The multitude of men all have enough and to spare. I alone seem to have lost everything.When we enter the meditative state still clinging to our desires, hopes and aspirations, it's like piling furniture against a door or slamming shut a window and then locking it. We only are able to receive the wisdom of the cosmos IF we willingly are open to receiving these insights AND we have the available space for them to alight.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~
Others have more than they need, but I alone have nothing.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~
The people all have surplus
While I alone seem lacking
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~
Let other people get excited about stuff. I'm not going to hang on to anything.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
If we seek to step into the void and yet we drag our fetters with us, we end up holding ourselves back from taking the most meaningful steps. We become stuck at the precipice, but quickly find we are too weighted down to travel any further.
To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.
I am having trouble reconciling your excellent commentary here with your inability to sleep in a strange motel room. It sounds like talking but not doing.
ReplyDeleteI'm probably poking the big bad bear here, but your response would be illuminating.
What I can understand rationally and/or philosophically doesn't always intersect with my autistic brain. Thought processes sometimes are thwarted or overruled by physiological processes.
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