<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Just What You Would Expect from Alan Watts
Review: Brilliant, insightful, and occasional gentle humor are the hallmarks of this commentary on the Tao Te Ching. The Tao is not an easy book for a Westerner to understand, but Watts picks a few key concepts, ones that are repeated often, and focusses on them. The result is a Tao that makes sense, if not always in one's (logical) head, then at least in one's intuitive heart.There were a few passages which really stood out for me. As a Catholic, I have reflected often on the meaning of Beatific Vision. Being an impatient soul, I am not quite content to wait until the heavenly hereafter to find out what it is all about. Watts does not address this topic, irrelevant to Taoism, but what he says (p.56)about oneness and individuality apply: "There is enormous differentiation inside the body, desite the fact that it is a single, distinct organism. I use the word 'distinct' rather than 'separate' because by 'separate' I mean "disjointed" or "cut off from," but by 'distinct I mean something I recognize as a distinguishable pattern perceived as a whole. So, something can be distinct without being separate, in just the same way as back and front can be very different and yet inseparable." Yes, of course, that's exactly it: the Mystical Body of Christ here, the Beatific Vision hereafter. His game of "Vish" sounds like fun and is a really good example of how language works. This book has gotten me to thinking about art in a new way. I am coming to recognize the difference between what transcends and what is merely mechanical performance. It may be that, even though I cannot produce music or sculpture or anything that is usually termed a "work of art" in the usual sense, I can do other things that fit his description, baking bread for one thing. We can all be artists in our own way. This book is destined to last through the centuries. Not guessing here, I know this for a fact. How, you may wonder? Well, four hundred years from now, Mr. Spock will say "A difference which makes no difference, is no difference." A very good paraphrase of the lines at the bottom of pp. 64-65. Guess Vulcans read Alan Watts, too! I would highly recommend this book to anyone seeking a better understanding of the Tao Te Ching.
Rating:
Summary: the dualism exposed
Review: This is the best book on Taoism that i've read. Illuminates beautifully that seemingly murky yet wonderfully simple philosophy; full of wit, great examples and metaphors, inspiring and original ideas, and above all the slippery glint of truth, like catching sight of a fast fish moving in a stream. (hmm...) His appropriately 'flowing' style is all the more flowing due to the fact that these are talks that he gave, recorded by Mark Watts.
<< 1 >>
| 
