Taoism is everything and nothing, man.
595709
If you're looking for an explanation of what Taoism is, you won't find it here. The author shies away from pinning too many specific beliefs or practices to Taoism. The result is overly general bullcrap explanation that communicates very little about Taoism. Perhaps my beef is not with the author as much as it is with Taoism itself, but I'm giving the thousands of years old religion the benefit of the doubt here.
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!
3230570
The text is profound and objective at the same time. The reader who is familiar with taoist philosophy will enjoy a little bit more than the beginner, but definitely the book is recommended for all publics.
4974149
Nothing in this novel is profound.  Nothing in this novel is redeeming.  Nothing in this novel inspires, puzzles, or educates.  It is the ramblings of nothingness.  Where feelings of the moment have a higher priority than values, morals, standards, virtues or ethics which, by the way, were nowhere to be found in the main character's daily struggles as an individual growing up -- only feelings.

There was a little trace of regret, and only then because of its inconvenience to Lee herself, but there was no trace of shame or guilt in Lee.

"Where these is yet shame, there may in time be virtue" Dr. Johnson
3886525
I have read lots of Tao books and spiritual books. All helped me to be who I am now. Finally, this book "Living Tao" is summarizing everything: when I understand Tao, then what can I do? How can I live Tao? How can I know if I am living Tao in my life? What can 'Living Tao' do in reality? Are Living Tao and Living life not two different things? When I live Tao, how can it help others and society? And so on.  This book shows that 'Tao' is not '-ism' or 'theory'. It is who we truly are. I really believe this book can help you live your/our 'Tao' to help ourselves and society and create a better world. Enjoy it!
3149085
This translation of the book got me through some really dark times in my life. There were times when the only place I found peace was within these pages, which is sad and ironic, because you don't find the Tao in a book, do you?

Mitchell's translation is disputed and maligned, but if you're just a dumb American kid who needs to find some other way to look at things, I think he captured enough of the wisdom in the book to help.

Some people call the Tao "backwards talk," because so much of it is about going up to go down or whatever. Nope -- the Tao is really about divergent thinking and seeing not BOTH sides of a thing, but seeking to see ALL sides of a thing. Or none of them, I guess?
1760815
Nothing of value is free. Even the breath of life is purchased at birth only through gasping effort and pain.
Robert A Heinlein
130666
I read "Christ the Eternal Tao" five or six years ago. I had become a severely disillusioned American Evangelical Protestant. I was in a great deal of emotional pain at that point in my life and had grown weary of pious platitudes and simplistic theology. I wanted a religion or philosophy that addressed suffering with some depth. I longed for beauty, simplicity,harmony, and silence. I found some in Zen and Taoism. I also discovered the Tao Teh Ching to be strangely trinitarian (the One gives birth to Three). That intrigued me.
  Then I found "Christ the Eternal Tao". I actually cried while reading it. It showed Christ as the fulfillment of all mankind's deepest longings. It showed classic Chinese culture as having the simplicity, silence, beauty, etc. that I most craved. I discovered that I didn't have to label all other religions as completely false in order to believe in Christ. Every culture gets some things right. You have to build on what is true in any given situation.
  It gave Christianity context. Believe it or not, I had never heard of Eastern Orthodoxy. I saw how the Greeks evangelized the Russians who evangelized the Chinese and the Alaskans. I saw the martyr connections between the churches. Christ was not painted as a westernized, blue-eyed person.
  Christ says He is the Way. Tao is Way in Chinese. The humility of Taoism is profuoundly Christian. Lao Tzu wasn't wrong. He was prophetic. He saw through a glass darkly, as we all do. I had come full circle: converted by the Protestants, leaving that for the beauty and simplicity of Zen and Taoism, and returning to Christianity through the Eastern door. I had finally come home.
4127214
If you do not feel like reading what I think about the book, and just want a recommendation `yes, go for it / no, you would be wasting your time', go to the end of my review. If, on the other side, you want to know what I do think about `Cat's cradle', keep reading.

Politics, religion and God, love and friendship, life and death. All is nonsense for Vonnegut. All is scorned, ridiculed. Or maybe he just tries to throw to the trashcan the absolute character we, human beings, tend to give to all those supposed absolutes. It could sound hard, but probably he is right in some way. Think about love, think how sometimes we just idolize the object of our longings: oh, I would do whatever you want me to do (and whatever means whatever--that crazy we can be). Then, for some reason, you realize the worshipped idol is not such, but just a human being, like me or you. All those great thoughts, ideals, aspirations (`I'll take the moon for you') just blow out. The result: a huge disappointment, a crisis. Any solutions? Yes, realize that love, or friendship, politics, morals, and everything else, are relative. And I am not saying that their value change with circumstances, but that any single of these elements should not be the sole foundation of our life and way of acting. Maybe I should think more about this, but it makes sense to me. My personal experiences tell me so.

Anyway, the book is good, funny most of the times, and it makes you think. Worth the time and the money.
1526300
I respect Mitchell. I've read quite a bit of his work on various classics.
But, here I would have to say that this presentation of the Tao is not very inspiring. It's good, but not great.
The Tao, after all, is not simply a philosophical work, though it has that aspect. Rather, I see it primarily as a work of the spirit meant to actually be applied to living. In my experience, that is how most Taoists see it.
I recommend that you read this instead: Tao Te Ching, 25th-Anniversary Edition (English and Mandarin Chinese Edition) by Lao Tzu, Jane English and Gia-Fu Feng (Mar 4, 1997) - Deluxe Edition (or the more recently updated edition). The foreword, introduction and notes by Lippe and Needleman are well worth your perusal.
In this version, the spirit of the original is not lost. Therefore, the reader will not be misguided.
3405176
Tolle's book is riddled with the same insights as described in Krishnamurti's book, Freedom From The Known. Krishnamurti: " I can see the totality of something only when thought does not interfere." " . . . to live with what is, is to be peaceful." "Our responses to every problem are conditioned." "Conflict takes away your energy." ". . .when you are being totally aware . . . there is no friction." "Living in the present is the instant perception of beauty. . . ." "The man who is really serious, with the urge to find out what truth is, what love is, has no concept at all. He lives only in what is." "I can see the totality of something only when thought does not interfere." And finally, ". . . a mind that is seeking, craving, for wider and deeper experience is a very shallow and dull mind because it lives always with its memories." I could go on, and on. The similarities are too stark to be coincidence, in my opinion. And, even though Tolle gives passing mention of Krishnamurti, he fails to give almost complete credit for ideas released by Krisnamurti in 1969. One final note, employing the concepts in Tolle's (Krishnamurti's) book does not lead to compassion, only indifference (albeit "inner peace" and contentment). Empathy is an emotional quality and does not simply emerge from one's "inner being." To a limited extent, the book is useful. But I am deeply concerned that the true apostle of Tolle's "enlightenment" does not receive the credit he deserves (may he rest in peace).
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
3601179
I would try to describe it but then it wouldn't be the real Tao. Read it once, twice, then slide a piece of paper between the pages when it's closed every morning to receive your meditation for that day.
4240396
(4.25 Stars)
Here are 2 statements that sum up the difficulty in writing a review of the Tao Te Ching:
The Tao is forever undefined -
The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao -
This book is 81 chapters of Lao Tsu's teachings. It's an easy read. I read it in about an hour and I'm one of the slowest readers to ever read.
Lao Tsu's teachings are simple and complex - like the back of the jacket says - "...accept what is in front of you without wanting the situation to be other than it is. Study the natural order of things and work with it rather than against it..." - simple and complex.
This specific edition being the 25th anniversary edition has very pretty and captivating black and white photos that accompany each of the 81 chapters.
It's a good book - give Lao Tsu an hour of your time. Have a cup of tea with him.
3993807
Feels like wearing nothin' at all. Nothin' at all. Nothin' at all.
1403719
One might ask why would a person want to take advice on any subject from someone as young as Bruce Lee was when he wrote this book. The answer is, chances are most people in their twenties can't teach us too much. They've not had enough experience to teach. They're still learning.

While it's true that Lee was still learning when he wrote this book, it's also true that he had a wisdom far beyond his years. I don't necessarily believe everything he said and some of it no longer applies. But what he wrote in this book is pure gold.

The book is not just for martial artists. In fact, the book is mostly philosophical. If you have read the Tao, you'll love this book because Lee's philosophy was very much based on the teachings of Lao Tzu.

Lee believed in Yin Yang. He believed that instead of being like the hard oak that is firm, you should be like bamboo that is pliable and will flex with the wind. The oak will fall with the ax but the bamboo will stay healthy and strong because it can bend --- it is soft --- it is yin.

He also believed that we should be like water. Water is weak --- or so the saying goes. "Weak as water." But punch it and you won't hurt it. You can do nothing to it that will hurt it. However, water can defeat the strongest things. Water can destroy entire cities in one sweep and there's no defense against it. Be like water.

What I was looking for in this book was not how to use Gung Fu. I was looking for applications of the Tao and that's what I got.

Certainly if you're a martial artist, you'll garner much from this book. He does show you how to use your tools.

Since this is the only book Bruce Lee wrote and that's been published, it's somewhat of a collector's item I think. It certainly is priceless as far as the philosophy that Lee shares.

John Little has been true to Lee in editing the book. You can hear Lee's voice in the book. You can hear his Chinese-accented English. In some places Lee is given credit for the writing of passages from the Tao. This is an error of editing. In other places, he uses language similar to the Tao. He studied the Tao so much that he assimilated it and took it as his own --- as it should be.

I very much like The Tao of Gung Fu. I found it a lovely book with profound philosophical depth that can, if you let it, guide you to become superior at whatever you do.

-- Susanna K. Hutcheson
3414512
The book is a well organized presentaion of the simple observation that  science, religion, and philosophy are all trying to describe the same  reality in different terms and from different perspectives.  Taoism and  modern physics both take a minimally subjective approach to the task of  realizing what life is and are both extremely helpful to anyone searching  for the source of true spirituality.  The first review in this set refers  to Taoism as a branch of metaphysics, which it certainly is not.  Although  the book deals with various major Eastern religions, it is a good  introduction to Taoism and, for those searching, should be preceded by,  concurrently read with, and perpetually followed by reference to the Tao Te  Ching.  Most importantly, awareness of ones own life and its relationship  with the rest of the universe is the key; the answers can not be found in  any book.