The Feminine Tao

Sarah Whitworth

I stumbled upon a wonderful non-profit, educational website that has compiled gender inclusive translations of the Tao Te Ching from many authors, including some of the favorites of the Body Balance Lotus Group--Stephen Mitchell and Ursula Le Guin.

Clicking on any chapter brings up a dozen translations, from the 1800s to recent times, as well as pictographs and images of Chinese characters and their English translations.  The site provides a wealth of knowledge in one convenient location. It also includes a bibliography of writings by women on the Tao Te Ching, enough for a lifetime of study.

Among the treasures on this site is a photo gallery by Sarah Whitworth. (The images in this blog are hers.)

Sarah Whitworth

And writings by the Taoist Sun Pu-erh, known as the "Immortal Sister".  Born in 1124 C.E., she had three children and took up single-minded Taoist practice when she was fifty-one years old.  How lovely to learn of more kindred spirits from ancient times. Here is one of her poems:

Before our body existed,
One energy was already there.
Like jade, more lustrous as it's polished
Like gold, brighter as it's refined,
Sweep clear the ocean of birth and death,
Stay firm by the door of total mastery,
A particle at the point of open awareness,
The gentle firing is warm.

---Sun Pu-erh