Thursday, February 24, 2011

Line by Line - Verse 23, Lines 7-8

Therefore when one is making the Tao his business, those who are also pursuing it, agree with him in it,
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

He who follows the Tao
Is at one with the Tao.

~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Thus those who follow the Tao are with the Tao
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

If you're ready for Tao, you can live with Tao.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
While each of the four translations/renditions above say much the same thing, I like the way Jonathan Star views these lines:
One who lives in accordance with the Truth becomes the embodiment of Tao.
OK, but what does it all mean?
Those who pursue the Way are natural. Natural means free from success and hence free from failure. Such people don't succeed and don't fail but simply go along with the successes and failures of the age. Or if the do succeed or fail, their minds are not affected.
~ Chiao Hung quoted by Red Pine ~
To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.

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