TAO TE CHING
by Lao Tsu
Translated by Gia-fu Feng and
Jane English with Toinette Lippe
Updated edition with over 100 new photographs

TAO TE CHING
by Lao Tsu
Translated by Gia-fu Feng and
Jane English with Toinette Lippe
Introduction and Notes
by Jacob Needleman

Updated text-only
and electronic editions

Text-only book

In 1989 I founded Bell Tower (an imprint of Harmony Books) and ushered into the world seventy books in ninety-six editions. My aim has been to publish books that would nourish the soul, illuminate the mind, and speak directly to the heart. In the first three of these I placed a bookmark with the following inscription:

The pure sound of the bell summons us into the present moment.
The timeless ring of truth is expressed in many different voices,
each one magnifying and illuminating the sacred.
The clarity of its song resonates within us
and calls us away from those things which often distract us—
that which was, that which might be—
to That Which Is.

Again, many of these books are still flourishing:

Thomas Berry
THE GREAT WORK
Our Way into the Future
The grandfather of Deep Ecology teaches us how to move from a human-centered view of the world to one focused on the earth and all its inhabitants.

Madeline Bruser
THE ART OF PRACTICING
Making Music from the Heart
How to transform practice
into an exhilarating and
rewarding experience.
“Give this book to any musician
you love.” Richard Stoltzman

Melody Ermachild Chavis
ALTARS IN THE STREET
A Courageous Memoir of Community and Spiritual Awakening
A Buddhist private eye vows to
heal her community's suffering
from violence and racism.

Marc David
NOURISHING WISDOM
A Mind/Body Approach to
Nutrition and Well-Being
“Illuminating insights on the connection between our eating and our thoughts and feelings.” Annemarie Colbin

Joan Furman, MSN, RN,
& David McNabb
THE DYING TIME
Practical Wisdom for the Dying
and Their Caregivers
“One of the best books on caring for the dying.” Larry Dossey, MD

Kat Duff
THE ALCHEMY OF ILLNESS
A luminous inquiry into the
function and purpose of illness.
“A lens through which greater, darker, more beauteous
and fantastic matters can be
known about the Self.”
Clarissa Pinkola Estés

Bernard Glassman
and Rick Fields
INSTRUCTIONS
TO THE COOK
A Zen Master's Lessons in
Living a Life that Matters
“A more authentic teaching by a more authentic person, we are not likely to see in our times.”
Thomas Berry

Niles Elliot Goldstein
GOD AT THE EDGE
Searching for the Divine in Uncomfortable and Unexpected Places
A book about adventure, raw experience, and facing inner demons. “A powerfully wrought spiritual evolution of a soul's journey.” Robert Coles

Burghild Nina Holzer
A WALK BETWEEN
HEAVEN AND EARTH
A Personal Journal on Writing
and the Creative Process
“Both a useful guide and
wonderful to read in its own right.”
Joseph Bruchac

Greg Johanson and Ron Kurtz
GRACE UNFOLDING
Psychotherapy in the
Spirit of the Tao-te ching
The interaction of client and
therapist illuminated through
the gentle power and wisdom
of Lao Tsu's ancient classic.
“A lovely, amazingly clear book.” Howard Clinebell

Selected by Marcia
and Jack Kelly
ONE HUNDRED GRACES
Mealtime blessings from many traditions in calligraphy
reminiscent of the manuscripts
of medieval Europe.
“A little gem.” Christian Century

Stephen Levine
A YEAR TO LIVE
How to Live This Year
as If It Were Your Last
“One of the few books worthy
to be lifelong companions.”
Thomas Moore

Patricia Ryan Madson
IMPROV WISDOM
Don't Prepare, Just Show Up
An irresistible invitation
to live an unscripted life.
“A marvelous guide to freedom
and delight.” John Tarrant

Ram Dass
ONE-LINERS
A Mini-Manual for a Spiritual Life
Over 200 quintessential observations and pithy instructions
from his lectures over the years.

Ram Dass and Mirabai Bush
COMPASSION IN ACTION
Setting Out on the Path of Service
Heartfelt encouragement and
advice for those ready to commit
time and energy to relieving

suffering in the world.

Saki Santorelli
HEAL THY SELF
Lessons on Mindfulness in Medicine
An invitation to patients and
health care professionals to bring
mindfulness into the crucible of
the healing relationship.

Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro
MINYAN
Ten Principles for Living
a Life of Integrity
“This book has the power
to change people's lives. ”
Rabbi Harold Kushner

Alistair Shearer, Tr.
THE YOGA SUTRAS
OF PATANJALI
“A wonderful translation, full of contemporary insight yet luminous with eternal truth.”
Jacob Needleman

Jean Smith
THE BEGINNER'S GUIDE
TO ZEN BUDDHISM
“Clear instructions for where,
how, and with whom to
practice and why.”
Sylvia Boorstein

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
THE BOOK OF JEWISH VALUES
A Day-by-Day Guide to Ethical Living
Ancient and modern advice on
how to remain honest in a
morally complicated world.
“An absolutely superb book.”
Rabbi Harold Kushner

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
A CODE OF JEWISH ETHICS
Volume 1: You Shall Be Holy
“A monumental work on the vital subject of personal character and integrity. A masterwork, vast in scope, rich in wisdom, engaging, lucid, and profound.”
Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks
Winner of the 2006
National Jewish Book Award

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
A CODE OF JEWISH ETHICS
Volume 2:
Love Your Neighbor as Yourself.

“Joseph Telushkin puts the commandment to love at the center of Jewish theology and experience. This is a book that will change
the way you think about—
and practice—Judaism.”
Ari Goldman

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
OF CHARACTER
Essential Advice for Living
an Honorable, Ethical, Honest Life
“We are lucky to have Joseph Telushkin as our guide and teacher.”
Rabbi Harold Kushner

Joan Tollifson
BARE-BONES MEDITATION
Waking Up from the Story of My Life
An unvarnished, exhilarating account of one woman's struggle. “Raucous, painful, and serene.”
Mark Matousek

Michael Toms and
Justine Willis Toms
TRUE WORK
Doing What You Love
and Loving What You Do
“The Toms are people of enormous heart and imagination and their work has helped millions. ”
Thomas Moore

BUDDHA LAUGHING
A Tricycle Book of Cartoons
A marvelous opportunity for self-reflection for those who take themselves too seriously.

Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Richard Whelan, Ed.
SELF-RELIANCE
The Wisdom of Ralph Waldo Emerson as Inspiration for Daily Living
“A distillation of Emerson's
spiritual writings. A tonic draft,
a rapture, and an inspiration.”
Pico Iyer

And, since I began working from home in 2000, I have also enjoyed editing these books for Monkfish:

Rami M. Shapiro
OPEN SECRETS
The Letters of
Reb Yerachmiel ben Yisrael

“A prophetic voice for
a 21st-century Judaism.”
Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Mirabai Starr
GOD OF LOVE
A Guide to the Heart of Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam
“Mirabai’s book has brought
me great consolation.”
Daniel Berrigan, SJ