Brought me to tears

This is the book review I published for Tao Te Ching: An Illustrated Journey by Lao Tzu, as translated by Stephen Mitchell, on Amazon's website on January 15, 2013:

I LOVE this book.

Unlike some other reviewers, who have read several translations of the Tao Te Ching, I have read it for the first time.

While I was reading, a thought crossed my mind, "Under which rock have I been hiding for sixty years? Why have I found this book only now?"

Of course that judgmental thought in itself is out of sync with the Tao which, like the ocean, accepts whatever flows into it, whenever that may happen.

Suffice it to say, I am extremely grateful to have stumbled on the wisdom of Lao Tzu.

There are so many compliments to pay this book. Where to begin? Lao Tzu provided the content, which is simple yet profound. Stephen Mitchel has provided a translation that is elegant and poetic.

I was going to say that this would be my choice if I was allowed to take one book to that proverbial desert island. But then it occurred to me that, having read this one, I would have no need of books. Its message is inscribed in my heart - and that always goes with me.

All the same, as long as I haven't yet been stranded on that island, I'm sure I'll return to this gem repeatedly, to savour its beauty and no doubt to discover fresh insights on subsequent readings.

Potential customers who, like me, have not read the Tao Te Ching, may be interested to know how I found out about it. I'd read "A Thousand Names for Joy : Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are" (Byron Katie's commentary on excerpts from the Tao Te Ching) and, before that, "Loving What Is : Four Questions That Can Change Your Life" (which describes 'The Work' of Byron Katie). I'd found those books supportive too.