Simple Taoism: A Guide to Living in Balance

by C. Alexander Simpkins, Annellen Simpkins

Find Balance in Your Life

Simple Taoism offers:

* A clear explanation of Taoism and how to apply its best aspects to your daily life

* Simple instructions for exercises to lead a fuller life - meditation, breathing, chi kung, and tai chi chuan

* An informative discussion of key Taoist concepts, including wu wei (non-action), yin and yang, and Te (power, virtue and life)

C. Alexander and Annellen Simpkins are psychologists who specialize in studies of the mind and teach meditation. They are also the authors of Simple Zen: A Guide to Living Moment by Moment. They live in San Diego, California.

The authors combine sound scholarship with the knowingness of practitioners and an unerring sense of what will interest readers most... - Booklist review of Zen Around the World

Cover illustration: CArmen Z. Simpkins

Genres: Philosophy, Taoism, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Religion, Self Help, Eastern Philosophy

175 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 1999

About the author

C. Alexander Simpkins is a psychologist specializing in meditation, hypnotherapy, and neuroscience. He is the coauthor of 27 books, including works on Taoism, and regularly presents seminars worldwide on meditation, hypnosis, and neuroscience.

Reviews

[Jessica]

I hate it when writers add their own original poems (and almost always, not very good ones) to a book about something else entirely. Ancient Chinese poets' work in a book about Taoism--yes. C. Alexander Simpkins' self-promoting verses--no thank you.

[Karen]

This book reads like a text book. It is very boring and not even that good of information. It takes a long time to say very little, which is kind of the opposite of what Tao is.

[Evan]

The history of Taoism was fascinating but the book kind of sputtered out in its discussion of exercises, meditation etc

[Margaret]

A perfect little book (6x6 and 150 pages) that gives you the history of Tao (interesting), themes of Taos (inspiring), and the practicality of Tao (actions and life benefits). I loved how it presented non doing, non being, yet how it fits into a career and real life. It helped me with free will and destiny issues, self control and letting go, and hopefully has me on the best path for me to fully develop and become all that I hope to be. I believe it is quite a different thought process from my previous life philosophy of start with the end in mind, and go for it! Tao will be my starting point. I thank my Tai Chi friend, Janie, for lending me this jewel.

[JAKe Hatmacher]

My first book on Tao and its ism. Nice short and rather succinct read. Interesting to see relationships with other belief systems although the book did not attempt to do that. I think if you have spiritual beliefs, you are likely to compare Tao to your current or evolving beliefs.
I enjoyed reading it and even passed along some tid bits on FB. I tried some of the simple exercises and breathing recommended, too. Don't try the exercises combined with the deep breathing with your eyes closed though. You could possibly fall over due to light-headedness.

[Rachelle]

This book has a lot of good information. I am glad I own it, so I can use it as a reference for different meditations and tai chi exercises. I think the book was good at giving you small summaries of different parts of taoism (tai chi, feng shui, meditations) It made me want to read more on those topics, but didn't really give you enough information on any one thing. It was a little scattered.

[Bridger Cummings]

A good primer on Taoism. I like the discussions about living simpler and more in tune with nature. Emptier, and happy with less. The practical guidance on meditation and acupressure was also nice to have.

[Paiman Chen]

清静无为
道德经

[Diane]

Clear and well written. A terrific overview of Taoism and it's principles.

[Drew]

Brought language to concepts and visions that I couldn't verbalize or explain before. Concise and inspiring :)

[Stefan Sleigh]

IN THE WAY...

Very good information on the Taoist philosophy. Good but for anyone looking to better understand this ancient Chinese way of thinking.

[Özgür Boz]

Nice practices for ones who wants simle and quite peaceful life.. ı will eead again to remember the suggestions

[Eli Brooke]

I've had this book for years, but never really got around to reading it straight through. I picked it up the other night because I had run out of anything new to read, and because I'm interested in delving into Tao and Zen right now.
I'm getting a lot better sense of the history of Taoism, from the classic texts and masters to the transformation into multiple religious sects, but the writing style leaves a lot to be desired. It's a very short book but I seem to have already abandoned it again in favor of texts it's led me to find. There are overviews/short introductions to various practices that grew out of Taoism as well, but I haven't read them yet and can't comment as such. Overall, I'd say it's useful as a broad introduction to the evolution of ideas and practices of Taoism, but only as an introduction.

[Mike Simpson]

I love books about eastern religeon, so this was up my alley.

[Ty]

It was ok. Stuff I already knew from other books. More worried about the history of the religion than in actually exploring its practical daily uses, despite title.

[Anthony]

A good overview, with practical applications for daily life.

[Eve]

This is one of the best books I have ever read. It's a guide to living life more enlightening than any "religious" text I have ever read. I highly recommend this book.

[Paul]

I appreciate the time out of mind learned from this book. I can now sit for hours in the dark undisturbed by my thoughts.

[Dominik Nowak]

good for beginers

[Melissa Falgier]

Very informational. There wasn't much philosophy in it till the end. The book physically smelled spicy which is nothing like I ever experienced before lol.

[Joseph “Millennium Man”]

I read up to the third section and skimmed through the rest. Maybe I was disappointed because I was expecting the content to be more spiritual. It was not a fault of the author.

[One]

A quick read with a few interesting things throughout. I liked it much better the second time I read it (which was 9 years after the first time).