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The Tao: The Sacred Way
"There are many translations of this book; all are different and all are the same. None are accurate and none are false. Ancient Chinese writing was not limited by the desire for preciseness. It more resembled a series of pictures. The people who would learn the message must swim in the characters and in the spaces around them. What is not written is equal in importance to what is written. Nothing can be seen by examining a page of the book unless at the same moment you examine your own heart."
The Tao is universal. Its words "are to hung like bells in our hearts and rung by the motions we make as we move through our daily lives." Here Tolbert McCarroll presents it in a unique version. For the contemporary audience, he offers concepts that make a bridge from the Tao to the Western mystics, and his language includes both male and female experience.
The Tao is universal. Its words "are to hung like bells in our hearts and rung by the motions we make as we move through our daily lives." Here Tolbert McCarroll presents it in a unique version. For the contemporary audience, he offers concepts that make a bridge from the Tao to the Western mystics, and his language includes both male and female experience.
142 pages, Paperback
Published January 15, 2018
3 people want to read
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March 19, 2018
I first read the Tao Te Ching six years ago in a version edited by Gia-Fu Feng & translated by Jane English. Perhaps I wasn't quite ready to absorb its message &, though I liked it, I didn't really understand much of it & therefore didn't feel qualified to say anything about it by way of a review.
This version by Br. Toby McCarroll, my longtime friend & founding member of the multi-faith Starcross Community in Annapolis, CA, has been a tremendous help in at least coming to grasp the general gist & sense of this ancient (6th cent. BCE) & great classic. As Br. Toby notes, though authorship is generally assigned to Lao-Tzu, probably some Chinese followers of The Tao, whom Toby refers to as the "Old Ones", began gathering their learnings together. "Perhaps there was a wise one called 'Lao Tzu' who made this collection...No one knows. The result is usually referred to as The Tao (path or way) Te (virtue) Ching (sacred book)."
Many versions of The Tao have followed whatever original form it had. "None are accurate and none are false", Toby says. "What is not written is equal in importance to what is written. Nothing can be seen by examining a page of the book, unless at the same moment we examine our hearts and our experiences." Br. Toby adds that editions of The Tao fall roughly into 2 categories: 1) scholarly works; and 2) "...works produced to help people, of all faiths or none, on their spiritual path. I think of these as 'backpack editions'." Toby remarks that each new version or edition brings some new insight to light, as, undoubtedly, each rereading by anyone might also do. Originally, it seems, this collection of learnings was meant as an aid to help Chinese rulers in governing their respective states, sort of a "how-to" manual on leadership as a human being.
Br. Toby sees The Tao as universal, the essence of which is found in the searching & spiritual journey of every culture & age. "It consists of stillness and silence. It will enter into any quiet heart...These words of The Tao are to be hung like bells in our hearts and rung by the motions we make as we move through our daily lives." Definitely a good addition to any backpack!
This version by Br. Toby McCarroll, my longtime friend & founding member of the multi-faith Starcross Community in Annapolis, CA, has been a tremendous help in at least coming to grasp the general gist & sense of this ancient (6th cent. BCE) & great classic. As Br. Toby notes, though authorship is generally assigned to Lao-Tzu, probably some Chinese followers of The Tao, whom Toby refers to as the "Old Ones", began gathering their learnings together. "Perhaps there was a wise one called 'Lao Tzu' who made this collection...No one knows. The result is usually referred to as The Tao (path or way) Te (virtue) Ching (sacred book)."
Many versions of The Tao have followed whatever original form it had. "None are accurate and none are false", Toby says. "What is not written is equal in importance to what is written. Nothing can be seen by examining a page of the book, unless at the same moment we examine our hearts and our experiences." Br. Toby adds that editions of The Tao fall roughly into 2 categories: 1) scholarly works; and 2) "...works produced to help people, of all faiths or none, on their spiritual path. I think of these as 'backpack editions'." Toby remarks that each new version or edition brings some new insight to light, as, undoubtedly, each rereading by anyone might also do. Originally, it seems, this collection of learnings was meant as an aid to help Chinese rulers in governing their respective states, sort of a "how-to" manual on leadership as a human being.
Br. Toby sees The Tao as universal, the essence of which is found in the searching & spiritual journey of every culture & age. "It consists of stillness and silence. It will enter into any quiet heart...These words of The Tao are to be hung like bells in our hearts and rung by the motions we make as we move through our daily lives." Definitely a good addition to any backpack!
Displaying 1 of 1 review