The Tao of Happiness: Stories from Chuang Tzu for Your Spiritual Journey

Lin (The Tao of Daily Life) retells 17 stories by the ancient Tao master Chuang Tzu (who lived in the fourth century B.C.E.), dividing them into four sections corresponding to the spiritual journey: Departure, Travel Advisory, Travel Tips, and Arrival. A longer section follows each story, explaining its meaning in terms of 21st-century Western life—for instance defeating archenemies such as a dead-end job or a codependent relationship. After one story, Lin writes that “the world is full of people who talk too much but say too little.... The Tao... expresses all possible meanings while saying nothing at all.... The sages aspire to convey more meaning using fewer words.” The stories themselves are well organized and insightful, but one wishes Lin had followed the sages’ advice and let the stories stand with far less explanation, so that readers could extract their own wisdom. Perhaps the answer is to read these fine stories without their interpretations, since their accompanying explanations often block the free-flowing power of the Tao. (Nov.)