| The Online Oracle |
| The Tao Te Ching |
| First Things First: Do you really believe in this stuff? |
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Elements of the Oracle: The Tao Te Ching, tradition has it, was written by one Lao Tzu at the request of a follower. Whether it was actually written by a single man ("Lao Tzu" translates more or less as "Old Man" and is therefore obviously not a given name) or is merely a collection of proverbs, the brief poems are both elegant and evocative.
Although the Tao Te Ching ("Book of the Way") is not designed to be a tool of divination, I feel its simple instructions and lessons lend themselves quite well to the subconscious diviner, and so I have presented here a tool to randomly select and display one of the eighty-one poems. Please note that I do not recommend this as an introduction to the Tao Te Ching as a philosophy - if you are unfamiliar with it and are interested in learning more, I suggest you buy several different translations and read them comparatively. Short of learning to read ancient Chinese, that's probably your best bet for extracting the subtle nuances of meaning. Let the Oracle Speak! Please note that this tool requires the Flash 5 plug-in. Meditate briefly upon your current situation, and then follow this link. Translations from the Penguin Classics edition. While I feel this version is less evocative of the true spirit of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, I believe (after comparing several translations line-by-line) that it is the most technically correct translation. |