Thomas Cleary

I cannot recommend Thomas Cleary's translations of the Taoist and Buddhist classics highly enough. The introduction to his 'Taoist I Ching' is an excellent introduction to Taoism for anyone, and the glossary at the end of the book is invaluluable. I have just reread 'Vitality, Energy, Spirit' over the last two or three weeks, and it was a powerful experience. The translations are so clear, so to the point and so trenchant; sometimes it felt like I was having a real conversation with Cleary, and those he translated, over the years and miles. Few translations of the Tao Te Ching (or other classics) seem to be done by those with a practice of their own. This makes all the difference. What sometimes reads, at worst, as a string of ill-phrased aphorisms, or equally bad - poetic renderings, in Cleary's hands becomes a manual for real practice, as Mark pointed out when he was reading the Cleary Tao Te Ching again a few weeks ago. I am continuing working through his translations as Shambala have anthologised them as 'The Taoist Classics', in four volumes. Here are the first two lines from his Tao Te Ching.

A way can be a guide, but not a fixed path;
names can be given, but not permanent labels.