Tao Made Easy

Tao Made Easy: Timelss Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

 

The Tao Made Easy May you live during interesting times: so goes an ancient Chinese blessing—or some say curse. That wish has come true for us. Now what? In this radically illuminating book, Alan Cohen delves into one of the world’s most venerated wisdom texts for answers and brings the lofty and enigmatic concepts of the Tao Te Ching down to earth in fresh, easy-to-grasp language with practical, personal examples we can use to uplift our daily lives.Most other interpretations of the Tao march through the stanzas one by one. Here Alan Cohen calls forth the ancient verses around themes that are central to our modern lives—from love to work to the lessons we learn from pain. Then he brings each message to life in short vignettes where he imagines himself a student of Lao Tse and interacts with the master directly and intimately. He invites you to join the ancient sage and the contemporary seeker as they wend their way through the challenges and triumphs of the same journey you’re taking yourself.

About the Author:Alan Cohen is the author of 26 popular inspirational books, including A Course in Miracles Made Easy, The Dragon Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, A Deep Breath of Life, and Are You as Happy as Your Dog? He is a contributing writer for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, and his books have been translated into 30 foreign languages. A respected keynoter and seminar leader, Alan has taught at Montclair State University, Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, and EnTheos Academy for Optimal Living. He has appeared on national radio and television and is a featured presenter in the award-winning documentary Finding Joe, celebrating the teachings of Joseph Campbell.

The I Ching is used in a type of divination called cleromancy, which uses apparently random numbers. Six numbers between 6 and 9 are turned into a hexagram, which can then be looked up in the text, in which hexagrams are arranged in an order known as the King Wen sequence. The interpretation of the readings found in the I Ching is a matter which has been endlessly discussed and debated over in the centuries following its compilation, and many commentators have used the book symbolically, often to provide guidance for moral decision making as informed by Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. The hexagrams themselves have often acquired cosmological significance and been paralleled with many other traditional names for the processes of change such as yin and yang and Wu Xing.