The Second Book of the Tao by
Stephen Mitchell
The Timeless Tao (Second To None!)
Enhanced by Stephen Mitchell’s illuminating commentary, the next volume
of the classic manual on the art of living
The most widely translated book in world literature after the Bible, Lao-
tzu’s Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, is the classic manual on the art of
living. Following the phenomenal success of his own version of the Tao Te
Ching, renowned scholar and translator Stephen Mitchell has composed
the innovative The Second Book of the Tao. Drawn from the work of Lao-
tzu’s disciple Chuang-tzu and Confucius’s grandson Tzussu, The Second
Book of the Tao offers Western readers a path into reality that has nothing
to do with Taoism or Buddhism or old or new alone, but everything to do
with truth. Mitchell has selected the freshest, clearest teachings from these
two great students of the Tao and adapted them into versions that reveal

the poetry, depth, and humor of the original texts with a thrilling new
power. Alongside each adaptation, Mitchell includes his own commentary,
at once explicating and complementing the text.
This book is a twenty-first-century form of ancient wisdom, bringing a new,
homemade sequel to the Tao Te Ching into the modern world. Mitchell’s
renditions are radiantly lucid; they dig out the vision that’s hiding beneath
the words; they grab the text by the scruff of the neck—by its heart, really
—and let its essential meanings fall out. The book introduces us to a cast
of vivid characters, most of them humble artisans or servants, who show
us what it means to be in harmony with the way things are. Its wisdom
provides a psychological and moral acuity as deep as the Tao Te Ching
itself.
The Second Book of the Tao is a gift to contemporary readers, granting us
access to our own fundamental wisdom. Mitchell’s meditations and risky
reimagining of the original texts are brilliant and liberating, not least
because they keep catching us off-guard, opening up the heavens where
before we saw a roof. He makes the ancient teachings at once modern,
relevant, and timeless.
Personal Review: The Second Book of the Tao by Stephen
Mitchell
This work is divided up into three (3) parts:
1) The Second Book of the Tao
2) Notes
3) Notes on the Adaptation
The Second Book of the Tao is derived from two (2) ancient Chinese
works (BCE):
1) The Chuang-tzu
2) The Chung Yung
The author, Stephen Mitchell has taken the liberty of editing these two (2)
works into 64 Tao sayings or teachings. They are nicely placed in a
sequential order with each faced with an opposing commentary page. The
commentary page applies what was "known" or "unknown" by the ancient
Chinese to our modern day experience of living.
The author does a brilliant job of using these sayings/teachings to point
"The Way" to our heritage or oneness or egoless Self. Strip away all
"personal" delusional thought and experience what we have forgotten.
From saying (5) commentary "The ancient Masters saw deeply indeed.
They realized that since nothing lasts longer than the untraceable instant,
nothing ultimately exists."

Thus the "Dream"!
From the second half of saying (8):
"You may dream that you're at a banquet
and wake up to find yourself miserable.
You may dream that you're sobbing your heart out
and wake up to find yourself at ease.
How, in the middle of a dream,
can you know that you're actually dreaming?
In the middle of a dream, you may even
try to interpret the dream;
only after you wake up
do you realize that you were dreaming.
Someday there will be
a great awakening, when we know
that all this was one big dream."
Then in the first part of saying 43, The Way is pointed:
"Give up wanting to be important;
let your footsteps leave no trace.
Travel alone as the Tao
to the land of great silence."
We are limited by our beliefs in saying 47:
"You can't talk about the ocean
with a frog who lives in a well:
he is bounded by the space he inhabits.
You can't talk about ice
with an insect who was born in June;
he is bounded by a single season.
You can't talk about the Tao
with a person who thinks he knows something:
he is bounded by his own beliefs.
The Tao is vast and fathomless.
You can understand only by stepping
beyond the limits of yourself."
Since the Tao is in everything, the author's version of the Tao's Golden
Rule in saying 57 commentary:
"Love your neighbor as yourself: leave him alone."
This is just a small flavor of The Way or the Tao. Ahhhh the Tao!
The readings of the 64 sayings are effortless and timeless. The author's
commentaries clarify the sayings, relate them to modern times and
interject a necessary ingredient....humor. The material of book is of great
quality. The paper, the cover, the content, the organization and the dust
jacket all evoke the feeling of The Way.

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