Experiences of Tao Te Ching

<p class=ql-align-center><br></p><p> </p><p>I am a student of <em>Tao Te Ching</em>. These poems are paradoxical describing my experiences with <em>Tao </em>with words that cannot capture its essence. </p><p> </p><p>I discovered the written <em>Tao Te Ching</em> in 2010 when I was sixty-one years old. The more I read the more I realized I had experienced the living spirit of <em>Tao Te Ching</em> many times through an enduring relationship with Nature that began when I was a child playing in the snow.</p><p> </p><p>These poems are not a translation of <em>Tao Te Ching</em>. 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 <em>Tao Te Ching</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Silently or adventurously out loud read the poems; visualize each stanza. I invite you to reflect on your own life by the <em>attribute</em> of each verse that is presented in this collection. Feel free to journal or sketch your experiences or visions. Go ahead engage <em>Tao</em> and tell your story on the blank journal pages adjacent to my poems.</p><p> </p><p>My soul is forever grateful for the texts and experiences that inspired this book. My hope is that <em>Tao Te Ching</em> will enhance your life with Nature as it has enhanced mine.</p><p>                                                                                                                       <em>RW Hunker Jr</em></p>