Something To Think About
Posted on 29 September 2008 at 6:33 am EDT by spoonitnow | Permalink
The following are two different translations of Chapter 2 of the Tao Te Ching. Here is the first:
When beauty is abstracted
Then ugliness has been implied;
When good is abstracted
Then evil has been implied.So alive and dead are abstracted from nature,
Difficult and easy abstracted from progress,
Long and short abstracted from contrast,
High and low abstracted from depth,
Song and speech abstracted from melody,
After and before abstracted from sequence.The sage experiences without abstraction,
And accomplishes without action;
He accepts the ebb and flow of things,
Nurtures them, but does not own them,
And lives, but does not dwell.
And here is the second:
All in the world recognize the beautiful as beautiful.
Herein lies ugliness.
All recognize the good as good.
Herein lies evil.Therefore
Being and non-being produce each other.
Difficulty and ease bring about each other.
Long and short delimit each other.
High and low rest on each other.
Sound and voice harmonize each other.
Front and back follow each other.Therefore the sage abides in the condition of unattached action.
And carries out the wordless teaching.
Here, the myriad things are made, yet not separated.Therefore the sage produces without possessing,
Acts without expectations
And accomplishes without abiding in her accomplishments.It is precisely because she does not abide in them
That they never leave her.
