TAO TE CHING

This inspirational new translation of the 6th century Chinese classic is accompanied by 81 beautiful black and white photos by mountaineer photographer John Cleare, each one illustrating the 81 sections of the Tao Te Ching, the path to living in concordance with the unity of the universe. According to Lao Tzu, an inextricable partnership of every part with the whole means living in synchronicity with processes, and being completely authentic, sincere, natural and innocent. The translator's own interpretation of the title Tao Te Ching is "a guide to the theory and practice of the Great Integrity". Lao Tzu invites us to transcend names: "In the infancy of the universe, there were no names." Paradox is the principal mode of his thought processes, and in fact it is possible that he did not himself write the Tao, but that it was compiled from his sayings by followers. We have exchanged our natural harmony with the universe for ego-oriented lifestyles, but we will not return to our previous state by consciously going back, but by reorienting our whole life so that integrity is the final result. "The Great Integrity never strives, but always fulfils itself." We need to be ready, willing and able to be agents of change for ourselves, for others and the planet. The Great Integrity is ultimately love, but there are negative forms of love such as possessiveness, co-dependency and the escapism of romantic love. These need to be balanced with subjective love, with no reservations or ulterior motives, so that in the end we become love itself. "There is no greater calamity than acquisitiveness racing out of control. Only those who know when enough is enough can ever have enough". 16 x 24cm, 172pp, beautiful photography on every double spread, colour.