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A Taoist Guide to Practical Living PDF

230 Pages·2016·0.85 MB·English
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“A bright and lively translation that captures the essential insights of the Lieh-Tzu.” —Library Journal ABOUT THE BOOK The Lieh-tzu is a collection of stories and philosophical musings of a sage of the same name who lived around the fourth century BCE. Lieh-tzu’s teachings range from the origin and purpose of life, the Taoist view of reality, and the nature of enlightenment to the training of the body and mind, communication, and the importance of personal freedom. This distinctive translation presents Lieh-tzu as a friendly, intimate companion speaking directly to the reader in a contemporary voice about matters relevant to our everyday lives. EVA WONG is an independent scholar and a practitioner of the Taoist arts of the Pre-Celestial Way and Complete Reality lineages. She has written and translated many books on Taoism and related topics, including A Master Course in Feng-Shui; Tales of the Taoist Immortals; and Taoism: An Essential Guide. Sign up to learn more about our books and receive special offers from Shambhala Publications. Or visit us online to sign up at shambhala.com/eshambhala. LIEH-TZU A TAOIST GUIDE TO PRACTICAL LIVING Eva Wong Shambhala / BOSTON & LONDON / 2013 SHAMBHALA PUBLICATIONS, INC. HORTICULTURAL HALL 300 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02115 www.shambhala.com © 1995 by Eva Wong Cover art: Ming dynasty carved lacquer dragon boat from The Art of the Dragon, reproduced by permission of the Commercial Press (Hong Kong) Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUES THE PREVIOUS EDITION OF THIS BOOK AS FOLLOWS: Lieh-tzu, 4th cent. B.C. [Lieh-tzu, English] Lieh-tzu: a Taoist guide to practical living/ Eva Wong.—1st ed. p. cm.—(Shambhala dragon editions) eISBN 978-0-83482465-2 ISBN 978-1-57062-153-6 (alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-57062-899-3 (pbk.) I. Wong, Eva, 1951– . II. Title BL1900.L482E5 1995 95-16063 181′.114—dc20 CIP Contents INTRODUCTION: READING LIEH-TZU Part One: The Gifts of Heaven Introduction 1. That which is not born gives birth to everything 2. All things are connected and come from the same origin 3. Heaven and earth have their strengths and weaknesses 4. Life and death 5. Shadows, sounds, and ghosts 6. The stages of life 7. Life is hard work, death is rest 8. The value of emptiness 9. Are things growing or decaying? 10. Worrying that the sky will fall 11. Life that is borrowed, wealth that is stolen Part Two: The Yellow Emperor Introduction 12. The Yellow Emperor visits the immortal lands 13. Riding on the wind, floating with the clouds 14. The art of staying under water and walking through fire 15. The art of archery 16. Feats of power 17. The art of taming tigers 18. The art of steering a boat 19. The art of swimming 20. The man who could walk through fire 21. Lieh-tzu and the sorcerer 22. Lieh-tzu’s fear 23. Lao-tzu teaches Yang-chu 24. What is there to appearances? 25. Softness and hardness, yielding and resisting Part Three: King Mu of Ch’ou Introduction 26. King Mu’s dream 27. Learning the arcane arts 28. Dreams 29. The truth about happiness and misery 30. What is real and what is unreal? 31. The man who lost his memory 32. Who is confused? 33. The man who got upset over nothing Part Four: Confucius Introduction 34. True happiness and contentment 35. Seeing with ears and hearing with eyes 36. Who is a sage? 37. What is wisdom? 38. The man with a wooden face 39. The art of traveling and sightseeing 40. Lung-shu’s strange illness 41. Responding naturally 42. There are some things that you just can’t fight 43. Who is supporting whom? 44. What is strength? 45. The strange arguments of Kung-sun Lung 46. Knowing when to withdraw Part Five: The Questions of Tang Introduction 47. Where do things come from? 48. The man who tried to move mountains 49. The man who tried to chase down the sun 50. The North Country 51. Strange customs in strange countries 52. The questions of a child 53. The art of fishing 54. Exchanging hearts and minds 55. Musician Wen learns to play the lute 56. When Han-erh sang 57. Kindred spirits 58. Artificial or real? 59. Learning the art of archery 60. Tsao-fu learns to drive 61. Lai-tan’s revenge Part Six: Effort and Destiny Introduction 62. Effort argues with Destiny 63. Fortune and worth 64. The friendship of Kuan-chung and Pao Shu-ya 65. Are life and death a matter of effort or destiny? 66. An average doctor, a good doctor, and an ingenious doctor 67. Yang-chu talks about destiny 68. We cannot know people who are different from us 69. Success and failure 70. The king who was greedy about life and afraid of death 71. Death is not a loss Part Seven: Yang-chu Introduction 72. A name is nothing and titles are empty 73. Life—temporarily staying in the world; death—temporarily leaving 74. In life there may be differences; in death everything is the same 75. Riches can injure you, but poverty can also hurt you 76. Taking care of yourself 77. A madman or an enlightened man? 78. What damages health more—unrestricted pleasure or obsessive hard work? 79. Everyone must die sometime 80. Would you sacrifice a strand of hair to benefit the world? 81. Ruling a country is like tending a flock of sheep 82. Things are not as permanent as we think they are 83. Longevity, fame, social status, and wealth Part Eight: Explaining Coincidences Introduction 84. Action and reaction 85. Why do people follow the path of the Tao? 86. Lieh-tzu learns archery 87. Choosing the right person for the job 88. Can we compete with nature? 89. Someone’s words can make or break you 90. Being at the right place at the right time 91. If I can step on someone, someone else can step on me 92. To solve a problem, you need to remove the cause, not the symptom 93. Trust and confidence 94. The best way to keep a secret is not to talk 95. Those who succeed are not excited about success; those who know do not display their knowledge 96. Fortune and misfortune 97. A matter of luck 98. Seeing beyond appearances 99. Managing your life and governing a country 100. Rank, wealth, and ability can get you into trouble 101. You cannot apply one principle to all conditions 102. Retribution by accident 103. Confusing name and reality 104. To die for someone who values you is natural 105. Confused by too many alternatives 106. Yang-pu and the dog 107. Knowledge and action 108. Capture and release—an act of compassion or cruelty? 109. Who was created for whom to eat? 110. It’s all in your mind 111. Those who are involved are muddled; those who watch are clear E-MAIL SIGN-UP

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