MY TAOWORLD

Tao Booklets was founded in 2004 to  present  a true and faithful rendering of the Chinese medical and philosophical tradition.  It is a home industry producing ebooks and booklets at affordable prices.  Future publications include River Hawk! River Hawk! from the classical Confucian Doctrine of the Mean, a first translation of Health without Medicines written by the renown doctor Li Zhongzi in 1642, and a full Book of Images and a commentary on the Book of Changes.  I also produce self-help texts and pamphlets for rehabilitation, exercise and meditation.

Downloads of my Ebooklet translations begin from this page. You will need a Paypal account.  These are now very popular for on-line sales.  They are quite secure, easily set up and cost nothing.

I find Adobe Digital Editions the easiest screen reading software.  Available free from Adobe.

 

THREE TAOIST TRACTS, THREE TAOIST TRACES

Three Ancient Chinese Scriptures which teach us about our place in the universe, the opportunity to transform and better our lives, - in a quasi-magical way – so to bring peace to all.  40pp.

Price $11.99 (ABOUT £8)

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Taoist Method of Harmonising the Breath

A first eBooklet of a few pages on Harmonising the Breathing.
Original translation from a Ming document.  The author was the Chinese physician Li Zhongzi, 8pp.

Click to purchase for £1.50

Or if you wish see below for free down load........

As a reward for reading this far, click this free link below to experience this work!

Harmonising_Regulating the Breath.pdf

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RIVER HAWK! RIVER HAWK!

My translation of The Constant Pivot from the scholarly Confucian Tradition.

This is  the larger part of the Zhongyong, a pivotal scripture of the Confucian school, less well known that the Analects. Along with The Great Task and the Mencius (Mengzi) these four books comprised the quadrivium studied by any aspiring Chinese youth. The oldest material dates back to the Book of Rites, predating Confucius’ birth in 551 B.C.E. Revered through seventy generations, these works are now again finding favour. Full of pithy sayings, they were the first texts I studied. The Constant Pivot supplied any person, aspiring to govern, with a moral rule against which to be measured -‘integrity’ - also it supplied that which was not meant to exist - a Confucian metaphysic.  It spoke of the ‘realms beyond’, or  numinous, epitomised by the wildness of the river-hawk. Confucian spirituality is in essence inseparable from reverence - deference to a superior power. The primary motive 仁 ren, ‘human-heartedness’ or ‘love’ is a very animal instinct. In this sense, Confucius also embraced the Taoist idea of a ‘primal’ 元 yuan qi: untamed, unborn, unnamed and unarmed. This was the first Chinese text I ever worked - now ready after thirty years.  50pp.

Price £6.90

Click Here to Read a Sample

Click to buy this as an eBook

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THE WRITINGS OF LAOTZU
in Nine Volumes

At around the time of the unification of China, over two-thousand years ago, a small text appeared. Revised and authorised by the later Han (c. 200 AD), during China’s imperial expansion, it became the text of the Taoists, a motley crew – who could only have been born in China.
The Tao-te Ching, the writings of Lao Tzu  exist as some eighty-one chapters (eighty-one is nine times nine, nine was the Heavenly number) and is divided into two halves – the first concerned with the Tao, the Way or Path, the second the Te, its virtue or power. Taoism points to something more than words - and this small book provides a key to a subtlety of thought, a gentle touch distinctly Chinese.

This is a work of inward cultivation, a spiritual tract giving instruction in breath-control and meditation, as well as a treatise on government.

Well then, what is the Tao?  And what are Yin and Yang?  Answer: On one side of the divide lie the Mother, the root, the Tao, no name, no form, not-having and wu-wei; while on the other side stand her children, Yin and Yang, the branches, the ten-thousand things, name, form, possession and action. But ultimately there are no sides or distinctions.   only the One.  I commend this book to the reader. Take time to dip into the text and savour it. Practice your qigong. In a troubled world, an ounce of good thought is worth a barrow-load of action. 32pp

Click Here to Read a Sample

Vol.1 The Tao that can be Told is not the Constant Tao   $9.99,

Click Here to Buy The Writings of Lao Tzu Vol.1

The Tao-Te Ching

The Tao-te Ching has been called ‘the bible of Daoism’, a blend of folk-beliefs, homely wisdom, religion and mythology, all of which pervade old China.  Less orthodox than Buddhism, more accepting than Confucius, its ideas of interconnectivity, peaceful co-existence and self-responsibility are suprisingly  the hallmark of modern science and a new politics.  At barely 5000 words, its influence has been quite disproportionate to its length.  I have worked from the original Chinese commentaries.   Read more here...

This was the first book I brought out in Tao Booklets in 2003.  It is the bible of Taoism, 98pp.  Price as a paperback, £10 (p&p extra).  Contact me for delivery, 7-10 days.

Price as e-book £6.99. Instant access!  And it looks great on the screen. It should be readable on portable, handheld devices.

Treasuries of the Tao

This is a new translation of Laozi's Tao-te Ching (The Book of the Way and its Power) the foundation text of Taoism, along with two original commentaries, one popular and the other scholarly. The earliest was penned by the 'Old Man who Lived up the River' and represents the folk tradition of the book; the second is by the early philosopher Wangbi. The first is a guide to qigong or Taoist yoga, while the second is the earliest exposition of the Tao-te Ching's philosophy of 'being' and 'non-being'. These gentle philosophies of turning away from the world's troubles and deepening an inner life crystallise all that is best in the Chinese mind. They reveal an message of harmony, and naturalness in action, rejection of pretence and artificiality, and a simple life with regard to the environment.  Both are newly rendered into English and placed directly after the original text in the traditional manner.  There is a short note to each chapter describing its content and textual variations.

For ease of reading it is presented in Two Volumes:  One:The Way; Two: The Power.

Price of Each £9.50  Link here for Vol.1 - The Tao.

Link here  for Vol.2 - The Power.

The Single Idea in the Mind of the Yellow Emperor

The Single Idea in the Mind of the Yellow Emperor is based upon the Essential Ideas of The Neijing or Neijing Zhiyao of Li Zhongzi , written in 1642.  This work brings together the core texts of the Neijing Suwen and Lingshu, crucial for every student of classical Chinese Medicine.  The original Chinese text is printed, along with a fresh translation, introduction and notes.  The whole is laid clearly in small sections, easy to read.  In the syncretistic tradition of Taoist teachings, this work shows the single thread running through the yinyang and  wuxing (Five Elements) which underpins Chinese traditional medical science.

There are seven main chapters - preventative aspects in health, core Yinyang texts, Five Elemental associations, diagnosis by colour, by pulse, rules in treatment and, lastly, diagnosis, including diagnosis by dreams and death-signs.  All sections display the original Chinese text in parallel with my English translation.

A unique work, ideal for any student wising the begin reading the original sources of traditional Chinese medicine.

The aim is to provide an accessible and accurate translation of the fundamental writings of classical Chinese medicine, particularly the Huangdi Neijing or 'Yellow Emperor's Book of Medicine'.  This text has been the source and well-spring of Chinese medical thinking for over two-thousand years. 319pp

Gratitude to Philip Horan for the cover, see here.

Available Soon. 

THE WRITINGS OF LAOTZU

Containing the chapters Shielding the Light, and Adaptable in Nature (the famous chapter on the soft and yielding qualities of water), this Volume further develops the theme of Lao Tzu's introductory rant.  Practicing Detachment leads us to the first of the great chapters on meditation - What Can You Do? - which begins...guarding the fort of the spirit and embracing the One, can you not depart from it?.  The advocation is plain and simple.  To allow growth but not to command it, which may truly be called Hidden Virtue!

The last chapter (Ch.16) in the Volume - Returning to the Root - begins with the statement...obtaining utter emptiness, I guard this profound peace, all the ten-thousand things are created, while I watch their rise and fall....

This beautiful verse with its lapidary style brings to a close the opening of the Tao-te Ching. The stations of the Way have been described. The scope moves from the ‘small me’, humble and empty, to the ‘big me’, large as life and one with Heaven and earth. This is returning to the root. To put aside passion and cast off desire sums up the previous chapters. As a Taoist prayer Chapter Sixteen asserts faith in eternal life.

Free Download of The Writings of Lao Tzu Vol.2 for Short Time!