We listen to it, and we do not hear it, and we name it 'the Inaudible.'It depends on what we're trying to hear! If our goal is to hear a distilled sound of the mystery of mysteries, then I suppose Tao is beyond sound. However, if we accept the cacophony of sound as being traces of Tao, then the Way is anything but silent.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~
Listen, it cannot be heard - it is beyond sound.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~
Listen to it, it cannot be heard It is called noiseless
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~
You can't hear Tao, no matter how hard you listen.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.
It's hard, because if the Tao moves in all things, then the music, even the discord and "noise," is Tao.
ReplyDeleteAh, sweet, sweet paradox...
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Do you take requests? I wonder if you could write something about the concept of te. I'd like to "hear" your thoughts on that, as I'm not entirely clear on it.
Anyways, hope you feel better soon.
I write on te a lot, though I term it in the more general way as "internal nature". I'm sure you'll see it pop up from time to time.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I'll stick it in my noggin and, maybe, I'll write a more specific post on it at some point.