Back to Beginnings (Shambhala Centaur Editions)

By Huanchu Daoren

Book Overview

Huanchu Daoren's supremely practical teachings reveal the secrets of serenity and wisdom in a changing world. His Taoist epithet, Huanchu Daoren, means "Wayfarer Back to Beginnings." Though written... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1570623775
• ISBN13: 9781570623776
• Release Date: June 1998
• Publisher: Shambhala
• Length: 143 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 5.5" x 0.5" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

A fantastic and classic Asian philosophic treatise by a Chinese scholar.

This book is an example of the saying that "words of wisdom are timeless." This book, beautifully translated by Thomas Cleary, was written around 1600 by a Huanchu Daoren, a Chinese scholar. The various meditations presented are written in such a way that one can stop and ponder the specific philosophic gem before moving on to the next paragraph. You can easily choose the meditations that speak to your inner soul in this fantastic collection. Here is a brief sample of the delights found in this volume. "Only those who have calmed their minds know the misfortune of having worries." "Those who read books but do not see the wisdom of the sages are slaves of the letter." "Those who teach but do not themselves practice what they teach are mere talkers." In conclusion, this is a book for anyone interested in Asian philosophy. Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Season of the Warrior: A poetic tribute to warriors, Martial Art Myths, Never Trust a Politician, Monadnock Defensive Tactics System, Use of the Monadnock Straight Baton, PR-24 Police Baton Advanced Techniques).

Tending the Roots of Wisdom

A perfect balance of Lao Tzu and Confucious. This is the more elegant and poetic English translation, translated by Thomas Cleary. However Cleary did selectively leave out some of the numbered meditations (and their numerical references). Note: the author Hong Yingming's Taoist name is Huanchu Daoren. The complete book is sold under the title "Tending the Roots of Wisdom" by Hong Yingming and it has 16 more meditations mainly redundant but not entirely. Get both translations and understand the extent of the translator's art. The book was an obscure but in my view still very excellent work of Chinese philosophy and wisdom in general. It had a revival of popularity in Japan in the 1980s If you read Chinese Tending the Roots of Wisdom has the Chinese side by side with the English. One can learn from any version, this book is special.

Helpful advice for gung-ho Americans

"When you are but slightly involved in the world, the effect the world has on you is also slight" (p. 1). Heard that one anywhere before? How about, "My kingdom is not of this world." "Simplicity is better than refinement, and freedom is better than punctiliousness." I'm going to tell my boss tomorrow I don't want to be punctilious anymore. Then I'll really be free, free to join all the other "free" homeless people wandering all over Los Angeles and who knows where else. "As long as people have not shed impetuous adventurism even if they help the nation, it is just exploit." No more heroes! "People know that fame and position are pleasant, but they do not know that the pleasance of anonymity is most real." Ahhhh, and so I have to give up my 15 minutes of fame? Oh, well, no big loss, I think I gave it up in high school anyway. "Those who are truly virtuous have no reputation for virtue. Those who establish such a reputation do so for selfish motives." Yes, and selfish motives are behind most of what people supposedly achieve, isn't that the way of the world? "It is better to dwell in nonbeing than in being, better to be lacking than replete." Another echo from the Sermon on the Mount. "To boast of one's work or show off one's literary accomplishments is to base one's person on external things." Well, I don't have anything to boast about, but Grisham and S. King may want to take note (yeeeaah right!). "Taking pride in fame is not as interesting as avoiding it. Cultivating hobbies is not as peaceful as minimizing interests." This is great stuff for those who are full of personal ambition. But, hey, personal ambition is the way of the world, and it's all biological anyway, isn't it? The world has evolved that way. That's why I thank God for people like Lao Tse, Huanchu Daoren, and Thomas Cleary. I'm going to learn Chinse one day, that's my big ambition (whoops!). Diximus.

Little Book, Great Wisdom

When I grow up, I want to be a Taoist sage.This is a book of detachment from the petty struggles of human society. Huanchu Daoren was reputed to have been a layman past the age of 60- the time of retirement from public affairs and the closing season of life. Yet one gets the sense that he had been preparing himself for this detachment, practicing it as best he could, for all of his life. As he puts it, retire when you are at the height of your career- and count yourself as a survivor. For this is a book on how to live the most simple, pure, and genuine life even when surrounded by power, wealth, and chaos. It shows how to move among the powerful, the vicious, and the ignorant without losing your center. It even points the Way towards clearing your mind in order to find this center. Once found, the sage is imperturbable. Indeed, the sage is the nucleus around which harmony and natural order coalesce in the human realm.There is an incredible wealth of concentrated wisdom here, verified and filtered by the ages:When the rich and well established, who should be generous, are instead spiteful and cruel, they make their behavior wretched and base in spite of their wealth and position. When the intellectually brilliant, who should be reserved, instead show off, they are ignorant and foolish in their weakness in spite of their brilliance."Always leave some food for the mice; pity the moths and don't light the lamp." Thoughts like these that the ancients had are the living, life-giving mechanism of us humans. Without this, we are no more than statues or manikins.When enlightened people are so poor that they cannot help others, if they speak a word to awaken the confused or to resolve a problem, there is also boundless merit in that.

A perfect slow-down and relax book

This is a "collection of meditations on fundamental things in human life." It consists of short paragraphs detailing a life concept in glorious prose. It often uses allegories, so that one must read the paragraph several times to determine the exact nature of the thought being conveyed. Not a book to read in a hurry! I use the book to de-stress and to help myself focus on the truely important things in life. While I don't completely subscribe to the Taoist way of life, it is very useful to look at my world through their eyes. Although this book was written around 1600, the thoughts contained therein are timeless.