Tao Te Ching

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Summary: Tao Te Ching : A New English Version
Review: SIMPLY THE BEST BOOK ON TAO I HAVE EVER HAD THE PLEASURE TO READ. HONEST!

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Summary: Questionable translation
Review: There is no doubt Stephen Mitchell's translation is one of the most beautiful and fluent versions. The problems of this translation, however, lie in the author's view of Tao-te Ching as a religious/spiritual book, and his obvious personal love of Zen. Tao-te ching is not a religious book, it is the basic philosophy of Chinese Taoism. The Taoism philosophy has been deeply inbedded in Chinese minds and culture. It is simply an everyday-live philosophy, and it's meant for every body. This beautifully worded translation unfortunately mystified Tao-te Ching as a spiritual guide, and somehow tranformed it into a book full of Zen concepts.

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Summary: Beautiful Intro to Taoism
Review: I have read numerous translations of the Tao Te Ching. Stephen Mitchell's is beautiful, modern, and accessible. If you're looking only for an academic perspective on Taoism, this isn't it. If you're looking to bring the essence of Taoism into your life, Mitchell's book may be the key.

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Summary: The Most Beautiful Version of the Tao De Ching I have read.
Review: If it hadn't been for Stephen Mitchell's version, I don't think i would have attempted readin the Tao. When I discovered the Taoist section in the bookstore, i began reading most of the versions under this title. Most translations were dry, although, the author's of these books may have been more exact in their translation. But when I read Stephen Mitchell's version, i felt a "wide-openness," a gentleness, a quietness that is inexplicable. i've had this book for about 2 years now, and i still read it several times a week. Anyone who is deeply interested in the poetic nature of spirituality, this is the version for you.

This is a 10-star book. Thank you Stephen Mitchell

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Summary: A personal work and NOT a definitive translation
Review: On the cover of this "new English version" of the Tao Te Ching, Huston Smith is quoted describing this as a definitive translation. But it is not, and the author is open about that in his introduction: "...I have...paraphrased, expanded, contracted, interpreted, worked with the text, played with it, until it became embodied in a language that felt genuine to me."

Some of the ire this book has aroused may have to do with packaging. It is not Lao-Tzu's Tae Te Ching, and students seeking to become more familiar with that text had best consult other, more literal translations. Comparison and contrast with Mitchell's work is highly recommended, however, because Mitchell's version is informed by a deep understanding, nurtured by years of spiritual practice and Zen training, and the author's own considerable skill as a poet.

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Summary: Welcome to Taoism
Review: I am grateful that this was the translation that served as my introduction to Taoism. Since reading it, I have looked at other translations to see if I was missing anything. I don't know that I would have become such an eager student of Taoism, as I am now, if I had been initially exposed to a different translation. As corny as this may sound, the poetic value of Stephen Mitchell's version, when I first read it, "spoke" to me.

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Summary: Illogical but good source for Taoism
Review: I read this book in an effort to understand Taoism further. This translation is not from the original Chinese; rather Mitchell used several different existing translations and a word-for-word translation and then manipulated the text. Mitchell seeks to show the meaning of the text but has no qualms about taking liberties with it when he thinks this will aid comprehension.

There were several statements in the book that were illogical. There is no other way to phrase it. I'm sure some readers will object to applying logic to religion or assert that there are two realities or planes of thought (the ordinary world or the scientific world) and then there is the realm of the religious. However, the three laws of logic (identity, non-contradiction and the excluded middle) are inescapable.

For example, if somebody asserts that something like, "The three laws of logic do not apply to religion," one necessarily implies that the contradiction of this (that the laws of logic do apply to religion) is false and thereby one must employ the laws, even while attempting to show they are not applicable. There is simply no way to escape logic; it is necessary for coherent, meaningful discourse.

Some examples of Taoist irrationality:

The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. Those who know don't talk. Those who talk don't know

The first one asserts ineffability (Incapable of being expressed). There are one or two problems with this: (1) this defeats the purpose of writing a book on the Tao or (2) in asserting "the Tao cannot be expressed" the statement self-refutes. The statement no knowledge can be known about the Tao IS a statement of knowledge about the Tao. On the second saying, this would show that original author (Lao-tse) doesn't know for he spoke (actually wrote, but the same idea). This is another effort to show Taoist ineffability; it fails.

Elsewhere, the Tao Te Ching asserts that this as its rational justification:

How do I know this is true? By looking inside myself.

The whole idea of the Tao could simply be a mental construct in the mind of Lao-tse. Appealing to personal experience WITHOUT objective verification is not acceptable.

The Tao (which maybe be translated as the Way) is some sort of abstract animating principle behind the universe. To claim the Tao is the Taoist God is mistaken. Perhaps in popular-level Taoism, this may be the case. However, such a notion finds no support in the Tao Te Ching.

The Tao Te Ching's view of humanity is false as well; it implies that humanity is fundamentally good. Apart from the Bible, every day experience and history verify that people are radically fallen and corrupted.

There were some occasional positive ideas in the book. For example:

"Weapons are the tools of violence; all decent men detest them. Weapons are the tools of fear." Also, the book has a strong sense of ecology and some occasional good sense of government.

In addition to the logical problems of the book, it is false due to the truth of Christian truth. There is original sin (which is a state whereby all people are corrupted and fallen) and thus any system that affirms the basic goodness of man is false. There is also good reason to reject the impersonal animating principle of the Tao for the real God who reveals himself in history and in the lives of Christians.

If you're looking for truth, look elsewhere. If you want to get some understanding in the basic text of Taoism, this is a good place to begin but do keep the logical problems in mind.

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Summary: Pure poetry.
Review: Stephen Mitchell has produced a translation of the Tao Te Ching that is accessible, relevant and timeless. He has taken the stiltedness out of translations that seek to hew too closely to the original phrase, and rendered the text with a spare poetry that is both personal and useful. This is the place to start thinking about the Tao.

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Summary: Welcoming both saints and sinners.
Review: I was a bit bothered by Stephen Mitchell's version at first, but after spending more time with it begin to have second thoughts. It's true that he hasn't given us a literal reading of Lao Tzu's text. He's dropped bits here and there, and seems to have sneaked in a few bits of his own. But hey! Surely a guy who has survived fourteen years of Zen torture, erh... training, has earned some rights?

In effect what Mitchell has done is to give us a stripped-down and modernized re-working of the Tao Te Ching. This strategy has led to some very real benefits. Many of the obscurer details, details that even have Chinese scholars scratching their heads, seem to have pretty well gone. Also gone is the wordiness of other translations. What remains is the essence, and it stands out clearly.

Frankly I don't think you'll miss much of Lao Tzu's message of peace, simplicity, patience, compassion, tolerance. No important notion seems to have been lost. And Mitchell's language has a wonderful simplicity and directness. Here's an example chosen at random from Chapter 9, with my slash marks to indicate line breaks:

"Chase after money and security / and your heart will never unclench. / Care about people's approval / and you will be their prisoner."

These are important truths. Two of the many in this text that we do well to keep in mind. And "unclench" -- the grasping heart as a tight clenched fist -- is a very nice touch.

Of course, it isn't exactly what Lao Tzu said. But somehow I don't think Old Master Lao would mind. After all, didn't he suggest we should "welcome both saints and sinners"?

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Summary: Tao Te Ching : A New English Version
Review: Book has changed my way of viewing life. This is the easiest translation to digest and understand