Taoism in Perfection

[Jianblade]

A strong man forces his way though life, a wise man flows with life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo-gNXdiiI4

[Brother D]

Far out post Jian mang, am new to the teachings of brother Watts. I only know Taoism from us dudes and from Tai chi. Where's a good place to start, dude?

[Jianblade]

Far out post Jian mang, am new to the teachings of brother Watts. I only know Taoism from us dudes and from Tai chi. Where's a good place to start, dude?

Obviously, you probably should start with the Tao Te Ching. There a lot of translations of this book though because it's so hard to translate Chinese to English, so find whatever translation fits your groove the most. Some translations emphasize different aspects than others, so just check what you think makes the most sense to you. I would recommend the Stephen Mitchell Translation, because it translates the actual ideas in the Tao Te Ching in a way that an English speaker can understand the easiest, rather than a literal translation, which makes little sense in English

There a couple of lectures that can be found on YouTube about Taois. Because I'm biased, look up The Taoist Way by Brother Watts and you should also check out Taoism (World Religions: A Whirlwind Tour) on YouTube as well. I really like how Watts presents Taoism, because he makes it so simple and easy to understand, explaining it in a way a child could understand while still remaining really poetic about it. (again my bias is showing, this is just my recommended starting point, but the journey is yours )

[PriorRestraint]

Oliver Benjamin recently put out a 'translation' of the Dao De Jing, so that's a good place to start, but both of our favorite translation (and an amazing, long intro) is the Philosophical Translation by Hall and Ames

Also, check out the Zhuangzi, the second book of Daoism. It's stories and parables, often funny, and very very deep. Burton Watson's translation is canonical, but there are several good ones

Far out post Jian mang, am new to the teachings of brother Watts. I only know Taoism from us dudes and from Tai chi. Where's a good place to start, dude?