The Living Tao: Meditations on the Tao Te Ching to Empower Your Life

Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful and passionate but how accurate?
Review: I enjoyed Kaufman's interpretation of the Tao Te Ching. In spite of the inherent redundancy, the presentation is heartfelt. My primary comment is that I had a nagging question throughout the book as to whether Kaufman was staying close to the original text or whether he was applying wide discretion in discerning the meaning of the original. Since the author deliberately chose to not discuss its historical or literary context, this is not an insignificant point. In sum, is Kaufman simply giving a straightforward presentation, as he understands it, of one of the fundamental documents of Taoist philosophy? Or is he presenting an idiosyncratic personal interpretation of his world view, utilizing the format of this sacred text as his vehicle? Assuming that the author is not fluent in classical Chinese, I believe that it is probably the latter.

Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful and passionate but how accurate?
Review: I enjoyed Kaufman's interpretation of the Tao Te Ching. In spite of the inherent redundancy, the presentation is heartfelt. My primary comment is that I had a nagging question throughout the book as to whether Kaufman was staying close to the original text or whether he was applying wide discretion in discerning the meaning of the original. Since the author deliberately chose to not discuss its historical or literary context, this is not an insignificant point. In sum, is Kaufman simply giving a straightforward presentation, as he understands it, of one of the fundamental documents of Taoist philosophy? Or is he presenting an idiosyncratic personal interpretation of his world view, utilizing the format of this sacred text as his vehicle? Assuming that the author is not fluent in classical Chinese, I believe that it is probably the latter.

Rating:
Summary: Among the best books on Tao Te Ching
Review: With so many books out there on this subject, Steve Kaufman's is by far the best. This author has obviously dedicated his life to understanding this material and is very sincere. I feel that this is the definitive book for the westener on this very difficult book to understand. Mr Kaufman has written seveeral books on oriential subjects and they are all fantastic. A must read