Walking the Way: 81 Zen Encounters with the Tao Te Ching

by Robert Rosenbaum, Sojun Mel Weitsman (Foreword by)

Overview

Walking the Way affirms that, like yin and yang, the flowing spontaneity of Tao and the precise simplicity of Zen find perfect balance with one another. Robert Meikyo Rosenbaum brings the two traditions together in a unique presentation that elicits Zen insights from his fresh interpretation of verses from the Taoist classic, the Tao Te Ching. Personal anecdotes illustrate the dynamic potential of Rosenbaum's approach, skillfully revealing Zen within the Tao and the Tao of Zen. Not only does the author reveal the elegance of each tradition, he shows how their interrelatedness does, in fact, have import on our meditative practices and on our day-to-day lives. Parenting, meditating, dealing with setbacks and illnesses—Walking the Way shows us how to live well in the midst of many complex demands, finding harmony and equilibrium between honing in and letting go, balance between being ourselves and selflessly serving others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781614290254
Publisher:	Wisdom Publications MA
Publication date:	05/21/2013
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	765,036
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Sojun Mel Weitsman is a Zen teacher in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki and a former abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center. He lives in San Francisco.

Table of Contents

Foreword Sojun Mel Weitsman ix

Introduction 1

Part I Tao 5

1 "The way that can be spoken of is not the Eternal Way…" 7

2 "Point to beauty, then ugly must arise…" 9

3 "By not giving honors to the worthy…" 13

4 "The Tao is empty, meaning free…" 15

5 "Heaven and earth do not center on humans…" 19

6 "The valley spirit is deathless…" 23

7 "Heaven endures forever, earth lasts eternally…" 27

8 "Truly good people are like water…" 31

9 "Pouring more and more into a vessel?…" 35

10 "While carrying on your active life…" 37

11 "Thirty spokes converge on one hub…" 41

12 "Five colors blind our seeing…" 45

13 "Honor, disgrace-watch out! …" 49

14 "It cannot be seen, so we name it unclear…" 53

15 "Your beginningless ancestors, skilled at sounding…" 57

16 "Reach the pole of emptiness…" 61

17 "The best governor of your self, your world…" 65

18 "When the Way is forgotten…" 69

19 "Eliminate knowledge, discard reason…" 73

20 "Yes, no: not far apart…" 77

21 "True virtue is empty …" 81

22 "Supple bending, the whole unbroken …" 85

23 "Nature does not make long speeches …" 89

24 "A person on tiptoes cannot stand steady…" 93

25 "Prior to heaven, prior to earth…" 97

26 "The heavy anchors the light…" 101

27 "Good traveling leaves no trace…" 105

28 "To know the male and abide by the female…" 109

29 "Act on the world; try to control it…" 113

30 "One who uses the Way to assist the ruler …" 117

31 "As for weapons-they're instruments of ill omen …" 121

32 "The Way is timeless, nameless …" 125

33 "One who knows others is knowledgeable…" 129

34 "The Way flows easily, vast…" 131

35 "Hold up the Clear Mirror…" 135

36 "What is gathered in must first be scattered …" 139

37 "Tao everlasting docs not act…" 143

Part II TE 147

38 "High virtue isn't virtuous …" 149

39 "Originally these realized oneness…" 153

40 "The Tao moves by returning…" 157

41 "When the ablest students hear the Tao …" 161

42 "The Tao gives birth to one …" 165

43 "The softest, most pliable thing in the world …" 169

44 "Your reputation or your body…" 173

45 "Great perfection seems lacking…" 177

46 "When the world practices Tao…" 181

47 "Without going out your door…" 185

48 "Seek learning: increase daily…" 189

49 "The sage has no set mind but simply is …" 193

50 "People appear in birth-and-death …" 197

51 "Tao gives birch to them …" 201

52 "The world has an origin …" 205

53 "If I have a little wisdom to follow the great Way …" 211

54 "What is well planted is not uprooted …" 215

55 "One who fully embodies Rightness …" 219

56 "One who knows does not speak…" 223

57 "Govern a state by nothing special…" 227

58 "When the government is dull…" 231

59 "In governing people and serving heaven…" 237

60 "Governing a great state …" 241

61 "A great state is downstream …" 245

62 "The Way is the reservoir of rivers, the sanctuary of streams …" 249

63 "Do not-doing…" 253

64 "It's easy to balance while at rest and peaceful…" 257

65 "Ancestors, adept at practicing the Way…" 261

66 "Rivers and seas can be kings of the hundred valleys…" 265

67 "The whole world says my Way is great…" 269

68 "A good captain doesn't show off her might…" 273

69 "In engaging in warfare there is a saying…" 277

70 "My words are easy to understand …" 281

71 "Knowing not-knowing: transcendence …" 285

72 "When the people fear no power…" 289

73 "If you're brave in being daring, you'll be killed …" 293

74 "If people do not fear death …" 297

75 "Why are people hungry? …" 301

76 "At birth people are supple and soft…" 305

77 "The way of heaven is like drawing a bow …" 309

78 "In the whole world …" 313

79 "Making peace when there's been great resentment…" 317

80 "Let the state be small, with a small population…" 321

81 "Truthful speech is not florid …" 325

Appendix: Poems Inspired Lao Tzn's Tao Te Ching 331

Bibliography 341

Index of First Lines 343

Index of Subjects 347

About the Author 365

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Deftly written essays, snapshot vignettes of daily life lived with emotion and depth, and a poetic version of the Tao Te Ching backed by a lifetime of spiritual practice—these are the elements of a text that will inspire and awaken you like the sound of water or the calm voice of a friend. This book is to be savored." —Norman Fischer, author of Taking Our Places: The Buddhist Path to Truly Growing Up

“Robert Rosenbaum manages to restore some of the bite to the Tao Te Ching. His humor, wisdom, personal failings, and genuine aspirations combine to make it new and make it speak to us with live words.” —Barry Magid, author of Ordinary Mind

“Walking the Way is deeply thoughtful and eminently practical.” —Elana Rosenbaum, author of Here for Now

Editorial Reviews

Drawing on his experience as a Zen practitioner and qigong teacher, psychologist Rosenbaum reflects on the Tao Te Ching, written in the sixth century B.C.E. This founding text of Taoism, the author writes, “is not a ‘how to’ manual; it is an invitation for us to practice finding our Way.” The “original self” is a key theme as Rosenbaum explores each of the 81 verses, which he compiled from multiple translations; each section is followed by a brief, candid anecdote. Topics include silence, emptiness, effort, and empathy. Rosenbaum’s concept is ambitious; however, acute observations are mixed with rambling, clichéd, or dubious generalizations (“When you have no unfinished business, dying is not so big a deal”). Terms are sometimes used too vaguely, and the author addresses a “we” with pronouncements that not all readers may consider applicable (“We fear if we don’t have enough money, fame, and power, we’ll be vulnerable to the vicissitudes of life”). More “fragments of Zen” amid ruminations than “Zen encounters,” the book makes explicit at its conclusion the author’s attraction to the “effortless effort” of Taoism’s Way to balance the “striving” that can sometimes emerge in the practice of Buddhism. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"A warm, thoughtful companion for life's journey."

Peter Levitt

"A pearl of wisdom, filled with deep insights to the most fundamental issues we all encounter in our lives. You will find the truth in every paragraph, in every page of this book."

Moshe Talmon

"Deftly written essays, snapshot vignettes of daily life lived with emotion and depth, and a poetic version of the Tao Te Ching backed by a lifetime of spiritual practice—these are the elements of a text that will inspire and awaken you like the sound of water or the calm voice of a friend. This book is to be savored."

Norman Fischer

"Walking the Way is deeply thoughtful and eminently practical."

Elana Rosenbaum

"In a world already brim-full of translations of the Tao Te Ching, one would think that there isn't room for one more. Walking the Way, however, should immediately put such reservations at rest. To read these lovely and tender versions of this breathtaking text is in itself a process of questioning the 'givens' of one's life. Combined with the profound and provocative Zen-based commentary of Robert Rosenbaum, they fold seamlessly into a book that is indispensable to any true seeker's roadmap for the path."

Chris Faatz

"Robert Rosenbaum manages to restore some of the bite to the Tao Te Ching. His humor, wisdom, personal struggles, and genuine aspirations combine to make it new and make it speak to us with live words."

Barry Magid

"This charming book is an oasis of truth, compassion, laughter, and beauty. Welcome!"

Michael F. Hoyt

"Fresh and poetic. A wonderful book that brings the Tao Te Ching up close. In sharing his open-hearted love of these verses, Rosenbaum gives them to us anew, as if Lao Tzu were speaking directly to us through him."

Susan Moon

"A book full of wisdom—a gentle breeze, pointing you in new directions."

Arthur C. Bohart

"Deftly written essays, snapshot vignettes of daily life lived with emotion and depth, and a poetic version of the Tao Te Ching backed by a lifetime of spiritual practice—these are the elements of a text that will inspire and awaken you like the sound of water or the calm voice of a friend. This book is to be savored." —Norman Fischer, author of Taking Our Places: The Buddhist Path to Truly Growing Up

“Robert Rosenbaum manages to restore some of the bite to the Tao Te Ching. His humor, wisdom, personal struggles, and genuine aspirations combine to make it new and make it speak to us with live words.” —Barry Magid, author of Ordinary Mind

“Walking the Way is deeply thoughtful and eminently practical.” —Elana Rosenbaum, author of Here for Now

“In a world already brim-full of translations of the Tao Te Ching, one would think that there isn't room for one more. Walking the Way, however, should immediately put such reservations at rest. To read these lovely and tender versions of this breathtaking text is in itself a process of questioning the 'givens' of one's life. Combined with the profound and provocative Zen-based commentary of Robert Rosenbaum, they fold seamlessly into a book that is indispensable to any true seeker's roadmap for the path.”—Chris Faatz, Powell's Books

“This charming book is an oasis of truth, compassion, laughter, and beauty. Welcome!”—Michael F. Hoyt, author of Brief Psychotherapies

“A book full of wisdom—a gentle breeze, pointing you in new directions.”—Arthur C. Bohart, author of How Clients Make Therapy Work

“A warm, thoughtful companion for life’s journey.”—Peter Levitt, poet and author of Fingerpainting on the Moon

“Fresh and poetic. A wonderful book that brings the Tao Te Ching up close. In sharing his open-hearted love of these verses, Rosenbaum gives them to us anew, as if Lao Tzu were speaking directly to us through him.”—Susan Moon, author of This Is Getting Old: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity

“A pearl of wisdom, filled with deep insights to the most fundamental issues we all encounter in our lives. You will find the truth in every paragraph, in every page of this book.”—Moshe Talmon, author of Single Session Therapy

From the Publisher

There have been literally dozens of English translations and commentaries on the Tao Te Ching (The Book of the Virtuous Way), and many more in other languages. It's the basic text, after all, of the Taoist philosophy of life. But it also exerted a powerful influence on the development of Chinese Buddhism, particularly on the evolution of Chan (Zen) monasticism. This book sheds light on how Zen practitioners make use of this ancient classic. Rosenbaum (psychotherapist, Kaiser Permanente Medical Ctr.; Zen and the Heart of Psychotherapy) practices both Zen and qigong (a Chinese martial art and physical discipline), and uses his experience of both to help us appreciate the ancient text. The Tao Te Ching, written by Laotse, consists of 81 chapters—each a short poem on some aspect of the practice of virtue. Rosenbaum's translations of the poems are idiomatic and effective English free verse. His commentaries nicely clarify the meaning of each stanza. The added personal anecdotes illustrate how the verses apply in ordinary life. VERDICT Well worth reading, both by practitioners and those new to study of the Tao Te Ching, this book merits repeated study.—James F. DeRoche, Alexandria, VA

Library Journal