Thursday, June 10, 2010:

I was able to print out a copy of the Tao Te Ching on a single sheet of paper front and back a couple months back. I liked having it around for times when I was feeling too different. There was one part that I was always trying to keep in my mind, a sort of ethic which I could ascribe to. Essentially it said that the most important personality traits to embody were compassion, patience, and simplicity. I really liked the idea that the compassion starts with compassion towards yourself. I beat myself up a good bit, mostly internally, in little ways. The idea of being compassionate to myself seemed like a really nice place to start a personal change.

It struck me that there are multiple translations of this, so I thought it would be interesting to look at all of the translations of this one chapter and boil down some intended meaning. I envisioned writing something insightful at the end, but realized that the various translations were actually various interpretations. So I'll simply give the translations along with the name of the author and the site where I grabbed it from. You can form your own ideas. Enjoy!

Chinese Text can be found here: http://www.chinapage.com/gnl.html

****http://www.taoteching.org****GNL's Not Lao (Version 2.02) which is an Interpolation by Peter Merel****
All the world says,
"I am important;
I am separate from all the world.
I am important because I am separate,
Were I the same, I could never be important."

Yet here are three treasures
That I cherish and commend to you:
The first is compassion,
By which one finds courage.
The second is restraint,
By which one finds strength.
And the third is unimportance,
By which one finds influence.

Those who are fearless, but without compassion,
Powerful, but without restraint,
Or influential, yet important,
Cannot endure.

****http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/taote-v3.html****S. Mitchell****
Some say that my teaching is nonsense.
Others call it lofty but impractical.
But to those who have looked inside themselves,
this nonsense makes perfect sense.
And to those who put it into practice,
this loftiness has roots that go deep.

I have just three things to teach:
simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in actions and in thoughts,
you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.

***http://www.sacred-texts.com/tao/ttx/ttx02.htm*****Frederic Henry Balfour*********
The inhabitants of the world all say that I am great [i.e., greatly tolerant],
although I have the appearance of incompetence.
This apparent incompetence is the result of my very greatness.
In the case of one who is possessed of more than ordinary ability,
he sets his mind constantly upon even the smallest matters.

Now there are three things which I regard as precious, which I grasp and prize.
The first is compassion;
the second is frugality;
the third is not venturing to take precedence of others—modesty.

I prize compassion; therefore I am able to be fearless.
I prize frugality; therefore I am able to be liberal.
I prize modesty; therefore I am able to become a leader of men.

But men of the present day abandon compassion, yet aim at valiancy;
they abandon frugality, yet aim at being liberal;
they abandon modesty, yet aim at leadership.
This is death to them.

Now when one is compassionate in battle, he will be victorious.
When one is compassionate in defending, his defences will be strong.
When Heaven intends to deliver men, it employs compassion to protect them.

****http://www.thebigview.com/download/tao-te-ching-illustrated.pdf***Gia Fu Feng & Jane English*****
Everyone under heaven says that my Tao is great and beyond compare.
Because it is great, it seems different.
If it were not different, it would have vanished long ago.
I have three treasures which I hold and keep.
The first is mercy;
the second is economy;
The third is daring not to be ahead of others.

From mercy comes courage;
from economy comes generosity;
From humility comes leadership.

Nowadays men shun mercy, but try to be brave;
They abandon economy, but try to be generous;
They do not believe in humility, but always try to be first.

This is certain death.
Mercy brings victory in battle and strength in defense.
It is the means by which heaven saves and guards

****http://www.thebigview.com/tao-te-ching/chapter67.html****Tolbert McCarroll***
Everyone under heaven says my Tao is great
and resembles nothing else.
It is because it is great that it seems different.
If it were like anything on earth
it would have been small from the beginning.

I have three treasures that I cherish and hold fast.
The first is gentleness,
the second is simplicity,
the third is daring not to be first
among all things under heaven.
Because of gentleness I am able to be courageous.
Because of simplicity I am able to be generous.
Because of daring not to be first
I am able to lead.

If people forsake gentleness and attempt to be courageous,
forsake simplicity and attempt to be generous,
forsake the last place and attempt to get the first place,
this is certain death.

Gentleness conquers in battle and protects in defence.
What heaven guards, it arms with the gift of gentleness.

***http://www.beatrice.com/TAO-pamphlet.pdf********Ron Hogan***
Everywhere I go, people tell me,
"Tao is so powerful, so immense,
it's inconceivable!"
But it's only powerful
because it's inconceivable.
If we could wrap our minds around it,
Tao would be just another thing.
The three most important qualities in life are
compassion, or showing kindness and mercy to others,
moderation, or knowing what a thing is worth, and
modesty, or knowing your place in the world.
Courage stems from showing
kindness and mercy to others.
Generosity starts with knowing
what a thing is worth.
True leadership begins with knowing
your place in the world.
But these days,
I see everyone trying to act courageous
without any trace of compassion.
They try to be generous
but they don't practice moderation
in their own lives.
They act like leaders,
but they have no sense of modesty.
No good can come of this.

****http://www.vl-site.org/taoism/ttcstan3.html#67****Stan Rosenthal****
Those who follow the natural way
are different from others in three respects.
They have great mercy and economy,
and the courage not to compete.
From mercy there comes courage;
from economy, generosity;
and from humility, willingness to lead from behind.
It is the way of sickness to shun the merciful,
and to acclaim only heroic deeds,
to abandon economy, and to be selfish.
They are sick, who are not humble,
but try always to be first.
Only he who is compassionate
can show true bravery,
and in defending, show great strength.
Compassion is the means by which
mankind may be guarded and saved,
for heaven arms with compassion,
those whom it would not see destroyed.

***http://www.sacred-texts.com/tao/taote.htm*************J. Legge***
All the world says that, while my Tao is great, it yet appears
to be inferior (to other systems of teaching). Now it is just its
greatness that makes it seem to be inferior. If it were like any
other (system), for long would its smallness have been known!

But I have three precious things which I prize and hold fast. The
first is gentleness; the second is economy; and the third is shrinking
from taking precedence of others.

With that gentleness I can be bold; with that economy I can be
liberal; shrinking from taking precedence of others, I can become a
vessel of the highest honour. Now-a-days they give up gentleness and
are all for being bold; economy, and are all for being liberal; the
hindmost place, and seek only to be foremost;--(of all which the end
is) death.

Gentleness is sure to be victorious even in battle, and firmly to
maintain its ground. Heaven will save its possessor, by his (very)
gentleness protecting him.

***http://www.mountainman.com.au/tao_8_9.html***Raymond Blakney***
Everywhere, they say the Way, our doctrine,
Is so very like detested folly;
But greatness of its own alone explains
Why it should be thus held beyond the pale.
If it were only orthodox, long since
It would have seemed a small and petty thing!

I have to keep three treasures well secured:
The first, compassion; next, frugality;
And third, I say that never would I once
Presume that I should be the whole world's chief.

Given compassion, I can take courage;
Given frugality, I can abound;
If I can be the world's most humble man,
Then I can be its highest instrument.

Bravery today knows no compassion;
Abundance is, without frugality,
And eminence without humility:
This is the death indeed of all our hope.

In battle, 'tis compassion wins the day;
Defending, tis compassion that is firm:
Compassion arms the people God would save!

****http://www.acmuller.net/con-dao/daodejing.html****Charles Muller****
The reason everybody calls my Way great
Is because there is nothing quite like it.
It is exactly because it isgreat
That there is nothing quite like it.
If there were something that were consistently like it
How could it be small?

I have three treasures that I hold and cherish.
The first is compassion,
The second is frugality,
The third is not daring to put myself ahead of everybody.

Having compassion, I can be brave.
Having frugality, I can be generous.
Not daring to put myself ahead of everybody
I can take the time to perfect my abilities.
Now if I am brave without compassion
Generous without frugality, or
Go to the fore without putting my own concerns last,
I might as well be dead.

If you wage war with compassion you will win.
If you protect yourself with compassion you will be impervious.
Heaven will take care of you,
Protecting you with compassion.

****http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/lib157.htm***ALEISTER CROWLEY***
1. They say that while this Tao of mine is great, yet it is inferior.
This is the proof of its greatness.
If it were like anything else, its smallness would have long been known.

2. I have three jewels of price whereto I cleave;
gentleness, economy, and humility.

3. That gentleness maketh me courageous,
that economy generous,
that humility honoured.
Men of today abandon gentleness for violence,
economy for extravagance,
humility for pride: this is death.

4. Gentleness bringeth victory in fight;
and holdeth its ground with assurance.
Heaven wardeth the gentle man by that same virtue.

***http://www.scribd.com/doc/19212827/Headless-Tao***Jim Clatfelter***
On seeing inner nothingness
You see it's great beyond compare
Though many find it curious
That you would even care

I have three treasures that I keep
The first is friendliness
The second is to stay behind
The third is wanting less

For if you're friendly and you care
You can dare to do what's needed
And if you always stay behind
The lead will surely be conceded

And if you're satisfied with less
You have everything to give
Keep these treasures in your heart
Then you will truly live

(This one came with an interpretation:)
Here are Lao Tzu's famous Three Treasures. These treasures are values that arise
naturally from abiding in your inner nothingness. They certainly aren't the values that
most people cherish.
The first treasure is love, compassion, or friendliness. Being nothing, you are open.
You embrace all creation by your very nature.
The second treasure is humility, staying behind. Seeing that you are nothing, you
allow all others to go ahead. You do not struggle for superiority.
The third treasure is frugality, wanting less, wanting only the void of awareness.
Wanting nothing above all else, you can be generous and giving. You do not need to
contend.

***http://www.taoism.net/ttc/complete.htm***Derek Lin***
Everyone in the world calls my Tao great
As if it is beyond compare
It is only because of its greatness
That it seems beyond compare
If it can be compared
It would already be insignificant long ago!

I have three treasures
I hold on to them and protect them
The first is called compassion
The second is called conservation
The third is called not daring to be ahead in the world
Compassionate, thus able to have courage
Conserving, thus able to reach widely
Not daring to be ahead in the world
Thus able to assume leadership
Now if one has courage but discards compassion
Reaches widely but discards conservation
Goes ahead but discards being behind
Then death!
If one fights with compassion, then victory
With defense, then security
Heaven shall save them
And with compassion guard them

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