What his skilful arms enfold,Our dog, Lily, is a Dachshund/Xolo mix. Xolos that are crossbred have an interesting characteristic: they are missing 2 or 3 pairs of teeth. My wife and I thought that these missing teeth would cause problems with eating and chewing on bones. Boy, how wrong we were!
From him can ne'er be borne.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~
What is firmly grasped cannot slip away.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~
That which is strongly held cannot be taken
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~
Tao's power clings so tightly
it can never slip away.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
Unlike our other dog (Jaz), Lily is hyper-protective of objects she deems as "hers." Once she gets a bone or toy clamped into her jaw, it ain't coming out. Though Jaz outweighs Lily by a factor of 4, there is no way she can dislodge a ball in her little sister's mouth. Heck, it's near too impossible for a big guy like me to get it out!
When we grasp a hold of the energy of Tao, nothing can separate us from it.
To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.
Came here by way of Bruce G., and am very glad to be here. I read the first lines of Huainanzi Entry 38 and was hooked. I will be back again! Best to you and yours. EFH
ReplyDeleteWelcome aboard!
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