For the first time, an award-winning Harvard professor shares his
wildly popular course on classical Chinese philosophy, showing you how
ancient ideas--like the fallacy of the authentic self--can guide you on
the path to a good life today.
Why is a course on ancient Chinese philosophers one of the most popular
at Harvard? Because it challenges all our modern assumptions about what
it takes to flourish.
Astonishing teachings emerged two thousand years ago through the work of
a succession of Chinese scholars exploring how humans can improve
themselves and their society. And what are these counterintuitive ideas?
Transformation comes not from looking within for a true self, but from
creating conditions that produce new possibilities. Good relationships
come not from being sincere and authentic, but from the rituals we
perform within them. A good life emerges not from planning it out, but
through training ourselves to respond well to small moments. Influence
comes not from wielding power but from holding back. Excellence comes
from what we choose to do, not our natural abilities.
In other words, The Path "opens the mind" (Huffington Post) and
upends everything we are told about how to lead a good life. Its most
radical idea is that there is no path to follow in the first place--just
a journey we create anew at every moment by seeing and doing things
differently. "With its...spirited, convincing vision, revolutionary new
insights can be gleaned from this book on how to approach life's
multifarious situations with both heart and head" (Kirkus Reviews).
A note from the publisher: To read relevant passages from the original
works of Chinese philosophy, see our ebook Confucius, Mencius, Laozi,
Zhuangzi, Xunzi: Selected Passages, available wherever books are sold.
