Tao of Taro
by Taro Zion Joy

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Compiled by his family after his passing, this deeply emotional book honours Taro’s memory and the legacy of his journey through life. International D.J., adventurous risk taker, soul-searcher, Taro Joy lived a life few of us can even imagine - including his demons! The Tao of Taro uses raw poetry, prose and significant photos to tell stories about his travels through the music industry, Tokyo’s underworld, the U.S. prison system and spiritual revelations he had after several death defying experiences. These stories are of a boy’s and a man’s search for balance in chaos, which led him, towards the end of his life, to understanding. As a line from the book says, “Even the bad stuff is inspirational."

www.taooftaro.com

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"When I first encountered The Tao of Taro, I was wearing my critic’s lenses and sceptic’s garments, but soon discovered a poet-in-the-making and a mind well worth getting to know. I was immediately taken by Taro’s riveting account of swimming the Thompson river rapids, a significant endurance test, even for someone trained in the martial arts. His U.S. prison experiences are gripping in a different way, where mental agility proved to be the lifesaver. And how not to respond positively to a “cookie-eating monk,” a “saint in an orange suit,” and a “spiritual arsonist,” who can laugh at his own follies and transformations, admitting that he’s “asking questions meant for mystics on mountain tops”?" —Gary Geddes is the author of The Resumption of Play and What Does A House Want? "There are few who live life to its full with all the passion, tenderness, agony and grace. Through the depth and power of his expression, Taro Zion Joy quickens us to attention, offering a glimpse of the sanctity and wild abandon of such a one." —Ann Mortifee is a singer, song writer and the author of In Love With The Mystery "...[F]rom Taro’s first essay, I realized I was reading the words of an extreme risk-taker, always in search of transcendence. In powerful prose pieces, Taro reveals finding windows to that state through his most vulnerable moments …" —Maria Coffey, author of Where the Mountain Casts its Shadow and Explorers of the Infinite. "[Taro] pushed his humanity to the edge, and then wrote about it." —Robert Koehler, award-winning, Chicago-based journalist and author of Courage Grows Strong at the Wound

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Taro Zion Joy was born in York, England in 1971. From his earliest days he spent much of his life travelling. From teen years onward he embarked on many wild adventures and chronicled them in poetry and prose. Since his death, his work has been collected and compiled by his mother, Penny Joy, and his brother Alexander Arbess-Joy. Taro began writing after having little academic success. Identified as dyslexic and told he would be unlikely to be capable of writing well, he became determined to change this prediction. He charted his own unique path and his exuberant creative spirit expanded in both life adventures, explorations and in recording many of the riveting stories of his several careers and passions. These included becoming a martial artist, an art gallery owner, an international DJ, affording extensive travel experience, briefly a prison inmate, and always a deep spiritual seeker who challenged every boundary he encountered. Taro left this life, in Bali, in 2020. He is survived by his lovely daughter, Alexa and her mother, Dita. In addition by his own mother, Penny, her husband Saul, Taro’s chosen father, his brother Alexander and wife Jen Li … as well as many lovers, friends and collaborators from around the world.

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Contributors

Author

Taro Zion Joy

Foreword

Penelope Joy

Foreword

Alexander Arbess-Joy

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