Book Review: A Beginner’s Guide to Taoism by Patrick Stewart
An introduction to Taoism for people new to Taoism / Daoism
A Beginner’s Guide to Taoism by Patrick Stewart
Format: PDF
Date of publication: 2024
Size: 113 pages, 6.11 MB
Genre: Faith and Spirituality
REVIEW
“A Beginner’s Guide to Taoism” by Patrick Stewart is just that. This fascinating perception of the way of the Dao, also referred to as the Tao, is easy to read and an introduction to Taoism or Daoism. Patrick gently weaves wisdom from Lao Tzu’s works about the Dao with his personal memoirs. Everything is always changing, and that is the nature of things.
The Guide looks at the phrases “Tao” and “Dao.” For me, the word “Dao” has always resonated. This Beginner’s Guide practically illustrates the way of the Tao / Dao through being open-minded, trusting the natural flow, and through very useful breathwork.
It is a short read at about 100 pages of text, but is invaluable by capturing the flowing eternal essence of the Tao or Dao.
The Tao / Dao is sort of a template or blueprint for manifestation. Patrick makes it clear that it is about potential, possibilities, deep acceptance, positivity, and the realisation of choices for unity.
The author reveals real personal physical trials and takes us through his own story from being a boy to adulthood. Finding a Yin – Yang symbol and then the “Tao of Pooh” were tools teaching him the importance of softness. Strength comes from acceptance, a zoomed out perspective, a mind that is clear and neutral, and is about positive-minded resilience.
This is a parallel to humanity and groups of living beings growing up or changing over eons of time. I believe that humankind is realizing its connectedness more and will flow toward peace and unity, despite appearances. The natural ebb and flow of what can’t be defined, the Tao / Dao, lends to this.
What comes through this guide-book is the freshness and neverending energies of the Tao / Dao. Even as we age and the passage of time brings us challenges, we can still embrace the natural forces. The Guide encourages us to not to hold onto our worries so much, but to see and find opportuntities for growth.
Patrick explores some lines from the text of Lao Tzu’s “Tao de Ching,” bringing his own lived meanings to them. The true nuance of the famous saying, “go with the flow” is well illustrated by Patrick in this book.
It’s about being happy and safe “in your own skin,” and letting your true nature flow. It’s about finding yourself and making sense of things your way. It’s about allowing others to be themselves, and respecting Earth.
And it’s important to do this while accepting things as they are. The way of the Tao is about not overly pushing against something, i.e not resisting things you don’t want, in terms of ignoring them. Deep acceptance doesn’t mean agreeing with something. It helps you have a clear and neutral mind to take the next right faith step to fulfil a goal or move forward.
This little Guidebook is like water, gently flowing into the mind of the receptive reader, as you pay attention and digest the information in it slowly or re-read it.
The more times I read it, the more I get from it: about unity, working together, and ultimately about embracing that we are no-thing and every-thing at the same time. The Tao or Dao is truly a transcendent essence that one can feel with an expanded consciousness, if they want to.
Patrick’s journey and grasp of the Tao / Dao nicely illustrates how this transcendence is used in the practical lives of human beings. There are some pearls of wisdom in this book, which have changed my approach on how I live consciously. For example, the Tao / Dao is not moral. We are taught to brand people as either good or bad. But there’s another way. Treat people as well as you can.
In summary, the philosophy in the book and the groundedness of Patrick’s anecdotal illustrations of the Tao / Dao is satisfying and absorbing. This book is sure to support many readers, with great and enduring information for those who know nothing or little about Taoism / Daoism.
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