Three produced All things.Now that the stage has been set, life on earth -- in all its myriad forms -- becomes reality. Everything we know and experience is sparked by the One, the life force.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~
And three begot the ten thousand things.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~
Three produce myriad things
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~
and three making everything else.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
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This sparking of the One (whatever you mean by that), the life force, is putting a spin on all this that may or may not be there. A "sparking life force" doesn't seem any more (or less) meaningful or true than the Genesis story.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter is about unity which arises from nothing; then duality, then plurality, then the ten thousand things, all of it. Breath and qi come into it, but it makes me think of how I paint a tree. First there is nothing, then a piece of paper and ink on a brush. I make a stroke, then a second, then three, over and over, and then there is a tree. It's a mathematical process really. "Life force" is a spiritual concept...I'm surprised that you bring it up.
As I remarked before in another comment, I realize that "spark" wasn't really the best word for what I was trying to convey, but I settled on it because it was the best word I could come up with at the time I wrote this (about 10 days ago).
ReplyDeleteYou write above about nothing, then something. What is between the two?