Friday, August 19, 2011

Line by Line - Verse 40, Line 3

All things under heaven sprang from It as existing (and named);
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

The ten thousand things are born of being.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

The myriad things of the world are born of being
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Things exist because they are.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
When I popped into the world, I arrived via the joining of my father's sperm with my mother's egg. I was born of these two beings. I didn't simply materialize from nothing.

Every life form we see around us today came into existence via some biological process. It sprang from something that already existed (being).

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

1 comment:

  1. The telling word in your commentary is "materialize."

    I am reminded of the koan, "Who were you before the birth of your parents?"

    ReplyDelete

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