The most widely translated book in world literature after the Bible, Lao-tzu’s Tao Te Ching (Book of the Way) is the classic manual on the art of living. Following the success of his translation and commentary on that original text, renowned scholar Stephen Mitchell presents a new composition adapted from the work of Lao-tzu’s disciple Chuang-tzu and Confucius’s grandson Tzu-ssu. Not quite Taoism nor Buddhism, The Second Book of the Tao is a twenty-first century rendition of ancient wisdom that reveals the poetry, depth, and humor of the original texts with vivid new power: Mitchell makes the ancient teachings at once modern, relevant, and timeless.