 
Named,
 
It cannot be Told.
 
And yet we resort to Words, such as Origin, Mother, and Source.
 
Every Marvel
 
Contemplated,
 
Every Radiance
 
Observed,
 
Issues from this One Source.
 
They go by different Names,
 
But are part of the same
 
Greater Mystery,
 
The One Tao, the Origin, the Mother.
 
In freedom from Desire,
 
We look within
 
And Contemplate
 
The Inner Marvel,
 
Not with eyes
 
But inwardly
 
By the Light of Spirit.
 
We look outward
 
With the eyes of Desire,
 
And Observe
 
The Outer Radiance.
 
Desire itself, in its first Inklings, in the embryonic Springs of Thought, is born within the Heart-and-Mind. Outer Radiance is perceived through Desire, in the World, in the opening and closing of the Doors of Yin and Yang. This is the Named, the Visible, these are the Myriad Things. Thus, both with and without Desire, we draw near to the Mystery of Mysteries, to the Gateway that leads to all Marvels, to the Tao.
 
 
 
 
John Minford: The Tao and the Power says to its reader at the very outset, "Only through experience, only through living Life to the full, in both the Inner and Outer Worlds, can the True Nature of the Tao be Understood and communicated. Not through Words." Desire and the Life of the Senses are part of that experience. Through Desire we witness and enjoy the Beauty of the World, we Observe the Outer Radiance of the Tao. We live Life, we bask in its Radiance. Taoists do not deny the Senses. But Contemplation, the Light of Deep Calm, of meditative experience, goes further. It reveals the Inner Marvel, the Mystery of Mysteries. Outer Radiance and Inner Marvel issue from one and the same Source, which is the Tao. This twofold path is one of the central themes in Magister Liu's commentary, one to which he returns again and agai…