TALES OF AI TAI TO

Ai Tai To, (pronounced Eye-Tie-Toe), is the name of a character in the stories of Chuang Tzu, a great Taoist teacher from ancient China. I have borrowed this name for the main character in these short stories. The use of stories as teacher is common to all spiritual traditions. The Bible, for example, is a book of stories. Some of the most famous Tao stories are attributed to Chuang Tzu and the traditionally recognized ‘founder’ of Taoism, Lao Tzu, who it is purported to have written the central text on the Tao, the Tao te Ching. There is debate about whether just one man wrote the Tao te Ching or whether Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu even existed. But there is no debate on the importance of the teaching within the Tao te Ching. It has been translated and printed more than any other book in history, except the Bible. The stories in this book are based on the 2500-year-old teaching of the Tao, but the characters are placed in modern times dealing with modern circumstances. The teaching in each story is done by one individual that I have named Ai Tai To. He is the only character in every story and the only character the reader really gets to know. Most of the other characters come into the book through just one of the stories and then are not heard from again. Two other characters do appear in several tales. Each story has a basic structure: Ai Tai To is introduced to a situation or place, usually without realizing he is doing so, faces a problem or concern one or more character is dealing with, and provides counsel to the characters by teaching about a principle of the Tao. At the end of each story there is a section called Something to think about. The purpose of this part of each story is to ask you, the reader, to ponder the Tao principle in terms of your life. What might Ai Tai To, and the Tao, be saying to you? This book is best read slowly, one story at a time. It is not intended to be read straight through. Of course, there is no reason it can’t be! But you will get more out of it if you spend time with each story. You are encouraged to read the story and contemplate what the story is saying to you, now, in your life. If the reader spends time with our friend Ai Tai To, he will show you the Tao, and the Tao will show you the Way to a peaceful, meaningful, authentic life. Because these stories are short and easy to understand, they can easily be used to teach children about the Tao. In fact, early readers of the manuscript thought the character Ai Tai To would be a wonderful children’s book character. I have offered some teaching from the Tao te Ching at the beginning of each chapter. At times I have paraphrased from the chapter or adjusted the order of the sentences. The primary translation of the Tao te Ching used in this book was written by Stephen Mitchell (Harper Perennial, 1988). Finally, two notes: You will see the paragraphs in this book are not indented, like most paragraphs in novels are. This is to mirror the format of ancient Chinese spiritual texts. And, secondly, you will see that throughout these stories people laugh a lot. In fact, you might find all the laughter rather redundant from story to story. It is done on purpose. Ai Tai To makes people happy and that makes them laugh. May the Tao be with you! Kurt Aschermann 2024