Conversations on Natural Philosophy: In Which the Elements of That Science Are Familiarly Ex... Book

My introduction to Eastern philosophy was Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, and it was suggested to me that I follow it up by reading Chuang Tzu. It is believed that the two authors were contemporaries, and that Chuang Tzu was a student of Lao Tzu. Both authors were followers of the Taoist religion, and the two books are similar in content. The material in Musings of a Chinese Mystic was inspired by the writings and teachings of Lao Tzu, and the two books complement each other very well.

The primary difference between these two books is that Tao Te Ching makes the use of short poetic verse while Musings of a Chinese Mystic uses parables. Musings elaborates on Tao Te Ching and I happened to enjoy it a little bit more. Although the poetry in Tao Te Ching is inspirational, it can seem homogeneous after a while. The parables in Musings present several unique situations, and they feature different characters like Confucius and Lao Tzu, among others. Finally, it is important to note that meditation was an important part of the Taoist tradition, so I believe that the authors intended for the reader to practice meditation in addition to the reading.