How to read the Tao Te Ching

I see a common question on forums:

Which version of Tao Te Ching is the best?
There are myriad answers for this because there are so many different versions. Personally, I recommend reading a number of them—each has it's own interpretation.

More important—however—is how you read the Tao Te Ching.

I recommend that you read two versions concurrently, especially if one of them is annotated with the author's comments. Basically, you read verse 1 of one translation, then read verse 1 of the next translation, then you read any additional commentary.

For me, personally, I often read only one (or two) verses maximum in a single day. I contemplate and dig deeper into the words. This gives me time to internalize what it's saying and integrate the message(s) into my own life.

As for versions I can recommend:

A lot of these you can find cheap on eBay or even free (legally) online.

There are many translations on Terebess.





















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