Lao Tzu and Anthroposophy

Lao Tzu and Anthroposophy: A Translation of the Tao Te Ching with Commentary and a Lao Tzu Document “The Great One Excretes Water”

“The subject of Tao is so vast and has such a wide array of attributes that no one book could ever exhaust it. Each book can deal with only particular aspects of Tao. The present book, probing Lao Tzu with the teachings of Anthroposophy, is intended for those who yearn for a life of harmonized spirituality and practicality.” — Kwan-Yuk Claire Sit

According to tradition, Lao Tzu wrote the eighty-one short chapters of his Tao Te Ching around the sixth to fourth centuries B.C.E. It became the foundational philosophical work of Taoism, significantly inspired early masters of Zen Buddhism, and, for more than a century, has been widely embraced in the West as an astounding work of universal truths. Through deceptively simple imagery, Lao Tzu gave us a guide to life, both spiritual and physical, that is no less valid today than when it was written more than 2,500 years ago.

Claire Sit, the author of The Lord’s Prayer: An Eastern Perspective, brings us her translation of the Tao Te Ching and, through her deep study and understanding of that text, examines each chapter and places it in the light of Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy. In the process, she shows how—although the path of Tao and that of Anthroposophy seem quite different—they complement each other and share many qualities and, in many ways, illumine the hidden truths each has to offer. As in Anthroposophy, on the path of Tao one looks within to know the world and into the world to know one’s self.

Just as we can learn much about ourselves by looking outward to the world and to others, we can also better understand the depths of Anthroposophy by penetrating wisdom traditions beyond our own path. Indeed, Lao Tzu and Anthroposophy will generate much food for reflection and meditation for the reader.

C O N T E N T S:

Preface

Book One: Tao Ching
Book Two: Te Ching

Appendix 1: A Brief Introduction to Anthroposophy
Appendix 2: The Great One Excretes Water

Afterword to the Revised Edition
Selected Bibliography
Index

About the Author

Kwan-Yuk Claire Sit grew up in Hong Kong and moved to the U.S. to attend graduate school. She holds a Ph.D. in pure mathematics from the City University of New York and is Professor Emerita at La Guardia Community College. She is deeply interested in Eastern philosophy and Anthroposophy, and her hobbies include knitting, Chinese calligraphy, and Tang and Sung poems.

薛羅君鈺 (Kwan-Yuk Claire Sit) 在香港出生長大，自香港大學畢業後，移居美國，取得紐約市立大學研究中心數學博士學位。現為紐約市拉瓜迪亞社區學院數學系名譽教授。她喜好研究東方哲學和西方人智學。著有 The Lord’s Prayer: An Eastern Perspective, Lao Tzu and Anthroposophy 及 The Heart Sutra and Beyond.