Monday, April 4, 2011

Line by Line - Verse 27, Line 1

The skillful traveler leaves no traces of his wheels or footsteps;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

A good walker leaves no tracks;
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Good traveling does not leave tracks
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

With enough practice, you could walk without leaving any footprints.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
If we think of our "footsteps" as our presence in life, then those who set about to leave definitive tracks are those most concerned with status and fame. They want others to see where THEY have been and to follow the same course that they have laid out.

The sage, on the other hand, has no interest in status or fame. The sage understands that each person must make their own way through the wilderness of life. So, what good would it do to leave footprints?

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

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments are unmoderated, so you can write whatever you want.