Hey everyone, im interested in studying Taoism, could anyone help me?

Hey. Im very interested in studying the principles of Taoism. I know that the Tao Te Ching is commonly referred to. Im wondering if anyone could help me by giving me some advice on what books i should purchase. Also, if anyone owns a particular version of the Tao Te Ching or any other Taoist text which would be of interest to me, could you link me to it on amazon or something? THANKS!

 

Try the Tao of Pooh, its basic and its the basics that matter. Unless the basics are mastered in anything, deeper understanding will be flawed. Perfection is not flawed but sometimes the flaws can be perfection.

 

I like Red Pine's (Bill Porter) translation, it has comments by ten or so historic Taoist sages/masters after each verse.

Zhuangzhi (also listed as Chuang-tse) is another good text, and where the Tao Te Ching is largely pointed at rulers, Zhuangzhi speaks more to the common man. It's longer, though, and mostly in prose instead of verse.

 

Books are nice. But simply look around you, at nature... the ten thousand things.


"The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences"...

 

If you had no preferences, books and nature would seem absolutely equal.