Walking the Way: 81 Zen Encounters with the Tao Te Ching

I play tai chi and do qigong and am interested in the Tao since it permeates both. I've read several translations of the Tao Te Ching and gotten something out of most of them but sometimes it is helpful to me to have a well-thought-out commentary to get my brain going and to leave the sometimes archaic wording of the work and move toward something that connects a little more closely with my western, daily life.I think this book helps me quite a bit with that. The author has a nice conversational and heart-open style that speaks to me and I like the structure of the book where he first presents the text, then opens with a general, "every man" comment and then adds some insights from his personal life. Read slowly without rushing, these three angles flesh out the Tao nicely and stimulate me to start creating some personal, inner commentary of my own. He is also a long-time qigong teacher and some of his comments reflect that practice and connect my practice little more with the Tao text.I really enjoy this book

I first read the Tao Te Ching when I was about 16. That was a long time ago. I always have several translations available to me. Walking the Way is, in part, a new translation of this sublime classic. But at its heart, it is a revelatory commentary. Each chapter (or verse) has its own commentary, as well as a short reflection taken from the author's personal life. I stumbled on this version with its personal commentary while browsing in an unnamed bookstore. Please know that I have not yet finished this book. It is so utterly outstanding, so eloquent and so staggeringly insightful, that I want to savor every page ... even every paragraph. I am an author of a book and I am struck by some of the amazing parallels between this book and my own explorations into the nature of life and the cosmos. If you love philosophy, if you want to see what you are in this mysterious fabric of existence, then do yourself and your world a favor and get this book. You will be extremely grateful you did.

Discovering a spiritual path is an intensely personal adventure. So being able to read the accounts of others that are pointed in the same or similar direction, I find very helpful. This book is a simple and eloquent description of personal experience with Zen as inspired by the Tao Te Ching. The chapters are short and great illustrations of the practical world of Zen and the Tao Te Ching. Easy, simple in the best meaning of the word, and very helpful. I am sure I will refer back to it from time to time for clarity.

The author gives very understandable discussion of each chapter in the sometimes obscure but deep passages that make up the Tao Te Ching. Then he adds a personal experience related to that chapter that further helps with understanding not just the Tao, but the author himself. After reading this, I can go back and read more poetic versions of the Tao Te Ching and feel like I have a doorway into the deeper meanings.

How skillfully this book bring our encounters with the little melodramas of daily life along side the "ancient" wisdom of the Taoist and Zen sages, and demonstrates the inspiration and cosmic meaning lurking beneath the surface of our everyday situations. Illustrating this fundamental reality in such practical terms brings us all useful tools to free ourselves from both the pettiest of tyrants and the most heavenly saviors.

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An amazing reprieve each day from an ego-centered world. Makes me feel grounded and relaxed. so well written and the format is well done. First his poetic translation from the Tao de Ching and then his take on it as a psychologist practitioner of The Way. Most artistic to read as well as inspirational.

One of the most inspiring books I've come across. All the wisdom of the Tao and Buddhism expressed through one man's journey along the Way while providing the reader with practical insights for day to day living. This is a book you'll want to share with others and read again and again.

This book claims to give zen insights into the Tao Te Ching, but I did not find them