By Doug Collins The Free Press Illustration by Jim Gibbs

I n college, I became fascinated with the Tao Te Ching, a book of poetry by the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, who was the legendary founder of Taoism, the religion of yin and yang. Lao Tzu's verses teach simplicity, and inspired me to live in low-rent abodes, travel on cheap second-hand bikes, seek genuineness, and even eat lentil soup.

But look what else has happened, Lao Tzu! Your philosophy has been hijacked by hundreds of American writers, all naming their books after yours. A brief check of Books in Print yielded more than a hundred The Tao of . . . titles.

"Tao" (pronounced "dow" as in "dowry") in Chinese means "the Way," and in a rough translation of the book's opening poem, Lao Tzu states, "The Tao that can be spoken of is not the real Tao." Perhaps he should have added another line: "The Tao that can be hucksterized by book publishers is not the real Tao."

First of all, Lao Tzu in his poems preferred to seek truth from such things as rivers, valleys, clay, and "the myriad creatures". He didn't really talk much about sexual matters. But a lot of current authors might have us believe he was the Dr. Ruth of the Chou Dynasty. A host of modern books are available about the Tao of love and sex, especially sex. Here's a few titles:

The Tao of Sex: A Chinese Introduction to the Bedroom Arts

The Tao of Love and Sex: The Ancient Chinese Way to Ecstasy

The Tao of Sexual Massage

The Tao of Sexology: The Book of Infinite Wisdom

Apparently so does business advice. The real Lao Tzu wrote, "Exterminate ingenuity, discard profit, and there will be no more thieves and bandits." But there's quite a few titles about the Tao of profitable enlightenment:

The Tao of Money: Six Simple Principles for Achieving Financial Harmony

The Dao of the Dow (Dow Jones of course!)

The Tao of Tribute Money (your guess is as good as mine)

The Tao of Management: An Age Old Study for New Age Managers

The Tao of Leadership: Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching Adapted for a New Age

The Tao of Personal Leadership

The Tao of Politics: Lessons of the Masters of Huainan

The Tao of Power

The Tao of Islam: A Sourcebook on Gender Relationships in Islamic Thought

The Tao of Zen

The Tao of Jesus: A Book of Days for the Natural Year

The Tao of Teams: A Guide to Team Success

The Tao of Golf

The Tao of Baseball