A Path and a Practice: Using Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching as a Guide to an Awakened Spiritual Life

The Tao Te Ching—one of the most loved and widely translated books in human history—has appeared in countless English-language versions. But no modern translation has yet captured the essential thrust of Lao Tzu's work as a practical guide to living an awakened life. Now William Martin, whose acclaimed previous reinterpretations of the Tao (for parents, couples, and elders) have introduced or reacquainted this classic text to thousands of readers, strikingly translates the Tao's eighty-one chapters to uniquely address someone on a Tao—or path—with a practice. Martin frames his new translation with two illuminating, groundbreaking sections: "A Path," which introduces the Tao's nonlinear construction and explains how it works its themes; and "A Practice," which provides practical guidance for readers exploring each of the Tao's themes in depth. Martin's genius in this new translation uncovers how directly the Tao speaks to readers on or about to embark on a spiritual journey.

William Martin has been a student of the Tao for almost twenty years. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and Western Theological Seminary, he is the author of The Parent's Tao Te Ching, The Couple's Tao Te Ching, and The Sage's Tao Te Ching. Today he operates, with his wife, Nancy, The Still Point, a center for the practice of Taoist/Zen meditation in Chico, California.