Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Line by Line - Verse 51, Line 11

completes them,
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

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

Perfects them, matures them
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

protects them,
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
I can see how some people might be perplexed by the use of the words comfort and protect. If we each die, how then are we comforted and protected?

In my mind's eye, what is comforted and protected is the process itself and, since we each are part of this process, we are comforted and protected too. For me, by understanding that each life form flows within the process, I can feel comforted and protected in the idea that all is well and is as it should be.

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. These lines are about the way Te takes care of the manifestations of Tao. I don't think it's about our "comfort or protection" in the face of death or anything else (except insofar as we are manifestations of Tao).

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