Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Do Nothing: Peace for Everyday Living: Reflections on Chuang Tzu's Philosophy
    Unavailable
    Do Nothing: Peace for Everyday Living: Reflections on Chuang Tzu's Philosophy
    Unavailable
    Do Nothing: Peace for Everyday Living: Reflections on Chuang Tzu's Philosophy
    Ebook169 pages

    Do Nothing: Peace for Everyday Living: Reflections on Chuang Tzu's Philosophy

    By Siroj Sorajjakool and John Cobb

    2/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    "Words,"writes Chuang Tzu, "are for catching ideas; once you've caught the idea, you can forget the words." In Do Nothing, author Siroj Sorajjakool lends us some of his insightful words to help us all "catch" the provocative ideas of one of China's most important literary and philosophical giants—one who emerged at a time when China had several such giants philosophizing on Tao or "the Way."

    Though his thinking dates back to the fourth century, Chuang Tzu's Tao has profound implications for our modern lives. He welcomes an existence that is radically removed from the image of normalcy that society often projects, wherein the individual must always strive for more, always seek greater productivity, and always try to better him or herself and his or her place in life. Chuang Tzu would posit that the definitions of normalcy, success, and happiness are arbitrarily assigned and that our rigid and unquestioning adherence to these so-called "norms" leads to existential restlessness and unease. Instead of striving, he would say, be still. Instead of acquiring, embrace nothingness. Instead of seeking to understand the limitlessness of the universe during your brief and extremely limited existence, enjoy the wonder of it.

    Siroj Sorajjakool suggests that when we can embrace nothingness, we undergo a spiritual transformation that liberates us to see more clearly and truly find ourselves. He offers a very personal exploration of Chuang Tzu's Tao, first in its historical and literary context, and then in the context of our twenty-first century existence. What emerges is a liberating and highly readable meditation on the many lessons we can "catch" from Chuang Tzu on how we view our aspirations, our joys and sorrows, our successes and failures, and what it means to be a worthwhile person.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTempletonPress
    Release dateMay 1, 2009
    ISBN9781599473581
    Unavailable
    Do Nothing: Peace for Everyday Living: Reflections on Chuang Tzu's Philosophy

    Related to Do Nothing

    Related ebooks

    New Age & Spirituality For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A Rosary In My Pocket

      May 23, 2023

      A Rosary In My Pocket
      4 min read

    • Article

      Joseph R. Lee Analyses Dreams

      Feb 27, 2020

      Joseph R. Lee Analyses Dreams
      22 min read

    • Article

      Monk Rock

      Mar 6, 2022

      Monk Rock
      12 min read

    • Article

      BOOKMARK THIS read…listen…stream

      Dec 13, 2022

      Patricia Rockman, MD; Allison McLay, DCS; and M. Lee Freedman, MD • New Harbinger Nothing can kill the spirit of genuine mindfulness more quickly than a one-size-fits-all attitude, and nowhere is that illustrated more potently than with teenagers. If

      4 min read

    • Article

      On The Spectrum, On The Path

      Sep 19, 2023

      On The Spectrum, On The Path
      14 min read

    • Article

      Something To Believe In

      Apr 13, 2022

      Something To Believe In
      5 min read

    • Article

      ‘The Case Against The Sexual Revolution’: How Feminism Let Women Down

      Sep 9, 2022

      Louise Perry didn’t believe there was anything controversial about her new book, “The Case Against the Sexual Revolution.” On a video call, she laughs and admits, “I’ve been proven wrong on that front.”  The British author, a columnist for the left-l

      7 min read

    • Article

      For Life’s Wonderful Moments

      Jan 27, 2020

      What inspired you to write your book? A published essay I wrote about mortality without faith and growing up with my parents [renowned astronomer Carl Sagan and writer and producer Ann Druyan] was the seed of the book. But it really started taking s

      2 min read

    • Article

      Making the CULT

      Nov 21, 2022

      Making the CULT
      12 min read

    • Article

      Responding To Loss

      Dec 25, 2023

      Responding To Loss
      18 min read

    • Article

      The Heart Of A Story

      Mar 22, 2022

      The Heart Of A Story
      4 min read

    • Article

      More From Lion’s Roar

      Jul 20, 2021

      More From Lion’s Roar
      4 min read

    • Article

      From The Inside Out

      Mar 29, 2023

      From The Inside Out
      5 min read

    • Article

      Dharma Faqs

      May 21, 2019

      Dharma Faqs
      2 min read

    • Article

      Always Different, Always the Same

      Feb 22, 2022

      The superb science journalist Sharon Begley, who wrote a regular column for Mindful until her untimely death in early 2021, was fond of studies of personality: the different types, how much they’re influenced by our environment and our relationships,

      9 min read

    • Article

      The Voice Of Reason

      Apr 14, 2023

      The Voice Of Reason
      2 min read

    Reviews for Do Nothing

    2/5

    2 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5


      It reads like an essay and lacks style. Lots of the analogies are cheesy and there's sort of an odd combination of Christianity and Taoism that felt out of place.

      Because the writing was fairly simple though, it served as a sort of introduction to some basic Taoist ideas without forcing the reader to wade through difficult, abstract concepts and confusing language (most of the time). There are probably better introductions to Taoism and nothingness out there.