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mysteries of the tao

mark bennett

the chinese path of enlightened living

wednesday 24 may 7pm

The way that can be expressed in words is not the eternal way
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.

(first two lines of the Dao De Jing)


The Chinese word tao (pronounced, and now often spelled, dao) literally means "way". East Asian mystics and philosophers have been trying to fathom its infinite subtleties for centuries: What is it? Can it be understood? Is it real or abstract? How can it be experienced? How should we live it? How can it help us?

The Dao De Jing (formerly spelled Tao Te Ching) - which gives us clues to help answer these questions - is one of the greatest and most mysterious spiritual classics ever written.

Attributed to the Chinese sage Laozi, who lived several hundred years BC, its origins are safely veiled in myth. Only a few thousand characters long, it seems more like a poem than a book on spirituality. Though many translators have tried to ensnare its true meaning in the limited expressions of modern Western languages, it remains untamed and untameable - proud to appear contradictory, unashamed to seem obscure, yet with a friendly sense of humour which would bring a wry smile to even the most cynical of lips.

It is not meant to be read: it is meant to be experienced. A single line can contain more wisdom than a hundred scholarly tomes on religion or philosophy. Allow it to change you - and discovery the mysterious subtleties of The Way!

Mark Bennett, a Cambridge University prize-winning Chinese Studies scholar, has a passion for Taoism and Confucianism - the two main schools of thought native to China. A former student of Beijing University, he has lived, worked and travelled extensively in East Asia and speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese.

Believing that the great philosophies of the East should be lived and experienced, rather than studied and debated, he has left the academic world behind to pursue a life of spiritual fulfilment and service to others.

Admission £7.50 (£5.00 concessions)

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