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    The Tao of Aging
    The Tao of Aging
    The Tao of Aging
    Ebook29 pages22 minutes

    The Tao of Aging

    By Charles Webb

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    As The Tao of Aging opens, we encounter a strange old, sage-like Chinese philosopher and raconteur who claims to actually be Zhuangzi (ChuangTzu) - the second most important originator of Taoist thought after Lao Tzu.
    Zhuangzi now lives in San Francisco and is known simply as "Z". As it turns out, over 2000 years after his exploits in ancient China, "Z" is still rambling about the world - trickster to the bone - tinkering with the way we look at what we call reality. He insists that he is not some mythical Taoist Immortal whose condition is due to an alchemical elixir but rather an ordinary man who pays attention to the Laws of Nature.
    "I am not the Zhuangzi you have read about in books...wallowing in the mud all day. Stuck in the mud really, if you believe what you read, which you shouldn't. There are those who will say that the ideas I am telling you about now are not those of Zhuangzi - that they are different from Zhuangzi's teachings - contrary even. But if they were not freethinking - even heretical - they would not truly be Zhuangzi's - MY - ideas...
    ...And so you ask about some Tao of Aging? First, there is no Tao OF anything...just Tao. And Tao is not a noun, Tao is a verb. But even Taoing is not Tao because Tao has no name, even though I have just named it. Then, look for yourself. What you call your body may change in a way you call aging, but do 'you' age? Does your awareness get wet when it rains? Does your awareness turn into wearoutness over 'time'? I think not! Just think of yourself as a constantly changing field of energy and potential...swirling and twirling with the Tao..."
    Is "Z" the real thing? Our conclusion by the end of our encounter with him...MAYBE...

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCharles Webb
    Release dateFeb 14, 2011
    ISBN9781458083258
    The Tao of Aging
    Author

    Charles Webb

    Charles Webb attended Williams College in Massachusetts, then wrote The Graduate in reaction to what he considered the emptiness of his college education. The novel was subsequently made into a celebrated film as well as a successful play. Webb was largely silent for many decades, but after moving to England in 1998 with his long-term partner, he found fresh inspiration and wrote the delightful New Cardiff, adapted for the screen under the title Hope Springs. He died in 2020.

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      Book preview

      The Tao of Aging - Charles Webb

      THE TAO OF AGING

      by

      Charles Webb

      SMASHWORDS EDITION

      *****

      Copyright © 2011 by Charles Webb

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      *****

      Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.

      Heraclitus

      What would Chuang Tzu have done?

      Bumper sticker seen in Chinatown

      *****

      1.

      It takes a long time to become young.

      Pablo Picasso

      Look at these worlds spinning out of nothingness. That is within your power.

      Rumi

      For years I'd heard tales of the existence of an old Taoist sage and qigong master who supposedly lives in North Beach near Chinatown and who can be found, with luck, doing Tai Chi at dawn in Washington Square Park. The mysterious old man is known only as Z.

      One misty San Francisco morning I decide to go looking for Z. I want to ask him some questions. As I walk into the park, I can make out a striking figure gliding through a Shaolin Kung Fu cane exercise near the statue of Benjamin Franklin, which stands at the center of the square. The old man's long hair and goatee are as white as his sparkling gi. He is almost a caricature of the archetypal image of Chinese longevity, grace and mastery. Another old man is sitting on a bench nearby smoking what looks like a

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