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Tao Te Ching

The Essential Translation of the Ancient Chinese Book of the Tao

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Tao Te Ching

By: John Minford, Lao Tzu
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
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About this listen

The original mindfulness book, in a landmark new translation by the award-winning translator of the I Ching and The Art of War

The most translated book in the world after the Bible, the Tao Te Ching, or “Book of the Tao,” is a guide to cultivating a life of peace, serenity, and compassion. Through aphorisms and parable, it leads readers toward the Tao, or the “Way”: harmony with the life force of the universe. Traditionally attributed to Lao-tzu, a Chinese philosopher thought to have been a contemporary of Confucius, it is the essential text of Taoism, one of the three major religions of ancient China. As one of the world’s great works of wisdom literature, it still has much to teach us today, offering a practical model based on modesty and self-restraint for living a balanced existence and for opening your mind, freeing your thoughts, and attaining greater self-awareness. With its emphasis on calm, simplicity, purity, and non-action, it provides a time-tested refuge from the busyness of modern life.

This new translation seeks to understand the Tao Te Ching as a guide to everyday living and encourages a slow, meditative reading experience. The Tao Te Ching’s eighty-one brief chapters are accompanied by illuminating commentary, interpretation, poems, and testimonials by the likes of Margaret Mead, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Dr. Wayne W. Dyer.

©2018 John Minford (P)2018 Penguin Audio Other Religions, Practices & Sacred Texts Philosophy Taoism China Ancient History Eastern Philosophy

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Critic reviews

“The power of the ­Lao-­tzu’s imagery and, ultimately, the simplicity of its message seem to be able to overcome the problems of language and of distance in time and place, so that at the end of the twentieth century, this has become one of the most influential of texts, cherished by people in all walks of life throughout the world.” (From the introduction by Sarah Allan)
All stars
Most relevant  
calming and insightful. has given me a fresh look on life and helped me put certain behaviours to bed.
enjoyed the voice of the narrator

guidance to live by

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there is a problem with audio skipping all the way through, seems like a good book part from that but can't listen to it like this

audio skipping

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The actual Tao Te Ching (or Dao De Jing) is only 5,000 words, the length of a University essay. However, the meaning is abstract and if not difficult to decipher, at the very least difficult to absorb.
Therefore, Daoism, as the major indigenous religion of China is widely known, but comparatively less understood. The basic notions within Daoism is a philosophy of Harmony with nature, Harmony with others and this is to be achieved by subtlety and the concept of non-action.
Daoism in itself is not completed with the Tao Te Ching, the other texts are the book of Zhuang Zi and the book of Lie Zi, which receive mention within this text.
Daoism is not easy to understand, and simply reading the Tao Te Ching is far from enough, however the expansion and commentary take the reader further toward understanding Daoism than a simple reading if the text would.
The audio is very calm and nicely read, although is a little slow at times and can make it difficult to maintain interest at times.
Overall an interesting read or listen, and helps someway toward understanding Daoism, no easy task in itself.

An interesting expansion

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So much of our ancient wisdom is slowly becoming invisible to the eyes and inaudible to the ears of our distracted, consumerist population. Hence titles like this are ever-more crucial to the preservation, translation, and promotion of profound and meaningful methodologies for the art of living.

Gratitude to John Minford for this work—a wonderful translation and commentary of the Tao Te Ching.

Simply beautiful, timeless wisdom

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The care and attention to detail that has gone into this book makes it a pleasure to listen to. Thank you. Really well read and put together. If you want to learn more about the Dao look no further.

Excellent

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Well read, I found the narrators pace of reading perfect for listening to. I never understood most of the content but there were a few gems that resonated.
It is well worth listening to.

A Classic

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Fantastic version, wonderfully narrated. if you have never read or listened to this ancient wisdom you really are missing out.

wonderfully thought provoking

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It was enlightening to listen to others understanding and interpretation of the translation, from what I would call the ultimate spiritual teaching purely based on its simplicity.

Expansion on the Tao Te Ching.

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3rd translation/interpretation that I’ve studied. A good companion text for my minor role as a teacher of Tai Chi Chuan🙏

Clarity and Simplicity

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I am familiarised with many great works from many different disciplines and areas. The Tao Te Ching itself is confusing, indeed how can it not be when the concept of the Taoist Tao is completely inarticulable. This version does, however, add to this confusion. The demarcations between various commentators and indeed Laozi's original text are, while present, not often defined clearly enough atleast in this audio format.

As such one may find oneself listening only to wonder if the had been listening to Minford, Laozi, The Rivermaster or other.

I would recommend also reading an alternate version without commentary first in order to better differentiate between commentary and core text.

Apart from this, highly informative and enjoyable.

Extremely Confusing, Here's Why:

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