Tao Te Ching (the Way) by Lao-Tzu: Special Collector's Edition with an Introduction by the Dalai Lama Hardcover – January 1, 2011

Absolutely amazing. If you arr looking for something to help you understand living in the present or to just beThis book is it!!

I feel really bad leaving a one-star review, and maybe I'm being way too picky here, but . . . I picked up this book because I enjoy reading philosophical / spiritual texts, and I haven't yet read The Tao Te Ching. I suppose I should have been tipped off by the "special collector's edition" in the subtitle--which feels like a money grab, like luring people in--but this isn't worth the $25+. There's no formatting, the binding is cheap, and the print is bold and dark on very bright, thin paper. Nor was there a note about the translator (and the translation itself left much to be desired). It looks like a book that's cheaply and carelessly mass-produced--which begs the question: why is it so expensive?And to be honest . . . the introduction by the Dalai Lama didn't quite strike a chord with me, perhaps because it seems to be the main "selling point" (dare I say it) of the book . . . all of which feels both antithetical to Taoism and Buddhism. I'm not saying there isn't wisdom in what he wrote, but it just didn't work for me. Again, maybe it was the binding / printing / presentation that threw me off . . .But that having been said, I have no idea behind the work that went into this book. Maybe the publishers put a ton of effort into it? I don't know. At the risk of sounding like a capitalist to the core--the price just isn't worth it.Personally, I'd recommend looking elsewhere. After donating this to the "Free Books" shelf in my apartment building, that's exactly what I'm doing.

This is a cheaply made book, a bad joke to label it a "Special Collector's Edition". There are print layout and format errors in the Dalai Lama's intro. I hold a doctorate in Religious Studies and this is the worst translation I have run across of the Tao Te Ching.

Haven't read yet but I've heard a very good read