While visiting a bookstore in Banff recently, I bought a few books, some on Taoism. This is an area that I am still fairly new to, but one which I seem to find in harmony with many of my own values and beliefs.

I have seen a few references to Chaung Tzu over the last year. I finally found a book that appears to provide the writings that are collected under that name. The title of the book I bought was "The Essential Chaung Tzu" by Sam Hamill and J. P. Seaton (Eds.) (1998).

There are a total of 33 chapters, the first 7 of which are usually referred to as the Inner Chapters and are believed to be written by Chuang Chou (369 - 286 BCE). The remaining 26 chapters are believed to have been written later by a variety of people.

The chapters are fairly short, consisting of a number of short vignettes, stories and fables. However they often require that one simply stop reading and savour the message.

Today I read the first three chapters. Tomorrow I hope to read three more chapters and also update the web site with some quotes.