The Tao of Abundance Eight Ancient Principles for Living Abundantly in the 21st Century Compass
The Tao of Abundance Eight Ancient Principles for Living Abundantly in the 21st Century Compass
Not since Alan Watts has there been a lay expert with the erudition and insight to so expertly pack a difficult package of unfamiliar notions into a book of immediate relevance. What is consumerism to me? and sex? and money? How do they relate to my goals and aspirations? Laurence Boldt, a career counselor and author of the bestselling Zen and the Art of Making a Living, presents a sophisticated alternative to life as we know it. Fully equipped with opinion polls, sociological studies, intellectual histories, and classic economics texts, Boldt dismantles the foundations of our consumer society brick by brick and, more importantly, our unquestioning acceptance of it. The alternative is a path of awareness, of flowing, and of sufficiency that together result in the joyful abundance of a productive, natural life. The shift in world view that Boldt seeks to effect in the reader has such profound practical implications that this book could very well change your life–which is exactly the author’s intention. Boldt can be excused for slipping into fuzzy notions like the so-called perennial philosophy, for his recasting of modern life in Taoist terms of ready abundance is so convincing that it makes you wonder how we got stuck in our lifestyles of lack in the first place. –Brian Bruya
User Ratings and Reviews
1 Star This book is not about Taoism…..
“This is not a book about Taoism. It is a book that applies insights from Taoist philosophy to the situation we in the West find ourselves in at the beginning of the twenty-first century.”
This is a quote taken directly from the preface of the book. I find it interesting that the author believes that “insights” he has gleaned from from “Taoist Philosophy” can be used without qualification to lead others to out of the “situation” that currently exists. I also find it interesting that he believes this is can be accomplished without a thorough understanding and discussion of the Tao itself while using only relative thought. When you write a book about cars, you don’t do it relation to trees or fish. How can one write a book conveying the applicable truths of Taoism without writing a book about Taoism?
The subject of this book is not the eternal truth of the Tao, but rather a list of intellectual distinctions made by the author to create a separate school of thought within Western culture. There is much talk of the evils of Western thought, the Judeo-Christian and Islamic belief systems, as well as the mechanistic perspective of Western Science. Much of the conclusions about western society, religion, and thought are gross generalizations that are simply not true across the board.
“The limitations of the senses and the necessity of language and thought to differentiate and make distinctions give the sense of a fragmented world of separate things.”
This quote is also taken from the text in chapter one. In spite of the author’s attempt to show how differentiation and distinction contribute to the perception of separateness (a Taoist philosophy), his sole method of exploring the Tao throughout the book relies on differentiation and distinction. More time is spent on creating distinctions and dichotomies between Eastern and Western (while misrepresenting much of what has actually occurred in the West) than actually discussing what the Tao is and how we relate to it, are a part of it, and may experience it. The distinctions created are simply not necessary for the discussion of the Tao and how it can lead us to a place of abundant experience. The judgments made upon Western society are universally negative and not required for a preliminary understanding of the Tao. Even the Taoists (as the author notes in the text) do not waste time creating distinctions (which is all the author does does in the text) because the Tao is an all-inclusive, all-encompassing concept and reality that excludes nothing. The Tao requires little intellectual skill to experience, but this book is only mind candy for those that wish to discuss “that which cannot be discussed”. I found this book to be very disappointing.
If you want to learn as much as can be learned about the Tao from a book… just read the Tao Teh Ching. It is enough all by itself. I recommend the Shambhala translation. There are MANY translations of the Tao Teh Ching, and ones that include an abundance of commentary on the original language are preferable to those with no explanations of the translation.
5 Stars Very Satisfying, Will Take Time to Fully Appreciate
This has to be a preliminary review. This elegant offering has a ton of useful ideas and concepts and comparisons. My first time around I drew the following out of it:
1) System is the Ego. Escape the matrix by escaping ego.
2) Trust the innate intelligence of nature in harmony.
3) Money should not cost you your soul or everything else.
The best contribution I can make at this point is to point readers to a few other books that have inspired me as I expect this book to continue to inspire me, and a couple of DVD’s.
Books:
The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All
The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter
Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming
The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy
Collective Intelligence: Mankind’s Emerging World in Cyberspace
The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World
Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution
DVDs
What the Bleep Do We Know!?
The Last Samurai (Full Screen Edition)
Peace One Day
One last thought: Michael Hinton and Jean-Francois Noubelle have pioneered Open Money, and that is one of the things I talk about in my forthcoming opening presentation at Gnomedex in Seattle. My slides and notes can be seen in advance by finding “Open Everything” at my web site in the Archives, EIN Library. In my view, Open Money could be the single most revolutionary idea that is liberating immediately and scales without a problem. Combined with distributed search (Grub) and CISCO AON individually-controlled sharing of both information and CPU power, I see a world well beyond Google in which our brains and our information are under our control and no one can loot that abundance.
Peace! Prosperity! Power in us, not above us.
5 Stars Simple, elegant, yet powerful guide to the Tao
Laurence G. Boldt has written a truly useful, elegant and wonderful book that can, in the most subtle way, radically change your perspective on what it is to incorporate eastern philosophy in every area of Western life.
His eight principles of abundant living highlight areas where a sincere aspirant/job seeker can start to incorporate a paradigm shift towards a more peaceful, powerful and meaningful life. In a society that continually raises the bar for material consumption and runaway consumerism Boldt gives the tools to help regain self-esteem and inner balance. For anyone who has been out there, this is no mean feat.
If you’re serious about discovering your life’s purpose and understanding the underlying economic, social and historic variables that led us to the collective reality we are now living in, this book is a gem and worth its space on your bookshelf.
5 Stars One of my very favorite books ever!
I actually listened to the audio version of this book, I don’t know why I feel the need to admit that, but anyway I got it from the library a little over a year ago because I thought it would be about making money, which at the time was something I was very interested in, but instead it was about creating a life that you really love, so that you experience the abundance that is already there, that we mostly take for granted. This was not a new concept to me, but somehow it took that belief to a whole new level through tons of practical examples of how it can be used in ones daily life. Since “reading” this book I have given up all animal products from my diet, gotten rid of Cable and no longer watch TV, started walking most mornings in the park before work, and cleared my brain of enough clutter to find my calling in life, being a doula (and possibly even a midwife), which was something that had NEVER entered my brain before now. So that was a lot about me and not a lot about what the book is about, but when I think of why I would want to read a book, it is always with the hope I will learn something from it that will positively impact my life, and never before has one book has such a significant impact on my whole life.
5 Stars One of the Most Incredible Books of all Time!
Tons of books are out there on health, wealth and prosperity….and after a while they kinda get boring. But Laurence’s work is absolutely magnificent. A masterpiece in ever sense of the word. Laurence creates a beautiful tapestry of Eastern and Western philosophy to create a book that reads more like a poem, than a book of facts. A book that has changed my life – and a book I intend to read throughout my life.
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