Rating: 
Summary: Book for a lifetime
Review: During eleven years of study and practice in self-cultivation I have read many many books. If I were told that I could only choose one book to keep and refer to the rest of my life, this would be the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book!
Review: I truly likes this book. His translations might be a bit confusing for the first time reader, but after a while I realized it was all to convey the ideas more clearly. An excellent book, and an excellent message. I enjoyed it very much...
Rating: 
Summary: a cumbersome translation
Review: Master Ni does not trust the reader to be able to understand the Tao without his using many words to explain it to us. As a result, his translations are long and cumbersome compared to the original text, and completely devoid of its beauty. If you want everything spelled out to you step-by-step, then this is the translation for you. But remember that the 'Tao Te Ching' starts off by warning the reader 'The Tao that can be spoken is not the true Tao.' It is up to each person to find an understanding of the Tao in his/her heart. By trying so hard to 'speak' the Tao with his words, Master Ni ignores the spirit of the true Tao.
Rating:
Summary: a cumbersome translation
Review: Master Ni does not trust the reader to be able to understand the Tao without his using many words to explain it to us. As a result, his translations are long and cumbersome compared to the original text, and completely devoid of its beauty. If you want everything spelled out to you step-by-step, then this is the translation for you. But remember that the 'Tao Te Ching' starts off by warning the reader 'The Tao that can be spoken is not the true Tao.' It is up to each person to find an understanding of the Tao in his/her heart. By trying so hard to 'speak' the Tao with his words, Master Ni ignores the spirit of the true Tao.
Rating:
Summary: Dear To Me
Review: Of all the translations of the Tao Te Ching out there, this is the one that I relate to the most. Some try to be poetic, some clever, while Master Ni's translation remains simple and profound. By simplicity I do not mean minimalism, as his translation may contain more words. By simplicity I mean clarity and fidelity to the ideas. I have read this translation a few times and will again, many more. Love. Peace. Balense11.
Rating:
Summary: Dear To Me
Review: Of all the translations of the Tao Te Ching out there, this is the one that I relate to the most. Some try to be poetic, some clever, while Master Ni's translation remains simple and profound. By simplicity I do not mean minimalism, as his translation may contain more words. By simplicity I mean clarity and fidelity to the ideas. I have read this translation a few times and will again, many more. Love. Peace. Balense11.
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: On the Tao Te Ching portion of the book: This elucidation by Ni is supposed to represent the Southern Internal Alchemy school's view on the Tao Te Ching. This version is not as poetic or beautiful as some others, but is clear and effective in delivering its message, without confusing the reader too much.
On the Hua Hu Ching portion of the book: I do not like this portion of the book. The message may be valuable, but the format is in that of a conversation between Laozi and a prince, and is old fashioned in language so it is confusing and harder to understand. This is just my opinion, and some of my friends enjoyed this format, and maybe you will too, but I prefer Brian Walker's version, which is based on this very translation, but is instead a sort of poetic summary, condensing each chapter to its essential lessons.
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: On the Tao Te Ching portion of the book: This elucidation by Ni is supposed to represent the Southern Internal Alchemy school's view on the Tao Te Ching. This version is not as poetic or beautiful as some others, but is clear and effective in delivering its message, without confusing the reader too much.
On the Hua Hu Ching portion of the book: I do not like this portion of the book. The message may be valuable, but the format is in that of a conversation between Laozi and a prince, and is old fashioned in language so it is confusing and harder to understand. This is just my opinion, and some of my friends enjoyed this format, and maybe you will too, but I prefer Brian Walker's version, which is based on this very translation, but is instead a sort of poetic summary, condensing each chapter to its essential lessons.
Rating:
Summary: Well-conveyed
Review: Over-reliance in many spiritual texts on enigmatic wording does not inherently promote understanding of what cannot be directly spoken. This book is perhaps slightly less poetic - and certainly less cryptic - than most translations of the Tao Te Ching. And it is a welcome tradeoff for it's well-conveyed manner. (I have not read other translations of the Hua Hu Ching for comparison, so I will not comment on that part of the book.)With plain, direct, and gentle wording he gracefully illuminates. Yet, it is so worded such that each passage still leaves a silence at the end of it, offering the reader the space to dwell on that which cannot be put into words.
Rating:
Summary: Most simple and clear
Review: The greatest truths are simple and easy to understand. Many books complicate simplicity.
This book is the opposite. So clear that the mind can receive the wisdom here when we are open to receive it.
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