Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Line by Line - Verse 56, Lines 10-11

(Such an one) cannot be treated familiarly or distantly;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

He who has achieved this state
Is unconcerned with friends and enemies,

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

They cannot obtain this and be closer
They cannot obtain this and be distant

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

If you get right with Tao,
you won't be worried

~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
When we make the distinction of friend versus foe, we grant the former the benefit of the doubt, while we generally assume malevolent intent on the part of the latter. We hold our friends close to the heart, while keeping enemies at arm's length or further.

Lao Tzu put a lot of emphasis on treating good and bad people alike. I think he makes a great point. If we only treat those who are good to us in a respectful manner, while treating those who are not good to us in a standoffish (or worse) manner, what does that say about us? How are we supposedly "better" or more virtuous than those we castigate?

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

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