The Tao is the Way

This page started as a Tao page and now seems to be half Buddhist. No matter. The Tao and the teachings of the Tathagata are similiar. Their meeting was the formation of Zen Buddhism. Maybe sometime I'll make seperate Tao and Buddhist pages.

The story "Karma" by Paul Carus is an incredible Buddhist fable. Unfortunately it is out of print. It is, however, available here in it's entirety. I urge people to read it, download the files and read it to others. Let me know if it is helpful.

"Karma" by Paul Carus:

Devala's Rice Cart, Chapter 1.

The Jewellers Purse, Chapter 2.

Business In Benares, Chapter 3.

Among The Robbers, Chapter 4.

The Spider-Web, Chapter 5.

The Conversion Of The Robber Chief, Chapter 6.

The Converted Robbers Tomb, Chapter 7.

The Bequest Of A Good Karma, Chapter 8.

Here are some short teachings of the Enlightened One:

Sona and Mara

Treasure

The Dhammapada is one of the Buddhist scriptures in Pali, not Sanskrit. This probably indicates an orgin in the area of Ceylon, Burma or Indonesia. Dhamma is the Pali equivalent of Dharma, one of the important concepts of Buddhism. Dhamma is simply the Way, the Middle Way of the teachings of the Buddha.

The Dhammapada:

Contrary Ways, Chapter 1.

Watchfulness, Chapter 2.

The Mind, Chapter 3.

The Flowers of Life, Chapter 4.

The Fool, Chapter 5.

Better Than a Thousand, Chapter 8.

Good and Evil, Chapter 9.

Life, Chapter 10.

Joy, Chapter 15.

Chuang Tzu is one of my favorite Tao philosophers. His writing is metaphorical, funny and entertaining. An excellent translation of his 'Basic Writings' by Burton Watson is available from Columbia University Press. I would recommend Mr. Watson's translations whenever they are available and Columbia University Press has a good selection of Tao philosophy.

I stumbled across the first chapter of Chuang Tzu, Free and Easy Wandering, apparently posted by the University of Wisconsin. I think this is a metaphorical description of the sameness of "big" and "small". It's pretty trippy in parts but after a few readings the point starts to sink in.

I have searched the Internet for a good translation of the Tao Te Ching to link with. My favorite translation is the one by D.C. Lau on Penguin books. This translation has not made it to HTML yet, as far as I can tell. Most other translators have decided the Tao cannot be understood by the modern reader and simplified it by emphasizing their own interpretation. Lau is content to give a literal translation and let the reader interpret for him or herself.

Tao Te Ching

Section 38 of the Tao, the first section of Book 2

Sections 39 and 40 of the Tao

Sections 41 and 42 of the Tao

Here's an interesting modern Tao adapted by Ron Hogan.

I have also included the Aleister Crowley version, not really for the translation which is largely incomprehensible, but for the introduction which describes Crowley's introduction to the Tao around the turn of the century

The complete text of Sun Tzu's Art of War

Burton Watson also tranlated "Basic Writings," by Hsun Tzu. This is a selection from Chapter 2 of Basic Writings, Improving Yourself. This book is also published by Columbia University Press.

Many on the web try to follow the way. Here are some good sites:

Namgyal Monastery

A Buddhist search engine Yahoo! style.

Contact me if you know any other good Tao sites I can add to this list. My address is seth@vgallery.com