The Simplicity and Subtlety of the Way

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT DAOIST THOUGHT AND WRITINGS THAT MAKES THEM APPEALING. Even though they seem simple, even simplistic, they nonetheless give one the sense that they are also subtle, inscrutable and profoundly wise. As I re-read the “further teachings of Lao-tzu” in Thomas Cleary’s translation of the Wen-tzu (a Daoist classic from the Han Dynasty, …