Tao: The Watercourse Way, September 17 > Likes and Comments

We are substituting another book for Creation's Heartbeat: Following the Reindeer Spirit by Linda Leonard because there are not enough available low-cost copies of that book. Valerie would have been our facilitator.

Instead we'll be doing Tao: The Watercourse Way by Alan Watts facilitated by Tracy

Although Watts effectively explains some of the principles or approaches of Taoism, his left brain style feels at odds with his message.

I highly recommend accompanying your reading with reading the Tao te Ching (it's very short). The Steven Mitchell translation is excellent, somewhat poetic, and quite accessible. Of the four translations I've read (including Derek Lin, Ursula K. Le Guin - the latter more of an interpretation, and one I don't remember), Mitchell is by far the best.

I will post some passages from Mitchell's translation here soon.

(I'm also,for my own reference, considering reading Practicing the Tao Te Ching: 81 Steps on the Way by Solala Towler )

I think a great brief accompaniment to reading about Taoism is to read Ursula K. Le Guin's two page short short story, avaiable at several sites online:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/19...
http://faculty.fairfield.edu/repstein...

Or listen to Le Guin herself reading the story out loud here (7 1/2 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBspG...

I mention it notonly because it's a wonderful and provocative short short, but primarily because getting in touch with the Tao involved getting beneath the names and labels we give objects and creatures. The Tao is nonverbal.

Le Guin was a Taoist who even translated the Tao te Ching (more or less - she created her own subjective translation after reading and comparing many translations). Many of her novels include some facet of Taoist thought and attitudes toward the world.