Shallow View of Taoism
937168
I bought this book on the recommendations of a friend.  I am not sure how much of it he read but it didn't take me very long until I realized that this was not a very good version of the I Ching. I am most familiar with the Wilhelm-Baynes version in which  the foundation for the material is based on the first two hexagrams, The Creative(male, light, heaven) and The Receptive (female, dark, earth) .  The remaining 64 hexagrams are based on the guiding principle of those two hexagrams.

Ms. Anthony and Ms. Moog are rewriting the more accurate Wilhelm-Baynes version at the very beginning by changing The Creative to The Cosmic Consciousness and The Receptive to Nature.  They don't make any great distinction from either Cosmic Consciouses and Nature. They state that right use of Cosmic Consciousness transforms through harmony the creation of Nature.  It says nothing of the male or female role or the principles of light and darkness as a balancing factors of the Tao. The interpretation of all the remaining hexagrams are often viewed through new age filters and pop psychology.

Most of the instructions in the book were about doing battle with the ego for control of the Cosmic Consciouses.  The true student of Tao knows that in order to find the way, we have to make peace with our ego.  We don't fight our ego because we  would lose ourselves in the battle. The ego is a servant and we only need to let it know the right goals and beliefs that serve us well.

I will admit writing a new interpretation of the I Ching would be extremely difficult.  I have been studying the I Ching and Taoism for over 40 years and I would be very hesitant of writing my own version of it because interpretation of the material is a organic process that is subject to spiritual growth. Fewer words and less opinion will get one closer to the truth, and this book has too much of both.

I would recommend Richard Willem's version to anyone who is serious about studying the I Ching.  It is much more poetic and more open to interpretation of the Tao at many levels. I believe the Ms. Anthoney and Ms. Moog are very talented writers, but they should have a better understanding of the Taoism if they want to write about it.
4741675
I'm a Vines Reviewer, so I got my copy for free.

I couldn't finish this book. When I got to the section where he starting saying "Chuang Tzu never talks about love, but if he did he would say ...." he lost me.

The author has put a lot of thought into this, and does a good job of explaining and giving context to the original Chinese texts, but does so using a very Christian value set and point of view - as the introduction says "what happens when a committed Christian reads the classical writings of Taoism?"

If you are a curious, committed Christian, perhaps this book is for you. As a esoteric Taoist, its not for me.
1223018
A Taoist would say, you judge a philosophy by its deep results, for a person and for societies. The more true, the better it supports life and vice-versa. The author's life was changed from arrogant self-righteous egotism and demonic Hindu meditations, not properly directed by proper principle, into love, healing, success and direct protective connection to God for continuous supernatural miracles.

Some do Hinduism w a true heart and succeed to reach love and healing with it, but Hinduism doesn't really emphasize the best principles. Many gurus are charlatans doing it on a lower level of vanity and occult party tricks. The proof as the author states: India is the place of maybe the most suffering since the violent Aryans took them over 3000 yrs ago and established Hinduism as partly a slave cult where you accept your misery obediently and do the rituals to maybe merit a better life next time (despite later attempts during the upanishad period at higher wisdom). It never worked though. India is progressing fast now due to using western ethics which correspond to Christian ethics.

Besides His sacrifice for sin, a value of Christ is in showing us an example of how to do spirituality well, teaching proper high principles that lead to life and to transcend our own crosses instead of staying stuck in misery, and treating all humans as worthy sons and heirs of the Father who respect themselves, God's morals, and other persons as equals, and so succeed in enormously improving life. One can open the heart and connect to miracles by other philosophies, but it's usually not as simple and efficient I've found. That's why Christians have succeeded.
4432926
As someone who has studied the Old Religions for a decade, been an initiate for eight years, and is on a course to get my PhD in Comparative Religion, I must write that the author has no fundamental understanding of Druidism. This person believes that all Druids are male, that the role of the Druid is to separate himself from nature so that he may "transcend" it, that humans are above animals, that we reincarnate only in a linear form, and that sex should be separated from the spiritual path. This sounds much more like Christianity than Druidism.
First of all, it is ridiculous to suppose that anyone of the Old Religion would try to separate themselves from nature. The case is quite the opposite. Since nature is revered as sacred, Druids are always seeking to learn from nature and doing so must always come back to nature. It is only the most arrogant of people who can suppose to "transcend" nature because we are apart of it. Arrogance is in opposition to wisdom and wisdom is a goal of Druid priests and priestesses, therefore the arrogant priest is not upholding the nature of Druidism. Secondly, the "Celts" didn't believe in a linear form of reincarnation, because their whole cosmology was cyclic. The belief was that one would reincarnate (or transmutate as it were) into a form that would teach the spirit a lesson that it didn't learn in that last life. This was considered a never-ending cycle because there is no limit to knowledge.
Lastly, people of the Old Religion didn't view sex as sinful (like the author of this book appears to). This author writes that Druids must transcend "simple animal rutting". Furthermore, in his chapter "The Deadiest of Species" (referring to women) he goes on to write that "... for a Twice-Born soul to knowingly dilute his genderforce by superficial sexual union with his opposite, goes against the very nature of true spiritual growth - and not only against growth but also as a sin against the self." (217) He doesn't mention that in the great rite of heiros gamos (the Great Marriage), sex was used in ritual as a holy experience. In this rite, priest and priestess took on the role of God and Goddess and played out their ritual mating on the sacred festival of Bealtaine (Beltane is the Anglicized form of the original Irish) to bless the land with fertility. Sex is one of the most sacred of acts because it creates life- and Druidism (as in the other Old Religions) celebrates life.
I must conclude that this text is absurd. For those who are interested in Druid-lore, I recommend Phillip Carr-Gomm- the leader of OBOD. For those interested in Wicca or other pagan paths, I recomend Star Hawk and Scott Cunningham. For those interested in the history of the Goddess, I recommend "The Chalice and the Blade", "When God was a Woman", and "The Serpent and the Goddess".
1160818
Like other reviewers here, I found myself very turned off by the condescension and negativity present throughout the book. Which was very disappointing- I think Hoff found a great medium through which to elicit the fundamentals of Taoism but the blithe way he dismisses anything that doesn't align with his own perspective suggests he doesn't really grok those fundamentals himself. <sigh>  Oh well, enough said...I'm going outside to play.
4454919
The title of this book might be a bit misleading.  There is no actual science here.  By "science" Young seems to mean only his fondness for metaphors drawn from popular science (the tired old ones about waves and particles, or about the table being "really" only a mass of moving particles, etc.).  He warns us that he will use a "precise technical vocabulary" that might be difficult at first for the uninitiated, but what he means by that seems to be an awful lot of vague metaphors which avoid any precise meaning (e.g.: "The ultimate primordial self is the space itself, born in the cleft between expansion and contraction"; or, "You get a very clear perception...[of]...a stately undulatory movement, and within each undulation a more rapid vibratory movement").

His ultimate model of enlightenment is smoking pot and eating a brownie. Passive pleasant sensations are the goal, any attempt at thought or action is the cause of all suffering; Young's constant refrain throughout is that we must accept any conditions, and learn to experience them as pleasant, and "pure", sensations.  This passive state is what he means by enlightenment, and in the last chapter he suggest that we might all achieve this by some kind of more sophisticated lobotomy.  He even offers some examples of people with major brain injuries, which have rendered them incapable of self-directed action but who are indifferent to their surroundings, and suggests this offers hope that some kind of surgical enlightenment might some day be possible.

To be fair, he is explicit about the fact that what he is presenting was NOT taught by the Buddha, and that his techniques are twentieth-century inventions that most Buddhists objected to as being the opposite of the goal of Buddhism.  He still wants to attach it to Buddhism, though, so he claims that each new Buddha radically reinvents the teachings (he compare this to the transformation of Newtonian physics by Einstein).

Overall, a sad mess of new age thought poorly yoked to bad popular ideas of neuroscience.  The only thing more depressing than the popularity of this kind of new age nonsense is the fact that I read the whole book!
4584129
The big disappointment here is that there is very little Dalai Lama in this book. It is not the Lama's handbook for living, it is Howard Cutler's handbook for getting rich off the Dalai Lama's good name. Howard Cutler is a professional psychologist, and -- one quickly concludes -- a rather average one.
The one fascinating thing about this book is observing how the Dalai Lama interacts with a perfectly ordinary, totally western person. Howard Cutler asks the same kinds of questions that you or I might ask, and is just as puzzled as we might be. He is not much of a writer, but he writes without artifice or elaboration. Through Cutler's unornamented prose, the reader can sense the Dalai Lama's reactions to such honest questions as "What is wrong with romantic love?" The Lama questions the question, and with a thoughtful words opens all the distinctions between our cultures. He transcends cultural bias easily, which is perhaps what makes him such a powerful figure in our age. Much of the book, however, consists of Cutler dissecting, analyzing, and providing examples from his own practice to elucidate the Lama's brief responses. Cutler's thinking is far weaker, but does serve to illustrate the vast gulf between ordinary thought and the thinking of someone who has devoted his life to it.
Were I titling this book, I might have come up with something like "A Psychological Response to Selected Teachings of the Dalai Lama: A Collision Between East and West". (Fortunately for all of us, I do not have a job in publishing!) Although it is disappointing that the interviewer is not sophisticated enough to take these questions deeper, it is worthwhile to examine the Dalai Lama's approaches and responses to ordinary questions.
All told, this is not a book I am happy to have bought. I would not file this under Dalai, or Lama (how does one alphabetize a title like that?), but under Cutler. The real problem is that his interviews with the Dalai Lama cover only a few paragraphs in each chapter. The bulk of the material is Cutler digesting and regurgitating the thoughts in various ways. Were I Cutler's therapist, I might find this more interesting, but as someone still searching for happiness myself, I find his perspectives both trite and unhelpful.
3578543
The description of this book appealed to me on many levels. I was looking forward to a sort of left-of-center experience, within a relatable story about the struggles of being different in a society that expects you to conform. This book is that kind of story, to some degree, though it's also both more and less than what I expected.

Starting with the good stuff: The story moves at a good pace. The author's writing style is conversational and conspiratorial, bringing us into his world and sharing his secrets. We're right there with Yew's character, seeing what he sees and feeling his emotions.

Now the not-so-good stuff, which, for me, outweighs the good stuff. First, I did not like Yew's character at all. Since this book is written in first person, and we see the world only from Yew's perspective, liking the book becomes even more of a challenge because I didn't like my tour guide. He's self-involved, arrogant, and narrates as if he is the only enlightened one among a bunch of automatons.

We start out with Yew in early grade school. As a child, he's not much different than any other child in that he wants to play and explore, rather than sit and learn. Yet the narration treats his desire to be free as if it's a unique rebellion. His relationship with his parents is the typical push-pull, though here it's treated as if a horrible burden is placed on his shoulders to live up to his parents' expectations. He comes from a well-off family that treats him with love, and the poor pitiful me act simply feels shallow.

As an adult, Yew is no more likable. He flails about in his shallowness, while expounding on philosophy and touting Taoism as if he is superior in his mindset. At one point he states that he's angry because he sacrificed himself by going to college (free!), and his parents never thanked him for doing so. The dichotomy between the self-proclaimed enlightened free spirit and the egocentric ranting of the narrator is profound, and feels more like a parody than a serious statement.

Yew is the only character of substance within the book. We never really meet his parents. His friendships, for the most part, appear to be as shallow as he is. No dialogue feels genuine, and no relationships are explored to help us understand why he feels so out of sorts within his social circle.

In the end, I only felt irritation, as if I'd been forced to spend time with a particularly obnoxious person who believes himself superior while having absolutely no basis for that belief.

*I was provided with a free ebook copy in exchange for much honest review.*
4644317
Creation of the Gods, vols 1-4, is a Chinese classic that helps Westerners understand traditional Chinese culture. That said, some things could improve the presentation. The quality of printing, for instance. Some pages actually appeared as if produced from a copier that needed toner. One page had a large hole in the paper, a quality control issue.

The translation itself left something to be desired. Swear words used to address immortal beings in the story sounded very insulting to me, the reader. There were countless battles, challenges, and matching of magic skills. But how could an opponent of a goddess call her the b-word? Or an opposing general call a Taoist immortal the other b-word? The translator, whom I assume had to have a depth of academic knowledge in Chinese literature as well as a certain command of formal English, did not need to use such low-level language to express the meaning of the character.

It was, however, an easy read and the action moved the story along. Unfortunately, quality of the translation and the books themselves could learn a lesson from traditional Chinese literature.
1405734
After having just finished Victor Chan's collaborative work with the Dalai Lama, "The Wisdom of Forgiveness", I was prepared for a book where a lot of the content was atmospheric rather than substantive. However, I was barely one chapter into "The Art of Happiness at Work" before I began to get the creeping suspicion that I was being hustled.

This is basically a Howard Cutler self-help book that has precious little of the Dalai Lama's insights. Which would be alright if it was presented as such more honestly. The few bits of wisdom from His Holiness seem only a token to allow Dr. Cutler to then take off on his own theories, and anecdotes about his friends who aren't happy with their new cars.

Don't waste your time. Especially if you are looking to extract any teaching of Buddhism. At best this is a dull, uninspired read. And at worst, it seems like a marketing scam using the name of the Dalai Lama to sell another chicken soup book.

Chan's book is a far more honest and pleasurable read. And any volume actually written by the Dalai Lama himself would be recommended.
4821923
First, this book does not actually compare Christianity to other religions, except on a superficial level.  The attempted comparisons demonstrate the author's lack of understanding for the respective tradtions.

Mostly Zacharias describes Christian beliefs and explains why he feels they are superior to/different from other religions.  As a Taoist, I cannot judge how accurate his depiction of Christianity is, but when he tries to argue for uniqueness, he generally sounds like he has no clue what the other religions actually believe, and sometimes like he doesn't understand the implications of his own descriptions of Christianity.

The reason that I gave this book two stars instead of one or zero is for the chapter on good and evil.  It is an excellent and thought-provoking discussion.  Though Zacharias doesn't realize it (and would probably be offended if he were told), his perspective is almost perfectly Taoist.  (Hmmm, how does that affect his uniqueness argument?)  So I highly recommend reading that chapter, but I would give the rest of the book a miss.
3167348
The full identity of the historical figure known as Lao-tzu (6th Century BCE) whose writings have been looked upon as the basis for Taoism is unknown. This text, rendered in the traditional Chinese form of meaning laden compressed aphorisms is delightful to read.  The paradoxes force us to consider several different sides of any given issue. The poetic text is rife with ambiguity, inference and hidden meanings. Acknowledging paradox is the only way of pushing philosophical and scientific problems nearer solution. Acknowledging paradox is intellectual sincerity. We need to assimilate Eastern notions of identity, paradox, and mystery (if I can use a bad word) into our Western magisterium of science.

The traditional interpretation of this text is that it was written as a guide for the enlightened and wise ruler and in this, it invites comparison to Machiavelli but such a comparison is beyond the scope of this review. In any case, Lao-tzu does not recommend a specific form of government or path to good government, but he does advocate a specific outcome which is concern for human well-being under any ruler or form of government. The government, however constituted, should be an expression of wisdom and enlightenment.  Wisdom here is the exercise of judicious discretion on the part of the ruler so as not to disrupt the natural order of society.  If there is any path to good government identified by Lao-tzu, it is that of good behavior.  As in Verse 17, When the Master governs, the people are hardly aware that he exists. Or, as stated in verse 57 If you want to be a great leader, you must learn to follow the Tao.  Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts and the world will govern itself. I have had to learn this firsthand in my experience with what I like to call the tyranny of goals and treachery of plans. Lao-tzu, in speaking about the Master in Verse 30, also says that He understands that the universe is forever out of control and in Verse 3 he speaks  of  emptying peoples minds (eliminating the tyranny of goals?) and weakening their ambition (avoiding the treachery of plans?). This much at least must seem odd to a western perspective. I believe the Tao is defined in Verse 67 as simplicity, patience and compassion.  Which should seem odd to no civilized person.

What Lao-tzu advocates as good for the individual, is also the basis of good government, the antithesis of accumulating wealth and power. Such things are just dead weight upon the soul.  This means to me that ethics comes necessary before politics. Thus, Lao-tzus political philosophy minimizes the power of the ruler or the state, but he should not be mistaken for a classic liberal or a modern libertarian in the western sense. Instead, Lao-tzu speaks about the Master acting by not doing anything and teaching without speaking. His is a combined philosophy of ethics and governance stressing the oneness and the all-relatedness of all reality leading to spiritual peace and inner fulfillment. It is not my desire to westernize Lao-tzu, but It is difficult to resist comparisons to western models in reading Lao-tzu. I am reminded of the oneness of Neoplatonism or the pantheism of Spinoza.  And, I also think Lao-tzu would agree with Epictetus in that wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.

Most powerfully for me is the remainder of Verse 57 where Lao-tzu advises that we let go of law, economics and religion to become more honest, prosperous and serene.  In other words, our legal, economic and religious systems are just labels and that if we want a more honest, prosperous and serene society, we must be more honest, prosperous and serene people. The problems and the solutions are all to be found in the same place, with us and within us.

Ironically Lao-tzu was writing prior to the time of the first modern bureaucratic government in China, and in the world, the short-lived but highly authoritarian state of the Qin Dynasty.
2093371
I read the Amazon excerpts of this book and thought it looked very good. Now that I have read it in its entirety, I feel disappointed.  The root issues of self and awakening are very difficult to talk about, because the simplicity required becomes lost when we try to speak about it.  Most of the non-duality authors I have read can be equally criticized for this fault.  After awhile, one gets the feeling of being engaged in so much superfluous psycho-babble.  What is true from an "awakened" point of view often sounds empty and trite when put into words crafted to "enlighten" the seeker.  You cannot talk a dog out of barking, and you cannot talk an ego out of separation, because the very process of thinking is by nature dualistic.  The questioners in the book are looking for escape from suffering, and seeking an imaginary bliss that is unattainable through the action of their egos.  Most of the advice given serves to reinforce the ego's attempts to manipulate consciousness, rather than provide insight into how the ego and mind actually work.  This is not the intention of the author, but that's how it seems to come off.  I would suggest  reading Adyashanti, or Tolle, or Rupert Spira, who is very good, or my own personal favorite, Albert Low of the Montreal Zen Center.  He penetrates deeply to foster a more intuitive understanding of the self and mind.  Primal awareness precedes thought, and we must awaken from thinking for it to rise from the unconscious.  Until then, we're like a rat in a cage, a prisoner of our own desperate ideation.
3058818
Seems like a contradiction right? So are some parts of Hoff's book.  I must note that other reviewers have pointed this out.  Hoff explains, quite clearly (thankfully) that one of the tenets of Taoism is to accept things precisely as they are...and then, as another reviewer says, he doesn't accept the other Pooh characters for what they are, instead disparaging them for not having the simplicity of Pooh.

Ultimately, as one who is uninitiated into Taoist philosophy, I would suggest this book if for no other reason than to acquaint oneself with its basic philosophies, which Hoff does explain clearly.  One warning is that, sometimes his forays into conversation w/Pooh, and his story anecdotes are less than clear, and he assumes the reader immediately understood.  Sometimes I felt going off into the world of Pooh was unneeded at a certain point, though at other points it was valid and well-constructed.  Additionally, I would read this book as though walking onto a floor w/a "Careful" sign on it...this book is unnecessarily judgmental of others, and I feel that by feeling that way about others, one avoids the nothingness and simplicity Hoff says the Taoist seeks.  Judging others adds confusion to life, the very same confusion Hoff wants us to avoid by being as simple as Pooh.  So I say: read this book, and use it as a spur to further readings in Taoism if it interests you, but don't take it as a textbook of Taoist thought.  Many of Hoff's explanations are good, and the quotes from actual Taoists and other Chinese thinkers are excellent, but do not take the judgmental road implied by this book.

I think it's worth noting that on the back of the book, where the genre is usually listed in small print near the ISBN, The Tao of Pooh is listed as a humor book.  So read this book w/that in mind.  It is a good intro to Taoism, but ultimately, it is not a book of Taoist philosophy, and is more like a book of metaphysics that utilizes Taoism.  It is worth mentioning that several Taoist ideas (about the harmony of the heavens and earth) are not strictly Taoist, which to me says, not that the Taoists were not unique, but that they have hit on some sort of truth.  Hoff's book can help the average person in their daily life, through the basics of Tao.  Hoff's book will not make one a true follower of Taoism, in my opinion.  However, for most, the former is enough, and the latter is unimportant, and that is fine.  This book operates both as a good pique of the imagination leading to further studies into Taoism, or as simply a book which reminds us of the beauty in the simplicity of life...all in the unassuming world of Winnie-the Pooh.  So for that, the book has merit, even if its unnecessary judgmental nature is obnoxious.

3.75 stars
1525158
Having read previous revews, let's get a couple of things straight. First, the author of this interesting book is a Christian, and makes no bones about it. Therefore it's unsurprising that his interpretation of the Tao Te Ching is a Christian interpretation. This is what he has set out to do. Second, this is an interpretation of and a commentary on the Tao Te Ching, and not on Taoism as a whole. Therefore the view of Taoism is inevitably and rightly limited. The cover says 'A Christian Reading of the Tao Te Ching' and this is exactly what the book contains. If you don't think it's legitimate for a Christian to read the Tao Te Ching, and comment on it publicly, don't buy this book.
Now that's out of the way, let's get on with the review. John Mabry is a Christian priest, involved with 'Creation Spirituality' magazine, who has been interested in the Tao Te Ching ever since a friend passed it to him breathlessly, with the words, 'This is the holy word of God'. Intrigued, Mabry set out to investigate. The first part of the book is Mabry's complete version of The Tao Te Ching, with rather beautiful pen and ink illustrations by Jim Hardesty. The second section is a meditation on the text, in eight chapters as follows: The nature of the tao Paradox Desire Non-Action Leadership Oneness World and Self Holiness
The version of the Tao Te Ching is fine as far as it goes, but it should not be mistaken for a translation. Mabry gives no information about the process of creating this part of the book, so  can only assume it is a gloss based on other English translations (although the only one mentioned is Stephen Mitchell's).
The second section, the commentary, is very good, and addresses some points that will clearly be important to Christian readers: 'The first question we must address is this: is the Tao God? Obviously, there is no avoiding this question. It was certainly the question most present in my mind during my initial reading of the Tao Te Ching. So. in the spirit of the Tao, I will answer: yes and no.'(p. 107)
Looking at the notes at the back of the book, Mabry's favourite writers seem to be Thomas Merton, Alan Watts and Matthew Fox. This should give some indication of the tenor of the commentary.
If you are interested in Christian interpretations of the Tao Te Ching, you could also look at Joseph Petulla's 'The Tao Te Ching and the Christian Way'.
To put this recent western interest in Taoism into some kind of context, try J.J. Clarke's 'The Tao of the West'.
2447767
After having liked "The Dancing Wu Li Masters", I was quite disappointed by this book. I was hoping that maybe he would extend the ideas in that previous book to human consciousness and such.  Instead, I found it to be just a load of New Age "clap-trap".  I abandoned the book early on and passed it on to a thrift store.
1041746
I'm very torn about this book. On one hand, as a Classicist, I am grateful for any attempt to bring these timeless ideas into contemporary consciousness. On the other, this book is a dumbed down & misleading version of what the Stoics did NOT say. Let's start with the subtitle: first century Rome is NOT "ancient." It is strikingly similar to 21st century America in all salient respects. Second, one no more "practices" Stoicism than one "practices" the view that the Earth is round. It is a way of viewing life, not a "creed."  Third, this author, undoubtedly from the best of intentions, grafts ideas (such as "goal internalization") onto Stoicism that are neither there, nor necessary for understanding this philosophy. While he is open about that (p. 99), he also interprets out-of-context snippets as cornerstones of the philosophy, while ignoring actual core concepts such as Stoic interpretation of Nature, gods, and "virtue," all of which had completely different meanings for them than for us today. For example, there is no "tension" or "paradox" in Stoics being or becoming wealthy. Their point is simply not to elevate material concerns above their rightful (rational) place, and not to lose one's mind pursuing more than you need to live. Both Seneca & Marcus Aurelius enjoyed vast wealth, and I'm certain they never saw that as a problem.  Likewise, Stoics do not habitually eschew pleasure, but merely warn against becoming slaves to it. While disclaiming this intent, the author makes Stoicism sound perverse, masochistic, "difficult," and utterly unappealing, while it is none of these things. Of course people could have as many different interpretations of Stoicism as they do of Christianity (with which Stoicism has a lot of overlap), so to the extent this book stimulates people to go & read Seneca, "great success" and thank you. But as an introduction, I'd recommend Seneca's own "On the Shortness of Life," and use that as a template to decide whether you'd like to understand more about Stoic philosophy.  There are many free/cheap older translations in the public domain (see Stoic Six Pack) although I think Oxford's more recent edition is the best.