Author Description

The Tao Te Ching is an ancient Chinese text that has long been a source of inspiration for people around the world. Reading it could change your life. If, however, you pick a translation that doesn't resonate with you, it could have almost no effect other than to confuse you and make you feel as if you have wasted your time. Naturally, you are looking for the best one. In this description, we are meant to sell you our book. Instead of attempting to do this, we would like to offer you your first and possibly most important lesson in Taoism: There is no such thing as a "best" translation of the Tao Te Ching. Certainly, many translations claim to be the best or employ the words of an expert who is quoted, swearing that this version surpasses all others in its clarity. Unfortunately, claiming that one translation is superior to all others betrays a slight misunderstanding the Tao Te Ching, which warns in its very first line against valuing words over what they are meant to convey. What this means is that the truth that lies at the core of the text can only be hinted at or approximated by words. Even now, many lifetimes after it was first recorded, people are still trying to capture this essence, which is why it is one of the most translated texts on the planet. The truth is, this essence cannot be captured in one form. The closest anyone can come to succeeding in this goal is to glimpse it for themselves, if only for a second. Only you can understand it. No one else, however brilliant, can understand it for you. Nevertheless, a good translation of the text can be a very useful tool for accomplishing this. What we try to provide to you is an entry point into the ancient wisdom of the Tao Te Ching, a companion that seeks to help open up the wisdom to you, to help facilitate your own understanding. When choosing, we highly recommend sampling a few versions and basing your decision on what you find there rather than the description. While a cleverly written synopsis can pro