![]() ![]() Anyway, one day Lao Tzu was passing through a gate, and a guard begged him to write down everything he knew about the Tao. To him, the TTC was kind of a Taoism for Dummies, a condensed rundown of centuries of Taoist thought. That's right, Lao Tzu never claimed to have come up with this stuff. The most popular story is that Lao Tzu was a scribe/librarian for a king, so he had access to the knowledge of all the Tao masters that came before him. There's a ton of debate about when he lived and if he actually did, but he's a major figure either way. we know you're dying to ask, "Who came up with this stuff?" Well, legend has it that the Tao Te Ching was written by a wise old guy named Lao Tzu (or Laozi). To the TTC, the ultimate goal is to find simple oneness with the Tao by doing so, we'll discover enlightenment and lead fully realized lives. The Tao crosses off its universal to-do list without effort, so we should do stuff with the same kind of "unattached action" (a way of being and doing called wu wei). For example, the Tao doesn't go around bragging about how awesome it is, so we ought to be just as humble. The Tao Te Ching takes all its life-lessons from the Tao itself. Not only is it everything that exists, it's everything that doesn't exist too-to which we can only say, " Whoa." Usually translated as the "Way," the Tao is the mysterious, unnamable process through which everything in the Universe happens. The Tao Te Ching is all about the Tao, which is basically the great big flow of everything. So what gives? What's this book got going on that's kept the world a-buzzin' for so long? The TTC is actually the second-most translated book after the Bible, which is no small potatoes. On top of that, it's influenced folks from every other religion and philosophy out there: Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, and even Christianity. For one, it's the "bible" of the two main branches of Taoism: the religious branch (which digs deities) and the philosophical branch (which leaves the gods out of it). ![]() The worldwide influence of these eighty-one short chapters can't be shortchanged. The Tao Te Ching (or Dao De Jing) has been blowing minds and changing lives for over 2,500 years. Are you ready for a heapin' helpin' of ancient Chinese wisdom? You couldn't have come to a better text, Shmooper. ![]()
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