Having become remote, it returns.Continuing on with the metaphor of a river utilized in yesterday's post, the water eventually flows into the sea. At some point, each drop of water evaporates and the moisture returns to the sky. In time, it falls again as precipitation.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~
Having gone far, it returns.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~
Receding means returning
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~
And something that goes a long way always comes back to the beginning.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
Therefore, a droplet of water falls off a cliff to form the origin of the Amazon River. It travels 4,000 miles to the Atlantic Ocean. At some point, it evaporates, only to fall again on the cliff to form the origin of the Amazon River.
Having gone far, it returns.
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so what is the metaphor for?
ReplyDeleteI don't understand your question.
ReplyDeleteYou are using the hydraulic or hydrologic water cycle as a metaphor, an analogy for something: cyclic return.
ReplyDeleteEarlier you said "Tao is much the same way. Being sprung from nonbeing and look at how far it has gone. What started out as gases and later one-cell organisms has blossomed into the world we know and love."
What is the meaning of cyclic return in Tao to a person, beyond the manifestations of rivers and the water cycle? What is the larger meaning of the metaphor? This verse is not about water cycles or even the "blossoming" of the 10,000 things. It is about return. So what does that mean?
Just asking what you think.
(Sorry for the terse initial post; our network access was down and I had to post on a small mobile wifi device.)
This is somewhat relatd to the "man of spirit" section in your Chuang Tzu 12,12B post.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the idea of going and returning is the concept of natural cycles. I grant that this line and verse aren't specifically about water or rivers; that's just the metaphor that came to my mind.
ReplyDeleteNot to be a pest, but you're using a natural cycle as a "metaphor" for natural cycles. The water cycle is a natural cycle; just an image...but a metaphor is something like an analogy or symbol: standing in for something else. This something else is what I'm asking about. (You know, returning to the Tao?)
ReplyDelete