Last week we were discussing Deng Ming-Dao's XXX, which is a book of short examples from three Chinese traditions -- Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. I wanted to share a particularly lovely translation of a chapter of the Tao Te Ching that Mr. Deng translated:
Among the ten thousand things,
Tao is the most profound.
It is the treasure of good people,
and the protector of bad people.
Beautiful words are sold at the market.
Noble deeds can be presented as a gift.
Even bad people are not abandoned.
A king is enthroned as the son of heaven
and appoints is three ministers.
The nobles may present their jade disks
and parade their teams of horses,
but it's not as good as presenting Tao.
Why did the ancients prize Tao so much?
Was it not because:
if could be had by any who sought it,
and that the guilty could find forgiveness in it?
That is why it is the treasure of the world.
Something to ponder, no?
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