In the universe there are four that are great, and the (sage) king is one of them.As I remarked re the previous line, one way to interpret the king, sage or sovereign is as the highest aspect of ourselves. We are great, in this regard, because we each represent one piece of an immense overall puzzle -- the broad tapestry of being.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~
These are the four great powers of the universe,
And the king is one of them.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~
There are four greats in the universe
And the sovereign occupies one of them
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~
Those are the four greatest things in the universe
and a Master is one of them.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
None of us asked to be here. We didn't pre-select our parents or the circumstances we were born into. Yet, via Tao, here we are. If we believe that everything is connected -- we all are of one fabric or one source -- then we have a place in the totality of the cosmos.
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Well, we don't "automatically" become the "highest aspect of ourselves." Some do, some don't. One achieves this by, in the words of my teacher, by following "the example of Earth, then the example of Heaven, then the example of Tao, which constitute a seamless bridge, and at last, one gains the same body with Tao."
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