Experiences of Tao Te Ching

I am a student of Tao Te Ching. These poems are paradoxical, describing my experiences with Tao with words that cannot capture its essence.

I discovered the written Tao Te Ching in 2010 when I was sixty-one years old. The more I read, the more I realized I had experienced the living spirit of Tao Te Ching many times, through an enduring relationship with Nature, that began when I was a child playing in the snow.

These poems are not a translation of Tao Te Ching. Rather, they express my experiences, interpretations and impressions of the eighty-one verses. There is purposeful repetition in these poems as there is in the verses of Tao Te Ching.

Silently, or adventurously out loud, read the poems; visualize each stanza. I invite you to reflect on your own life by the attribute of each verse that is presented in this collection. Feel free to journal or sketch your experiences or visions. Go ahead, engage Tao and tell your story on the blank journal pages adjacent to my poems.

My soul is forever grateful for the texts and experiences that inspired this book. My hope is that Tao Te Ching will enhance your life with Nature, as it has enhanced mine.

RW Hunker Jr