Product Description

A must-have for all those who want to incorporate Taoist wisdom into their everyday lives, this companion to Deng Ming-Dao's popular 365 Tao shows readers how to live in harmony with nature, others, and their natural selves. Fifteen sections address key issues encountered in spiritual growth and offer clear, specific directions on bringing the Taoist spirit into work, relationships, and all aspects of everyday life. Line drawings.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70121 in Books
• Published on: 1996-06-14
• Released on: 1996-05-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780062513953
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
In this companion volume to 365 Tao, Deng Ming-Dao explores the central features of Taoism and their application to everyday life. Divided into sections with names like "Nature," "Silence," "Devotion" and "Self," Deng's individual meditations focus on virtues like charity, kindness, patience and diligence. Each meditation is preceded by a drawing of an ancient Chinese ideogram of which Deng offers a translation and an extended reflection on the drawing's meaning, or instruction, for following the Tao. For example, in his reflection on travel, he illustrates the various ways in which the act of traveling is synonymous with following the Tao. In his words, "to travel means to trust the Tao." Deng's poetic conversations on the harmony and balance of living the Tao in everyday life should have broad appeal.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ming-Dao's 365 Tao has sold 125,000 copies over the last four years, paving the way for this accessible and illuminating guide. In his introduction, Ming-Dao explains that Tao is "literally the movement of all life . . . the total ongoing of the universe," and that to live according to Taoist principles is to go along with this movement, this flow. Ming-Dao notes eight "special qualities" of people who internalize Taoism: simplicity, sensitivity, flexibility, independence and being focused, cultivated, disciplined, and joyous. The body of the book consists of texts based on Chinese characters emblematic of certain aspects of the Taoist way, including specific aspects of nature, silence, conduct, moderation, devotion, teaching, self, and union. In his clear and concise definitions of each concept, Ming-Dao provides a running history of Tao, a summary of Tao practice, and suggestions for how the study of Taoism can enrich everyday life in the Western world. Donna Seaman

From the Back Cover
The Taoist spirit comes to life, made vibrant and contemporary through the Chinese ideograms whose images and stories speak of living in harmony with the Tao. Everyday Tao revives an ancient approach to meditation and reflection by using these stories as sources of insight for spiritual growth.

Customer Reviews

Wonderful book, directly useful, helps you be a better perso
OK, I wasn't going to bother writing a review for this book until I saw the other reviewers complaining about the incorrect entymology of the characters. Alright so they know more about this subject than I do ... but not one of them managed to address the fact that the author says in the intro that he's using the ANCIENT INTERPRETATIONS! Of course there will be problems with the modern entymology. These critics could very well have taken this into consideration but by not mentioning it (one reviewer simply sampled them randomly, thus admitting he never read the book) their criticisms are not particularly helpful. Not that they would be anyway, which leads into my next point.

The quality of the lessons in this should not be overshadowed by technical arguments that have no bearing on the actual discussion. The entymology was a framework that is (or should be anyway...) easily discarded if one is not interested in it. I'm active in martial arts and one constant theme I encounter is people "thinking too hard". Many times someone will be doing fine until they start getting overly-analytical and then they flop. I do this myself. The point here is that if you get stuck on petty details you will miss *so* much.

So in summary, this is a great book if you allow it to be. If you are going to nitpick and argue technicalities then you have missed the whole point of this book, and likely missed the beauty of Taoism in general.

This book brings peace
I usually skip over the entymology and pictographs and go straight to the text. Each page dwells on a concept from the taoist point of view. Very relaxing to trip on a subject that is affecting your life at a particular time. If you flip through the I Ching looking for that random nugget of wisdom and find nothing but vague hints, this book would be very useful for establishing equilibrium and bringing resolution. Of course no book does that, you have to find what page is applicable to you and read it and reflect on it.

It is definitely a layman's text, not a religious historian's, so don't judge it on the wrong terms. If you prefer to read Stephen Mitchell's reworking of the Tao teh ching over Jim Cleary's translation you will like this book.

I am a westerner who applies the kernels of truth that have kept the Chinese civilizations strong for last few thousand years, not a starry-eyed new ager looking for their next guru to throw my cash at, and find it a useful book. Romanticization implies wishing to be in another era other than the present, but on the contrary, this book helps me make sense of the present moment, my present (and future) relationships, and my surroundings in late 20th century San Francisco.

Simple but valuable
I'm writing this review because I realized that I've had this book for years and it's never reached my bookshelf. It's always by my bedside, because I turn to it at least weekly as a source of meditation or comfort or thought. It's not a perfect book - some of the text is too vague to be inspiring - but it's simple, clear, and insightful. I think it's a great book to buy and keep as a companion on your journey.