The "Chuang Tzu " has been translated into English numerous times, but never with the freshness, accessibility, and accuracy of this remarkable rendering. Here the immediacy of Chuang Tzu's language is restored in a idiom that is both completely fresh and true to the original text. This unique collaboration between one of America's premier poet-translators and a leading Chinese scholar presents the so-called "Inner Chapters" of the text, along with important selections from other chapters thought to have been written by Chuang Tzu's disciples.

A classic Chinese text on Taoist meditation, this work has inspired many Ch'i-kung (Qigong) techniques for attaining health, happiness, and long life. The book describes the use of meditation in circulating energy, the role of breath, and the conservation of procreative energy. It is one of the few Taoist treatises to describe the landmarks of spiritual development and document the process of spiritual development from start to finish.

Master Hua-Ching Ni uses straightforward language and personal experiences, as well as traditional stories and teachings of the ancient masters, to impart the wisdom of Taoism, the Integral Way. His teachings promote a simple, natural, healthy, and happy way of life that lays the foundation for spiritual self-cultivation. Master Ni emphasizes that it is important first to establish a good understanding of basic spiritual principles and then begin to realize this wisdom in daily life by adopting practices and attitudes that help to conserve, nourish, and refine the subtle energy. Among the topics he discusses in short, accessible passages are basic spiritual self-protection; self-reliance; emotional balance; do's and don'ts for a healthy, natural lifestyle; sleeping and dreaming; diet; love, sex, and marriage; and meditations and invocations from the Taoist tradition.

Composed more than 2,000 years ago, the Dao de Jing (Tao Te Ching) set forth an alternative vision of reality in a world torn apart by violence and betrayal. Second only to the Bible, this timeless classic is one of the world's most revered inspirational books. Daoism advocates a full understanding of the wonders hidden in the ordinary. Now in this luminous new translation, based on recently discovered ancient bamboo scrolls, Chinese scholars Ames and Hall bring the timeless wisdom of the Dao de Jing into our contemporary world. Eschewing philosophical dogma, the Dao de Jing sets forth a series of maxims that outline a new perspective on reality and invites listeners to embark on a regimen of self-transformation--the attainment of personal excellence that flows from the world and back into it.