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365 Tao: Daily Meditations
Librarian note: Alternate cover edition for ISBN-10: 0062502239
380 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews
January 22, 2014
This is a deceptively simple collection of thoughts on Taoism, which is so refreshingly uncluttered with dogmatism (as compared to most other books on spirituality/religion I've read in the past) that the author nearly could have removed all references to "Tao" or "Taoism" from the text without affecting the integrity of the ideas expressed.
It's such an accessible introduction that even though I read this on a whim and had no previous interest in this philosophy, I know I'll be reading more about it now. That gets it 4 stars from me, easily. The 5th star is because it quite unexpectedly helped me to understand myself better.
One realization I had while reading (fairly personal.. be warned) was that in a way, I've been swimming upstream my entire life - whenever I encounter a challenge my response is almost always to just put my head down and power through it, do whatever it takes to resolve it. This attitude has helped me to be successful in many ways but also left me a debt of accumulated stress.
I know now that I have to learn how to go with the flow more - not jump at every challenge that presents itself, be more prepared for situations rather than simply throwing energy at them as a reflex, seek out more alternatives and compromises, and appreciate more where I am and not think too much about where I should be.
Obviously, this book won't trigger such introspective thoughts for everyone, but you never know. Read it and find out!
It's such an accessible introduction that even though I read this on a whim and had no previous interest in this philosophy, I know I'll be reading more about it now. That gets it 4 stars from me, easily. The 5th star is because it quite unexpectedly helped me to understand myself better.
One realization I had while reading (fairly personal.. be warned) was that in a way, I've been swimming upstream my entire life - whenever I encounter a challenge my response is almost always to just put my head down and power through it, do whatever it takes to resolve it. This attitude has helped me to be successful in many ways but also left me a debt of accumulated stress.
I know now that I have to learn how to go with the flow more - not jump at every challenge that presents itself, be more prepared for situations rather than simply throwing energy at them as a reflex, seek out more alternatives and compromises, and appreciate more where I am and not think too much about where I should be.
Obviously, this book won't trigger such introspective thoughts for everyone, but you never know. Read it and find out!
May 7, 2010
This is a wonderful daily reflection tool for anyone of any or no faith tradition.
Here's an excerpt:
Practice
Spiritual practice is gained by daily cultivation.
If you practiced for the day, then you have won.
If you were lazy for the day, then you have not.
Self-cultivation is the heart of spiritual attainment. Gaining insight and ability is not a matter of grand statements, dramatic initiations, or sporadic moments of enlightenment. Those things are only highlights in a life of consistent activity.
Whatever system of spirituality you practice, do it every day. If it is prayer, then pray every day. If it is meditation, then meditate every day. If it is exercise, then exercise every day. Only then will you be able to say that you are truly practicing spirituality.
This methodical approach is reassuring in several ways. First, it provides you with a process and a means to maintain progress even if that particular day is not inspiring or significant. Just to practice is already good. Secondly, it gives you a certain faith. If you practice every day, it is inevitable that you will gain from it. Thirdly, consistent practice gives you a certain satisfaction. How can you say to yourself that you have truly entered a spiritual path unless you can look back on years of daily practice and take comfort in the momentum that it has given you?
Here's an excerpt:
Practice
Spiritual practice is gained by daily cultivation.
If you practiced for the day, then you have won.
If you were lazy for the day, then you have not.
Self-cultivation is the heart of spiritual attainment. Gaining insight and ability is not a matter of grand statements, dramatic initiations, or sporadic moments of enlightenment. Those things are only highlights in a life of consistent activity.
Whatever system of spirituality you practice, do it every day. If it is prayer, then pray every day. If it is meditation, then meditate every day. If it is exercise, then exercise every day. Only then will you be able to say that you are truly practicing spirituality.
This methodical approach is reassuring in several ways. First, it provides you with a process and a means to maintain progress even if that particular day is not inspiring or significant. Just to practice is already good. Secondly, it gives you a certain faith. If you practice every day, it is inevitable that you will gain from it. Thirdly, consistent practice gives you a certain satisfaction. How can you say to yourself that you have truly entered a spiritual path unless you can look back on years of daily practice and take comfort in the momentum that it has given you?
May 7, 2012
A wonderful book, with deep wisdom. If I were sent to a desert island with two books, this would be one.
April 13, 2011
This is one of my all-time favorite go-to books for quick centering. With literally a different concept for each day of the year, it is concisely written and easily-digestible with one-page for each concept, including a single word, the Chinese character, a poem and a Taoist principle. It is the perfect bite-sized collection of Taoist "snacks." It is amazing how appropriately each concept lines up with each day of the year (there is a different calendar for the Northern and Southern hemispheres for example). I once used it to make a mix tape of 21 straight days of contemplation and personal growth, every one of which fit the day's theme perfectly. I have even read pages from it at weddings. An absolute must for any Eastern philosophy/religion library.
May 23, 2021
The book is organized by the topic, but those topics are random. There are short stories/meditations related to chosen topic. Personally, I found it lacking some depth. It didn't leave me thinking and I forgot about it the moment I finished reading. Not a good sign for this type of books.
I have read few books about Buddhism and Tao, but this was one of the least compelling ones. Perhaps, the tuning was wrong for me. Not sure.
I have read few books about Buddhism and Tao, but this was one of the least compelling ones. Perhaps, the tuning was wrong for me. Not sure.
December 23, 2019
While I like the design of this book, I can't say it actually worked for me. I found it had a fairly low hit rate of daily items that resonated for me, and as a result, I found myself falling out of the habit of using it on a daily basis, even though it was sitting on my desk. So I'd ignore it for a while, then catch up, reading five or ten entries at a go to get back into sync. Just not for me, I guess.
April 2, 2011
As the title suggests, it took me a year to get through this book. Some days are profound and interesting, some are confusingly mundane, judgmental, or even contradictory. But that's the author's reflection of Tao. When I got to the end I started again, it's become my first-thing morning meditation.
August 6, 2021
some kind of petit bourgeois zen corruption of tao
there's one chapter where the author writes bastardised beat poetry about fat consumers, prostitutes and winos
fuck off — purity of the mind is an ontological project, not a moral one
you don't get to body and class shame people, while telling them to disavow judgemental thoughts
there's one chapter where the author writes bastardised beat poetry about fat consumers, prostitutes and winos
fuck off — purity of the mind is an ontological project, not a moral one
you don't get to body and class shame people, while telling them to disavow judgemental thoughts
February 9, 2016
I did enjoy setting time aside to read this book; sometimes I kept up with it day to day and sometimes I caught up. Every page made me think and then not think, whether I agreed or disagreed with the concept/metaphors/wording.
Some pages did occasionally make me roll my eyes for the spiritual personification and writing didn't match my scientific grasp of things, not in a way that I think means I need to transcend science, but that the metaphors needed to be adjusted or reconsidered. I suppose that with 365 pages some were bound to not fit quite right.
I did tag the pages that really fit with me, though, so I'm excited to keep this book nearby and take a look at those pages again through the years.
Some pages did occasionally make me roll my eyes for the spiritual personification and writing didn't match my scientific grasp of things, not in a way that I think means I need to transcend science, but that the metaphors needed to be adjusted or reconsidered. I suppose that with 365 pages some were bound to not fit quite right.
I did tag the pages that really fit with me, though, so I'm excited to keep this book nearby and take a look at those pages again through the years.
December 14, 2016
"wind in the cave
Movement in stillness
Power in silence"
"Thunder and rain at night
Growth comes with a shock
Expression and duration
Appear in the first moment"
Ming-Dao Deng ,365 Tao: Daily Meditations
Movement in stillness
Power in silence"
"Thunder and rain at night
Growth comes with a shock
Expression and duration
Appear in the first moment"
Ming-Dao Deng ,365 Tao: Daily Meditations
April 24, 2011
One of the best sources of guidance made accessible to an English speaking audience.
August 1, 2019
This was such a long and agonizingly slow read. I am no closer to understanding what the hell Tao is. Other than a few well written thought provoking passages, I found the rest to be borderline pseudoscience or personal opinions. I’m sure the author meant well but this wasn’t a good book to learn what Taoism entails. Or maybe I’m just far so far from Tao I can’t see it.
April 2, 2020
Calming yet challenging blurbs of zen wisdom. Combines short poetry, familiar maxims, and common sense into bite-size chill pills; goes perfectly with morning coffee.
I've read this 3x now. It was just as helpful and refreshing each time around.
I've read this 3x now. It was just as helpful and refreshing each time around.
October 17, 2016
This book is filled with unique quotes and interesting philosophy for every human dilemma, 365 days of the year. I found it a great book to have on hand when feeling confused or overwhelmed about any aspect of life, or life in general. I give it an A plus for it's perspective.
May 11, 2020
Ši knyga - tikra meditacija. Mums labai norisi aštrių pojūčių, stulbinamų pramogų, ir tai mus dar labiau įpainioja į gyvenimo sumaištį. Knyga apie vidinę darną, ramybę, atsisakymą stimuliuoti realybę.
March 31, 2018
A book I will theoretically never be finished with.
December 31, 2023
This fulfilled my need for a “secular devotional” in 2023. I was looking for something that would still be spirituality-based but venture outside the realm of strict Christianity—and this did the trick!
Tao prides itself (any “true follower” would roast me for using the word pride lol) on being unnameable, a mystery you can only comprehend via experience. (Not unlike the middle school game where if you *think* about The Game, then you instantly lose The Game. Anyone else remember that? 😂)
But I’m not here to make fun. Tao raises some excellent points—some compatible with Christianity (much like Stoicism), and some directly opposed (ie ‘nobody is coming to save you so get off your lazy bum and change your life yourself,’ which is a sentiment I appreciate).
Each day was short (1 page) and easily digestible, and I suspect a good entrance point to this Eastern philosophy (I’m not a scholar, nor am I interested in becoming one in these subjects).
I will later add a list of “23 Things I’ve Learned in 2023” from this book!
Happy New Years!
Tao prides itself (any “true follower” would roast me for using the word pride lol) on being unnameable, a mystery you can only comprehend via experience. (Not unlike the middle school game where if you *think* about The Game, then you instantly lose The Game. Anyone else remember that? 😂)
But I’m not here to make fun. Tao raises some excellent points—some compatible with Christianity (much like Stoicism), and some directly opposed (ie ‘nobody is coming to save you so get off your lazy bum and change your life yourself,’ which is a sentiment I appreciate).
Each day was short (1 page) and easily digestible, and I suspect a good entrance point to this Eastern philosophy (I’m not a scholar, nor am I interested in becoming one in these subjects).
I will later add a list of “23 Things I’ve Learned in 2023” from this book!
Happy New Years!
May 8, 2021
Fire cools.
Water seeks its own level.
No matter how extreme a situation is, it will change. It cannot continue forever. Thus, a great forest fire is always destined to burn itself out; a turbulent sea will become calmer. Natural events balance themselves out by seeking their opposites, and this process of balance is at the heart of all healing.
This process takes time. If an event is not great, the balancing required is slight. If it is momentous, then it may take days, years, even lifetimes for things to return to an even keel. Actually, without these slight imbalances, there could be no movement in life. It is being off balance that keeps life changing. Total centering, total balance would only be stasis. All life is continual destruction and healing, over and over again.
That is why, even in the midst of an extreme situation, the wise are patient. Whether the situation is illness, calamity, or their own anger, they know that healing will follow upheaval.
Water seeks its own level.
No matter how extreme a situation is, it will change. It cannot continue forever. Thus, a great forest fire is always destined to burn itself out; a turbulent sea will become calmer. Natural events balance themselves out by seeking their opposites, and this process of balance is at the heart of all healing.
This process takes time. If an event is not great, the balancing required is slight. If it is momentous, then it may take days, years, even lifetimes for things to return to an even keel. Actually, without these slight imbalances, there could be no movement in life. It is being off balance that keeps life changing. Total centering, total balance would only be stasis. All life is continual destruction and healing, over and over again.
That is why, even in the midst of an extreme situation, the wise are patient. Whether the situation is illness, calamity, or their own anger, they know that healing will follow upheaval.
February 24, 2023
365: "Even death is not a true ending. Life is infinite continuation ... Celebrate every turning. And persevere with joy."
A great addition and stepping stone to the wider world of meditative practices.
And on a sentimental note, this book stayed with me through a lot, and I studied it in moments of seeking, a true companion. Each page is well worn!
A great addition and stepping stone to the wider world of meditative practices.
And on a sentimental note, this book stayed with me through a lot, and I studied it in moments of seeking, a true companion. Each page is well worn!
December 31, 2015
As expected, some of the entries in this book contain clear hints of personal bias. Every writing on the subject of the Tao must, inescapably, be the result of passing the apprehension of Tao through a personal filter. In some cases (e.g. Cleary's Tao Te Ching), this yields something so heavily slanted as to allow almost all value in the work to slide right off of it; in others (e.g. Stephenson's Tao Te Ching), the result is very subtle and yields one of the better Taoist works I've read.
365 Tao is a relatively unique approach to addressing the Tao, as a "daily devotional" reader, in that it is divided into far more discrete, stand-alone chunks than almost any other book format. Some of them I found actually contradictory with my own perception of the Tao, but they were exceedingly rare. Overall, I found it contemplative, inspiring, and interesting. I would recommend it with the same caveat that must apply to any other philosophical, contemplative work: it was written by a human.
365 Tao is a relatively unique approach to addressing the Tao, as a "daily devotional" reader, in that it is divided into far more discrete, stand-alone chunks than almost any other book format. Some of them I found actually contradictory with my own perception of the Tao, but they were exceedingly rare. Overall, I found it contemplative, inspiring, and interesting. I would recommend it with the same caveat that must apply to any other philosophical, contemplative work: it was written by a human.
August 5, 2016
My day starts with this book, year after year, as my daily meditation and starting point for a journal entry. There are 365 entries, one for each day of the year. (except on leap year). Each entry contains a short poem and then two or three short paragraphs explaining the word for the day. By the time you finish reading each page, your mind shifts into new awareness of that word and its meaning and how it applies to your life. I have never found another book that feels so aligned with my inner beliefs as this one. Even things I'm not sure about seem to click into place once I read what Deng Ming-Dao has expressed so simply. The pages are now falling out and I probably should get a new copy, but this is my bible for life philosophy and spiritual understanding and if others were in alignment with this book, I feel the world would be better for it. Top 3 Favorite Shelf for me.
July 1, 2016
This is a book that I have both read and am currently reading. As a former devotee of the Christian religion, I grew up with daily devotional readings being a regular part of life. Both sets of grandparents read "Our Daily Bread" every morning with their cereal and toast. Having a Taoist equivalent is refreshing at this later stage of life. Dao is an excellent writer and proponent of life in the "Way." The daily readings I've found to be insightful, though on occasion forgettable or a bit trite (the one on 'War' for example where the message is 'war bad; peace good.' Still this is an excellent book for those looking for daily reflections of an alternative religious paradigm.
Read
October 29, 2016Use a mirror in difficult times:
You will see both cause and resolution.
When faced with adversity, you must ask whether you have done anything to bring misfortune upon yourself. If the present difficulties are the unforeseen outcome of events that you yourself set in motion, then it is necessary both to learn from your mistakes and to search for any possible way to correct them. If the difficulties are due to character flaws, then the situation should be resolved, and the basic fault must afterwards be eradicated.
You will see both cause and resolution.
When faced with adversity, you must ask whether you have done anything to bring misfortune upon yourself. If the present difficulties are the unforeseen outcome of events that you yourself set in motion, then it is necessary both to learn from your mistakes and to search for any possible way to correct them. If the difficulties are due to character flaws, then the situation should be resolved, and the basic fault must afterwards be eradicated.
October 22, 2016
I really wanted to like this book but found some problems with it along the way. One example is when the author states, "It is not possible to become fully realized in an urban environment." This is wrong teaching in my opinion. Some Buddhist teachers like Pema Chodron have said that you don't wait for conditions to be ideal to start practicing meditation, otherwise you may never start. Not everyone has the opportunity to live away from the city or to become a monk, but that doesn't mean they are ineligible for realization. I think I'll stick to my Buddhist texts thank you.
January 1, 2009
This is a great book to get you thinking each day. There is a word for each day as well as a short description or thoughts on the word. I like to read the word and try to apply it to my life or my hobbies or something. Although, the title has Tao in it, I think this is a good book for people of any religion as well as people with no religion. The words are just regular words with interesting anecdotes. Good way to get in touch with your own basic spirituality, whatever form that takes..
July 28, 2011
It is not enough to read this book once, twice, three times and so on.I feel like I am reaching out some part of the ancient wisdom of the old golden days but it has been changed a liitle bit during the centuries and all we can do is to grasp whatever survived. Tao wisdom is not easy to understand for the western mind, which has been corrupted throughout the history and lost everything related to the ancient world.
December 31, 2012
With the end of the year, I'll be saying "so long" to this little book - like lots of people I usually read something before I meditate and for the past year Deng has been providing that for me. He almost always has something to say worth thinking about, even on those occasions when I don't particularly agree with him. Once in a while he's a little obscure, but then I'm not a Taoist, and if that's your tradition the same things might not be obscure at all.
January 20, 2017
This is my go-to book for reading before meditation. I've owned it longer than I've been married (21 years), and I had to replace my copy a few years ago because the old one was falling apart from use. All of which is meant to say, I love this book! I can't imagine how Ming-Dao Deng managed to include so much poetry, inspiration and wisdom in one small volume. I recommend it highly. Even though I've been turning to this book for many years, I continue to find fresh and relevant insights.
October 11, 2018
I don’t enjoy daily devotional books but love learning about Tao and Taoism, so I thought I’d give it a try. Many of the entries felt forced and uninspired, like they author was trying to come up with 365 entries even if some were not as good as others. I found myself slogging through it at times and speeding through some entries. Some entries were great, but they felt rather few and far between. Good for some people but not for me.
February 28, 2013
I started the book on January 19, so I had to read the first 19 days all at once.
I have been doing really good with keeping up with the daily reading since then.
I hope to finish it this go round. The first time I ended up quitting. =0/
I made a community on LJ called 365tao to help me keep up with my daily reading.
I have been doing really good with keeping up with the daily reading since then.
I hope to finish it this go round. The first time I ended up quitting. =0/
I made a community on LJ called 365tao to help me keep up with my daily reading.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews