Vitality, Energy, Spirit: A Taoist Sourcebook (Shambhala Dragon Editions)

By Thomas Cleary

Book Overview

The "three treasures" of human life--vitality, energy, and spirit--are envisioned in Taoist thought as the source of creativity, capability, and intelligence. This comprehensive anthology traces the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0877735190
• ISBN13: 9780877735199
• Release Date: July 1991
• Publisher: Shambhala
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 1.09 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.9" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Appreciate Cleary's works

One of my daily devotions is to read excerpts or chapters from a collection of Taoist & Buddhist books and I enjoy adding more books of similar interest to my collection. On its own, this book is full of great insights into the deeper aspects of Taoism but, reading this book along with "The Book of Balance and Harmony", "The Inner Teachings of Taoism", "Taoist Meditation ~ Methods for Cultivating a Healthy Mind & Body", along with "The Jade Emperor's Mind Seal Classic" by Stuart Olson really really helps to expand one's knowledge and inspired deep insights into the fundamentals of Taoist study and practice. I highly recommend any of Cleary's books to anyone that is interested in Eastern thought and practice. I find his books, including the introductions, are filled with an incredible amount of useful and beneficial information.

Must read

The most Comprehensive, complete book on the subtle aspects of Taoism ever read. Brought many peices together.

Vitality, Energy, Spirit

A great anthology, and typical of Shambhala publications: concise, factual, and comprehensive! An excellent introduction to understanding Taoism.

Conerstone reference...

Cleary has done an excellent job of putting a number of essential Taoist texts into one volume. The book begins with some Tao Te Ching and leads straight into some translations of Ancester Lu - not everything, just the essentials.There are numerous other texts here and, quite framkly, the book stands quite well as a new start in the tradition of the old classics. That is, there appears to be a lot of 'method' to Cleary's 'madness' of taking only sections of the texts in conjunction with the general development of the material.This book contains enough of the classics that it is essential to anyone seriously practicing Qigong. If you have this and a couple of Eva Wong's excellent translations you probably don't need much else for your library.

A wonderful addition to any Philosopher's library...

This is a must have for anyone interested in Taoism. Has an excelent selection from numerous important authors from Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu sequentialy through the writing of 20th century Taoists. Superb for the beginner and indespensable to the serious collector.