Description
Book SynopsisThe timeless wisdom of this classic Taoist text can become a companion on your own spiritual journey. The Chuang-tzu is the second major text of the Taoist tradition. It was compiled in the third century BCE and follows the lead of the best-known and oldest of all Taoist texts, the Tao-te-ching (Book of the Tao and Its Potency). Representing the philosophy of its main author, Chuang Chou, along with several other early Taoist strands, the text has inspired spiritual seekers for over two thousand years. Using parable, anecdote, allegory and paradox, the Chuang-tzu presents the central message of what was to become the Taoist school: a reverence for the Tao—the "Way" of the natural world—and the belief that you are not truly virtuous until you are free from the burden of circumstance, personal attachments, tradition and the desire to reform the world. In this special SkyLight Illuminations edition, leading Taoist scholar Livia Kohn, PhD, provides a fresh, modern translation of key selections from this timeless text to open up classic Taoist beliefs and practices. She provides insightful, accessible commentary that highlights the Chuang-tzu's call to reject artificially imposed boundaries and distinctions, and illustrates how you can live a more balanced, authentic and joyful life—at ease in perfect happiness—by following Taoist principles.
Trade ReviewKohn (religion & East Asian studies, emerita, Boston Univ.; Daoism and Chinese Culture) draws on the second principal source text of the Taoist tradition, the Chuang-tzu—which we now know best for the famed "butterfly dream," an anecdote that has given rise to many philosophical questions—to clarify a number of Taoist beliefs and practices. Kohn's work is not a complete or scholarly version of the ancient text but a thematically arranged selection designed to appeal to Western readers. VERDICT Kohn’s introduction to a lesser-known exponent of the Tao should appeal, as intended, to many spiritual seekers, especially those interested in Asian traditions. * Library Journal *
Table of ContentsIntroduction vii Universal Patterns 1. Perfect Happiness 3 2. The Universe 17 3. Life and Death 33 4. Cosmos and Destiny 47 Body and Mind 5. The Self 61 6. Dreams 75 7. The Human Mind 87 Self-Transformation 8. Oblivion 103 9. Realizing Tao 119 10. The Perfected 137 The New Life 11. Uselessness 153 12. Natural Skills 167 13. In the World 179 14. When in Power 193 Suggestions for Further Reading 207
