Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for The Path by Michael Puett - Available

The Path

What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life

by Michael Puett
Christine Gross-Loh
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
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.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 5, 2016

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781442378094
      • File size: 150227 KB
      • Duration: 05:12:58

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      After hearing Christine Gross-Loh's heartfelt reading of the foreword, Michael Puett's narration of the rest of the book sounds somewhat stiff. But his tone and articulation are clear, and his phrasing reveals sensitivity to the book's broad messages. This arresting book by an award-winning Harvard professor (Puett) and a scholar/journalist with a Ph.D. in Chinese philosophy (Gross-Loh) is loaded with relevant ideas. Starting with Confucius in 500 BCE, they take the philosophies of key Chinese writers and apply them to questions we grapple with today: Do we take the world as it is, or apply our patterns and intentions to it? Do we live for the present moment, or think ahead to the future? Is our society moving back to a polarized class-bound social structure, or will everyone have infinite potentials in their communities? The wisdom here will be provocative and paradigm-shifting for many listeners. T.W. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading