Category: translation

Translation: Tao Te King – Chapter 16. Going home

Chapter 16. Going home When you have emptied all from yourself stay where you are.¹ All beings blossom into harmonious activity and where do we see them return to? After flourishing for a little while everything dies down to its roots. This returning to one’s origin is called peace. It is surrendering to the necessary.… Continue reading Translation: Tao Te King – Chapter 16. Going home

Translation: Tao Te King – Chapter 15. Portraying virtue

Chapter 15. Portraying virtue The ancient wise ones¹ were skillful in their knowledge of the depths. They were unmeasurable in their depth. So deep they were that I cannot raise them before the eyes of my mind. They were careful like one who is crossing flooding streams. They were mysterious like one who suspects his… Continue reading Translation: Tao Te King – Chapter 15. Portraying virtue

Translation: Tao Te King – Chapter 12. Closing doors

Chapter 12. Closing doors Light blinds the eyes of human. Sound deafens his ears. Taste corrupts the palate. Hunting makes man wild and treasures test him. This is why the wise man takes care of his soul and not his senses. His senses he neglects but his soul he takes with both hands.    … Continue reading Translation: Tao Te King – Chapter 12. Closing doors

Translation: Tao Te King – Chapter 7. Concealing light

Chapter 7. Concealing light Both heaven and earth stay a long time. What makes them so durable is their disregard of the longevity of their lives. This why they stay. So the wise man who does not care about himself is the greatest among men; even though he does not tend after himself he stays.… Continue reading Translation: Tao Te King – Chapter 7. Concealing light

Translation: Tao Te King – Chapter 21. Empty spring

Chapter 21. Empty spring The greatest virtue is in uncomplicatedly following the Tao. Untouched and unstudyable is the Tao. Untouched, unstudyable, yet containing forms. Untouched, unstudyable, yet containing beings. Deep and dim it is, but it still has an essence, a true essence, where there is unity. It is in all beings from their start.… Continue reading Translation: Tao Te King – Chapter 21. Empty spring

Translation: Tao Te King – Chapter 19. Returning to nature

19. Returning to nature By leaving their self-righteousness and abandoning their own wisdom people would be greatly improved. By declining charity and “duty towards kin” they could return to their natural relations. If skillfulness is abandoned and profit is given up there will be no thieves amongst the people. Cultivating these three things* has come… Continue reading Translation: Tao Te King – Chapter 19. Returning to nature

Translation: Tao Te King – Chapter 20. Remaining distant

Chapter 20. Remaining distant Leave your dogma and free yourself of worrying. The difference between certainty and uncertainty isn’t that big. Do they help us to differentiate between good and evil? For one must carefully keep track of differentiations. But oh! People are never freed of their stupidity. They are full of ambition like the… Continue reading Translation: Tao Te King – Chapter 20. Remaining distant

Translation: Tao Te King – Chapter 3. Calming people

Chapter 3. Calming people Envy is avoided when people are not placed apart based on merit. Theft is avoided when riches are not valued. Calm stays the mind when not looking for stimulants for the senses. That is how the wise one rules, by freeing his heart of lusts; by giving his stomach enough satisfaction,… Continue reading Translation: Tao Te King – Chapter 3. Calming people