Richard Bertschinger - The Writings of Lao Tzu
in Nine Volumes

At around the time of the unification of China, over two-thousand years ago, a small text appeared. Revised and authorised by the later Han (c. 200 AD), during China’s imperial expansion, it became the text of the Taoists, a motley crew – who could only have been born in China.
The Tao-te Ching, the writings of Lao Tzu  exist as some eighty-one chapters (eighty-one is nine times nine, nine was the Heavenly number) and is divided into two halves – the first concerned with the Tao, the Way or Path, the second the Te, its virtue or power. Taoism points to something more than words - and this small book provides a key to a subtlety of thought, a gentle touch distinctly Chinese.

This is a work of inward cultivation, a spiritual tract giving instruction in breath-control and meditation, as well as a treatise on government.

Well then, what is the Tao?  And what are Yin and Yang?  Answer: On one side of the divide lie the Mother, the root, the Tao, no name, no form, not-having and wu-wei; while on the other side stand her children, Yin and Yang, the branches, the ten-thousand things, name, form, possession and action. But ultimately there are no sides or distinctions.   only the One.  I commend this book to the reader. Take time to dip into the text and savour it. Practice your qigong. In a troubled world, an ounce of good thought is worth a barrow-load of action. 32pp


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The Writings of Lao Tzu Vol.2 - The Sky is Broad, The Earth Endures

Containing the chapters Shielding the Light, and Adaptable in Nature (the famous chapter on the soft and yielding qualities of water), this Volume further develops the theme of Lao Tzu's introductory rant.  Practicing Detachment leads us to the first of the great chapters on meditation - What Can You Do? - which begins...guarding the fort of the spirit and embracing the One, can you not depart from it?.  The advocation is plain and simple.  To allow growth but not to command it, which may truly be called Hidden Virtue!

The last chapter (Ch.16) in the Volume - Returning to the Root - begins with the statement...obtaining utter emptiness, I guard this profound peace, all the ten-thousand things are created, while I watch their rise and fall....

This beautiful verse with its lapidary style brings to a close the opening of the Tao-te Ching. The stations of the Way have been described. The scope moves from the ‘small me’, humble and empty, to the ‘big me’, large as life and one with Heaven and earth. This is returning to the root. To put aside passion and cast off desire sums up the previous chapters. As a Taoist prayer Chapter Sixteen asserts faith in eternal life.