Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a nice edition with a good introduction and the work is supported by explanatory footnotes, a glossary and a detailed essay into speculative areas of the provenance of the work and Lao Tzu himself.
Revisiting this work at various times in my life, like Aurelius' Meditations, I am always struck with the poetic and sage pronouncents that can make me muse and ponder over the antique wisdom for hours.
A theme that particularly struck me this time is the fundamental axiom that nothing yields something, as in:
"...Something and Nothing produce each other;
the difficult and easy complement each other..."
One thing it made me wonder is in Chinese or some Taoist-influenced culture is there less of a cultural need for an Intelligent Design movement, rabidly insecure Creationism, or similar Western movements that seem to spring up from Western civilization with the importance it sets on cause and effect, inventors and invention, founders and design.
So, do Taoist-tinged adults have an easier acceptance of The Big Bang than adults spilled out of Judae-Christian thought? I don't know, and it's not something I am going to find on a Wikipedia page or in some Google results and for that, I think Lao Tzu whether he existed, or not.
"...the man of large mind abides in the thick, not in the thing..."
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