Line by Line - Verse 16, Line 7

To know that unchanging rule is to be intelligent;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Knowing constancy is insight.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Knowing constancy is called clarity
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

(No corresponding line)
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

For me, this line symbolizes the innate understanding of how the world -- at least those manifestations that we are capable of grasping -- really works. When we are able to understand deeply that existence is all about cycles and every being is born and dies, flourishes and diminishes, moves forward and steps backward, we gain a type of insightful clarity that can't be learned from any book, any blog, any institution or any other person.

When we can take life as it comes without the encumbrances of bias, fanciful thinking and desire, we can effortlessly flow with the current of Tao.

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.