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  • The Way of Chuang Tzu by Thomas Merton book cover
  • The Way of Chuang Tzu by Thomas Merton book cover
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The Way of Chuang Tzu

by Thomas Merton

A modern rendering of Chuang Tzu’s sayings

$16.66 USD
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AlbakiReads Editorial

A modern rendering of Chuang Tzu’s sayings

Thomas Merton’s book presents a series of versions of sayings attributed to Chuang Tzu, composed from existing translations. Its subject is Taoist thought, with the descriptions of Chuang Tzu and Lao Tzu providing context for the tradition. Wit, paradox, and reflections on the ground of being are identified as features of the sayings; Merton’s contribution is to recast them in a modern idiom. The book is therefore both an encounter with a classic voice of Taoism and a particular author’s rendering of that material, rather than a direct translation from the original texts.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers exploring Taoist thought and its classical sayings
  • Readers interested in Thomas Merton’s engagement with Asian religious traditions

Themes

TaoismClassical Chinese thoughtWit and paradoxReflections on being

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Working from existing translations, Thomas Merton composed a series of his own versions of the classic sayings of Chuang Tzu, the most spiritual of Chinese philosophers. Chuang Tzu, who wrote in the fourth and third centuries B.C., is the chief authentic historical spokesperson for Taoism and its founder Lao Tzu (a legendary character known largely through Chuang Tzu's writings). Indeed it was because of Chuang Tzu and the other Taoist sages that Indian Buddhism was transformed, in China, into the unique vehicle we now call by its Japanese name--Zen.

The Chinese sage abounds in wit and paradox and shattering insights into the true ground of being. Thomas Merton, no stranger to Asian thought, brings a vivid, modern idiom to the timeless wisdom of Tao.
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