Judy Ford, author of Wonderful Ways to Love a Child and Wonderful Ways to Be a Family
A masterpiece. William Martin captures the essence of what it means to raise a child. Urgently needed, this precious book lifts parenting to new heights


Will Glennon, author of Fathering and 200 Ways to Raise a Girl's Self-esteem
If ever there was an undertaking that could use every bit of ancient wisdom available it is parenting, and William Martin's The Parent's Tao Te Ching consistently and elegantly brings us back to the beautiful depths of this most honored role


Deng Ming-Dao, author of The Chronicles of Tao, 365 Tao and Everyday Tao
William Martin shows how the universal lessons of Taoism can be applied to parenthood. In the process, he not only sheds light on the most sacred of tasks we face, but he also works to bring peace and understanding to a coming generation


Virginia Beane Rutter, Jungian analyst and author of Celebrating Girls: Nurturin and Empowering Our Daughters
I loved William Martin's The Parent's Tao Te Ching. Advocating patience, compassion, simplicity, and parental awareness, these ancient lessons allow mothers and fathers to quietly reflect on their own selfhood, then to see and respond to their children's authentic selves. Every parent should keep this book on their bedside table to read and re-read as they negotiate the tumultuous reality of family life


Book Description
William C. Martin has freshly reinterpreted the Tao Te Ching to speak directly and clearly to the most difficult of modern tasks -- parenting. With its combination of free verse and judicious advice, The Parent's Tao Te Ching addresses the great themes that permeate the Tao and that support loving parent- child relationships: responding without judgment, emulating natural processes, and balancing between doing and being.


About the Author
William Martin, the father of two grown children, has been a student of the Tao for more than ten years. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and Western Theological Seminary, he has worked as a research scientist for the Department of the Navy, a clergyman, and a college instructor in counseling, communications, and the humanities. Today he operates, with his wife, Nancy, The Still Point, an educational and consulting center in Chico, California. He conducts workshops and seminars on subjects including tai chi chuan, Zen, stages of spiritual development, meditation, and religious burnout.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In this vivid new interpretation of the "Tao Te Ching", Martin addresses the great themes that underscore loving parent-child relationships. 20 illustrations.

SYNOPSIS

Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, revered for its philosophical depth and practical wisdom, is the most widely published book in the world next to the Bible. Now, William Martin has distilled the essence of each of the Tao's 81 chapters and freshly re-interpreted them to speak directly and clearly to the most difficult of modern tasks—parenting. With its combination of free verse and judicious, psycholocically discerning advice, The Parent's Tao Te Ching addresses the great themes that permeate the Tao and that underscore loving parent-child relationships: responding without judgment emulating natural processes, and balancing between doing and being. An invigoration alternative to advice books that admonish parents with countless "shoulds" and "oughts," The Parent's Tao Te Ching has the hallmarks of a classic.

FROM THE CRITICS

Oprah Winfrey - O Magazine

I give all my friends with children The Parent's Tao Te Ching by William Martin - a reminder of what matters when raising little ones.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

William Martin shows how the universal lessons of Taoism can be applied to parenthood. In the process, he not only sheds light on the most sacred of tasks we face, but he also works to bring peace and understanding to a coming generation.
— Author of The Chronicles of Tao, 365 Tao, and Everyday Tao — Deng Ming-Dao

Virginia Beane Rutter

I loved William Martin's The Parent's Tao Te Ching. Advocating patience, compassion, simplicity, and parental awareness, these ancient lessons allow mothers and fathers to quietly reflect on their own selfhood, then to see and respond to their children's authentic selves. Every parent should keep this book on their bedside table to read and re-read as they negotiate the tumultuous reality of family life.  — Jungian analyst and author of Celebrating Girls: Nurturing and Empowering Our Daughters

Judy Ford

A masterpiece. William Martin captures the essence of what it means to raise a child. Urgently needed, this precious book lifts parenting to new heights.  — Author of Wonderful Ways to Love a Child and Wonderful Ways to Be a Family

Will Glennon