Craig Hannah Reporting, Connecticut Sangha
On April 17, 2018 the CT sangha was privileged to receive an extended dharma talk by Richard Zipoli. Richard outlined the theme and content of the two most well known of the Taoist texts, the Tao Te Ching and the Chuang Tzu. In doing so he also pointed out their remarkable similarities to early Buddhism and how fundamental Taoist thought was to the development of Zen.
This picture was taken during the dharma talk. In the foreground is a sculpture of Lao Tsu leaving China which mirrors the image on the TV screen in the back.
Lao Tsu leaving China
The story is that Lao Tsu was an elder contemporary of Confucius and worked as an archivist in the Imperial Library. At age 80 he decided he needed to leave China, so he headed west on a water buffalo. As he was leaving, a guard at the westernmost gate convinced him to write down some of his wisdom. Lao Tso complied and left the guard with the text we have today, the Tao Te Ching, also spelled Dao De Jing. This title can be translated as The Book of the Way and of Virtue.